January 2024 Frugal Chatter thread (it's a leap year!)

[barbis9]

From Dec - I gave up on PC Optimum years ago. I would much rather get cash back on my credit card than give the Weston family more money.

New year and my resolution is to just buy necessities and read just grocery flyers.

Resumed my aqua class after the holidays today and found wide running shoes at Walmart! I can't believe they cost $49.99 but compared to Sketchers, that is a deal.

[lilo0003]

@Angela273 your coupon usage is impressive. I came in at about 3700.00 saved across all the things I track. PCO and Canadian Tire are the ones I do the best with. CT because we bought a house 2000 kms away and it’s close and convenient. Currently saving my CT money to buy my new patio set. @sassy ashly I made a few goals this year, one is to read 45 books, audio books count. I am already done 1, last year I read 39 so 45 seems reasonable. My other goal is to purge either by sending it to NS or getting rid of it. I have 2 totes packed and plan to do 4 more so when the 1st load of furniture is shipped all the extra stuff can go, half of the Christmas is packed and heading east. DH and a friend are renting a u haul in the spring. Lots of the yard tools will go then.

[HermanH]

Walmart had their Great Value 300g Xmas cookie flavours (Cinnamon, Candy Cane, Oatmeal Spice) marked down to $1.25 each over the weekend. I thought about getting some for the good price. However, today (or yesterday), they raised the price back up to $2/package. They seemed to sell well. Anyone care to hazard a guess as to why they would increase the price of a product they definitely want to clear?

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Up at 5 am this morning but did not get out of bed until 6. I think I slept funny Monday night, yesterday my neck and shoulder were tight and sore, I thought I worked it out but if I moved in certain ways, OH MY. This morning I woke up moved my head and yep, the pain was still there. I have worked out but again if I move in certain ways I feel it. If it does not loosen up soon, I might have to take some Robax.

Okay, this is going to sound weird but welcome to my world. One thing I struggle with is feeling like there is not enough time ever. Over Shutdown I actually had a few times where I finished everything I needed to get done that day and it wasn't bedtime and it felt so odd. Now of course, could I have logged into work and worked on something, yes, or was there more I could do around the house, again yes but I was happy with what I got done and had free time. I am looking to have this feeling more often.

I also realize a lot of my struggle is a mental struggle. In my job, I am never done, I am never caught up, there is always something to do and the house is the same. The house is such a mess, there are a million projects to be done and areas to be cleaned up but it is never done. I can decide to take a day off and be "okay" with getting nothing done but I never actually get a day off because everything is done. Mentally it is becoming so draining, I can pretend it doesn't bother me but deep down it is getting to me.

The Dining Room is not done but being able to see some of the floor just feels like such a weight has been lifted. I need more of this and make it work however I can. It will be a challenge as part of me would like to be more of a minimalist but that is not reality, I share this house but I will figure out a way to make it work.

I am trying to make this year about me and helping myself mentally. I cannot change the requirements of my job but I already started to lay the ground work last year to let everyone know I need to approach my job differently and cannot take on everything all at once. One of my talents is I can cover almost any job in our company but at the same time, I cannot do everything for everyone at the same time and at times you will be priortized. At home, all I can do is chip away one area at a time but I am trying.

Happy Wednesday Everyone.

[Angela273]

I’m off to a good savings start this week.
On January 1, I won 624 points on Cashwalk. I was able to cash out 2,250pts for a $5 Amazon.ca gc.

I cashed out CO51 for the first time this year. Haha.

We also did our SARCAN return for a total of $36.

Yesterday was 10% Tuesday at Sobeys.
$46.54 in coupons
$25.77 for 10% off
1,920 in points
12 Air Miles from submitting the receipt for cucumbers
I also submitted the receipt for done small rebates. (Websaver, receipt jar, receipthog, Swagbucks)

I picked up 4x 1lb packs of lean ground beef for $3.70-$4/lb. The cheapest I’ve seen lean ground beef on sale for lately is $4.99/lb.

