October 2022 Frugal Chatter: All about Fall and Halloween!!!

[Frugalbigmama]

Sassy what an absolute pita and cars are in short supply now. Hopefully your recovery is quick.
FBM, I highly recommend Blundstones. I bought mine 8 yrs ago and live in them for October to April, the are so comfortable and durable.
We went to a 50 anniversary celebration today for my parents friends, took my father in law and he really enjoyed the day out. He used work with the husband of this couple years ago so he knew several of the guests and was able to socialize.
We almost have him ready to move closer to us, we are all very excited that he will be 5 minutes away not 90 minutes.

Thanks! I'm struggling on what size to get. Do you wear the same size as you do in runners? I wear a 7.5 in everything but not sure about the 7.5 and 8 in Blundstones. I know they will stretch a bit? The 8 just feels too big but the 7.5 feels snug.

[Frugalbigmama]

Picked up DS at his friends house this morning and dropped him off at work.

Came home and did the treadmill I had to push myself but I did it! Now just enjoying water and will make some oatmeal with almond milk and fresh blueberries for breakfast. Then shower and hit the coffee place for a nice coffee and then walk the Farmers Market.

Enjoy the day!

[Giseledta]

good morning all.

on track for today.... housework... so much housework.... but it will feel great when it is done.
supper is chicken enchialdas, and salad.
i need to polish my menu for the week.
i need to plan out my week a bit.. with it being thanksgiving.. it will be a bit. busy. and we have my moms birthday. and my brothers.


my frugal .. yesterday i bought 2 large hams... cut 1 up into 2 smaller pieces for ham dinners. and the other into small pieces for ham on pizza. the piza ham one saved a bunch as i had been using the small maple leaf hams that currently are a insane price. froze all... and lots of ha for pizza in teh winter

oldest colored my hair for me... i tried letting the grey go in my hair... i just cant.. just cant. currently is ... blue. yep.. went a dark blue

donated some stuff on the free site.
they currently have a big ask, little ask section.... i asked for a couple items. fingers crossed.

off to do housework.

[SassyAshley]

Thank you everyone.

Went to bed in quite a bit of pain and woke up in pain so I am trying to take it easy today but so hard because there is so much to get done.

This has really been an eye opening experience. Some of the things I have learned in this process are quite sad and although it was not my fault it feels like are now in the spotlight and everyone is looking to blame you. Really through this whole process from the moment I called 911 to now it does not feel like anyone is trying to help you.

It is hard as there is still so much to deal with but at the same time I want to put it all behind me. My anxiety is high right now, I have a lot going on this week, I am trying to be okay but it is a process. I am a bit nervous driving and it does not help that because my car is damaged I am driving a car I don't normally drive. Part of me wants to hide but at the same time I am pushing myself to do normal things, like grocery shopping.

[SassyAshley]

I did go to Costco this week, there were a number of things in their flyer plus when I checked the hidden sales I had quite the list for Costco this week. I got everything except they had no chicken broth.

My fan deal from a couple of weeks ago got even better. When I was shopping I saw the fan was now marked down ever lower. Originally it was $79.99, I got them for $39.97 but this week they were $19.97. I went to the return desk and got $45 something back. $20 plus tax per fan. I got 2 $79.99 fans for $19.97.

We also got:
2 x Chicken Breast
1 x Pork Butt - These were on sale for $5 off, when I broke it down the cost was $2.14/lb
1 x Ricotta
1 x Parm
1 x Toilet Paper
1 x Paper Towel
2 x Whipping Cream
1 x Cheese Slices
3 x Popcorners - OH MY GOSH so good
2 x Chicago Mix
1 x Cheerios - Will use these for snack mixes at Christmas
1 x Honey - We use so much honey in the winter
1 x Vanilla
2 x Brown Sugar
1 x Icing Sugar
1 x Sea Salt
1 x Soft Soap 2-pack
2 x M & M's
2 x Moveease Vitamins
2 x Probiotics

Other than a few small things I think I have picked up everything we will need for Christmas baking. I decided to get this stuff early so it is not a rush as we get closer to Christmas.

[lilo0003]

I am a size 10 and stayed true to my size becuase I often wear these in the winter with thick socks. They also have two liner sizes so if the are too roomy you can put in the thick liner. Try different styles too because that may help, I tried the traditional and then one called the girl friend with a wider toe box and that worked. Honestly the best part of all is my boots.

[Tweets77]

So sorry to hear of your accident @SassyAshley ! We were sideswiped at the end of April so I definitely get it. Hope your insurance company is easier to deal with. We had to wait 10 days for the insurance to make a decision regarding the repair of my 2014 Fusion but it the end they covered the whole bill ($5.134.00). As well, neither of us was hurt. What may help is the shortage of cars right now due to Covid. I suspect that is why my car was not written off. Good luck and I hope it is resolved quickly.

Good Morning Everyone,
Not the week I expected, I went into the week knowing it was going to be super busy, in a different branch each day.

