October 2023 Frugal Chatter Thread

[Frugalbigmama]

Busy work morning but I managed to get the kitchen cleaned, fridge cleaned out and made an omelette with peppers, mushrooms, onion and spinach in between waiting for calls/emails from people.

[SassyAshley]

Oh my gosh, my day did not go as planned.

Today was one of those days where every email and phone call was "Oh no, what now?" Today has been a day which means all I got done was work stuff and I still have more to do.

I know everyone was talking about Thanksgiving the other day, as of right now, Mom has not made plans she keeps talking about but no date or plan has been made. My Step-Mom is hosting dinner on Sunday and I know this will sound horrible but I kind of wish we were skipping Thanksgiving this year. I could really use a long weekend off with no plans to just rest and reset.

I took a quick look at the flyers, it looks like there are a few deals to be had but not much this week. This is good as I need to make a trip to Costco soon, they have quite a few things on sale I want to pick up plus there are some staples we need. There are some things we went through quickly this time but the good news is that shows we are getting back on track with dinners.

I have to admit, I do not feel like cooking tonight especially since I still have more work to get done. So going to keep it simple by making Baked Cheese Tortellini with Garlic Bread and a Salad.

[SassyAshley]

Question: Has anyone here tried the Dawn Powerwash?

I see so many people saying how amazing it is and I see tons of cleaning videos where people are using it. It is on sale at Costco and I could be tempted.

[coupon girl]

sassy-my son uses dawn powerwash and he says they use less than the regular dawn.So i guess they like it .

Free swiss chalet meal for my hubby tonight ,yes i wanted to go very soon after the problem as you never know (the supervisor may no longer be there if you put it off to long )It was pkged up in 8 minutes when i told her rob sent me for this free 1/4 chicken white meal.This time no problems .

[lilo0003]

@sassy ashly I use the dawn power wash but only for the casserole dishes that have stuff just baked into it. I can’t imagine it would be cheap for regular dishes but it’s great on the casseroles.

[crafter]

@sassyashly I use the dawn power wash but only for the casserole dishes that have stuff just baked into it. I can’t imagine it would be cheap for regular dishes but it’s great on the casseroles.

Good to know it works with casseroles etc.

[Frugalbigmama]

Good Morning! Cloudy day here this morning. Enjoying the fresh "cool" air.

Washed up the dishes in the sink. Emptied the dryer (towels) that have been in there for 2 weeks (no lie).
Put a load of darks in washer and will hang to dry once complete.

I have been on the hunt for 0 sugar added chocolate/chips. (for a healthy snack I make) Found Lilly's Semi-Sweet style baking chips- No Sugar added at Dollar Tree for $1.50! (will work until I find a more natural item) Made the treat last night so will get DS to try and see if he likes it.

The kitchen freezer is stuffed so I should pull something from there for dinner. Maybe the chicken souvlaki kabobs since they take up room. Good night to BBQ them. Will grill veggies too. Made a plan!

[Frugalbigmama]

Decided to pop out to RCSS for asparagus- Will make dinner top notch!
What a busy place! 2 very nice ladies told me to go ahead of them.
The lady with the cashier was trying to PM and kept asking for the manager because she didn't like the answer the cashier gave her. So needless to say we had lots of time to wait and chat.

[walkonby]

Almost had a heart attack at Metro this a.m. Went to redeem 95, to earn 25 AM as well as to earn more in Base miles which goes towards the MaxPass promo.
Bounty is the only one P.T. I like ( I've seen these cheaper elsewhere in the past ) but since it was earn 20 AM wyb 2 of the 4=6 pkgs. ( $7.99 each )
I had 4 pkgs. ( $31.96 ) , which together with a few other items brought the total up to a $40.00 spend which would qualify me for an AM base point earn of 2 AM.
Those 2 AM get multiplied by 40 for the MaxPass promo, plus getting the 40 BAM on the P.T. as well as earning 25 AM back on the redeem. ( total 145 AM )
So....imagine the look on my face when I saw no BAM for any of the P.T. on the receipt and they charged me a whopping $18.99 for EACH pkg! ( $75.96 )

ha ha
Turns out this was all MY mistake....apparently there are packages that look exactly the same as the 4 = 6 ones, BUT they are 4 = 8 rolls.
They were kind enough to refund me those 4 rolls and I bought the correct 4 earning the 40 BAM.
Whew! Always check that receipt before you leave the store eh?

Funny enough, because of that crazy expensive purchase on the first receipt I earned 6 Base AM points, sowouldn't it be grand if they multiplied THAT number by 40 for my MaxPass promo?
6 x 40 =240 AM!! I'd love that!

