March 2023 Frugal Chat

[harbie]

Busy week so far and a busy day today too.

I did 5 century workouts ( ride, strength, stretching, walk and lastly running). Even got a shout out from my UK instructor .

Only had time and energy for a couple of laundry loads and a quick trip to get some “milk” and some small stuff.
2 Cliff bars @ 1.69ea - $1WUB2
3 Silk products -3/$1 coupons
a couple of gas coupons for $2.47 total.

Now to get ready for work tomorrow.

[Frugalbigmama]

TGIF!! It's the weekend! Woohoo!

Was considering heading out of town to visit family tonight but they are calling for not nice weather so thinking best to stay close to home.
Probably a good day tomorrow to get stuff done around the house.

Picked up a MCD coffee on the way to work. A nice change. Cash only- they had no wifi so couldn't use other payments. Could have been lured in for an egg mcmuffin but resisted the temptation.
Brought my lunch (veggies and chicken) so I won't starve.

Now to get this work day behind me!

Have a wonderful day!

[barbis9]

Terrible PC offers - I have only 4,000 points but have an offer if I redeem 10,000 I get back 30% in points? makes no sense. Fortinos is so overpriced, I now spend the bulk of my shopping at Food Basics, and even there I have cut back considerably. Had Kirkland broccoli and cheddar soup that went bad of the two that came in the pack - doubt I will buy that again.

Looking for a free tax program to do taxes online, as I am low income. Does anyone know if Ufile still is free if you are below a certain point?

Busy Friday, helping a friend this morning, than home to clean up for afternoon guests. I find it harder to get things done. I need to get structure back into my days.

Have a great Friday everyone.

[Ciel21]

Terrible PC offers - I have only 4,000 points but have an offer if I redeem 10,000 I get back 30% in points? makes no sense. Fortinos is so overpriced, I now spend the bulk of my shopping at Food Basics, and even there I have cut back considerably. Had Kirkland broccoli and cheddar soup that went bad of the two that came in the pack - doubt I will buy that again.

Looking for a free tax program to do taxes online, as I am low income. Does anyone know if Ufile still is free if you are below a certain point?

Busy Friday, helping a friend this morning, than home to clean up for afternoon guests. I find it harder to get things done. I need to get structure back into my days.

Have a great Friday everyone.

I don't know about free online programs, but BPL has free income tax help on Mondays in your community:
https://attend.bpl.on.ca/events?term=tax&r=days&n=50

HPL sent me the April What's Happening guide (benefit of subscribing for those e-mails!) and there are a series of free income tax clinics for qualified persons (no self-employment income, income cutoff etc.) at certain branches.

There's a cool clothing repair session at Dundas branch on April 25! Embroidery machine demo is set for April 29 at Central Branch.

[Ciel21]

Hamilton hosts the Around the Bay Race on Sunday, so expect some road closures or restrictions late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

Given the weather forecast of freezing rain coming tomorrow to #HamOnt, driving tomorrow will be a cautious affair. I will not venture out to the library, so today is my catch-up day of Internetting after two days at home.

I picked up the LCBO food and drink issue on Wednesday and also found the new Look Local magazine at Longos (been a long while since I found a current issue in-store). Will post links to F&D magazine, as @harbie and @walkonby are sure to enjoy the Spring Drinks Forecast (the glitter stuff) and @harbie might want to try the Maple-Lentil Vegan Pate, using vegan Merlot from her province in the recipe.

Mom finally did a grocery shop yesterday (took a couple of days to get her going) but she came back with mostly produce, two of my requested pantry staples that we were out of and no protein except for canned fish. Sigh. I ran out of my elbows pasta so I will use up the large shells. Giant Tiger has 900g Primo Pasta on sale ($1.25, limit 6)in the current flyer but I was without funds on Wed when I was in-store to look at Spring offerings (twill canvas spring jackets in two colours were the only jackets found, no new bath maths, $7 men's winter gloves on sale still).

[Ciel21]

Scene+ to expand into Quebec as of yesterday and Grocery Gateway (by Longos) customers will be moved to the Voila.ca platform this summer:
https://forum.smartcanucks.ca/437431...3/#post7234178

Note: Sobeys and Voila.ca in February sent out notices to customers to provide 2-factor id to use their services. That puts me out of ability to order online as I don't Internet at home where the landline is (and I've no cellphone #/device). So--I will see if Longos.com still allows orders online w/o 2 factor id. That way I may still be able to do some spring orders before the service transfers platforms this summer.

