July 2022 Frugal Chatter: All about fresh products and gardening!!!

[coupon girl]

Here is a tip i read somewhere put a few lemons in a container of water in the fridge ,they will keep for awhile and not shrivel up.

[SassyAshley]

I spent a lot of time at the start of pandemic looking up and trying tip/hacks to extend the life of your produce. Some worked, some did not but I will say some really help. If I do not cut it up I get lettuce to last up to a month, I have potatoes that probably over 2 months old right now in my basement, no sprouts, not soft, I can keep celery for at least a month.

It does take a lot of work to keep up with all of these things. If I grocery shop on a Saturday morning depending on how much produce I buy, it might take the rest of the day to prep and process but in the long run it is worth it to be able to buy the produce on sale and have it last.

[Frugalbigmama]

Happy Monday! Not looking forward to my work day but the sooner I get at it the sooner it will be over.
I didn't really eat dinner last night so I was hungry this morning. I made myself 2 eggs over easy with multigrain toast. And a banana!

Drinking my water now and then will have coffee.

At 11 I will make myself take a break and go for a walk. And then again this afternoon around 2.

I will make the chicken stir-fry for lunch. Then the leftovers can be in the fridge for anyone interested.

Loved my bean tacos last night but I now know I am not a fan of corn tortillas. I have been wanting to try them for a long time and now I know lol.

Have a wonderful day!

[cath007]

Good morning!!!
Yesterday I did not feel productive at all...but I made my grocery,printed some recipes I want to try,baked chocolate chips muffins and called my auntie to go to costco probably this week. and cut the big watermelon and break it into slices in the fridge.Tasted the muffins this morning ,they are delicious..I think the trick is to add chocolate chips.
I forgot to do one price matching ,I had 9 to do normally I dont have that many but the maxi and cie flyer this week was not good..so quite pisssed after me...I will learn...I exchanged 40$ in pc points so now I have just 10 000 pc points grr...But the receipt was 172$ after the points it was 132$ ..so that did help a little bit..my grocery of the week is done except maybe milk but gosh so expensive...
And also I was very surprise the chicken and pork skewers did not have a 30% off as they expire the same day...but I dont know they had many packages all the date of the july 10....that is weird..maybe I dont go at the good hours..It was earlier sunday morning....

Noticed the planters nut that where 3$ last week are now 3,99$..really..cashews..
Noticed when maxi see other place sale they tend to remove the items...or maybe people cleared shelves grr..I hate that.

QOTD: Sorry I know it was asked before but what you do for keeping organizated your price matching and dont fortget one...Any tips will be welcomed!!! Normally I put a shelve on my cart just for price matching but I guess I was tired or distracted...I realize only when I was home later when review my receipt the $$ I was charged...grrr

Dad is currently doing the dishes..grr so many...Not being able to have a diswasher because no place and fixtures ..really it is a bummer!!!

Love the new dirty litter bin..so much nicer!!!

I have some issue with my stove yesterday it is not made the same way as the old one but I will learn
I did found a tip to preserve my flour put shape ball of aluminium foil..and you what is your?

Enjoying my smootie and I will move on

Cannot wait for tonight dinner Bacon Cheddar Sausages,brushetta,salad and fruits for dessert!!!
Happy Monday!!!

[SassyAshley]

@cath007 , all of my local stores that price match have the double decker carts so what I usually do is place all my price matches in the top section of my cart and all my regular groceries in the bottom section.

As I previously mentioned I use Rebee to Price Match so when I am at the till, I always put my non price matches first and then using my phone I line my price matches up on the belt in the order they show on my phone. So it is almost like a double check before I finish checking out and I tell the cashier starting at X product I have Price Matches.

If I have any marked down items (pink stickers) I put them behind my price matches so I can make sure they do give me my discount. I have had it happen before where the cashier was in a rhythm and did not see the pink stickers.

I have seen some of the couponing blogs recommend having a reusable bag in your cart for each store you are price matching to sort it that way. But to me it feels weird to put items I have not paid for in a bag, I would worry too much staff through I was trying to hide something.

[cath007]

@SassyAshley : I use reebee too but just to check the flyers...I dont know the others functions so I guess it is that my problem...I wothe my pm on paper.. thanks for the tips !!!

[cath007]

Another QOTD: For thiose of you who are using frozen fruits in smooties or baking what is your favorite brand and what is an ok sale price I could paid? I start to think about that for my winter smooties...I will freeze season fruits but maybe not enough for all the winter. thanks I might check Costco when I will go along with fresh salmon,caramel cheese popcorn and see other things.

