May 2023 Frugal Chat

[coupon girl]

I decided i am not returning my 12.97 top to costco (with my sister-in-law ) as my hubby's dear brothers wife saw me in it after i tried it on and said it looked beautifull,maybe it is all in my head.I mean it is a loose polyester type top .

I really dont want to inconvience my other sister-in-law.

Cooked a lovely meal today chicken breast ,brocolli and mashed potatoes .

[Frugalbigmama]

Broke out a new pair of Saucony running shoes, out of the 7 pairs I bought on sale at Xmas. I am impressed, thus far. They needed no break-in period and were seriously comfortable immediately; it may be due to their wide designation. I hope that my other medium wide pairs are just as comfortable, when it comes time to use them. They are noticeably lighter than my standard Asics. I just hope that they last as long as my Asics.

Love Saucony runners!! I still have a newish pair in the closet. During covid I ordered online for my boys from Puma and tried a pair of runners for myself. I love them too and have a new tower of 5 on my dresser (I lauged out loud at your 7 new pairs ) Thanks for making me feel less quilty

Since I walk a lot (as I know you do) I change my shoes often so it is a total health thing replacing shoes often. Good support and comfort is important!

[Frugalbigmama]

Good Morning!

Made it to Costco yesterday afternoon. Texted my mom in the morning if she would like to go. (My sister is great for picking stuff up for my mom there all the time but I know she likes to get out and likes to take a look herself. I need to remind my sister this so she can take her more often since they live close and I do not)

Had a visit with my sister/family to hear about their recent trip to South Africa. Sounds amazing and scary all at the same time!

Then the night was young and I was near casino so thought I should go use the free play offer. It was worth the drive!!

Today- I need to figure out when I am heading near Windsor to visit my bestie. Sometime in June just need to pick the days now and make a plan!

Have a fantastic day! Hope you have sunshine!

[Ciel21]

Sassy, I know you work for the family business but a person should never be the topic of conversation in a meeting unless it’s your manager and HR. This is wildly inappropriate and crosses so many boundaries.

Today was a crazy busy day. We cleaned the garage out so a bunch of stuff was posted on the freebie site. I am just waiting for pick ups. Then I realized I was all out of yard waste bags. Grr, I looked at them last time I was in Costco and was sure we had enough. I made 12 dozen meatballs with the help of DS2. So he is stocked up as spaghetti and meatballs is his favourite quick dinner. DH and I did an easy dinner as I had planned burgers and corn on the cob only to realize both kids were going out. So that will be Monday so 1 day planned. My tax return showed up yesterday so that was nice. 1 kid is still waiting but he submitted last minute.
I am exhausted so am going to put my pjs on and. Crawl in bed with my book.

What you stated about @SassyAshley 's situation at work is fuel for any discussion she has with mgmt about what she has to cope with on top of everything else. Don't know of any other magicians at her workplace who gives so much of her free time to solve what should be mgmt work! At the very least, Sassy has a chance to lay down the law of how much work is costing her personally and professionally. ANyone else who has her concerns would probably be sticking to the letter of any leave or reduced work rules and not be doing work overtime on personal time. BTW, Sassy YOU deserve mgmt salary + perks.

[coupon girl]

Well went to my family doctor today had a tetnis shot i was due and i need to get blood work done .So i booked it next friday ,lucky as all the clinics in my area are full up .I need to get it done as i will see my family doctor in 4 weeks time .

I am starting a new med today ,so we will see how that goes .Maybe a bit of dizzy spells or nausea he told me for a while.I had a really good talk with him ,so that made me feel good.

Got the new part for my stove a small burner element from the actual stove part $60 bucks later .

Off to babysit the girls .

[Ciel21]

I broke my "every other week" rule for putting out the recycling box rule because the plastics bag filled up fairly quickly for this week's collection. Plus lots of yard bags-hope the crew managed to lift them as the leaves are wet.

On the weekend, I attempted the Dr Pepper BBQ sauce recipe. Rather too sweet ( I did not have white vinegar (regular) on hand and also no Worcestershire sauce; would eliminate the brown sugar next time) but even after 40min of cooking it down, I ended up with more than the 1 cup it was supposed to be. Funnily enough, Mom and Bro complained of the vinegar smell coming into the house (I had to use the apple cider vinegar Mom had in the pantry). Good news, I found a discounted newer bottle of the same vinegar at Longos on Saturday night, so I poured the remainder of the old vinegar (date was for last summer) down the drain with dish soap the next morning. I also tried a rosemary cupcake recipe-the cupcakes barely rose but the rosemary flavour was too faint. At least I know now not to try it again.

I also bought myself one of the Giant Tiger $7 ladies' top from the flyer. Size large did not fit me at home, just after cutting off the tag (did not think to try it in-store first). Brand name is Next Level so ladies, size up if you can. Size large is tight like a sausage casing. I like the colour I bought so will wear it under a long-sleeve shirt to reduce the impact of the t-shirt. For some reason, my GT store has lots of ladies Mountain Ridge winter gloves reduced to $6 per pair-if you have a smaller hand size, you might want to stock up! I could not find any men's winter gloves in their dept at all.

Have to make a second trip today (tonight) to get a parcel out. Forget to bring tape and postage this morning and realized my mistake when I was on the way to the post office. At least I bought the box and the gift card I wanted to add to contents. Partial victory! Tomorrow's forecast of feeling like 26C gives me pause-not sure if I will come out for Internet time or hunker down with ice and pop at home instead.

Weather has warmed up considerably-guess it makes up for the wet end of April and all that week of rain. I intend to seed some lettuce or radish/carrot soon. Full moon was last Friday but no one made any gardening efforts.Some garlic that self-seeded last fall is half-way to being ready to pull out. Ground needs hoeing however.

