September 2022 Frugal Chatter; Almost Fall and Harvest time !!!

[Ciel21]

Community paper listed a few local candidates in my ward that I had no idea about. Last day to phone in for Hamilton mailed out ballots if anyone is wanting to vote by mail.

Just going to work on my room organization and own paperwork. Feel like shredding paper for a long time!

[walkonby]

@SassyAshley what utter nonsense with NF nickle and dime-ing us on " invented " Price Matching rule changes for quantities/where produce is grown , etc.
Goodness, no one needs more roadblocks to save a few bucks grocery shopping.
I got in and out fast at NF, was there right ate 8 a.m. when they opened and grateful their cauliflowers were huge as I PM-ed 2 of them and got 2 broccoli to earn the 4,000 points.
My final OOP was worth redeeming 50,000 points on to reduce the sting of it all.
There was no need to hit a 2nd or 3rd store today because shockingly they had all the things on my list for the better price.

Sadly though, as I was loading the bags I landed shrieking " oh no! " between my vehicle and the curb I parked next to.
I just stayed down half whimpering, half red faced for about a minute. Where is a crane when you need one to hoist you back up?
Both knees are bandaged now, left one took the worst of it. The swelling and stiffness started right away.
Sigh....and I was having such a good day up until then....lol

[harbie]

Yikes! @walkonby I’m so sorry . Hope you can ice and rest them and it helps. Get better and please stay upright from now on

[coupon girl]

Oh no walkonby ,hope its not too bad your fall. My dear hubby just fell as he tried to jump on a shovel in our hard dirt to put a plant in out front ,well his wrist is being iced at the moment .

On better news my low grade fever is gone and i just tested and its showing negative ,mind you i still sound horse and cough the odd time .So this may have been day 6 as i may have had covid on sunday(as i was sooo fatigued) but didnt test til monday.I know if i go out next week i have to mask up for i think 10 days .

Anyway was sitting in a chair out front soaking up the lovely sun rays ,when hubby fell -he said "hurry help me up" as i guess he didnt want anyone to see .Oh and i dont have the energy to help him up .lol

[SassyAshley]

oh no @walkonby , hope the pain goes away quickly.

@coupon girl , hope your hubby feels better soon

[SassyAshley]

Ok, super super busy day.

I started my day in one branch with a workflow meeting, we are making changes and need to determine and lay out how the workflow will change, who will take on what and do we have the staff to make it work.

Then I left for another branch as we are moving some tasks to there branch and today was the first order they were handling.

My Mom was supposed to spend today with a friend but her friend cancelled on her and I could see she was disappointed, she does not get out often anymore. So I offered she could come with me, I grabbed her a Tim's on the way down so she sat and had her wrap and tea well I was in the branch and then she tagged along as I shopped my way home. She was only able to go into one store, the others she sat in the car but it got her out of the house.

Here is what I got today:

RCSS:
1 x Naturally Imperfect Carrots 5lbs $2
2 x Naturally Imperfect Apples 6lbs $5
1 x Naturally Imperfect Limes 3lb $5
1 x Avocados 6-pack $1.99
2 x Green Apples

Mom wanted the Green Apples, turns out even though she was with me we had some miscommunication. Last week she mentioned she wanted to make Apple Chips which is why I grabbed 2 bags of apples, turns out she wanted the Green Apples for the Apple Chips so now I have A LOT of apples to use.

As well, I totally forgot to grab celery grrrr, they had it for $2 but I missed it on my list.

Wal-Mart:
2 x Great Value Olive Oil 1L $5.97
2 x Gay Lea Sour Cream $2.18
2 x Half and Half 1L $2.27
2 x Buttermilk 1L $2.27
4 x Beef Broth $0.94
2 x Dark Brown Sugar $1.97

I checked RCSS and Wal-Mart and neither had Russet Potatoes. I was hoping since the Naturally Imperfect Potatoes were on sale they would be russets, nope they were white potatoes. Then Wal-Mart had to All-Purpose Potatoes, looks like they did not have any and were subbing in White Potatoes.

As I mentioned when we got home I realized I forgot Celery and 2 recipes need it. I had tried to grab some the day before at No Frills and they had none but I need it so back I went, still no Celery but they had Organic Celery Hearts 2-pack for $2.99 so I grabbed those. Oddly they were cheaper than the non-organic Celery Hearts which were $3.49 but had they had just regular celery it would have been $2.49. It is what it is we are in soup and stew season I need celery again, will have to check Costco's price next time I go.

[Giseledta]

@sassy - your no frills experience sounds concerning... @walkonby - hope you feel better soon @coupongirl .. hope your hubby feels better soon


busy , but good week.
going to be a busy weekend. ...
anniversary of my dads death is tomorrow. .. we also have groceries for us and my mom.... and another family obligaction after.
Sunday my mom wants to go to church ... i will not be attending. this is a church that is .... extreamly traditional and i just wont. .. then to go to my dads grave side.

and laundry.. i have a ton of laundry to do ... sigh.
busy weekend.

i am doing groceries differently this time. my youngest shared what she is doing.. so giving it a try.

She uses insta cart to make her list... and adjusts it to make it fit into her budget. she said she does it as she is not sure of prices and doesnt want to be short of cash. she makes her adjustments at home... ie... oh thats high... i will swap out raspberries for something cheaper... ect ect ect..
that way she doesnt have to micro manage the money in the store. and make any smaller choices there if needed.

i am giving it a try. took a few things off my list.. found cheaper solutions... ect.. so far ... on paper it looks good.


spent some of this week , just trying to look for savings, less waste...
brought some herbs in . did a bit of winterising. wrote out a plan with a few goals in place for this and next week.
little things bring big changes

[harbie]

Did a simple shop at save on foods. Ended up with $90 in veggies and 1 ND coffee creamer, 1 ND cheese ( both on sale) for $45 after using my SOF points $10 off every 5000 redeemed. Not bad but still shocking at how little $90 gets you.

