2024 February Frugal Chatter

[SassyAshley]

@harbie , tax season always freaks me out.

But I am super fortunate that we have an accountant who handles our taxes for us.

[SassyAshley]

I did not get to finish my post earlier as things happened and I had to handle it.

Yesterday after work I decided to just suck it up and go to Costco and get it done. I spent $50 more than I wanted too, I was aiming to come in under budget which I did but wanted to be more under budget. It is what it is $50 is not hard to add to a Costco Cart.

I will have to go back in a couple of weeks as I decided to not get a few things but that is okay, I got what we needed.

Today I did laundry, everything is washed just need to fold what went in the dryer.

The kitchen is a disaster, I need to tackle this but today was another all the little things, nothing big happened but every time I tried to walk away something happened.

I must admit now that I have gone shopping I am a little over all the place on everything I want to make.

This is why I try to always keep stuff on hand because then we don't binge once we get it again. I know my family things I am insane but like I always keep chips and sweet treats on hand because if we always have them "it is like oh yeah, we have chips, I could snack on some," but I find it we have none, once I buy them it is like a bag is gone in a couple of days.

It is 5:30 and still no plan for dinner, I am just not craving anything today.

[walkonby]

It's a " what do I want to make for dinner? " sort of mood. There are endless options in the fridge but maybe I'm not hungry enough yet.
Had my first large salad in more than a month at lunch today, it was oversized, maybe that's why I have no hunger pangs yet.
@SassyAshley I could feel myself getting peeved at the lack of items to PM at your NF and their crazy PM policy wrt the darn asparagus.
FB was the one store I failed to reach this morning but I'll grab the milk and asparagus on Saturday after I drop DS at the dentist.

[harbie]

@SassyAshley I have someone do my taxes and file them but it’s the prep that’s killing me. Normally I’m not this bad but the end of last year was a stressful time and I neglected things so now I’m paying the price for it.

I’m on the home stretch but I’m about to lose my mind over December . Somebody send help……..or wine

[lilo0003]

@walkonby in Nova Scotia the price of gas is provincially regulated and only changes 1x a week so no buying gas only to watch the price drop. So on Thursday someone will post what the price of gas is going to do and it’s awesome. This weekend the price went down and I have the air miles offer that lasts 3 days so we will fill the vehicle before we head to the airport and on Monday I will fill my SUV as my son is taking his grandfather out and it’s bettor him in my car. Easy 100 miles plus the offer of spend $100.00 before Feb 29 is another 50 miles.

[walkonby]

@harbie your on the home stretch in tax prep! Choose your poison....hee hee

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Slow start to the morning here but I need to kick my butt into gear and get a few things done.

The kitchen is a total disaster, the bathroom needs to be cleaned, the floors need to be done, need to deal with and prep everything in the fridge, the kitchen needs a good restock from the pantry and just a general tidy needs to be done. Will I get all done today, probably not but I will see what I can get done and go from there.

Also need to write a meal plan, we did not have one last week and did well until last night but need more of a plan for this week as I am going to have some busy days. This week is going to be a bit weird because all of my stuff is mid-day 3 days this week I have meetings at 11 am which kind of messes up the whole day for me as it makes going into branches tricky.

I spent some time on Pinterest last night and found some cute crochet patterns I want to try. I always feel so torn about crochet, I love it but my projects are literally all over the house, I have tried to sell them but had no luck but now that I have started crocheting again I see how much it helps with my anxiety and to relax me. I did find some cute Easter projects I want to try.

Happy Saturday Everyone.

[coupon girl]

Sassy ,i find doing my puzzles helps me calm down ,less anxiety .

Feeling a lot better ,we are off to toronto to visit my daughter and sebastian (we are taking ashlyn with us)and my son will come later in the day .Yes we are celebrating his birthday ,my dear son will be 39 on tuesday 27th .Of course we spend the night easier rest period for us .

Everyone have a great day ,i know i will.

[SassyAshley]

@coupon girl , have a wonderful day with your family.

