May 2023 Frugal Chat

[barbis9]

I’m confident in the tracking of my information with identity fraud protection which includes the dark web.

Unfortunately ANY company can be a victim of a cyberattack. Hospitals and even equifax was hacked. We just need to stay vigilant and check our credit for anomalies.

@harbie when I got hacked, I too received the free monitoring, and nothing else showed up. Hopefully nothing will happen with your info.

[barbis9]

@harbie I love the green shoes! Way out of my price point, but good shoes are expensive these days.

[barbis9]

Raccoons got into my garbage last night. I had to gather all the stuff this morning. Does anyone know of any cheaper priced garbage bags? I have the Food Basics ones but they are super thin, and rip easily. Glad garbage bags are expensive.

My friend got a Pomsky puppy - omg, I am in love. She is just a little loving fur ball. I was thinking of getting one, but the price tag of $4,200 is too much. Plus my rescue may get jealous (he was only $600).

Groceries are so expensive, I too am going through my freezer and cupboards and thinking twice of tossing expired things. Before I would toss things on the expiry date, but now I will still eat them past the date, and I am fine.

For mothers day my four legged animals gave me a beautiful solar cat that sits in the backyard (no kids, pet parent). My bf always makes sure we celebrate the day. I did volunteering at the local animal rescue but it was colder with the wind, than expected.

Frost warning last night is over. Brrrrr.

[SassyAshley]

@barbis9 , I cannot remember if you shop at Costco but by far their garbage bags are the best I have used. They are a bit expensive but they last forever, we buy about a box year.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Ah, so nice to be back home. I was in an out-of-town branch Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday. On my drive there Monday, I got a phone call from the manager asking where I was, our driver broke down, could I pick them up? Yep, I had to backtrack about half an hour but I was closer than the manager going to get them.

Normally, when I stay in a hotel I have some extra time since I am not at home and do not have all the home tasks but this time, I struggled to keep up. I had taken some extra stuff to work on but none of it got done, so now I have two days to get it done or I will have to do it over the weekend.

Yesterday on my drive home I had to attend a meeting (gotta love cell phones), meeting was called last minute.

I came home the back way so I could run into Costco as they had a few hidden sales I wanted to take advantage of, I got:
1 x Popcorners - $2 off = $5.99 (Love these so good if you like sweet and salty)
1 x Kalamata Olives - $2 off = $5.99
1 x Polysporin (2-pack) - $5 Off = $17.99
1 x Kirkland Pads - $9 off = $29.99 (These are their version of poise pads, according to Mom this is the same price she was paying at Walmart for 24 or 36 pack, I got 144 at Costco)
1 x Berry Burst - $4 off = $12.99 (Frozen Berries, Blueberries, Strawberries & Blackberries)
1 x Salsa 2-pack - $2.50 off = $8.49
1 x Dry Shampoo 2-pack - $4 off = $13.99
1 x Kirkland Probiotic - $5 off = $19.99 (Normally I get the healthy balance ones from Costco but these just came to Canada so going to try them)

Then just because I was there and we needed them I grabbed:
1 x Plain Chips
1 x Sea Salt
1 x Dried Oregano
1 x Bananas

I spent a little more than I had planned as I had not planned on the pads for Mom but when she told me the Walmart price (although she cannot remember if it was 24 or 36 per pack, but either way), I could not pass up that price, even not on sale it is a better deal. I was not going to grab the probiotics because I still have a bottle but since they are on sale figured now was the time to try them.

Happy Thursday Everyone.

[Purdee]

@SassyAshley the Popcorners at my local Costco is currently $9.99 - $2 off = $7.99

[SassyAshley]

@Purdee , WOW, so interesting to see the price differences from province to province.

In Ontario, they are regularly $7.99 - $2 = $5.99.

But I also find my Costco never has them in stock unless they are on sale.

[harbie]

@Ciel21 @barbis9 they are on the high price ( don’t think I’ll get that version, mine is a bit cheaper). The thing is that I don’t smoke, drink maybe 2x a year, don’t gamble, basically all I do is work and workout so my shoes are extremely important for my work and exercise so 8m ok with that. It’s an investment in my health and that’s priceless .
@barbis9 from a fur momma ( I still say I’m Harley’s mom ) that sounds like the best Mother’s Day present ever. Soooooo sweet

Hoping you get some warm sunny weather @Skippy . It’s so weird to have mid 30’s in May and now some smoke is creeping down to the coast from the AB fires ( thinking of all those affected).

Heading out to work shortly and then it’s a long weekend heading into our vacation . Here’s hoping the smoke isn’t too bad there….. I’m afraid it will be.

Have a great day everyone.

[Frugalbigmama]

@Ciel21 @barbis9 they are on the high price ( don’t think I’ll get that version, mine is a bit cheaper). The thing is that I don’t smoke, drink maybe 2x a year, don’t gamble, basically all I do is work and workout so my shoes are extremely important for my work and exercise so 8m ok with that. It’s an investment in my health and that’s priceless .
@barbis9 from a fur momma ( I still say I’m Harley’s mom ) that sounds like the best Mother’s Day present ever. Soooooo sweet

Hoping you get some warm sunny weather @Skippy. It’s so weird to have mid 30’s in May and now some smoke is creeping down to the coast from the AB fires ( thinking of all those affected).

Heading out to work shortly and then it’s a long weekend heading into our vacation . Here’s hoping the smoke isn’t too bad there….. I’m afraid it will be.

Have a great day everyone.

