January 2023 Frugal Chatter Thread -Money shuffle dance time!

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
I did not get as much done as I had hoped yesterday, it kind of became one of those days. Mom tweaked her knee and was in a lot of pain. I was working in the stockpile room and a jar of spices spice and it was in a jar and it smashed all over the floor.

I did get some stuff done, I did do some work on the pantry, it still, probably needs another 15 to 30 minutes to be complete. I did do more work on the Dining Room Table but the bin of food has not been sorted but hoping if I focus I can also get this done finished in about 30 minutes.

I have decided I might try Bullet Journaling this year. Amazon sent me a recommendation to download a Bullet Journal book, I did not buy the book but after reading the description it got me thinking so I did some research online and I think this would be good for me. I plan to keep it pretty basic to start to see if this is something I enjoy, I do not want it to become another thing on my to-do list but if I enjoy it, I can expand from there.

When it comes to my achievements I am a visual person, this is why I love to-do lists. I get to see the list, I get to see things crossed off it motivates me. With the Bullet Journal, I can lay everything out at the start of the month and still have that visual on how I am doing. Plus I like the idea of tracking for a month and seeing how things went.

I do need to go to the Dollar Store to get supplies. They sell a ton of kits online but WOW they get expensive and since I am keeping it simple Dollar Store will do.

I spent last night planning what I want to track to start and how I want to lay things out so once I get my supplies I should be able to put together my journal quickly, I will start my tracking on Monday when I return to work.

Trying to talk myself into going grocery this morning, there are some good sales out there, and quite a few things I would like to grab and stock up on. Since we did not get the freezing rain overnight there is nothing stopping me besides my not wanting to go. But I really should go.

Happy Thursday Everyone

[coupon girl]

Morning went to shoppers seniors day for me -spent 90.00 but needed a few meds ,got a 10.00 promo card for next time
some deals i got
(2)pkg of 3 chicken breasts 6.72 each package after 30% off and the seniors discount -close to date so in the freezer they go
breyers ice cream for hubby 4.99-400 points=4.50 -i see that is never going to be 3.99 anymore
(2) jello powder for hubby as he has to eat soft foods for 2 or 3 weeks 1.59-20%=1.27
bananas ,a few pears,some nuts ,milk
(2) country harvest bread 2/7.00-1200 points personal offer=5.80=2.90 each

got 3,491 points

then i got gas and home 1.44 gas was in ontario saved .58 cents on the gas thru RBC and petro

[SassyAshley]

I did it, I went grocery shopping. Going, to be honest, for whatever reason, I really did not want to go grocery. But, I knew I would be happy to have it done and not need to worry about it. Plus this way I can plan my meal/ingredient prep for the weekend.

I got:
1 x Pineapple $1.88
2 x Blackberries $1.88
1 x Blueberries $1.88
1 x Kiwi 600g $2.88 (PM Freshco)
2 x Mangos $0.88 (PM Freshco)
2 x Green Onion $0.88 (PM Freshco)
1 x Garlic 3-pack $0.88
2 x Cucumbers $1.44 WUB 2 or more
1 x Mini Cucumbers 1.5lb $4.00
1 x Celery $2.47 (PM Wal-Mart)
5 x Whole Wheat Tortillas $1.44 WUB 2 or More
2 x White Tortillas $1.44 WUB 2 of More
1 x Plain Bagels $2.88
2 x Whole Chickens $1.88/lb
2 x Lean Ground Beef $3.49/lb (PM Zehrs)
3 x No Name Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles $1.88
1 x No Name Lasagna Noodles $1.88
2 x Quaker Old Fashion Oats $1.98 (PM Freshco)
1 x Lawry's Season Salt $4.99
2 x No Name Sour Cream $2.00
2 x Tru-Taste Milk $4.88 - 50% off Sticker

All of the 1% had a short expiry date, the 6th so I will freeze them and we will use milk out of the freezer instead, works for us at that price. Wish I had more room for a few more bags but we are already fully stocked in the freezer

The first time I price-matched meat at No Frills, price-matching meat brings out my anxiety but it was such an easy process. I used to price match at RCSS but they changed it from taking the pack to cash and price matching to, you had to find a butcher and get them to process a new sticker at the butcher's counter. That is when I stopped as rarely could I find a butcher and when I did either they did not know how to process it or gave me a hard time. At No Frills you just take it to cash. Will 100% price match meat again at No Frills.