Still have a run at Costco to do for spinach, hemp hearts, flax, tofu and a few other things we use in large quantities.

[SassyAshley]

I also ran into Costco yesterday but could not type it out. I was so tired last night at one point I literally sat here staring at my computer screen and forgot my logon for like 2 minutes.

I do need to go and do a large Costco shop which I am planning for next week as the next cycle of sales has some deals I want to stock up on. BUT this week they had all of Mom's vitamins on sale and if you know you know when Vitamins and Over the Counter Meds go on sale at Costco there is no passing up that price.

So I ran in and grabbed:
2 x Calcium Magnesium
2 x Glucosamine
2 x Turmeric
1 x Provolone Cheese Slices
3 x Pita Chips
1 x Brown Sugar
2 x Icing Sugar

Everything I got except the sugars were on sale. My Costco stopped selling the Pita Chips and I LOVE THEM, when we were in Hawaii I ate a whole bag but they are back and were on sale, I think $3.99 so I grabbed 3.

The Sugars, I am already starting to stock up for the Christmas Baking Season, I saw Food Basics has Golden Brown Sugar, Dark Brown Sugar and Icing Sugar on for $1.99 which is pre inflation sale prices so I was going to stock up. BUT since I was at Costco I checked their price:
Icing Sugar is always $1.99 for a 1kg bag
Golden Brown Sugar is $3.39 for a 2 kg bag
Dark Brown Sugar they do not sell
We discovered this week we were out of icing sugar, we only have what is in the container in the kitchen so I grabbed 2 and we brought up our last bag of Golden Brown Sugar so I grabbed one. When I go for my stock up haul, I am going to take some of my Christmas Grocery $$$$ and fully stock up.

BUT the best deal, as I was standing in line to check out I saw a skid of fan that were originally $70, marked down to $40. I grabbed 2 as both bedroom fans need to be replaced.

My bedroom fan the plastic on the fan base/motor section cracked so it wobbles. Mom's fan is dying, sometimes when you turn it on it does not start or kind of sputters and then starts so I know in time it won't turn on.

Only thing is previously Mom had a tower fan in her room but these ones are stand fans. I was going to replace hers with a new tower fan but for this price, a stand fan it is for her room.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
So much I want to get done this weekend. I know I am going to have a crazy insane week with work so I want to be prepared, have some stuff ready to go so getting dinner on the table will be super easy.

Plus I am celebrating all things fall, I want soups and stews and casseroles. One of my favourite things to do in Fall and Winter is make a batch of soup each week and have it in the fridge to Lunches or a Quick dinner, so thinking I will make a soup.

But first thing first, I need to tackle my fridge, see what is in there, what needs to be used up, what needs to be prepped and just get everything ready.

Plus I have some cleaning to do so it is going to be a busy weekend.

Happy Saturday

[flemeth]

@SassyAshley what utter nonsense with NF nickle and dime-ing us on " invented " Price Matching rule changes for quantities/where produce is grown , etc.
Goodness, no one needs more roadblocks to save a few bucks grocery shopping.
I got in and out fast at NF, was there right ate 8 a.m. when they opened and grateful their cauliflowers were huge as I PM-ed 2 of them and got 2 broccoli to earn the 4,000 points.
My final OOP was worth redeeming 50,000 points on to reduce the sting of it all.
There was no need to hit a 2nd or 3rd store today because shockingly they had all the things on my list for the better price.

Sadly though, as I was loading the bags I landed shrieking " oh no! " between my vehicle and the curb I parked next to.
I just stayed down half whimpering, half red faced for about a minute. Where is a crane when you need one to hoist you back up?
Both knees are bandaged now, left one took the worst of it. The swelling and stiffness started right away.
Sigh....and I was having such a good day up until then....lol

@walkonby so sorry that you had that fall. Hope you are feeling better today.

[flemeth]

Oh no walkonby ,hope its not too bad your fall. My dear hubby just fell as he tried to jump on a shovel in our hard dirt to put a plant in out front ,well his wrist is being iced at the moment .

On better news my low grade fever is gone and i just tested and its showing negative ,mind you i still sound horse and cough the odd time .So this may have been day 6 as i may have had covid on sunday(as i was sooo fatigued) but didnt test til monday.I know if i go out next week i have to mask up for i think 10 days .

Anyway was sitting in a chair out front soaking up the lovely sun rays ,when hubby fell -he said "hurry help me up" as i guess he didnt want anyone to see .Oh and i dont have the energy to help him up .lol

@coupon girl it’s good you are feeling better and your Covid test are negative. Hope you hubby is not in too much pain.

[Giseledta]

ok.
so my youngest lives in Halifax.. hurricanne Fiona is nasty... she has no power. last i heard she will be out of electricty till sunday at 11 pm.

my dad passed 4 years ago today. my mom is having a hard time. we will spend some time with her today. tomorrow taking her to church and the grave side.


i ordered a gift via amazon... sending that back . quality sucks. i need to get pick up a gift.
i have focused a bit on removing unwanted emails.. things i somehow got signed up for blah blah. .. i love getting less emails.

i am trying to avoid a yarn sale at micheals... 30 % off all yarn... really .. is it a need or a want... i should use up what i have..... really really should. but... pretty new yarn.....lol

have fun all.

[SassyAshley]

Oh no @Giseledta , hope your youngest stays safe and the storm is not as bad as expect and they get Hydro back faster than expected.

**HUGS** to you and your family on this day.

[harbie]

@Giseledta I’m sorry for your loss and thinking of you and your family today