May 2023 Frugal Chat

[harbie]

Hugs @cath007

[walkonby]

@SassyAshley what a whirlwind of couple of days at work for you! I was pleased to see you were " heard " in your meeting with the boss and regional manager. You Go Girl!!
Just remember you cannot be 2 places at once, so the house stuff can just wait. For sure you'll bake up some yummy dessert with the fruit about to go.
Nice to have that alternative for items when they over-ripen.

My shop this morning at NF was also very fruitful! ha ha The sunshine just had me in such a friendly mood...and sorry @GoJays but I'm sometimes THAT person who engages other shopper's by speaking to them, often having a laugh over some silly store product or sharing coupons I won't use. If I was a hockey player I'd probably get a penalty for being the Instigator, as I'm always the first one to speak.
Today I sure made one woman's day at the cart area before I went in by unlocking one for her and then handed her an extra corned beef hash metal " key " so she'd never have to dig through her purse again for a Loonie. She was so appreciative, almost gushing with gratefulness at this life hack...lol That was my last spare key, so the next can of corned beef hash we enjoy I'll need to remember to unwind and save it.
I told her to attach the corned beef key to her regular key ring so she'd always have it at the ready like I do.

I bagged up 9 cobs of corn, 3 family trays of T-BONE steaks! ...that's 6 steaks if you're counting, totally unaware I had a fresh beef offer which earned me $4.70 off of them.
Cannot wait to get some of them on the charcoal grill on Sunday. Stocked up with 4 more bags of Italpasta, PM'd 3 trays of fresh berries, a pineapple, beef steak tomatoes and naval oranges.
Grabbed 2 x BD cheese slices, 2 of the 18 pack of eggs, 2 watermelons, 2 x the 2L milk ....kinda feels like a Noah's Ark shop.

Lotsa stuff bought. Putting it all away is just another part of the work......right @SassyAshley ?
Unsure if buying 3 pkgs. of the Royal Tiger towels ( 2 = 6 ) that come in paper outer wrap was a good buy? Sale was $4.99 and I used 3 x $1.50 coupons to drop the price
on them. Sounded good.
Now I'm done. Physically that is. Just going to sit and maybe catch some tv shows before the nerve racking Leaf game goes tonight.

[SassyAshley]

@cath007 **HUGS***

[SassyAshley]

@harbie , I am a bit jealous of your Spring Deep Cleaning.

@walkonby , I tell you some days this whole eating thing is just too much work. You have to go and buy the food, haul it home, put it away, prep it, cook it, and clean up after LOL.

[Skippy]

Always something interesting to be found when reading this thread.The best part is reading of everyone's shopping/cooking/cleaning adventures and being thankful it's you and not me.Although I do tip my hat off to you guys.That said, best tip is the corned beef hash metal key in the shopping cart trick @walkonby . Although I would need to try my canned ham key but ain't gonna happen cuz I can never work the bloody thing so I use a can opener(my tip of the week).
I'm finding that the flyer deals are lacking as far as meat goes but DW theory is that it's because it's bbq season and that's what people want. Did snag some deader (reduced)boneless chicken breasts which are a vast improvement over legs IMO. Should've bought more than one.
Question if I may, is there a best day to find reduced meat or is it a hit or miss? (Found the chicken on Tuesday which was the day before the next flyer)
I won't comment on the weather other than say that yes I wanted warmer weather with all that rain last week but not this much warmth.
For all you Mother's out there, I hope that you have a wonderful day on Sunday because you have one of the hardest and most important jobs out there.
Blessings to you and yours my friends!

[harbie]

Don’t be jealous @SassyAshley unless you want to be jealous of my exhausted body .

Now I’m intrigued by this corned beef/ ham shopping cart key thing . Maybe cause we don’t eat meat anymore.

So everything got done except pulling out the fridge and stove. Waiting for Mr. muscles to get home to help with that.

I wasn’t planning on doing the whole place but I did. All baseboards, doors, frames and all floors washed, couch stripped and vacuumed and the walls done too (as far as I could reach). The floors really weren’t dirty even though it’s been months since I washed them. We never wear shoes inside unless it’s my strictly indoor shoes so they were clean. Almost not worth the effort but it’s done.

