May Frugal Chat 2022

[SassyAshley]

Today was a work from home day but I had to go out for a Doctor's appointment.

On the way home I ran into No Frills to grab a few things, we did not need a lot but I did grab a few stock up items. I feel like when I find the sales now, I have to take advantage as you do not know when you will see the next sale. I got:
1 x Naturally Imperfect Mushroom 680g $4
1 x Lemons 2lb $3.99
1 x Cherry Tomato $1.99
1 x Asparagus $1.98/lb (PM Food Basics)
1 x Cucumber 3-pack $1.99
1 x Asiago Dip large tub $5.49
1 x No Name Bacon 500g $4.44
*Trying this, we love the Kirkland Bacon but it is so expensive and I have noticed No Name does go on sale here and there
2 x Olive Oil $5.99
2 x Gay Lea Sour Cream $2 (PM Freshco)
1 x Milk Trutaste $4.44
2 x Orzo $1.00 WUB 2 or more
6 x Pasta various shapes $1.00 WUB 2 or more
4 x Chai Tea $1.99
2 x Ivory Body Wash $3.49

$5.99 seem to be the new sale price for Olive Oil and I noticed I am down to 2 bottles.
Rarely is Orzo included in the sale so grabbed 2 more, we have found a few one pot meals with Orzo we like and I love one pot meals
Chai Tea, Ivory Body Wash were not needs but since it was on sale grabbed a couple for the stockpile.
Really hope to see Lemons go down in price soon, we use so many in the summer between, cooking, salad dressings, drinks.
I forgot to grab Mom bread, somehow she went through her bread really fast and I did not grab more from Costco when I went as we both thought she still had 2 more loaves. I might have to make her some Homemade Bread tomorrow.

My goal was $50, I spent $67, but when I was aiming for $50, I did not include the Asiago dip (Mom request and it was on sale), I forgot about the Olive Oil, Tea & Body Wash being on sale. As well I was on the fence about the Pasta but decided to go for it and then bought more than planned, I been planning on 4 but including the Orzo I grabbed 8, but it is Pasta, it won't go bad. I could have come in lower but I am happy with everything I got.

Now it is time to plan for the weekend, see what I can prep ahead. Not sure how much cleaning will be done since the basement isn't done so I may focus on other areas and leave most of the cleaning for next weekend. Although I do need to do the upstairs floor. We shall see what I can get done.

[SassyAshley]

Happy Saturday Everyone,

Was up early this morning and got right at it in the kitchen.

The hand dishes needed to be done, I love meal prepping my food when I work in the office but it makes for a lot of dishes most days I was taking 3 to 5 containers with me. I washed my dishes Tuesday night after work but after that I did not get them done so we had a few dishes to be done. They are all done and drying now, I hate drying dishes so whenever I can, I let them air dry.

I cooked up the pack of No Name bacon, better than the one I got on sale a little while ago from Giant Tiger but not as good as the Kirkland. But it is another option. I also like that they are the 500g packs so if I stocked up we could cut them in half and just cook up half a pack at a time. Half a 500g pack is enough for the two of us plus leftovers.

I made a double batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies. We had two open packages of Crisco and I discovered if I combined the two I had enough for a double batch and would use up both open packages. I baked one tray of cookies for us to enjoy and the rest of the dough was portioned out and is in the freezer for later. This way when we want cookies we can just take out a few and bake them up or even toss them in the air fryer.

Cleaned out the fridge, found a container of cooked pasta that was pushed to the back of fridge and needed to go and a few raspberries did not get eaten. Wanted to see what we needed to use up, only thing I found was one pepper with a soft spot.

I will cut up some Romaine for Salads this week as well as some cucumbers to add to salads or make a salad from. I love Cucumber based Salads. Will probably use the pepper in a salad.

I have some blueberries I think I will turn into muffins, they are a little tart so not good for snacking but will work in a muffin.

I also have laundry going. I would like to wash the bedding but normally I use the floor in the Pantry for sorting and right now it is covered in Drywall dust.I really do not want to clean it this weekend just for him be back on Monday and make more of a mess so I think bedding will wait for next weekend. Ugh I feel like next week is going to be super busy.

