January 2023 Frugal Chatter Thread -Money shuffle dance time!

After some pondering, there was a lot of pondering, this is me. I have decided I am going to spend today organizing my life.

I do not feel sick but I do not feel 100%, I have that after being sick feeling, body aches and soreness. So I think today is a good couch day.

I am going to update and work on all of my to-do lists.

This will include work, I really want to view this year as a reset, a fresh new year which I know sounds odd since I have been with the company for 18 years going on 19 years full-time. But, since Covid hit I kind of feel like I have never taken a deep breath. My job was highly impacted because, how do you train people when you cannot be in branches or more so there is no one to train because we were on a hiring freeze. I found other things to fill my time (I can now run production alone) but I just feel like I have lost focus on my job and this year my job is going to be insane because we are doing an ERP upgrade. So as the System Administrator and Corporate Trainer, it is me, me and me.

So I want to hit the ground running and have everything I need ready to go. Especially since one of our managers who has a larger number of staff under them has offered their staff to help me *Happy Dance*. I want to have everything they need ready to go and I want detailed lists of who is doing what, what stage are we at, and all of the things so I can make sure all of the tasks are done and done correctly.

But, I also need to organize my home life. I need to write my to-do list for the weekend, I really want to hit the ground running. I know we are a week into the New Year but I feel like my New Year starts when I go back to work. So I want to start "my New Year" with a bang. I am doing well with my personal goals but I know it will be harder once work starts back up so I want to have all the tools I can at my disposal to make next week as easy as possible.

I need to plan my ingredient & meal prep for the week. Figure out what tasks I did not complete over shut down that need to go on next week's to-do list. And lastly but most important to me, I need to create my Bullet Journal, oh my gosh I am so excited.

That is the plan for today. Today we organize my life.

Noticed that the GST amount is back to normal. Had hoped it would be doubled as prices keep going up.

Worried about violence on the west coast of Mexico with the cartel's bosses son was arrested yesterday. I'm supposed to leave for Puerto Vallarta in 12 days. The Canadian government has changed the rating to yellow (high degree of caution) and to avoid travel in certain regions. It is such a shame as Mexico is such a beautiful place, the people are hardworking, and the cartel is just going crazy setting fires, etc. Several airports are closed due to the violence in the state of Sinaloa. Yikkes!!

I finally went to talize after not being there for 3 yrs .
First i donated 6 boxes of stuff a few were mine maybe 3 boxes the rest was son,s he went thru some toys the other day ,so i filled a box.Then i recieved 30% off cpn to help with the cost. Well prices on used clothing have gone up a couple bucks each i noticed ,but i got
(1) long sleeve dressy polyester tan jay top 11.99-30%=$8.60
(1) 3/4 lenght sleeve top from Alia $7.29-30%=$5.10
sleep pants had a tag still on them so they were new $4.49-30%=$3.14
(1) small candle -baquette scent 1.79-30%=1.25
(1) large tin candle 3.29-30%=2.30
(2) pairs of summer glasses awesome shape 3.29-30%=2.30 These use to be 2.99 a few years back

I spent $27.61 so getting 2 next to new tops for 13.70 total made my day.I saved $10.50.

Then popped into dennigers and got turkey meat and walkers xmas shortbread on sale 2.99 and fresh loaf of bread.

@barbis9 , I hope it is safe and you are able to take your trip.

Today is my last day of outside lunch supervision…I’ve been doing it every lunch break for the last month. TGIF, my next lunch supervision is the end of January canteen supervision, which is pretty easy.

Students want me to attend their local hockey game tomorrow.

Has anyone here tried the Kirkland Dishwasher Tabs?

I have noticed lately to get our dishes to come using Finish Quantum we need two tabs. I had high hopes when Costco switched to the Ultimate+ that these would be better but I think they are actually worse.

@barbis9 it really is sad about Mexico. Dh and I got married in PV and have been wanting to return. I thought PV was “safe” but I guess things can change. Hope you can still go safely.

Sorry, can’t be of help @sassy Ashely I’ve never tried them. We use cascade exclusively since I find it works the best.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by barbis9

Noticed that the GST amount is back to normal. Had hoped it would be doubled as prices keep going up.

