June 2022 Frugal Chat ;Summer is here!!!!

[Angela273]

It’s been a long, busy, crazy, and stressful week…unfortunately some of the sources of stress are not over yet.

I have not been able to fix my computer issues yet.
I spent Tuesday evening at the ER with twin girl. The nebulizer medication helped her cough a lot.
I learned about more teaching contracts and applied for them.
Twin boy passed his gymnastics assessment, our other two children need to repeat their levels.

Our twins celebrated their birthdays with their classmates on Saturday. It was supposed to be at a park, but the weather turned nasty, so we ended up with 10 guests at our house. It was our twins’ first large birthday party and they loved it.
Twin girl attended a birthday party this morning. Both of our twins attended a class pool party this afternoon.

I somehow managed to injury an area behind and above my right knee. It improved within the first 24hrs, hopefully it continues to get better.

I bought 10 family sized trays of lean ground beef from our local coop for $1.98/lb. lots went into the freezer. I spent hours this afternoon making and oven baking 150 meatballs, most of which are now in the freezer.

Tuesday is the last day of school for our kids. They’ll be heading into Grade 2 and Grade 5.

[harbie]

@harbie there is a coupon out for the Silk Nextmilk. I think 50 cents off.

I saw them on display so I grabbed 2 . It’s nice to see coupons not only for items I actually used but also find them on the display and not all taken.

[cath007]

Good morning!!!!
It is rainy with 21 degres,a big change compared to yesterday 33 degres heat weaves
Sleep maybe 5 hours grr
But in 4 days i am sort in summer hollidays ,I can do this!!!
I think I will buy more qc strawberries they are so good and a good price.
Have a wonderful day

[SassyAshley]

Happy Monday Everyone,
It is a work from home day for me, yeah.

I am struggling hard, just tired and worn down. The branch I have been helping has been short staffed for 4 months now with no signs of change coming. Found out on Friday another branch is going short staffed, this one won't effect me until they hire someone new who needs to be trained. Plus I have 2 staff members in two other branches in training. Combine that everything at home and it is just non stop for me right now. Mom has been helping the best she could but just looking at her, you can see how much pain she is in and now she is not sleeping because of the pain. I am trying to get everything done and keep on top of everything but it is hard when to keep up with home and work.

I got most of the ingredient prep done yesterday, expect the Potatoes, I wanted to pre cook some in the Instant Pot but that did not get done. Instead I had to deal with our veggie drawer, we lost a cucumber and some carrots which is weird because I literally checked them a couple days before and they were fine. But good produce is hard to find right now, I annoyed a produce guy a couple weeks ago digging through to find a good package of berries. I check all of our produce before I buy it but I just find it still going bad so quickly even with my normal hacks to extend the life of produce.

I need to come up with a meal plan for this week, I am trying to find dump and cook Instant Pot meals or Slow Cooker meals. Slow Cooker meals are hard on days I work because I leave so early, if I turn it on before work it will over cook. I would prep it for Mom to turn on but some days it is so hard for her to get going she isn't downstairs in time to turn it on. Might have to stick to Instant Pot this week.

I have all the doors and windows open with a few fan going to get some fresh air in the house. Even with the AC going I find it get so stuffy when everything is closed up. Nice to air the house out.

Happy Monday Everyone.

[Frugalbigmama]

Morning!

I just put a load in the washer. All my fav yoga capris were dirty. Will hang them outside on the gazebo to dry since it is windy out and they will dry quickly.
I'm wearing my "clean the house outfit" Comfortable but wouldn't ever wear out! Perfect on laundry day.

Mission today. Work. Laundry. Clean kitchen. Clean fridge. Eat leftovers. Take the dog for a run. Take the crap at the entrance to my car and get rid of it. Clean the stairs. Move other crap to basement. Check out steak at Foodland (need to try out our new BBQ ) We have mushrooms and onions and potatoes to use up so sounds like a perfect dinner! For tomorrow night We have too many leftovers to use up today before we start adding more to the fridge!

My son has been on a mission cleaning our yard equipment. I took him shopping to get the supplies he asked for. Since I don't have to pay for day camp/daycare and it keeps him busy. And it is such a good thing to learn. He is really enjoying it and is feeling proud when he is getting things working that have been sitting for years ignored

[harbie]

It’s going to be another scorcher here before we should see some cooler weather and possibly rain tomorrow .
Like you @SassyAshley I have the windows open and fans going to get fresh air inside before the heat starts to ramp up, then it’s lockdown and AC on.
@SassyAshley I feel so bad that you’re under so much pressure. I can imagine how hard it is to see your mom in so much pain and I pray she finds relief soon. Just try not to take on too much. You know what they say?…. You can’t look after anyone else if you don’t take care of yourself

I have a zoom meeting in an hour and then Dh and I are headed to Costco for a few small things.

We are just about to go over our weekly spending and pay the CC before my meeting. We also will be chatting about our plans for our vacation days and find out when we might be able to drive up to Dh’s brother for a visit.

Hope everyone has a great day and stays cool.

[Frugalbigmama]

Laundry hung up to dry. I just put it on my rack in the spare room because it is really getting windy out and may rain. I don't want to have to worry about running out to get laundry if it comes in fast!

Lunch is a garden salad and a few pieces of honey garlic chicken bites.

Recycling was finally picked up and now I can take my cart in the garage and add the bin to it that I didn't have room for!

Yesterday I bought extra long Poise pad (36 ct) for $2.44 at RCSS. (think reg price is around $18.99) they were clearing out the packaging. I think I will go buy 2 more today and then I am stocked up for awhile. (for nighttime) I seem to have a regular period still so may as well stock up!

