January 2023 Frugal Chatter Thread -Money shuffle dance time!

[walkonby]

@barbis9 welcome back! How lovely that you enjoyed your Puerto Vallarta vacation. Good that you were aware of what time sharing scam artists are and hopefully dodged them.
We got trapped only ONCE ( we were so young then, had no idea what it was ), but thankfully I was able to fake crocodile tears to exit the damn place and DH and I still collected our $10.00 in Susan B. Anthony coins?? ( we had no idea who she was either ) .

So, about your Enbridge bill. I thought it was just US! Ours was so much higher too, through the roof high compared to what we normally pay. I chalked it up to maybe we used a lot more than we had thought, BUT....then I remembered that a couple months back we lost our Rite Rate deal, ( the Company that gave us great savings on gas delivery supply)
They were ending all their contracts with residential clients, I forget why now.
So I decided to go with Enbridge's equal payment plan, $100.00 each month and once a year they settle up the over/under. More than likely that final bill will be a big one too, but for budgeting I prefer to know the monthly amount remains locked at $100.00 for most of the year.
We do what we can.

[SassyAshley]

@barbis9 , welcome back.

We do not have natural gas but I know a number of people who do who have said their bills went up, in some cases doubled or tripled recently. Someone said it has to do with the carbon tax and delivery fees but since we do not have natural gas I am not sure if that is accurate.

[Frugalbigmama]

Back from Mexico yesterday landing during the snowstorm. Puerto Vallarta is very safe. However I was annoyed at home much people lie, saying they are from Westjet when they are selling time shares - at the airport, in the hotels, etc. Discovered halls multi-flavoured lozenges which I wished were sold in Canada.

Almost fell over when I opened my recent Enbridge gas bill. Normally during the winter I pay about $100 a month, the most recent bill was for $253.00!!! I keep my house at 20C during the day and 17C at night. How are other SC faring with the increased natural gas prices?

The "shark tank" at the PV airport!!! I was happy I was reminded of it before my last trip there in Feb 2020- They really are aggressive! Just walk through without making eye contact and ignore! Happy to hear you still find it safe there. I love it there and will be back sometime this year!

[Frugalbigmama]

Enbridge Bill- Yes gas rates went up to so I knew it was coming. I upped my budget

[Frugalbigmama]

TGIF!! The sun is shining!

Picked up a Mcdonalds coffee on my way into the office. Enjoying cheerios with a banana for breakfast now

I hope to get lots done around the house this weekend. Also want to clean out my vehicle. I have a bin full of the garbage in the back that I have been filling and I need to take my trunk mat out and spray it (my friend gave me homemade soup and the bin it was in tipped and spilt a bit!)
If this sunshine is still happening when I am done work I think today is the day to clean it. It could use a wash too! ($2 bucks at the do it yourself place)

Enjoy the weekend!

[Frugalbigmama]

Any good PC Pts deals you are redeeming for?

[harbie]

Welcome back @barbis9 oh how I miss PV . Can’t help with your gas bill as we don’t have gas and I’m in BC

TGIF! Yay, the weekend is almost here. After work I have to stop by Natures Fare to get some dressing. The small local shop that I normally get it at hasn’t restocked since the beginning of December and since it’s the same price I’ll just get it at natures fare.

Also going to grab some hummus. I have yet to make my own that I really like. For some reason I just can’t find the perfect recipe . I’m addicted to the one from OJ’s but haven’t been there in years so this one is the closest I could find.

Cold temps are set to arrive tonight (whatever that means) so it’s just going to be another night at the gym and then relaxing on the couch. Hopefully the sun will come out this week at least. Fingers crossed.

Have a great day everyone

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
I had to run out and put gas in my car since the PC Points offer is only good until Sunday, grrr, I had planned to fill up Monday but oh well it is done now.

I ran into No Frills just to grab a few things, there was not a lot on sale we need this week but I got:
1 x Onions 10lb $2.99
2 x Mangos $0.89 (personal PC Offer)
3 x Roma Tomatoes $1.29/lb (PM Freshco)
2 x Blueberries $1.88 (PM Food Basics)
1 x Blackberries $1.69 (PM Freshco) + 4000 pts for buying 3
2 x Peameal $1.99/lb
2 x Ivory Body Wash $3.99 (PM Food Basics)
1 x Vanilla Ice Cream $2.99 - To replace the one we lost

I was not able to Price Match ribs as Zehrs has Side Ribs on sale and No Frills only had Back Ribs but not back for right around $30. The berries worked out to $0.48/package.

[coupon girl]

Barbis glad you had a nice trip.