Worried about violence on the west coast of Mexico with the cartel's boss son was arrested yesterday. I'm supposed to leave for Puerto Vallarta in 12 days. The Canadian government has changed the rating to yellow (high degree of caution) and to avoid travel in certain regions. It is such a shame as Mexico is such a beautiful place, the people are hardworking, and the cartel is just going crazy setting fires, etc. Several airports are closed due to the violence in the state of Sinaloa. Yikkes!!

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oh no! @barbis9 I hope by the time your travel date approaches the rating gets changed to safe!
DH have very fond memories of PV, but that might be because we had no kids back then! ha ha
Strange coincidence though regarding violence. The day AFTER we left PV some vigilantes came
down on horseback into the resort we were at and made their way to the safe, stole all the guests
valuables along with their passports!
That area where they came down from the brush/mountains was the same area that DH and I stood
in and played table tennis every day after our meals!! Talk about dodging a bullet.
All the best to you!!

sassy -my son uses the kirkland dishwasher tabs all the time ,he says they work great and i have used them when i babysit the girls the odd time -no problems .

I myself find dishwasher tabs very expensive lately so about 2 months ago i bought sobeys no name brand $11.99 for 45 or 50 i think and my dishes come out very clean (mind you dishwasher is only coming up a year old.)Plus i always have rinse agent in it.

@coupongirl does the rinsing agent make a big difference? I just use Finish Quantum tabs and they seem to work fine with my old Kenmore portable dishwasher.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SassyAshley

Has anyone here tried the Kirkland Dishwasher Tabs?

I have noticed lately to get our dishes to come using Finish Quantum we need two tabs. I had high hopes when Costco switched to the Ultimate+ that these would be better but I think they are actually worse.

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@SassyAshley I have never tried the Kirkland brand, but Costco does stand behind everything, so it really wouldn't be a risk. I would try them and hold onto your receipt. I use Finish Quantum with my ancient Kenmore portable and it seems to work. I do pre-soak some of my dishes with Dawn Powerwash spray and my dishes do come clean, however, I don't do a lot of cooking, so that maybe why.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by walkonby

oh no! @barbis9 I hope by the time your travel date approaches the rating gets changed to safe!
DH have very fond memories of PV, but that might be because we had no kids back then! ha ha
Strange coincidence though regarding violence. The day AFTER we left PV some vigilantes came
down on horseback into the resort we were at and made their way to the safe, stole all the guests
valuables along with their passports!
That area where they came down from the brush/mountains was the same area that DH and I stood
in and played table tennis every day after our meals!! Talk about dodging a bullet.
All the best to you!!

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@walkonby thank you! I hope it clears up as I haven't had a vacation since 2017. I wanted to do Cuba but my boyfriend wasn't keen on it, however, he has had a change of heart about watching the recent news.

Was the theft from the vigilantes at the main desk safe or the individual rooms? Yikes. I doubt it will ever return to safe level as there has been a lot of issues in Mexico including the Mayan Rivera over the last few years as well. We usually stick to the resort, and for some strange reason I really want to check out the Walmart in Puerto Vallarta. My bf says I'm crazy, but the shopper in me loves to browse.....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by harbie

@barbis9 it really is sad about Mexico. Dh and I got married in PV and have been wanting to return. I thought PV was “safe” but I guess things can change. Hope you can still go safely.

Sorry, can’t be of help @sassyAshely I’ve never tried them. We use cascade exclusively since I find it works the best.

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@harbie thank you! Keeping fingers and toes crossed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SassyAshley

@barbis9, I hope it is safe and you are able to take your trip.

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@SassyAshley thank you! I hope so too. I want to go whale watching in the Pacific.

We use Finish Quantum and absolutely no issues. Could it be possibly that you have hard water? I know that some dishwashers have a spot to add some sort of salt which is used to soften the water. We have used Finish for years with no issue. Sorry you are having issues.

Just took advantage of the crazy $4.99 for 30 tabs Food Basics price to PM at FreshCo and stock up for a years worth of tabs

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SassyAshley

Has anyone here tried the Kirkland Dishwasher Tabs?

I have noticed lately to get our dishes to come using Finish Quantum we need two tabs. I had high hopes when Costco switched to the Ultimate+ that these would be better but I think they are actually worse.

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