[Frugalbigmama]

Another QOTD: For thiose of you who are using frozen fruits in smooties or baking what is your favorite brand and what is an ok sale price I could paid? I start to think about that for my winter smooties...I will freeze season fruits but maybe not enough for all the winter. thanks I might check Costco when I will go along with fresh salmon,caramel cheese popcorn and see other things.

I have bought the PC and Our Compliments frozen fruit and my sale price was $2.99. Haven't seen that price in a long while so not sure what the new good price is
Fresh bananas are a cheap fresh fruit (but for some reason I have never been a fan of bananas in smoothies)
Stocked up on a clear out from RCSS last year and we still have 5 bags left I think (2.7KG I think they are) So hopefully it gets us through the winter.

[HermanH]

Here is a tip i read somewhere put a few lemons in a container of water in the fridge ,they will keep for awhile and not shrivel up.

The video showed lemons in a paper bag, which I already do.

[cath007]

@Frugalbigmama :thanks

[Frugalbigmama]

Checked off a little job off my list that took 2 mins. But I would only think of it when leaving/coming home. Wash the bird poop off the garage!
Must have been a big bird flying by with good aim lol

[SassyAshley]

@cath007, Rebee also allows you to make a shopping list and I use that feature as I always have my phone with me so I decide to stop and shop unexpectedly I have my list.

For frozen fruit it depends on what kind we need, we use a lot of frozen fruit:

I like the triple berry mix from Costco it is Raspberries, Blackberries and Blueberries, this is our go to but it used to be $11.99 or $12.99 which was a good deal but last time I was there is had jumped to $17.99. Luckily I still have 2 bags I bought at the lower price on hand so we should be good for awhile. But I like one because it does not have Strawberries in it, I find mixed with Strawberries are always overloaded with Strawberries and lack the other berries.

Costco also has blueberries which I bought, at the time they were $9.99, no idea on the price now, we like these ones for baking, or breakfast.

Outside of that any fruit I was buying were normally the PC fruits and like @Frugalbigmama, I would wait for a $2.99 sale which does not seem to be coming around anymore. I have seen a couple sales for $3.99 but few and far between, seem to mostly be $4.99 now.

The other option is if you find fresh fruits on sale super cheap, you can freeze them yourself. Years ago our Sobey's was cleaning out the big containers of blueberries for $0.99, I bought 8 of them, and froze 7 of them. I washed them, laid them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet until frozen and them popped them into a ziplock baggie and I could just take out what I needed.

[harbie]

Another QOTD: For thiose of you who are using frozen fruits in smooties or baking what is your favorite brand and what is an ok sale price I could paid? I start to think about that for my winter smooties.

We go to Costco and buy the mango and pineapple frozen fruit. Our smoothie recipe is 2 bananas ( preferably green) , 1 cup each frozen mango and pineapple, 1 BIG handful of fresh spinach and water to blend. If the bananas are green we add a tiny bit of agave otherwise if they are ripe we add nothing else. So good and packed full of vitamins A,C,B6,E,K iron, calcium, potassium. All the good stuff. We drink that all year round and almost every day so Costco works best for us.

[harbie]

Getting the laundry done today before we head out today. Yesterday we did a just over 10km walk/run around the lake but that means I didn’t do any household chores so now I’m doing it before leaving.

Grocery list is made. Only getting a few things because I’m not happy with this weeks prices. Hoping next sales will be better.

6 month budget review with Dh was done this morning. Still over my grocery budget for the months but I’m not really sure how much more I can cut it down. I’m over $156 a month which I guess isn’t too bad but I really want to try and fix that.

Going to check out some new running shoes. I’ve been waiting for the new ones to be released and while they’ve been out for a few months it’s now in the budget to get them! Yes, I have a bit of an addiction to running shoes, trail shoes, hikers, etc….. no more stilettos for this girl!

[cath007]

@SassyAshley and @harbie : thanks for yours tips and input..Wow so the price of frozen fruits are insane !!! I checked IGA compliments yes they are 4,99$...I guess inflation is everywhere...
So I regret to not have purchased more blueberries with the deal I got last week...
I will try to make space in my freezer and freeze some fresh ones...But I will check just in case at Costco,that is on my list lol
I know I will get bluberries big 2 l ice cream container from my godmother this august the brother of her husband my godfather have a bleuetiere on their land. And i will maybe go pick some too..the week end

Starting to make a small list of things I want to check at Costco
for sure fresh salmon and caramel cheese popcorn(will be more cheap than 4,00$ cracker jack tiny bag) lol
I will check the frozen fruits,the trail mix nuts,shrimps,chicken breasts and chocolate
Is that the person who have the membership that need to pay??? I will ask to my auntie and I will bring cash to refund her just in case
Can we bring our reusables bags?
Thanks