[Frugalbigmama]

Good Morning!

I started the day off making my coffee and started cooking the taco meat, sausage and rice/pasta.
Once that is all done I will chop and cook up my veggies while washing the dishes.
Then I will be done in the kitchen

I have never been a Starbucks fan. My friend asked me to go for a latte last night ( she is having issues at home and needed to get out so I will always say yes)
Had a SB GC that I won years ago so I used it and it covered our 2 drinks (Crazy almost $15 ...yikes) The good news is I LOVED the Oat Latte!! The bad news...the price. WOW! But will be a treat for sure

Lunch today will be an omelette with peppers/mushrooms/onion since I will be cutting this all up for my veggie/chicken bowls

Have a wonderful day!

[HermanH]

Had a SB GC that I won years ago so I used it and it covered our 2 drinks (Crazy almost $15 ...yikes)

I get a laugh when I hear folks complain about the cost of living, all the while holding a cup from Starbucks.

[SassyAshley]

I was tempted to only focus on work today because my neck and shoulder seem to be getting worse vs better, but I did just take some Robax so hoping that helps, if not in a couple of hours I will try some Voltaren.

Decided to finish the bedding, I got everything needed to make our beds done yesterday but some of the old bedding was still on the basement floor. Plus I grabbed Mom's crochet blanket as I see we have a couple of chilly nights coming and I got a new throw for Christmas. So decided to finish the laundry, the last load is in the washer now. Will get Mom's crochet blanket on her bed and my new throw on my bed and the rest will be packed away until we clean out the Linen Closet.

I am slightly proud of myself, in the past I would have taken this as a "sign" to clean out the Linen Closet starting yet another project. But instead, I am going to pack them in a big ziplock bag and will get to the Linen Closet when I can.

I also vacuumed the kitchen, the couch and the living room and cleaned the vacuum. I need to give the vacuum a good deep cleaning, wash the filters, and everything but since I am in the middle of some cleaning projects I do not want to do that yet as they need to air dry for at least 48 hours.

It is amazing what you can get done in under 15 minutes if you focus.

[SassyAshley]

I get a laugh when I hear folks complain about the cost of living, all the while holding a cup from Starbucks.

@HermanH , I am not saying it i right but I think we have to look at what society is telling the younger generation. They see their Starbucks as a status symbol and that we are all supposed to striving towards. As well they are "taught" or "shown" they deserve this.

You go on Instagram or Tik Tok or Facebook and everything is about you are sucessful when you do this and that. We all need to have the big house, the Tesla, our Starbucks everytime we leave the house, Order Take-Out every night.

I just read an article the other day about Food Prices but they are saying one of the biggest issues the younger generation is facing is that they cannot cook. They are reliant on Take-Out or Cooking Kits or Precooked meals or Frozen Meals so they cannot substitute with cheaper ingredients or cheaper options. Home Economics is no longer part of schools so unless taught by their families they do not have an exposure to cooking.

I have said it for years School should teach more about budgetting and money. I happen to be a saver which has served me well but the first time I tried to write a budget I was lost. I had one parent who lived paycheck to paycheck so in some ways having $$$ left was a win. My other parent did not talk about money other than to say you have to save some of your money but like growing up we were told how much we had to save. So whe I looked at what I was making I had no idea what is the "right" amount. For a long time my only goal was to not spend my whole paycheck.

We do not help the younger generations unless they are getting this knowledge at home and in some cases their parents may not have the answers to give them because they weren't taught either.

[walkonby]

@SassyAshley no truer words spoken about " younger than me " individuals who seem not to be able to cook! All our kids can, but do they? 2 of them yes, but the eldest lives alone ( and I really get it ) when he says it's cheaper for him to have foods delivered. He gets many discounts and freebies and his order(s) usually provide him with enough for 2-3 meals.
The healthy side of this is a concern ( the extra salt, sugars and fats ) in fast foods ingested over years??? As we know when you are young you are invincible ( ha ha , weren't we all? ) so the danger warnings are ignored.