Tuesday went well, we launched the online system, Wednesday was going well, launched the online system in another branch. On the way home I needed to get Gas because I was covering our Plant Manager the next day and Mom asked me to go to No Frills and get a Ham for Thanksgiving. I was driving up the main street in town to get gas when a car pulled out in front of me and I was in an accident. The car in front of me was turning into the parking lot they were pulling out of and the car assumed I was also turning, luckily I was not going very fast.

Everyone is okay, the cars not so much. Mine looks to have minimal damaged but they are worried about my wheel as it looks like they hit my wheel directly and some panels need replacing.

I am sore, I have chest and side pain from the seat belt. I have been checked out by my doctor.

We are now dealing with insurance and all of that, this has been a real eye opening experience. I called 911 after the accident and the operator was trying to do everything to not send out an officer, they wanted us to have the cars towed to a reporting center that is an hour and half away as our local reporting center closed at 5, the accident happened at 5:15. The police took almost 3 hours to arrive and it has been a very confusing process as it feels like no one is giving you all of the information. Thankfully my aunt is a retired police officer and has been there to help with questions as insurance is saying one thing, the police are saying another and I am feeling very stuck in the middle. One asks for something I try to get it for the other to tell me no they do not provide that information after an accident. It is all very confusing.

At the end of the day thankfully we are both alright.

[coupon girl]

Sassy -hope everything goes as planned regarding your accident ,glad to see you moving a bit and getting out to costco .

Lilo -how nice your father-in-law is 5 minutes away ,enjoy.

Giseledta,i know the price of those maple leaf hams have really gone up ,i havent bought one or 2 in ages but i always use to cut it in half for the 2 of us.

Laundry day sheets may hang as its a bit cold but so windy ,i finished my puzzle which is good as i need the table for thanksgiving having the grown kids and grandkids all 8 of us.I will being cooking it early so we can eat for 2.30 p.m as son is on nights .I am just so excited to celebrate this year .

[SassyAshley]

@Tweets77 , thank you. So far no mention of wanting to write my car off, I do not think there is enough damage, the real question is the front passenger side wheel, is something behind the wheel broken.

Right now insurance is discussing fixing the car but the "issue" is they want to process it as a no fault accident which means in the eyes of insurance I am 50% responsible. To fight this we have to prove the other driver was charged which is turning out to be harder than it seems. Insurance wants the accident report which you cannot just ask for, you have to go through a whole process of requesting the report which can take months to get and costs $350 to get.

The police told me that insurance needs to contact the officer who was on scene and he can confirm if the driver was charged but the person I was talking to said the police office is off and only the officer that was on scene can confirm the charge.

Finding this out after the fact is kind of shocking as originally the officer was not going to charge the other driver but told us (Dad and myself) that then insurance would investigate. Nope, as per insurance if the other driver is not charged insurance views it as no fault accident, there is no investigation and I would be seen as 50% at fault which of course complicates things on the insurance side.

At least in my case insurance is now questioning if I cannot prove there was a charge do we want to move forward with a claim or take care of it out of pocket. They are suggesting out of pocket might be better depending on what is wrong with the car. It is like anything with insurance they are saying unless we have to, we do not want to put through a claim.

[Frugalbigmama]

Ok I have returned from my morning outing. Enjoyed coffee at the Farmers market then walked the town dock (walked up and back each dock)
Then went to Walmart to walk around. Bought bananas.
Then No Frills. I bought 2L grass fed milk for $1.13 on Flashfood (expires Oct 7th, DS will use for cereal- I may make the boys mac and cheese tomorrow or Tuesday)
Also at NF I picked up 3 sirloin roasts (avg $9 each) 3 x broccoli crowns 1 x cauliflower (PM $4.08 for the 4 received 4000 pc pts) and a rutabaga for 1.40 (.99LB) $32.55 total redeemed $30 in PC pts and paid $2.55 cash. We are good for beef for the winter I think. (we have lots of ground beef, steaks and roasts now!)

Came home and started cleaning out the fridge. Made DS chicken fried rice. (leftover rice and chicken) Made lunch for me, (chicken, leftover sweet potatoes and onion with garden salad and yogurt dressing) I am stuffed.
I bought the Dole garden salad at GT for $1.49 yesterday. I had with lunch yesterday and today and there is still lots left. I just added cucumber. (lettuce has been crappy lately so this worked well!)

Dinner tonight will be chicken on the bbq with mushrooms/onions/broccoli and cauliflower and salad. Will make an extra few pieces for tomorrow and Tuesday.

[coupon girl]

Just cashed out of checkout51 i got $35.44 in total of checkout51 today,checkout51,caddle and gocoupons this yr i made $197.79 not bad .I cant do many others as i dont own a cell phone ,so i am happy with what i can do.

[flemeth]

Good Morning Everyone,
Not the week I expected, I went into the week knowing it was going to be super busy, in a different branch each day.

Tuesday went well, we launched the online system, Wednesday was going well, launched the online system in another branch. On the way home I needed to get Gas because I was covering our Plant Manager the next day and Mom asked me to go to No Frills and get a Ham for Thanksgiving. I was driving up the main street in town to get gas when a car pulled out in front of me and I was in an accident. The car in front of me was turning into the parking lot they were pulling out of and the car assumed I was also turning, luckily I was not going very fast.