[coupon girl]

Walkonby-good thing you checked your reciept ,way to go on the air miles.

Popped over to sons house well the mum never made it as we didnt go and water every other day ,i finished putting the clothes away out of dryer and i gave him 2 rolls of paper towels ,8 roll pkg of toilet paper ,nutri -grain bars and wraps for the girls ,bag of chips some chocolate covered cranberries,apples and a carton of milk.

As they wont get home til sunday from the bahamas around 5.30 p.m and i figured the girls needed a few snacks for their lunches at school.

Popped into shoppers to get my milk and a few other items-seniors day for me plus 10.00 promo card.

[SassyAshley]

Saw this when I logged in this morning about grocery prices:

https://ca.yahoo.com/news/grocery-ch...182429221.html

I feel like Price Matching is a Loblaws thing since they have both No Frills & RCSS that price match. I believe the only other one who price matches is Frescho and not sure about it in other areas but in my area, it is becoming harder and harder to Price Match at Freshco. In my area, there are very few stores they deem as "Competition."

Also, I LOVE Price Matching but I feel like it is a bit of a cop-out because they probably realize a lot of people do not Price Match so it would be a well we offered it but consumers did not take advantage of it.

[walkonby]

@SassyAshley good morning! I also read about that and thought, isn't Thanksgiving on Monday? So where are these new savings and lower grocery costs?
Most people have already bought their turkeys, possibly even their sides ( spuds, squashes, stuffing and cranberries) . The lower costs will arrive when
everyone's fridge is packed with turkey leftovers and they need very little.

So funny yesterday at Metro I overheard 2 women ( my age is a guess ) talking. The one says " I told them!, it's either Christmas or Thanksgiving !
I'm not cooking a meal for both of those holidays." She was speaking about her large-ish family ( adult kids with spouses ) and how she never really gets
to be a " guest ", as she's always busy in the kitchen.

Did I " nose my way " into their chat? Yes! ha ha We shared and then all giggled about declaring our right to choose. That was more uplifting than I realized at the time. Then as we continued shopping and passed each other in other aisles there was that sort of unspoken thumbs up comradery. Just silliness, but knowing there are others that feel the same way after years and years of being the " expected " cook was comforting.

[SassyAshley]

@walkonby , driving into work this morning they were talking about the cost of making Thanksgiving Dinner and I cannot remember the percentages they gave now.

But they said what is deemed a "Typical Thanksgiving Dinner," all of the items have seen a Price Increase with the exception being Cranberries.

The items that have increased include Turkey, Potatoes, Bread Products/Stuffing, Squash, Carrots and most other Vegetables that would be served as sides.

I cannot remember the percentages but they said the highest Increases were in Squash followed by Turkey.

[SassyAshley]

Good Evening Everyone,
I spent the last 2 days in the Plant working with a staff member because you know, best-laid plans do not always happen. Originally the Manager was going to cover but a shift in staffing happened and this wasn't possible so my trainee had to cover but they are not at the point where they can work alone yet so in I went.

Yesterday on the way home I went to RCSS as this location is 5 minutes from an RCSS, I only got:
1 x Grapes $1.67/lb
4 x Chai Tea $2.99

I have been looking for Chai Tea for months, I found two at Freshco which I bought but No Frills has not had it in forever. I even checked one when I was out of town. I checked their website before I went and was able to grab 4. Mom has a cup of Chai Tea each night after dinner and we are our last package.

Then on the way home normally I take the back route to avoid going through the main part of town but it was backed up, could not make the turn. Since so I decided to go through town which meant I was driving right by Wal-Mart, I decided to go in and I got:
2 x Broccoli $0.84
8 x Pasta $0.97
4 x Crisco $2.97
3 x Perogies $2.38
1 x Shoe Inserts $16.77
1 x New Shoes for me $19 on Clearance (They were the exact same onesnI walked in wearing)
1 x Slippers for Mom $9 (There was no clearance tag, I thought I was paying $24.97, I won't complain)
2 x Halls $3.97
1 x Oregano Oil $11.17

I spent more than I had originally planned. Even though I needed the shoes and Mom needed the slippers originally I wasn't going to pick them up on this trip but glad I did at those prices. I kind of wish I had of run back and grabbed a backup pair of slippers but at this point, I just wanted to be home. Plus I had not planned on the Oregano Oil but I knew we were low and I was there and they were on sale, it just all came together.

Today, I just came home, there are a few things I might grab next week but I did not want to stop again.

[barbis9]

@harbie Happy Belated Anniversary!