The banana bread will have to wait until tomorrow. Now to nap……. Ok, just drink some water and find something to eat cause I missed lunchtime

[Frugalbigmama]

Good Morning! Another sunny day! Loving it!

Dropped DS off at work and came home to clean a bit. Made coffee. Will make breakfast and then run the dishwasher after that is done.
Will clean the stairs/entrance and then have a shower and hit the walking trail by the water.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
I have so much to get done but I really am not feeling it.

I woke up at 10 to 5 and knew I should have gotten up but I was so tired I fell back asleep, I woke up again at 6 am, planned to get up, nope fell back asleep, and woke up at 5 to 8. I have so much to do I know I should have gotten up but my body really needed the sleep, I slept for about 9.5 hours.

Trying to talk myself into getting up and getting things done but I really do not want to.


This week I ended up shopping at Freshco and Food Basics as they had the best deals for us.

At Freshco I got:
2 x Raspberries 1/2 Pint $1.87
1 x Cherry Tomatoes 1 pint $1.46
3 x Mini Cucumbers 6-pack $1.46 + 30 scene Points
2 x Chai Tea $2.99
1 x Cinnamon Buns 8-pack $5.99 - $3 in-store Sticker

At Food Basics, I got:
1 x Romaine 3-pack $3.98
2 x Blueberries pint $1.88
1 x Pineapple $1.88
1 x Clementines 2lb $3.98
1 x Soya Sauce $1.99
2 x Heavy Whipping Cream $2.97
2 x Egg Noodles $2.79

I grabbed a Selections Soya Sauce to try, normally we always buy VH but it is getting expensive even on sale. I know the Clementines were cheaper last week but I did not make it to Food Basics. I was going to go on my way home Wednesday but I ended up going to Walmart and the Pharmacy instead and did not have the ambition for Food Basics as well.

On the way home on Wednesday, I went to Walmart and grabbed Deodorant as it was the last day of the sales and haven't seen $3.96 in a while. Well I was there I finally found Sugar Free Halls for Mom, they have been so hard to find the last few months and grabbed more Blistex. Then to our local Pharmacy for Mom's pills.

Happy Saturday

[harbie]

Good morning all,

It’s so nice to wake up to a super clean place. Well except the bathroom, that’s for today. I was just too tired yesterday.

Dh and I went to Bulk Barn yesterday when he got home and stocked up on our oatmeal (on sale for 32C) and I grabbed a small amount of loose hibiscus tea. Saved $5 wub $20 which helps.

On our last road trip we had dinner at the Naked Cafe and thy had a hibiscus cold tea with a bit of agave to sweeten it and it was AMAZING! I used to drink iced tea all the time but haven’t had any since my kidney stone in 2018/2019.

Dh treated me to Starbucks while at indigo and he was looking for a book. He’s such a sweetheart. It hit 32 degrees yesterday afternoon while we were out and here I am wearing shorts and a hoodie . Weird thing is I wasn’t sweating . Maybe I’ve acclimated to warmer temperatures.

Got a large golden pineapple ( although not that large in my opinion) at Safeway $4.99 (received 100 scene points). So that’s stripped and upside down waiting for it to get sweet

Banana bread is on the docket for today. Garden is watered this morning already and mom and I are going to remove the tulip bulbs shortly. Bedding is stripped and in the washer as we speak. It’s off to a very productive day.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend

[Ciel21]

Cool northeasterly wind to offset today's 24C forecast in Hamilton area. At least it's not raining on the food truck event on Ottawa Street! It's comfortable to walk in town but I am skipping any yard sales today.

I managed to cut some grass on Thursday morning so that was done. Dandelions are definitely in the mood to be everywhere! Tulips seem happy-the ones that bloomed!

I'd like to bake cookies or focaccia later in the day. Kind of in the mood for home-baked something but not fussy desserts.

[Ciel21]

Just found out there's a Zero Waste (electronics recycling) event drive-thru at Burlington Centre still underway today.

Plus an Indoor Repair Cafe at the mall until 2pm! @barbis9
https://burlingtoncentre.ca/event/Ze...fe/2145560776/

[SassyAshley]

I did my Sunday Reset this morning since I did not get it done last week. I told myself I would do it during the week but that did not happen.

Today is one of those done is better than perfect days.