[Frugalbigmama]

Well I can't believe the month of June is almost over!!!! I really needed to plan some vacation days (well had tentative plans but needed to book off work)
I have taken a few long weekends. One weekend camping with my sister and niece. Also with them a few days in Niagara Falls. We use to do that every summer with my mom's best friend and her kids. We stayed at a motel with an outdoor pool. It was fun.
We had it planned to do the summer of Covid but canceled. So last summer we went in August and had a great time.
And now we are booked again this August. My sister said she would book this year and just told me that she booked the Sheraton and used points so no cost. Wow! So we will have rooms beside each other like usual. Now to research the Zip-lining we think the kids will like to do This will probably be the last year my youngest comes with us but I will continue to do it with my sister for an annual trip.

[SassyAshley]

@harbie thank you. It is a challenge, right now I just wish I could find a way to take away some of the pain.

The doc called, it is "mild" arthritis, nothing can be done other than the anti-inflammatories and he suggested she start physiotherapy. She does not have physio coverage so he suggested she find some YouTube videos to watch.

This is beyond frustrated, based on my research, something is not lining up here. I really wish he would send her to an arthritis specialist but he says it is not needed as it is "mild" arthritis.

[Frugalbigmama]

Just booked us attraction packages for Niagara Falls. Best part is the bus pass that comes with it! We are so looking forward to not having to worry about driving. We will just park and take the bus or uber! We just need to look into and book the Zip line for the kids (no way I am doing this!!!) then everything will be booked and paid for and all we have to worry about is our food and shopping if we do so. My kind of vacation. (of course I will be bringing a cooler of breakfast and lunch food. then we will just enjoy nice dinners out )

[SassyAshley]

After seeing just how sparse our veggie drawer was I decided I had to go shopping today. Let's be honest, I knew if I did not go today I probably would not go later in the week and I really need to get our meals back on track, including grab and go meals for Mom on the bad days.

I was worried when I got there as when I walked into the produce section it was looking a little sparse but I got everything on my list except for more Cranberry Oat bread, they are still out. I got:
1 x Naturally Imperfect Peppers 2.5 lbs $5
1 x Naturally Imperfect Carrots 5 lb $3.50
1 x Grape Tomatoes 680g $4.99
1 x Garlic 3-pack $0.79
1 x Celery $1.88
1 x Strawberries $1.88
1 x Green Onions $0.99 (PM Food Basics)
3 x Broccoli Crowns $0.88 (PM Food Basics) - I was 100% prepare for them to deny this price match but they did it, yippee
4 x Cucumbers $0.57 (PM Wal-Mart)
1 x Artichoke & Asiago Dip 454 g $6
2 x Tortillas $1.44 WUB 2 or more (Stocked up on whole wheat but needed a couple more White)
1 x No Name Apple Cider Vinegar $1.49
4 x Gay Lea Sour Cream $2 (PM Freshco)

I am happy, I spent $41 and some change and we are now fully stocked on veggies again.

When the new flyers comes out, I do not think we will need much but I will see what is on sale. The only thing I know we will need is more lettuce so hopefully someone will have that on sale.

[coupon girl]

Sssy -i have "moderate " arthritis and my doctor gave me me the same pills as your mom ,plus i wear a pull on cloth brace somedays when i am walking a bit or up or down the stairs.

[Angela273]

I went to WM late this morning. I’ve learned not to go too early if I’m hoping to get discounted produce. Sure enough, I saw the lady going to fill the clearance produce rack just before I bought my items.
I bought 10 bags of discount apples, 4 apples per bag. I still need to wash and sort them.
I also bought 3x English cucumbers that are on sale for 67c each.
50% off discounted yogurt cups.
Aveeno lotion on sale - $3 coupons that are about to expire.

WM was out of liquid children’s Tylenol of any brand and also out of stock of Lanicane anti-chafing gel. I’ve completely run out of anti-chafing gel and I can really tell the difference.

I just learned that the anti-chafing gel has been discontinued by the manufacturer. No wonder I haven’t been able to find it for months.

edit: I bought 44 apples for the $10 from the clearance apples. I washed and sorted them in order that they need to be eaten it. There were too many to fit in just ons crisper drawer in the fridge. We are all happy to have the fresh apples.

[SassyAshley]

Since I was working from home today, I tried to tackle all of the house things that could kind of do themselves.

I emptied the Dishwasher and then ran a clean cycle using Vinegar and when it was done washing I wiped out the whole inside of the dishwasher.

I washed the couch blankets and then I took apart the detergent dispenser and soaked it, wiped it down and ran a clean cycle on the Washer using Vinegar.

I vacuumed the couch before I put the couch blankets back out.

I watered all of our plants, excited I see a few buds, not expecting much this year but good to see they are thriving and planted two romaine stems I started in water to get them sprouted.

I worked for an hour two and then took a 15 minutes break. All of the things I did today, I set a timer and did not spend more than 15 minutes on them so I could get back to work.

The one thing I really wanted to get done but did not was the kitchen floor, but it is what it is. For a work day I am super happy with what I got done.

Dinner tonight will be homemade pizza and a big Salad now that we are restocked on veggies.

[cath007]

Good late afternoon everyone!!!!
Yay I received my popsicles 2 packs 6 per pack molds..cannot wait to make popsicles( I need to make place in the freezer before)
The life project was giving away big mister freeze with the heat yay!!!
I hope to receive my country harvest 3 fpcs and purina coupons soon.

Wishing you a lovely evening and night!!!