Still looking for an AC option. I forgot to look at Rona and just found out not that long ago there is one kind of close but they are also out of stock on the one I want. grrr

[Ciel21]

Sunny and breezy kind of hot day in Ancaster! Trekked (skipped bus ride as I was watching end of Youtube drama episode) to Baby Expo and bought some items at Longos on the way. Decided to go for a non-pop drink and got a bottle of Pure Leaf Raspberry (since @cath007 keeps posting about it, I had to try it). Great choice! Have to see if bigger bottle is available for the fridge. Got my free sample bag-there were more samples at one table but I would have needed a cellphone with QR code reader first to claim them. Spent an hour there-the food truck was Winner Winner Chicken Dinner, not Curbside Burgers. Admired belly dancer at the Concession building. Bought a board book about a sister with little brother (Noah, No!) and three blank greeting cards (I love cards). Had a few chats. Lots of baby clothing plus services and even a realtor (think he was thinking a baby might mean family needs more home so could get buyers or sellers...).

Longos has its new Summer Experience magazine in-store plus the Summer On Route booklet at the checkouts. A few coupons are inside.

Will use my bus transfer to get to grocery stores and walk home. Dollar Tree does not have squeegees for some reason (will check Dollarama) and Walmart no longer has 3M cellulose 4pk sponges nor Kleenex pocket packs. Keep cool and eat watermelon!

[lilo0003]

Younger son and I went paddle boarding today, yes there is crap ton of stuff to do at home but this was more fun. Sunday will be spent hauling dirt to the new garden boxes and if the rain hold off power washing the deck.
I did stop at No Frills on my way home from the lake and used 60.00 of PCO for groceries. I wanted some no name pop for summer and they had absolutely none left. We rarely drink it but it’s nice to have on hand. Now to sort out dinner.

[SassyAshley]

I did it, I ordered a portable AC unit for out main floor. There has been a lot of discussion on this, ultimately I would have prefered to go with a ductless unit but to go ductless we need to change out our electrical panel and I do not have the $$$ for the electrical panel right now.

I did a far amount of research and it came down to two units. The one I wanted seemed to be sold out everywhere but I found one kind of close to home but the store only had one unit in stock. I can admit it, I am bad when it comes to making these kind of decisions, it something I do not know a ton about, there are a lot of options and I always worry I made the wrong choice.

I knew the one I wanted but as I went to order it, I second guessed myself and than thought no maybe the one from amazon. After a bunch of back and forth in my head I decided to let fate make the choice for me. I ordered the one I originally wanted but knew they only showed one in stock so my order might be cancelled. I decided if it was meant to be my order would go through, if it was not it would be cancelled and I would order through Amazon. The order went through and I have confirmation I can pick up.

We are going to have to figure out how to block off the doorways since our main floor is open concept and the staircases are open. I am thinking I will just put sheets over the doorways but hoping to find an easy way to hang them but I do not have a plan yet. I just know, I cannot go another summer with no AC on the main floor of the house. I have enough going on with work and life, I do not need to be miserable because of the heat too. I can admit last year during the summer I was miserable, I just cannot handle the heat anymore.

Fingers-Crossed this will help. I know portable units are not recommended for the layout of our house but it is really our only option at this time.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Ugh, woke up at 2 am this morning, feeling like it was morning and had a hard time falling back asleep. I did but interrupted sleep is never the best sleep.

It looks like they have shortened this week's heat wave, it is now only supposed to be super hot Monday & Tuesday. If all summer is like this, I would not be mad, I know we will have hot temps and a day or two heat wave is a lot easier to handle than the ones that lasted weeks last year.

Today, I need to get some meal prep and ingredient prep done. Get set-up for the week to come since I have no idea what the week will throw my way.

We were in the basement yesterday looking for some things in our broken Pantry and we started discussing paint colours. Mom suggested a basic white but I suggested we use the same colour down their as we are using the hallways on the main and top floor. It is a very light grey, almost a white with a tint of Grey. If we go this route I need to go get more paint.

Happy Sunday

[harbie]

Hoping to get to SDM today. I tried last night to use my bonus points coupon but found out they no longer carry Clarisonic replacement heads since the stupid company sold out to L’Oréal in 2020 and they won’t make them . Now I’m stuck with a very expensive piece of poop! I had a mini stockpile of them but now I ran out and I never knew they sold out. Apparently people on their email list (which I am) got an email back in 2020 and they of course ran out to clear out every SDM.