A few times as I walked through the grocery aisles I tried to imagine myself as a single doing my shop. Buying ANY produce is a problem because the large 5-10 lb bags of spuds which is the better price will never get eaten up in time forcing a single to buy 1 or 2 of each item they know they can use up before they spoil. For meat it's the same unless they have freezer space to store after breaking down a family pack of chops or steaks.
The Starbucks thing I do not relate to at all. The rare occasion when I had a coffee from there it tasted burnt. Mind you I take it with no sugar, just cream but I never went back.

[HermanH]

Home Economics is no longer part of schools so unless taught by their families they do not have an exposure to cooking.

I have said it for years School should teach more about budgetting and money. I happen to be a saver which has served me well but the first time I tried to write a budget I was lost.

I'll disagree; I don't think HomeEc should be in school (along with a host of other silly subjects, like CALM - Career And Life Management.) That should always have been in the domain of mommy and daddy, as well as money management. If someone chooses to be a parent, then they need to be ready to teach all the hard lessons, too. Things like motivation, discipline, and work ethic are learned from home.

[coupon girl]

Lilo you amount you saved is impressive also way to go.

Herman i chose to be a parent to 2 lovely adults my daughter and my son -we raised them to always save for a rainy day and to pay your credit card off every month ,i did teach them about cooking and we taught them finances .But guess what it depends who they marry ,my dear son has married a spender and my daughter lost half her wealth thru divorce and she tried to keep it together .But she is a smart cookies has a career in toronto and they did own a home for a few years and made a profit on it.

I truly believe it is harder nowadays as when we bought our first house and hubby and i went thru layoffs and strikes ,i went to work and he was Mr.Mom for a year (he went on all the class trips and never got my daughters pony tail perfect .lolIt is just super hard for the kids today and yes i do believe the schools should teach some sort of finance class.

Why today i had a girl looked about 16 ,17 at a local farm and it came to 23.40 i gave her 25.then i said oh i have the .40 cents so she gave me 4.00 back i told her sorry it was only 2.00 back .They need to teach this in school for sure.

Day 2 of watching the girls today i cleaned my daughter-in-laws front closet ,plus played 2 match games with cara ,read with ashlyn .Took them to a park for 30 minutes for fresh air ,we made a snowman then son came home at 3.30 .We ordered a pizza and left my dear son 3 slices for work or supper.Am i tired a bit ,thursday we will bring the girls here for overnight to save getting up at 6.00 a.m friday .But you know what i didnt have to watch them 4 days in a row i wanted to plus this gives my son and extra 4 days holiday next year as they switched his shift to help another person for health reasons.

Today ashlyn said "nana i love you so much and little cara chimed along ,so it is worth it to me.

[Skippy]

Walmart had their Great Value 300g Xmas cookie flavours (Cinnamon, Candy Cane, Oatmeal Spice) marked down to $1.25 each over the weekend. I thought about getting some for the good price. However, today (or yesterday), they raised the price back up to $2/package. They seemed to sell well. Anyone care to hazard a guess as to why they would increase the price of a product they definitely want to clear?

@HermanH Before I read this I was in Walmart today and noticed those cookies were still regular price and thought it quite strange because after Thanksgiving they marked down their pumpkin spice flavour cookies to clear them out.My guess would be that they're still trying to squeeze more money out of people before the break is over with the kids.

[Frugalbigmama]

Reminder to sign up for Chapman's $4 coupon

[Frugalbigmama]

Good Morning! We have snow on the ground so will go out and shovel this morning after I enjoy my coffee.
Feeling sore today after my workout yesterday so just walking for me today. I don't want to overdo it or hurt myself.

Checked my PC offers and the flyers and nothing we really need but romaine/cucumber/pepper.

DS ate 2 of my Chicken/veggie/rice bowls last night. Guess he likes them now which is great. (they were loaded with veggies!) I will make more next time I food prep.
So tonight will be taco salad for dinner.

Ok so off to shovel the driveway and then deal with laundry for a bit.

Have a fantastic day!