The Mini Cucumbers made me think of @walkonby and a story she told a little while ago. Normally I do not buy these but this was a good deal, and Mom says these do not give her heartburn but English cucumbers do.

I was going to grab some Ribs for Mom as a treat as they were on sale for $2.88/lb but there were no packs under $20.

I was not planning to go to any other stores but after I brought the groceries home I decided to run to Dollarama to get supplies for my Bullet Journal so I decided to run into Freshco and get:
1 x Clementines 3lb $2.88 with a Scene Card
1 x Napa Cabbage $0.88/lb

I did not see the Napa in the flyer but happy to have it. I see Eggroll in a bowl on next week's meal plan. They also had Cocktail Tomatoes on sale I wanted but they did not have any in store.

I am happy with everything I got. spent just $100 and with the price of everything right now, this is good. I was expecting higher with the Chickens and Ground Beef.

[walkonby]

I checked the gas gauge in the vehicle at 6:30 a.m. and decided a fill up can wait till Friday. I did not see much worth making a trip to FreshCo for from the flyer posted on sc and so of COURSE when my flyers arrived about an hour ago there was a FreshCo one in the pack!! I never get that one when there are many sale items I want to buy. Mail has not arrived yet, my regular guy is off for a few weeks hoping to miss the white stuff. Just watch! It'll fall all at once and pile up when his vacation is over....been there done that. @SassyAshley that was a decent haul for $100.00

[HermanH]

The first time I price-matched meat at No Frills, price-matching meat brings out my anxiety but it was such an easy process. I used to price match at RCSS but they changed it from taking the pack to cash and price matching to, you had to find a butcher and get them to process a new sticker at the butcher's counter. That is when I stopped as rarely could I find a butcher and when I did either they did not know how to process it or gave me a hard time. At No Frills you just take it to cash. Will 100% price match meat again at No Frills.

You need to lodge a complaint, if you want RCSS to change.

I have learned from experience with problems similar to yours. I found them annoying, but checked back later to find that RCSS had changed their procedures according to customer complaints. RCSS used to only price-match for certain stores but, according to the customer service gals, they received so many complaints that they expanded their policy to include any store within Edmonton. I did not file a complaint, but happily discovered this change only after checking back many months later. Sav-On foods follows a similar 'butcher-only' policy.

[Angela273]

@Angela273, wishing you good luck on getting a position closer to home.

Were you able to resolve the issue with Scene+?

Scene+ customer service insisted that the $60 I’m missing points was redeemed and credited again, but my app doesn’t show that. She couldn’t explain or understand why my side didn’t look like hers.
While on the phone with her I tried to address different missing points…she wanted me to write my explanation and submit pictures of the receipts, which she wanted me to include in an email reply…but I never received the email from her. Looks like it was a waste of my time.

[SassyAshley]

@Angela273 , hopefully, the points are on your account you just cannot see them and it will resolve itself.

[barbis9]

cath-congrats on the bike ,i bought a recumbent bike yrs ago i need to get back into using it .

I would love to go out today before snowy weather happens but right now it is too foggy for me .I really need winter tops ,we will see.

Had a lovely visit with my friend and her mom and dad ,hubby and i enjoyed herself
.They loved the tea towels -oh i needed some new ones was a comment i recieved.My friend said wow i would love to know some of your ways for saving ,so we will see if she meant that .

I mean these tea towels were so thick and lovely for 1.66 each ,and my neighbour always says to me bed bath and beyond is so expensive ,not if you are like me looking for deals year round plus i used the 20% coupon on top of that item.

