December 2022 Frugal Chat (when Autumn turns into Winter)

[coupon girl]

Got my groceries at no frills today went at 8.10 and the store was crowed when i came out at 9.10.
I spent $162-40.00 in points =122.78

Some good delas i got
(2) boxes of 6 bundle royale kleenex 2.99 each
(2) maple leaf hams p.m to freshco i told her 9.99 but she put in 8.99 as per the freshco flyer -2,000 points instore each -1500 personal points offer =$6.24 each !!!!
(1) blueberries p.m walmart 1.67
p.m gala apples to walmart 1.21
(3) gay lea unsalted butter p.m fortinos 4.49 each cheaper than shoppers no name
p.m lays chips to freshco 2/5.00

plus a lot more

so no meat except the ham ,i tried to price match a whole chicken to freshco for 1.99 but it was the grain free ones in no frills,so a no.Got 6,100 points back on todays shop.

[Ciel21]

Good morning! Today looks better than yesterday in terms of weather conditions.

Saw this article about recalls on certain Pine Sol cleaners, toys & paddleboards: 'IMMEDIATELY STOP USING': Major recalls at Canadian Tire, Costco, Dollarama, Home Depot, Walmart and Amazon involving cleaners, sports gear and toys trigger multiple Health Canada warnings | TheSpec.com

Had the morning cup of tea. Am waiting to see what No Frill's special offer is today at noon on their calendar. Last night, I spent time looking at local store shopping sites and even No Frills locations in Hamilton (but not Waterdown)-not one of them has that limited edition Kellogg's Gingerbread Pop Tarts grocery item (shown in current NF flyer) listed on their store sites. I even checked Oakville and two Mississauga stores! So it might be a seasonal item in-store and coded differently in system? I'm puzzled.

My order from Nordstrom is on its way to me today. Have to see if the Simons order is also on the move too.

I'm hearing the siren call of those 6-packs of pop at Food Basics...no idea what's on the shelves today but hoping there will be a couple of favourites available.

[SassyAshley]

Oh my, I feel like I am going cross-eyes on these reports. It is hard to tell where I am at because of how it is broken up, I think I am about halfway done, I think.

I had to take a few breaks today because I was going cross-eyed.

I got the dishwasher emptied and reloaded.

I made a whipped Feta Dip but I may have to tweak it a little, it is a bit salty. Not sure if more lemon juice might help? I have it in the fridge letting the flavours meld and I will see, maybe just maybe after sitting the flavours will meld and no tweaks will be needed.

I ran to Home Hardware to get a Dryer Vent Blocker. It goes on the inside pipe to help to stop drafts from coming in. The wind comes right down the pipe and makes the inside of my dryer so cold. The outside vent also needs to be replaced but we are waiting to hear back on that.

Mom thinks if I am going to pull the pipe apart anyways we do not need the kit to clean the pipe. She thought I was getting it so I did not need to pull the pipe apart. But from the videos, I saw you need to clean from both the inside and outside which means pulling apart the pipe. So we are going to pull it apart and see, if we need the kit I will order it then as it says it should arrive in 2 days.

Wrote my to-do list for Home well I ate lunch. I broke down a lot of the stuff that needs to be done into smaller tasks as my goal instead of trying to tackle it as a big project, I have made them little tasks and my goal is to tackle one a day.

Looks like this weekend might be a busy one, but seeing things getting done have me so motivated to just keep pushing forward.

[cath007]

Happy December to all!!!
I cannot believe we are already in December ...good or bad things...not sure
*** The Subway promo buy at least a $25 GC and get a 6 inch sub free is back at least in QC..saw an add last night*** Maybe it could be worth checking if this is the case for others provinces if you are planning to get Subway

[cath007]

QOTD: In witch date except for gifts you are planning to buy your Christmas food and put decorations and tree up??
Me I finish school the December 23 ,and I will have 2 bigs exams...so I am not sure ..I want and need to be concentrated not distracted for that moment for now..mmm

[coupon girl]

cath-i put my tree up last sunday (early for me) and food a few days before xmas.
I did get my turkey last week at food basics 1.88 a pound so $25.50 for 8 of us -mind you 3 are small grandkids under 9 and they dont care for turkey that much.

I did buy after eight dinner mints today as no frills had them for 4.99 with your p.c card.I figure they wont go much cheaper than that.

[lilo0003]

Usually we would have done our tree by now because the younger son is a Christmas nut. But he is away at school so I am not sure about the tree. I have started all the house decorations and so far that’s enough. I did start wrapping tonight.
the meal is cooked by the older son and we do beef Wellington so I will wait a few weeks to but the beef. It’s expensive but it is so worth it. Dessert is a chocolate cake that I pick up at the last minute and usually from Metro because they bring in the Dufflets cakes.