Everyone is okay, the cars not so much. Mine looks to have minimal damaged but they are worried about my wheel as it looks like they hit my wheel directly and some panels need replacing.

I am sore, I have chest and side pain from the seat belt. I have been checked out by my doctor.

We are now dealing with insurance and all of that, this has been a real eye opening experience. I called 911 after the accident and the operator was trying to do everything to not send out an officer, they wanted us to have the cars towed to a reporting center that is an hour and half away as our local reporting center closed at 5, the accident happened at 5:15. The police took almost 3 hours to arrive and it has been a very confusing process as it feels like no one is giving you all of the information. Thankfully my aunt is a retired police officer and has been there to help with questions as insurance is saying one thing, the police are saying another and I am feeling very stuck in the middle. One asks for something I try to get it for the other to tell me no they do not provide that information after an accident. It is all very confusing.

At the end of the day thankfully we are both alright.

@SassyAshley I am happy you were not really hurt in the accident. I will just give our experience that happened to my DD in in April . She was in an accident she was sandwiched between cars and the police did not come out even though this was on the Highway. We had to take the car to a reporting enter I DH took the day off so as to be there with her . When he called the insurance the deemed her fault for the hit on the car in front of her but we were lucky that the driver that she hit saw that she was at a full stop . And there report was the same. Anyway her car was a write off. Lucky we have mechanics in our family that when the look at the car the know it was a write off. So we took it to the preferred shop that the insurance ad us to. The also write off the car when the adjuster saw the pic that the preferred shop sent them the did not give my DD any fault since the police report was also in her favour. My DH was on the phone and back and forth with emails to the adjuster to look at the pictures and police report . You have to be your own advocate

[Ciel21]

@Tweets77 , thank you. So far no mention of wanting to write my car off, I do not think there is enough damage, the real question is the front passenger side wheel, is something behind the wheel broken.

Right now insurance is discussing fixing the car but the "issue" is they want to process it as a no fault accident which means in the eyes of insurance I am 50% responsible. To fight this we have to prove the other driver was charged which is turning out to be harder than it seems. Insurance wants the accident report which you cannot just ask for, you have to go through a whole process of requesting the report which can take months to get and costs $350 to get.

The police told me that insurance needs to contact the officer who was on scene and he can confirm if the driver was charged but the person I was talking to said the police office is off and only the officer that was on scene can confirm the charge.

Finding this out after the fact is kind of shocking as originally the officer was not going to charge the other driver but told us (Dad and myself) that then insurance would investigate. Nope, as per insurance if the other driver is not charged insurance views it as no fault accident, there is no investigation and I would be seen as 50% at fault which of course complicates things on the insurance side.

At least in my case insurance is now questioning if I cannot prove there was a charge do we want to move forward with a claim or take care of it out of pocket. They are suggesting out of pocket might be better depending on what is wrong with the car. It is like anything with insurance they are saying unless we have to, we do not want to put through a claim.

Short of a dashcam video (yours or another driver's of the accident-I have been watching too many dashcam videos on Youtube this year), it seems you have to deal with the existing process to work its way through various parties.

Another version of above-if a nearby business has video of the incident. Thing is if business only has video for 72hours before it's overwritten, how to to get it.

[Ciel21]

Had a strange reply to an email query I sent yesterday-answer was totally unrelated to the query. So, I'm going to punt that situation to the Universe to sort out.

Have noticed that a couple of female news anchors are wearing some spiffy fall apparel in jewel tones. One was a red microsuede short-sleeved dress; another a black blouse with large purple/pink flowers. No, I have not found them on Rickis, Reitmans, Holt Renfrew or Suzy Shier websites. Will keep looking around!

Gloves for winter continues to be a hit and miss situation. For us large-handed women, where to find size 9 gloves except if we look at men's gloves or *maybe* thrift stores but my local one tends to be small/medium size oriented for gloves (I've looked).

The Bay has a Thanksgiving sale with up to 30% off plus continuing Fall Home sale with more promising deals.

I was looking at The Millionaire's Daughter website and content for all three locations. There's a half-canoe bookcase on GOOD Buy status for $800+ (perfect for a canoeist or cottage person), some lovely rugs, servingware for Thanksgiving plus decor items (even spotted an old dish set like the one our family used decades ago-someone had an almost mint condition version of the pattern set plus at least one gravy boat) and various fun items. Saw a couple of wing chairs but the fabrics are not to my taste. No leather chair. Did see a spitting image version of a couch in a different upholstery that my late aunt and uncle used to have (in leather). What a fun discovery!

As soon as second laundry load is done, I'm off to get some tea and breakfast! Got up too early but could not settle back in bed. Looking forward to Ms Sunshine later in the morning.

[Frugalbigmama]

Finally eating my 1st meal of the day. Should be less eating today I hope lol!
Had a work crisis and then a massage!