[cath007]

Good earlier afternoon,
I slept in
Yes we have sunshine Yesterday was just rainy all day
Yes I will ask for the Scene Card Sunday at my IGA
TGIF !!! It is a holliday here in school in QC,but that change nothing have to work super hard on my book because exam is next wednesday,for custumer service,
Doctor appointement tonight too...Have a bunch of things to talk.
Got paid wednesday night...but I will have to review spending,still very overbudget
But I expect to not spend so much in grocery this week
Dad started but he is slow to ''work'' on my taxes papers...
Have a good day

[Ciel21]

Was glancing through the digital Longos flyer and noticed a different Neighbour in Need bag offer-the usual bag is $11.99 (dinner) but there's a new Breakfast bag for $8.99. Can buy bag in-store or order online when placing a grocery order. Last year, there was a Baby bag offered. Good to know!

Campaign runs from March 27 to April 9 (stores are closed on April 9 but online orders likely still work on website).

[Ciel21]

Anyone shopping for Becel Oil this weekend-Shoppers Flyer shows it for $6.99. If you have the expiring $1.25 off any Becel coupon or the newer $1.50 any Becel coupon, this is a good buy!

[SassyAshley]

Good Afternoon,
Oh what a week, it was not my best but trying to move past it. I will admit, I felt a little deflated earlier this week. Since our upgrade is now a week away that has been my focus but there were some questions about why I was not giving other things more attention. It left me feeling a little overwhelmed and honestly, I just wanted to shut down. I am already working 12 to 14 hours days and weekends to try to make sure everything goes smoothly, so I kind of sat here thinking when do you want me to do this?

Today is a new day and I am moving forward. I had to head into one of our locations as a few remotes worker came in for me to set up our new links for the upgrade. Plus my boss asked to talk to me about some ongoing "issues" with the upgrade since I dealing more with the IT company since I can walk them through our issues.

I decided to shop my way home, I went to RCSS and No Frills and tried to Price Match as much as I could. Honestly, I could have gone to pretty much every store and there are some things I did not get so I may pick up a few more things next week. But for the weekend we are good. This is what I picked up:
RCSS:
3 x Peppers $1.99/lb
1 x Asparagus $1.99/lb
1 Cherry Tomato $5.00 + 1000 pts
3 x Zucchini $1.29/lb (PM Metro)
1 x Hot Dog Buns 12-pack $1.99
1 x Ribs $2.49/lb + 100 pt/$
1 x Knorr No Salt Garlic $6.49 (PM Metro)
1 x Knorr No Salt Chicken $6.49 (PM Metro)
1 x Knorr No Salt Beef $6.49 (PM Metro)
2 x Whipping Cream 473 ml $2.29 (Cheaper than Costco, I wanted 4 but they only had 2 left)

I grabbed the Knorr No Salt to try, the regular price at RCSS was $10.49 and Loblaws in advertising them for $11.99. I have wanted to try Noodle Cups where you make Homemade Noodle Cups using Chinese Noodles and various veggies but all recipes call for bouillon to flavour them. We do not buy bouillon due to the salt content so excited to try these.

The ribs are a treat for Mom, a few times she has seen them on sale and mentioned they would be a nice treat and $2.49/lb is the cheapest I have seen and the packages are not huge. No Frills had them on sale last month but the packages were huge and still $30 or more, I got 2 racks which will make 2 or more meals for us for just under $14.

No Frills:
2 x Raspberries $1.55
1 x 2-pack Romaine $2.77
1 x Limes
1 x Naturally Imperfect Apples 6lb $6
1 x Naturally Imperfect Limes $7 (eek, there was no sign and I meant to have them check the price and got distracted, will make sure these get used)
6 x Beef Broth $1.44 = 200 pt/$
1 x Dare Breakfast Crackers $2.44
4 x Classico Pasta Sauce $1.99 - Personal Offer with a limit of 4
2 x No Name Fries $2.49 + 400 each

I was going to grab the Breakfast Crackers from Metro to try as they were 2/$6 so I could not price match them but turns out No Frills was cheaper. Those Limes, oh my cannot believe I missed that, I am noticing more and more things in my No Frills do not have prices but normally I remember to Price check them at cash, 100% on me. I would have just grabbed a couple of loose ones which were $0.88 each.

I wanted some grapes which are on sale for $1.77/lb but they only had 3 bags and they did not look good. So maybe I will check for those next week or see if I can Price Match at Freshco.