I heard Bed, Bath and Beyond maybe declaring bankruptcy.

[barbis9]

Scene+ customer service insisted that the $60 I’m missing points was redeemed and credited again, but my app doesn’t show that. She couldn’t explain or understand why my side didn’t look like hers.
While on the phone with her I tried to address different missing points…she wanted me to write my explanation and submit pictures of the receipts, which she wanted me to include in an email reply…but I never received the email from her. Looks like it was a waste of my time.

@Angela273 Have you tried sending an email through the app? I got a confirmation and replied to that. But Scene has issues and it has been a pain at times to get points that were loaded. Good luck.

[harbie]

I wasn’t planning to shop but I saw the frozen Dole Smoothies packs were 10.99 and the $5 CO51 offer but of course it was gone when I got off work. Figures it would clear out while I’m working. Oh well, I ended up finding a $5 off coupon.

I ended up getting

1X Dole -5.99 after coupon
4X Impossible ground round reg. $11.99 sale $6.99 mins $2.00 CO51= 4.99 each
2 BIG hunks of ginger $2.09
1X Green onion for $1.99 but I needed it.

One client that didn’t give me any bonus (which is totally fine as I never expect anything) ended up giving me my bonus today! It was a nice surprise.

Just made dinner, almost finished tidying up and then I have to do my workout. No weights today so running it is. Now I just have to figure which ones I want to do and stack my workouts on the app.

[lilo0003]

@harbie keep checking to see if the offer comes back. I had this a few months ago where it was gone and then I saw whatever is was came back as I was uploading another receipt.
pits been a very no spend week for me. I have stayed out of the stores and used what we had on hand. I did get lucky and find pork tenderloin on sale for 2.00 a pound at RCSS on the weekend. This is the only way I eat pork and it’s so easy to cook I bought 4 packages of 2 each.
Tomorrow I have an appointment for fingerprints for work and this will go on my corporate card. I may treat myself to a coffee at mickey d’s. I have 8 of the cards full and they expire this year.

[coupon girl]

lilo-my hubby went to use a mcdonalds full card on jan2 and they told him they are finished with that was on only til the 31 of dec /22

Sorry darn it all i just checked online and it said dec31/23 ,i tossed 2 in the garbage the other day .

[SassyAshley]

@harbie , yes, what is up with the price is Green Onions, it is insane.

I was price-matching them a couple of weeks ago but noticed the price before my price-match was $2.49 . Oh how I miss the days of 2/$1

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Slept in a little this morning but may have been needed. I was feeling a little off yesterday.

I was so excited yesterday, I had the house to myself and had so many plans. I finished my lunch and went downstairs to work on the pantry and all of a sudden I started to feel sick. It just hit me like a ton of bricks and came on so fast. But it also left just as quickly, 2 hours later I felt completely fine.

I took advantage of the time to do a few work things I needed to get done before we reopen. I had played with the idea of trying to get it done Monday Morning before we opened but I know me and my luck and I would either sleep in or the servers would be down or something would happen so to be safe I got it done.

Cheated on Dinner last night after all of the events of the day, I did not plan dinner, I did not feel like cooking so Mom picked up Mary Brown's. It was a treat but I will admit my mind spins a little, telling me this cannot become a habit, but I have to remember the situation has changed and it won't become a habit.

I need to figure out my plan for today. Originally my plan had been to get everything done yesterday well I had the house to myself and then take today off, rest, relax, and then go into my normal weekend routine preparing for next week. But since I did not get everything done, I need to reevaluate. I am kind of thinking I am in a good place and can get it all done over the weekend and still take today off.

Happy Friday Everyone.

[harbie]

Glad you’re feeling better @SassyAshley . Weird that it came and went so fast but then again nothing surprises me anymore unfortunately. I miss those prices too on green onions and what made it worse was the size! I can’t wait to get in the garden this year for some REAL green onions, big and taste real oniony.

Headed to work later this morning so just going to enjoy my tea and brace myself for the day.

Hope everyone has a great day.