[SassyAshley]

Good Evening Everyone,
I didn't get everything done but that was expected happy with what I did get done.

The kitchen is clean, dishwasher emptied, reloaded, hand dishes done, counters scrubbed and all the randomness put away.

The bathroom was also scrubbed but I still need to do the Tub and the Floor. Mom had some stuff in the tub to hand wash so I will do the tub tomorrow.

I did not get the floors done on the main floor either so tomorrow will be floors.

I started cleaning up my work area, my work stuff was all over the place again and now that I am crocheting again that was all mixed in with my work stuff too. I had a basket full of papers I sorted I cleaned out and put my crochet stuff in this basket to keep it together, tomorrow I will vacuum the couch when I do the floors.

Well I was cleaning Mom processed the Beef and Chicken I bought this week. We now have 3 bags of Beef Chunks, 6 bags of Beef Strips, plus about a 1/4 of the Roast left I will cook off tomorrow. In Chicken we got 5 Bags of Halves (we slice them in half lengthwise so we split one), 5 bags of Chicken Chunks and a small bag of Tenders, most were removed so we only got 4, will use these for lunches.

Tried a new recipe, make Cinnamon Apple Waffles for Breakfast, they were okay, good flavour but not a lot of apple, might try again adding more apple.

I almost have our meal plan done for the week, it came together nicely. Lots of options some new recipes to try. I found one for Slow Cooker Butter Chicken I cannot wait to try. Will look it over one more time tomorrow and then I will start my prep.

Now it is time to try to crochet some mini easter eggs.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Slow morning here, the plan was to drink my tea and start my day but that did not happen. I drank my tea and went down a rabbit-hole on Pinterest of crochet patterns and now here we are.

I also found some new recipes to for us to try for dinners and some dessert recipes we can try. Feeling excited to get back into the kitchen and not see it as a chore.

I am not against chocolate but normally I like it small doses, a few chocolate covered almonds here, I love the Reese Thins they are perfect. Even growing up I would see my siblings get all excited about chocolate chips muffins or pancakes and I was always like can't we use fruit instead. My Mom makes fun of me because she loves Chocolate cake but I usually find it too chocolatey. But lately I am seriously craving all things chocolate and am being pulled to Chocolate recipes on Pinterest. Might try making one of these recipes today.

Apparently my Pinterest knows I have a tub of open ricotta as it is full of Ricotta recipes today, so might also trying one of these.

Happy Sunday Everyone.

[coupon girl]

Hi-everybody just back from our toronto visit .Such a fun time we all went to an arcade (one price and you can play all machines )Then daughter picked up a dairy queen ice cream cake for her brother after supper.

We took ashlyn and sebastian to the park this morning (playground) it was bitter cold but nice to get out for a winter walk .

[lilo0003]

Back in Ontario, came home to a clean house. Older son knows he has it good living at home so he keeps it clean and then assigns tasks to his brother. We did Swiss Chalet for dinner as it was easier as we arrived home at dinner time. Now to plan the meals for the week.

[SassyAshley]

@lilo0003 , Costco has Vector Cereal on sale until March 10th.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Yesterday was a rest day, not what I planned but I am trying to be better at rolling with thing at home. I do it at work but at home, I don't know, I don't know if I feel like things should be more in my control or what but I really struggle when a day off gets messed up.

I completely lost time yesterday, one minute it was noon and I was making lunch, all of a sudden it was after 2 and I did not get the roast in the oven so now we are having Roast tonight.

Last night I made Chicken Parm, oh my gosh so good, but I had to laugh I realized as I was plating it up, I completely forgot to cook the broccoli, oops.

Because I did not get stuff done yesterday there is stuff I will have to do today and for the next few days. I am hosting online training at 9, when I am done I will write a to-do list and prioritize what needs to be done. I do know at some point today I have some overripe Banana that need to become muffins.

I think the plan for today will be some prep (banana muffins, cut up strawberries and cucumbers) then just do some general tidying up.

Happy Monday Everyone.