I cleaned the bathroom but just Lysol wiped it down.
I cleaned the upstairs floors but instead of mopping them I just used a Swiffer wet cloth.
I did the main floor floors, they got vacuumed but instead of mopping, again another Swiffer wet cloth.

As well as my meeting went last week, I am very overwhelmed. We have a lot of good things going on but in my job, it is a constant struggle to make people see the backside of my job. They see me in branches training and they see the time I spend with staff members but they do not understand the time it takes to write training plans, manuals, set up training, check homework, write policies and procedures and all those things I also do.

Right now we have 4 open positions but only have a training plan for 1 of them. Now that I am focusing on being in branches and working with staff I have been working nights to get the other stuff done. But I have to say, I will not be able to keep this pace for long, I am already feeling it. I am still working comparable hours to what I was doing during the upgrade but my hours never really went back to normal after the upgrade.

I need to start focusing on re-finding balance because I am back to working from morning to night all week and then spending the whole weekend on the house or work. The good news is I have been taking breaks during the day and making dinner but some refocusing is needed as I keep crashing on weekends and am not getting the house stuff done.

[walkonby]

Good Morning! Another sunny day! Loving it!

Dropped DS off at work and came home to clean a bit. Made coffee. Will make breakfast and then run the dishwasher after that is done.
Will clean the stairs/entrance and then have a shower and hit the walking trail by the water.

@Frugalbigmama my Saturday morning was so similar to yours! ( cue the sarcasm to follow ) I'm cheering you on here actually!!
I stayed up most of last night after our Maple Leafs died on the Playoff vine ( again ) , drank a 16 ounce strong dark roast coffee at 2 a.m.
binged a 10 episode Apple+ series called Invasion, because ...well aliens! Came up after the tv marathon and filled the kitchen sink with
hot soapy to soak a small pile of the guys work meal containers. Not going back and actually washing them though....so lazy!
Got Frankie's cage uncovered and fed him at 8 a.m. then went straight up to bed where I slept soundly until 1:30 p.m. ! So see? Very close to how
your morning was.....NOT.

Hoping to get myself in gear before the guys get up, but hrmph, I think the writing is on the wall for how much I'll accomplish today. No one is
keeping score I hope.. ha ha
@SassyAshley I consider this excerpt from your post as CLEANING!

I cleaned the bathroom but just Lysol wiped it down.
I cleaned the upstairs floors but instead of mopping them I just used a Swiffer wet cloth.
I did the main floor floors, they got vacuumed but instead of mopping, again another Swiffer wet cloth.

You did great. No minimizing your efforts in tasks. Was everything cleaner than before you started?
That's a win! ha ha Carry on.

[FinallyFree]

Stay strong!

I did my Sunday Reset this morning since I did not get it done last week. I told myself I would do it during the week but that did not happen.

Today is one of those done is better than perfect days.

I cleaned the bathroom but just Lysol wiped it down.
I cleaned the upstairs floors but instead of mopping them I just used a Swiffer wet cloth.
I did the main floor floors, they got vacuumed but instead of mopping, again another Swiffer wet cloth.

As well as my meeting went last week, I am very overwhelmed. We have a lot of good things going on but in my job, it is a constant struggle to make people see the backside of my job. They see me in branches training and they see the time I spend with staff members but they do not understand the time it takes to write training plans, manuals, set up training, check homework, write policies and procedures and all those things I also do.

Right now we have 4 open positions but only have a training plan for 1 of them. Now that I am focusing on being in branches and working with staff I have been working nights to get the other stuff done. But I have to say, I will not be able to keep this pace for long, I am already feeling it. I am still working comparable hours to what I was doing during the upgrade but my hours never really went back to normal after the upgrade.

I need to start focusing on re-finding balance because I am back to working from morning to night all week and then spending the whole weekend on the house or work. The good news is I have been taking breaks during the day and making dinner but some refocusing is needed as I keep crashing on weekends and am not getting the house stuff done.

[lilo0003]

I had great plans to do lots of stuff after returning from my lunch with mom and that’s is not happening. On my way home we got an invite to dinner at BFF so my big achievement today was getting gas and doing my second metro shop for my bonus 50 Air Miles.
I had hoped to power wash the deck but the kids can do it on their days off next week. Sunday will be laundry as I was to line dry some stuff so can’t start now.