I guess I’ll have to use the coupon for another temp night guard. I still need this generic one until I have my final dental appointment and I get my custom one made.

Other than that it’s another laundry Sunday around here.

[Angela273]

We received 2” of rain since supper time yesterday. Needless to say, it’s to wet to garden. This will be that latest my vegetable garden has planted in 10yrs.

Kids and I cleaned 1/2 the main floor of the house yesterday.

A couple weeks ago I had our twins try on summer clothes that I purchased in advance. Today I’m having them try on their old clothes to determine what’s now small on them. I’ll sort and post them for sale.

[Giseledta]

hi all. yesterday was as annoying as i expected. but i focused on the postive and made a amazing supper for hubby and I . oldest is house slash dog sitting. so not around.

my sleep has been insanely bad. i ended up going back to sleep this am... then just had a nap on the couch after i barely worked outside. Hubby managed to give himself heat stroke... ugh.

plan is to finish up te laundry. hubby is booking a air b and b for us forthe big trip. i despartly need to water the garden tonight as well.
supper will be light.

i have a bunch of plans for the week. and i need to finalize the fathers day gifts for he dc kids.

[SassyAshley]

Oh no @Giseledta , hope your DH's heat stroke isn't too serve and he feels better soon.

[lilo0003]

Older son helped me haul all the dirt to the backyard to fill the two veggie gardens. I ordered extra soil so now I can top up the other garments and add some fresh soil to the flower beds. Now I can plant the peppers. Then the gardens are all done.
I totally forgot to cut the front lawn today and I am not getting up to do it now.

[SassyAshley]

Got most of the things done today.

I made myself some Cookie Dough Overnight Oats for Breakfast this week, trying to use up an open container of natural peanut butter taking up space in the fridge.

Blueberry Muffins have been made, Mom used a recipe she found and it made 24 muffins, we left 12 out to eat this week and froze the other 12 for later.

Non-Creamy Caesar Dressing is made and in the fridge, this and Balsamic are my go-to when I do not want Creamy Caesar.

Did my Salad prep for the week, I got the Romaine done yesterday, still have some carrots left from last week (these easily last 2 weeks in the fridge), cut up 2 cucumbers and half a pepper. I call it my Salad Bar, if I have this on hand, I will make salads and load them up but if I don't I either skip the salad or keep it basic with just lettuce and dressing.

Made Garlic Garlic Sauce so one night we can have Souvlaki Bowls or Souvlaki Wraps, we have pre marinated Chicken in the freezer.

Mom grated Cheese for the week, she did Parmesan, Cheddar and Mozzarella. Originally I was not going to shred the Mozzarella but when we decided to have pizza for dinner we needed more Mozzarella.

Took advantage of the cooler weather to make Pizza for dinner, even with the AC unit do not think we will be able to use the oven which is fine. I am just hoping to be able to use the Stove or Electric Skillet without feeling like your melting.

Got all of the Herbs planted and watered all of the fruits we planted last weekend. The Strawberries and Rhubarb look good the Blueberries and Raspberries look like they did when we planted them.

Both AC units are hooked up in the bedrooms, I have brought my fan downstairs and will set it up until we get the AC unit.

We did not go get the AC unit today, neither of us wanted to leave the house, we felt we had too much to get done. We will pick up tomorrow.

Did not get the Loaded Baked Potato Salad made. I was going to cook up a chicken breast so we could make clubhouse sandwiches one night but did not get thet cooked up. Only got the half the dishes done.

I was tidying up a bit on my room and found a couple of pieces of missing clothing which makes me happy. I need to organize my room but it is low on the list right now.

Busy but good Sunday, now to set-up the fan and relax a bit before it is Monday and back to whatever surprises will come our way this week.

[cath007]

@Ciel21 : Happy to see you posting my dear friend!!! And I am glad you enjoyed the raspberries Pure Leaf Ice Tea it is so refreshing !!!! Hope you are alright and have a great week.

[cath007]

@Giseledta: I am so sorry your Dh has a heat stroke ... Hope he feel better xxx

[cath007]

If you are interested I did some cleaning on the coupons thread I expired a bunch of coupons that where over and I updated the still good ones.It will be more easy for us!!! And now I just wish new coupons will be posted by the members.