[cath007]

TGIF!!! And the Week End altrought I have 16 chapters=150 pages to work in and do this week end,but the stress and the noises of the school are not there at least.
Took a small nap,I feel I will not be getting much sleep until Christmas hollidays with deadlines of my 2 books and 2 exams...grrr
I relaxed a bit tonight tought,binged the 2 shows on online tv I wanted to see for a long time..need it..
I noticed the sliced smoked salmon I want for making appetizers for Christmas dont go to sale off 9$ off at IGA not in the flyer for now...too expensive..I dont know if I will still purchase 1 or 2 packages...EDIT: Checked in the flyer it is 19,99$ definetely too expensive then the 10,99$ I was paying before...
That is odd I still have back pain...
I subscribed to Christmas lunch at school,it will be pizza and etc and prizes...I think it could be good for knowing the others students.
Hollidays break will be December 23 to January 7 ..long road to do before that...
I will pvr the Christmas special shows because I seriously will not have time to watch them
I will see if I can start using my Slow Cooker ( I have chicken breasts I think not sure and a lots of pork tenderlions in freezer)in the hollidays,to familiarize with that new tool kitchen appliance.
Dad got yesterday is $600 from gvnt for inflation and I am still waiting on mine....it was automoatic deposit..will recheck my account in a few days I guess..should be before Christmas..mmm
Noticed I am at 25 900 pc points,not bad and the free friday at metro product (tortillas kit)are back as well as Super C(tortillas chips)
Couche tard in QC game for instant advent prizes is back too

So between books working it will be laundry and grocery I guess..no choice.I have to count how much smooties I have remaining in the fridge before purchasing more.

A bit of waste this week for food but not to much.
Need to come up with menu planning for this week..I have 2 x sausages,st -hubert gratin,turkey charcuteries and shrimps to use.

I am craving pizza too..maybe tomorrow..will see if Pizza Hut have any decent deals...

[cath007]

A question: Anyone knows until when Mcdo Coffee Cards will be honored at Mcdo..I have maybe 10-15 I still have to use.Thanks

[cath007]

I am craving for the Hollidays a good fondue mmm..will see...( more expensive price per packages then the before 3 for 12$..now 4,77$ a pack...grr)

Anoyone have a good recepie for meatloaf..my La Fernandiere one premade is not sold anymore anywhere...so ...time to make my own..maybe @SassyAshley..since I see it in your menu.


And I continue to hope that Iceberg and Romaine lettuces will re-become more affortables..I just dont buy it anymore with the crazy increasing prizes and I miss salads... especially ceasar salad.

[cath007]

Yesterday was my diplom ceremony for part one of life project(school)
It was awesome!!! We had sparkling juice,cheese and caramel costco porcorn bags,and chocolate and I got a card from the school with all the teachers I had signed in that card.So touched messages.And I got a touching card from my godmother too.We where allowed to invite 2 persons,so I invited my dad and my godmother..THey where so proud of me !!! And I was happy to live that moment not alone,that would have been sad every 10 students where with 2 people of their familly.
We took pictures with the diplom and toge.
I have 4 e-mails by my school network for thanks them to send tomorrow for my appreciation.ITs great that school are interested in the succes of theirs students !!! And we got a surprise bag with a pen and a frame for putting later our graduation pictures.They will send some by email and print some to us.
My godmother took pictures,already on my fb..so many likes and great comments!!!!
Yes a beautifull moment of my life!!!! Feel a bit sad to the fact I will probably wont resee the school and the teachers..huh but moving forward is a good thing too.

[cath007]

So until Christmas I wont be online too much..just a normal choice with school and working in my books.

[SassyAshley]

Christmas prep this year should be pretty easy.

We do not really decorate, we have 3 Christmas Trees I crocheted that Mom decorated that we put out and we have a wreath for the door. Maybe next year we will go out all out but possibly not, as we have been saying for years next year.

Dinner will be simple this year as it is just Mom and me. I have a Chicken in the freezer we will be making and everything else for the dinner is stuff we normally have on hand, potatoes, veggies, broth. Mom will make stuffing, will probably need to grab a loaf of bread for that but that is about it.

For Christmas Eve, Step Mom makes the dinner but I will be bringing the desserts which I have planned out. We are off on the 23rd so I will be making the cheesecake then. The cookies I am hoping to make the week leading up to Christmas, fingers-crossed inventory goes well and I won't have too many mysteries to track down giving me time to make cookies.

Also the weekend before, the 17th, I will be making the cookies for my co-workers to put in the baskets I have been crocheting and sometime that week I will drop them off.

Hoping on the 24th before I go to Dad's that I will have time to make overnight Cinnamon Buns to put in the fridge and cook off Christmas morning.

As long as nothing weird comes up, I think we should be good and my plan will work.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Up early again this morning, not 5 am but 6 am, I will take it.

A nice surprise yesterday, as I was digging out the feta, I had to move the ricotta which I thought needed to be used up, I thought it expired last week but I knew it would still be fine. Nope, turns out it has not expired so I do not have to use a whole Costco Tub of Ricotta this weekend. Although I will use some as I plan to make Lemon Ricotta Muffins.

I am also planning on making some Blueberry muffins since we have Blueberries in the fridge.

Today, we tackle the dryer because we did not get to it yesterday. I am thinking/hoping it won't be that hard once we get everything apart. I really hope. I think I have a plan.

Since I need to wait for Mom to get up, I am thinking maybe I will make dinner and put it in the fridge so we just have to cook it off tonight. In case we are tired and I know Mom will be sore, then we won't have to worry about dinner. I am thinking Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake, I have A LOT of spinach in my freezer plus it will use up some of the Ricotta on top of the muffins.

Will finish our meal plan for the week, I am thinking of adding a few more Slow Cooker Meals so dinner will be ready at the end of the day giving me time to tackle other things around the house.

Feeling super motivated to get things done. It feels great.

Happy Saturday.

[harbie]

Good morning. Today is off to a pretty good start. I was scrolling IG and a couponed I follow posted a deal for a duvet from The Bay that I just couldn’t resist. I got the Fairmont duvet for $89.59 tax in for a king regularly $400! and it’s estimated to ship to my house on Dec 6th.

Thankfully it didn’t really snow here like they said it would last night so my commute should be pretty decent.

Hope everyone has a great day