[walkonby]

A frugal day was my plan, but I had to do a bit of a stock up, also replenish the fresh stuff. Then once I saw a few sales, the original plan went out the window. NF was the place I donated my money to....lol. Surprisingly, I spent the remainder to reach that " spend " threshold and earned another $22.50 in points! . Plus I cashed in $20.00 worth of points.

Instead of placing the 2 slabs of pork ribs into the deep freeze, I cooked them up!
https://forum.smartcanucks.ca/22310-...2/#post7236593

[Angela273]

I go home this weekend, I have Friday off work so I’ll leave directly after work on Thursday. I have an appointment on Friday. The kids and I are all booked for massages on Saturday. It will be our kids’ first professional massages, and it’ll be completely covered after Dh and my medical coverages reimburse us. We plan on going to Guardians of the Galaxy 3 as a matinee on the weekend. Our twins have play dates at the same time on Saturday. The weather forecast is pretty good and no frost anywhere in the forecast, so I’m hopping to get all the vegetable seeds on the ground while I’m home. I might hold off on planting the tomato plants just yet.

[lilo0003]

DH came with me to Costco and I am so glad he did, the return line was nuts. So he stood in line for the return while I shopped, I did the whole shop before he even got to a cashier. I resisted buying plants. It’s too soon and I always go overboard. I need to go back Friday to pick up a dessert for a party so I will pick some up then.
the pots all looked amazing. I am going to do ferns for the pots at the garage door. A few neighbours have them and I like ferns and the new gazebo does not work to hang the ferns from.

[walkonby]

I go home this weekend, I have Friday off work so I’ll leave directly after work on Thursday. I have an appointment on Friday. The kids and I are all booked for massages on Saturday. It will be our kids’ first professional massages, and it’ll be completely covered after Dh and my medical coverages reimburse us. We plan on going to Guardians of the Galaxy 3 as a matinee on the weekend. Our twins have play dates at the same time on Saturday. The weather forecast is pretty good and no frost anywhere in the forecast, so I’m hopping to get all the vegetable seeds on the ground while I’m home. I might hold off on planting the tomato plants just yet.

@Angela273 what a perfectly delightful weekend you have planned! The massages for all sound terrific, especially getting reimbursed for them! lol The 3 of us here were supposed to go see GOTG 3 on Monday when the guys were off work, but none of us felt motivated to get dressed into our street clothes, so it never happened. Hope your veggie seeds all get planted.

[Frugalbigmama]

Happy Wednesday! The sun is shining so hoping for another nice day!

I have a busy work day but at home today so making an omelette for breakfast and then won't be hungry till dinner.
Taking some BLSL chicken out of the freezer for the bbq. It is a perfect putter in the garage and BBQ kind of day.

Have a wonderful day!

[Frugalbigmama]

What a yummy breakfast and was able to use the last 3 lonely mushrooms, the last of the spinach and a container of cut up peppers/onions
Great way to clean out the fridge
Dishwasher is loaded and the dishes in the sink washed and drying on the counter.

Finally put a load of my stuff in the washer! Been doing others/towels but put off mine. (Probably because I have to follow through and hang to dry lol) Put on my housecoat and added what I was wearing to the washer as well.
Will have a shower after I hang the laundry to dry.
Looks like a nice day so yoga capris should work! Will be a great day for a walk by the water.

[Ciel21]

@Frugalbigmama and @lilo0 03 Have your sons binge-watch Scotty Kilmer's Youtube videos. He's a former auto mechanic and loves gadgets. He dishes on what to consider if buying certain engine types for gas cars, his concerns about EVs and issues with service dept repairs that don't resolves issues (i.e. the techs don't clear trouble codes from automotive onboard computers!). At the very least, they will get a crash course on the world of future car maintenance and some idea of what they are in for should they repair vehicles or need to take them in for servicing.

Lovely sunny day. Did a second shopping trip/walk last night after the postal box drop off (was I ever glad I put a lot of postage, after buying another dollar of postage, I had to pay nearly $3 in fuel surcharge plus HST). Fortino's clearance racks had 50% off Chinese vermicelli (1.49 what I paid), Pane Fresco Amalfi focaccia (paid $2.99), Club House ground mace (paid $3.49), Schneiders snack pack (wth meat cubes, almonds, white cheddar cubes-paid $2.24 as items were expiring next week) and the Unicorn puddings (so cloyingly sweet I regret the neon indulgence but it was $1.74 for me). Then added some other items and I cashed out at $50.53. All carried in my sturdy tote.
It seems that pharmacy got more cold/flu remedies on the shelves but I was so absorbed in the clearance racks and getting my tape for bandages, that I forgot to see if the Advil Convenience packs for cold/sinus were in stock.

I won't be online for the next two days due to higher temps. My hands are starting to get red due to sun exposure.
Maybe some seeds will get into the garden by tomorrow. And some grass will get cut. Making more ice cubes will be a priority.

Butterball turkey burger deals-Sobeys tomorrow will offer Scene+ member pricing of $9.99 if you get a box of them. Or if you live near a Lococo's store, from May 11-14, the price of a box is also $9.99. Happy grilling!

[Angela273]

The weather forecast is lots of rain for Thursday and Friday. If we receive that amount of moisture I will not be able to plant my garden early this year.

[HermanH]

Took my mom to Denny's for her annual birthday meal. We elected for take-out, so that she would not need to share air with everyone else. When we got home, we were pleasantly surprised to find that an extra meal had accidentally been put into the bag. It was a Crazy Spicy Sizzlin skillet. So, I got a free meal to enjoy alongside my mother's free meal.