Because I walk so much I change my runners every 3 to 6 months. So I could never pay $300 for a pair! I still buy good runners but I am for $130 pairs on sale for $50-60

[Frugalbigmama]

I roasted a chicken this morning! Just turned the oven off. So glad I did because now the day is cut up being in and out of the house.

So dinner is your choice- Chicken ceaser wrap or salad with chicken

Popped out to FB to grab the burger patties on sale.(bought him 3 packs) Leaving for vacation this weekend but need to leave the kid some food. Will pick up some other things for him later today.

[Ciel21]

One upside of a second cold morning-I was ready to commit to an almost 2h bake time for a frozen lasagna (last night at 8:44pm, I was not!) so the house smelt great and was warmed up as well!
Had an earlier than planned rising (got up some time after 6am rather than 7:30am) so I got myself warm by getting two loads of laundry going, eating olives (one of the few grocery items bought on walk home last night after Internetting) and using the remote to channel surf the morning shows before 7am and later for news in short segments. I notice that CHCH and Global stations don't always have the same news headlines so I switch between stations during commercial breaks.

Community paper landed by 9pm last night-woo, I found Lowes & Home Depot flyers which are rarely seen! Got all the grocery flyers (incl Walmart) but hardly saw gift card offers (Sobeys and the Shoppers deal that @cyn88canada tagged me on)-digital flyers need to be reviewed to see if any other gift card deals exist (they often are shown only online not in the print flyer).

My Shoppers store added 1L Pepsi Zero Sugar pop to the $1.23 clearance cart (I was back at the store for two more Dr Peppers).

As the weather will warm up over the next few days, today is the day to do the grass trimming around edges (sibling cut grass two days ago) and any other yard work. I have a couple of indoor small sewing tasks to do for the rainy days. The scone mix bought at Winners needs heavy cream--I plan to mix some of Bro's table cream with milk to use in the mix and bake it for afternoon tea (today is PERFECT for a couple of mugs of tea). I only found a ginger and lemon mix (was $7.99 but on sale for $6) and decided I had to bring it home. Usually I find lots of good food finds at the Meadowlands store but this trip was lacking "lots of good finds." Cute paper napkins-I bought one package with a peacock print! One toddler's Miles the Label jacket (white with snaps and yellow piping) for 3T was $4 cheaper ($28 vs $32) at this store than the location closer to my home. Not sure why the price difference is there?

On Youtube I was exploring some Amazon Fresh grocery store videos/shorts. When I saw the carts with cameras, I immediately recalled someone's trip to a grocery store in China with the exact same tech that Amazon is using in its Fresh stores. If ever there was a time to heed Gail Vaz-Oxlade's advice to have two credit cards, one for bills and one for online shopping, here's the scenario to apply her advice:use the Internet cc for this grocery shopping. I would not want to risk a debit card linked to Amazon membership for a Fresh shopping experience (unless your account has unlimited debits) since my bank account only allows 12 debits in the monthly package before I get charged $1.25 per extra debit. I have posted how online shopping has occasionally put holds and purchase charges on my debit card, making my balance yo-yo into overdraft or negative balance from time to time (when I still had online banking, I was adding white hairs to my head when I found those negative values!)

Enjoyed speed-watching Eurovision Semi-Final 1 to see the countries I did not see in the final plus any performances by bigger name acts. Have only started giving Semi-Final 2 a look-more to view today. I am curious when all the locations in Ukraine were filmed in bright sunshine for the postcard segments? I definitely would love to explore the Oslo Norway library shown for the Norway postcard!

I have just over $20 left to last me for another week (I did add funds already to cover the May & June bank fees). Going to park the debit card and decide whether the money will be used for groceries or spending money at the Baby expo on the last weekend in May. Decisions...

[coupon girl]

Barbis-i purchase canadian tire franks garbage bags -i feel they do the job for the 2 of us.

Harbie -love your shoes ,whatever you wish to spend is great for you.I am like you i dont smoke ,drink only a few times a year and dont gamble.


I havent been on in awhile as i am on some new meds that are causing a bit of nausea,tiredness etc.I may not be posting much but i am reading.

[Ciel21]

While looking at the Fortinos flyer, I clicked on the PC Insiders' Report for Summer. Hmm, the PC Ube Boba Pie (listed at $12.99 but showing at $11.99 in Fortinos flyer) and the PC Raspberry Hibiscus flavoured ice pops ($6.99-ouch) seem my fave picks of the new food items. Also, there will be a collaboration clothing line Jillian Harris x Joe Fresh launching online on May 30.

Loblaws & RCSS flyers show the Ube Boba Pie at $10.99 this week!

M&M Food Market has a long weekend tasting schedule of some of their items, starting today and going to Sunday:https://www.mmfoodmarket.com/en/page...f-summer-event

Someone pointed out that Heinz Picnic Pack of condiments is a deal at $4.47 at Sobeys now.
Next best price is $4.97 if you are shopping at Giant Tiger this week.
Plus Heinz has a receipt contest for wus $15 or more on participating Heinz products in same transaction, when your grocery receipt is uploaded.

[SassyAshley]

@coupon girl , hope you start to feel better soon.

[HermanH]

Groceries are so expensive, I too am going through my freezer and cupboards and thinking twice of tossing expired things. Before I would toss things on the expiry date, but now I will still eat them past the date, and I am fine.

One thing that I learned recently is that many items are not even legally required to have Best Before dates. They are considered 'forever' items; things like chocolate, candy, and gelatin. The reason the BB date is supposedly put on them is to help stores track and rotate their stock. Of course, it also accidentally/on-purpose increases sales due to it encouraging customers to throw away perfectly good food. I have eaten cans with dates 12-15 years after their best before dates.