I did spend a bit more than I had planned because of the Ribs and the Knorr no Salt, did I need all 3 no but I really want to try them and they are good until I think 2024 and they are the 640g jars, they will last a long time.

I may still go to Walmart and get Mushrooms and Freshco for Sugar next week.

All and all I am happy with my shop. Now to write my to-do list for the weekend.

[cath007]

Good earlier evening everyone
I am back from my doctor appoitement .I took 25 minutes,+ I went by walking,still backpain but fresh air and sun is so good for the soul and stress.
So I will resee my doctor april 21 at 6:00 pm another Friday.We chatted a lot and I had a lots of questions. For the program to loose weight no news so I will recontact them.
Regarding my itchy red spots on arms,nothing can be done apart trying to manage more my stress ,the cream the pharmacist sugges me and I continue to apply and reactine
Regarding school She find the school very restrictive with me..she wanted to writhe a paper but that will change nothing unfortunnatly.
Regarding my 2 bigs toes nails..she saw them and she said the bottom is ok very white and in heath it is the yellow that color is normal for 1 year to stay yuck..
So no treatment to add...
Regarding my big headache no special pilss just need to h ave a good sleep and less stress + good eating habits
The psychatrist diagnostic is social phobia...so ...dont know what to think of this
She did a request for me for seeing a psychologist in public at CLSC(like outside the hospital)
I change my medication.More and more and another one change for more..very ...deceived..but it is what I need..will do it steps by steps.
Overall a good needed appoitement
Thanks for reading this ,have a good night.Off to dinner and writhe my grocery shopping list and work in my book .Forgot to said I managed to do 3 loads of laundry this afternoon...done yes

[Angela273]

We survived the 5 day week. My next two teaching weeks are only 4 days long. I’m staying at the rental house this weekend to work. I’m trying to meal plan and figure out what to pull from the freezer. I’ll go to the coop tomorrow and see what deals I can find. The store is closed on Sundays, so I believe I’m more likely to find deals on Saturdays. I didn’t find meal inspiration…I’ll hopefully figure out more tomorrow and cook on Sunday. I plan on going home next weekend, which is 3 days long for me.

[lilo0003]

@Ciel21 hard to believe it’s already time for Around the Bay. I have run this a few times back when I was running. I still remember that brutal hill at the end. @barbis9 I am also having better luck with food basics and with 3 really crappy offers I doubt No Frill will see me this week.
DS2 works at RCSS now, he does not yet have a licence which is frustrating but I used it to my advantage today and checked Flashfood at least 4 times and picked up a cheap bag of salad and some cupcakes.
There is almost nothing we need in the flyers so I think groceries will be cheaper this week.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Woke up early this morning but took me some time to get out of bed.

I was feeling so behind last night on my personal stuff. I had wanted to catch up/finalize my budget Wednesday, did not happen, tried again Thursday, but nope so I was frustrated with that. I knew we were under budget but I wanted to get it all on paper to see exactly where we were. I did not get it all done last night. But at least got started.

Not much Prep to be done this week, mostly just some chopping. I wrote a meal plan last night but did not include many new recipes to try, not quite sure how this week is going to play out with work. But did add a few. Last night we just had Hot Dogs as my foot was bugging me (dang Planterfasactis) and Mom was having a bad day.

We have some leftovers in the fridge to use up, we have some Baked Potatoes (I do not know why I made 4 instead of just 2) and cooked Rice so will use those up. Think I will see if Mom wants to make the Ribs tomorrow night with the Baked Potatoes and some of the Asparagus I bought.

Ugh, I see Costco has Ground Pork on Sale this weekend only, that is on my watch list and works out to $2.42/lb the best price I have seen in stores lately is $3.99/lb. But I do not want to risk the drive with the weather that is supposed to come today. It is supposed to start right as Costco would open. Maybe tomorrow.

I noticed yesterday at No Frills that the 30-pack of eggs which used to be $8.99 is now $9.29. Need to check Costco's price.

As many mention Taxes, I remembered to drop mine off yesterday. I have meant to drop them off the week before when I was working in production as our plant is like 5 minutes away but I forgot one of my slips. Yesterday I had everything together and dropped it off on my way in. That is done.

Trying to find my ambition but honestly, I do not have much, I can tell the weather is coming in as I have a weather headache and my whole body is saying let's just curl up on the couch and watch Movies.

Happy Saturday

[SassyAshley]

Right on schedule, the freezing rain is here. I was working in the kitchen and could hear it pinging off the window.

Super happy I did not try to make it to Costco.