Yes enbridge bills ugggg-my house is a 2 storey .Just hubby and i, i keep my house at 71 degrees sometimes 72 when it is super cold.Ours is a budget billing plan has been for years ,now it is doubled $159.00 a month .In ontario .

Gotta go have the girls all day ,just went to McDonalds yep 19.00 2 kids happy meals and 6 nuggets and a seniors coffee for hubby.This is a treat for the girls .I ate a happy meal lol cara like only nuggets(oh and her age 5 told me not 4 nana i lkie 6 and she ate them all.)

[Frugalbigmama]

Barbis glad you had a nice trip.

Yes enbridge bills ugggg-my house is a 2 storey .Just hubby and i, i keep my house at 71 degrees sometimes 72 when it is super cold.Ours is a budget billing plan has been for years ,now it is doubled $159.00 a month .In ontario .

Gotta go have the girls all day ,just went to McDonalds yep 19.00 2 kids happy meals and 6 nuggets and a seniors coffee for hubby.This is a treat for the girls .I ate a happy meal lol cara like only nuggets(oh and her age 5 told me not 4 nana i lkie 6 and she ate them all.)

We are in a 2 story too and I use to put the temp down when we left etc but I haven't been doing that. Ours is usually at 67. I put it to 66 the other day because it felt warm. My last bill was $222.24 but it was an estimated bill so I'm curious to see my next one. (We don't do the budget billing just pay actual)

[Skippy]

Good day! Snow piled up here but thankfully not like that big storm last year in January. For the most part one is able to walk through the neighbourhood except where the city hasn't bothered with yet.
Welcome back @barbis9 betcha want to do a u-turn back to warmer climes.
You're blessed @coupongirl to be able to spend time with your grandchildren and you even take them to McDonald's.What a neat nana you are!
Hope everyone has a good,healthy,warm weekend of fun and frivolity.
Be the blessing you would have others be to you!

[walkonby]

thanks everyone for the insight on Enbridge. Rates going up, that does account for part of it.

[flemeth]

Back from Mexico yesterday landing during the snowstorm. Puerto Vallarta is very safe. However I was annoyed at home much people lie, saying they are from Westjet when they are selling time shares - at the airport, in the hotels, etc. Discovered halls multi-flavoured lozenges which I wished were sold in Canada.

Almost fell over when I opened my recent Enbridge gas bill. Normally during the winter I pay about $100 a month, the most recent bill was for $253.00!!! I keep my house at 20C during the day and 17C at night. How are other SC faring with the increased natural gas prices?

@barbis9 welcome back Glad you had an awesome time in Mexico. Never had a vacation in Mexico.

I am on equal billing for Gas we pay $175.00 monthly . I am pretty sure it will be very high when we have to catch up with the payments.

[barbis9]

I double checked the the Enbridge meter number and the reading. As they are short staffed (I suspect from the Union Gas merger they laid people off), the Ontario Energy board is on them to ensure that they read the meters regularly as people have complained about too many inaccurate estimated billings. They overcharged me significantly last summer which made no sense.

I think I may have caught COVID in Mexico, several people said they got sick during their vacation. I just tested myself and will re-test tomorrow. While the climate is beautiful in Puerto Vallarta, I became really annoyed by the third day. No one warned us about the airport, and because my BF uses a walker as he is visually impaired, we get nailed twice in the airport, than once in the hotel, as Timon tours got our hotel mixed up. We almost got hit by motor vehicles trying to cross the street on a green light - four separate times, which was very scary. I am glad to be home - its not the best place to go with a walker. Next time, we will stay put in the resort. My bf said they lie like Trump! The service at our hotel was exceptional, and we made sure to tip well, as I read the minimum wage is 80 pesos a day (a little over $5 Cdn a day). Enough first world problems.

I did my laundry and took out the garbage and rested today. I hope to test negative as I need groceries and to exchange my leftover pesos at the bank. I accidently took out 3000 instead of 300 pesos at the HSBC bank, kept pressing cancel, but the transaction went through , as the bank had closed at 2pm last Saturday. That withdrawal worked out to $227 Cdn ouch.

[coupon girl]

Ahhh skippy thanks for the nice compliment ,well the girls went home at 6/15 .It was a long day ,my friend dropped by at 2.30 and gave the girls a small dollar tree bag with valentines treats and crafts in it ,nice gesture.

What am i doing now putting my aching back on my heating pad ,my lower back is killing me from all the bending i did outside on our small hill as they went down it ,i even made a small bump near the end they could go over.Plus all they playing i did with the girls.