2024 March Frugal Chatter (thoughts of Spring's approach)

[harbie]

Off to feed my duckies in the rain…….

[coupon girl]

I popped over to fortinos this afternoon

Treated hubby and i to hot foods ,had a points offer also.

Then bought a few items

Prairie flour 5 kg $4.00
planters peanut butter 3.99 i havent seen the big jars this price in awhile
green giant frozen peas 2.99
Live clean shampoo 6.74-50%=3.37-1.00 cpn=2.37
Live clean conditioner 6.74-50%=3.37-1.00 cpn=2.37 cant beat those prices

[SassyAshley]

Good Evening Everyone,
Today did not go as planned.

Received a message from my Step-Mom my Great Uncle who lives in Germany had passed away. Everyone except my step-mom (she has a cold) went over this afternoon to have Cake and Coffee with Opa and tell him. We weren't sure what sort of day Opa was having and how he would react to the news, since his accident he has been talking about going to Germany to visit his brother but hasn't had the strength.

I do have to say Opa has made great improvement since December when I saw him last. He is now able to walk with a walker alone and he much more lucid. Today he was telling use stories and talking and interacting with us which he wasn't doing much of in December. Just before Christmas his main caregiver and her family went home for a visit and some of the help we had did not push him. Now that he has his normal crew of caregivers back they are pushing him and it is helping.

Before I went to Opa's I did get a few house things done, fridge is cleaned out, emptied and scrubbed the veggie drawer. Cut up the old cucumbers, some peppers we need to use up, packaged some green onions, packaged the celery. I do still have some strawberries and the two bag of cucumbers to wash. I took some garbage from the basement out, as well as the kitchen garbage and recycling. Emptied and partially reloaded the dishwasher.

I do still need to give the floors a good scrub, clean the bathroom, and do the hand dishes, hoping to get this done tomorrow. I tried to get as much done as I could today because I know it is going to be a busy week.

Now time for dinner, didn't get home until 7:30 so Blueberry Dutch Baby it is.

[Ciel21]

Glad to see you returned from your vacation, @Angela _273 . Do hope weather improves for tomorrow if you are having to do any strike duties.

Oh, @SassyAshley (((hugs)))-you and your family were there to give your Opa support. He'll probably want to talk about past events with people now that he knows of the great-uncle's passing. Give yourself some self-care time to recharge as well.

I have kept to home this weekend. Spent hours yesterday online looking at clothing sizes and brands on various websites and compiling lists because most stock is not in stores or it's in the US. Finding some random things. Discovered a new Nordstrom Rack will be opening in Ohio in April not too far where Mom's group will be heading in September because I was curious about nearby stores and saw the Opening Soon listing.
@ShwaGirl Hamilton forecast tomorrow is sunny and 18C and dry, so you should plan on yardwork too like I will be doing if you have the same conditions in your area. Rain and 18C on Tuesday...not sure what I can accomplish that day but I have a couple of ideas if the rain is not falling hard.

I did have a look at the Coupon thread and wish I could find a few of the desired ones in stores. I've mostly seen dairy coupons and not much else at Fortinos, where I mainly shop. When I've been in Food Basics, store is usually busy and I have not see coupon pads in the aisles I visited. At least I found the spiced Coca-Cola!

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Slow start to the morning which is not ideal for a Monday but woke up with a horrible Sinus Headache, my cheekbones no longer wanted to be part of my face so not ideal. I took something and it is dulling but still there.

I just took a break from work and cleaned the kitchen, I was done when I got home last night and didn't start dinner until 7:30 even though there were only a few dishes I decided to give myself the grace to do it this morning.

I have to be honest I am having one of those days where it feel like everywhere I look, there is something I need to get done which has me spinning a little bit. I really needed an extra day in this weekend to get everything done.

Need to figure out dinner for tonight, even though it is not on the meal plan thinking I might make one of the whole chickens I bought at Costco. A few weeks ago, maybe a month ago I made this Dutch Oven Roasted Chicken, it has a Lemon Butter on the skin and you cook the Potatoes and Carrots under the Chicken with more lemon, OH MY so good. Might make that tonight.

Happy Monday Everyone.

[Frugalbigmama]

What a beautiful day out!! Loving the sunshine

Have a few work things I need to get done today to make my 4 day work week smooth.
I need to unpack from the night away and should do a load of laundry today so I can hang to dry and can pack it tomorrow night if it's needed.

Used my smaller crossbody/Lulubelt bag yesterday and today and I like it. Think I will take it on our vacation later this week instead of my larger crossbody bag. It will be good for around the cruise ship but I will pack my larger crossbody bag for the ports so I can bring my water bottle and carry more things if needed.

ok I better get my work stuff done so I can get out and enjoy the sunshine

[coupon girl]

I just raked the front lawn as bags can go out this week ,went for a 30 minute walk with hubby -loving this mild march weather.


I just put an order into old navy as i like to give the kids clothes for easter -got myself 2 tops t-shirts one is a leopard print if i dont care for it i can always sleep in it.Got 10 items and spent $40.00 socks for hubby,dress for cara etc .Now i dont have to go looking in stores which i hate .

[Frugalbigmama]

I can't get over how nice it is out! Son and Dad are in the garage working on car. DS wanted to do his own oil changes (did it on Saturday with Dad's help) and they decided they should replace the bolts on the oil pan so they are out doing that now. Finally replaced the headlight bulb on my vehicle. (I bought the bulb the day before the bad weather showed up last week so happy it was done finally and in nice weather)

Dinner- Not sure the plan. I brought leftovers home from my dinner last night (Beef Stroganoff) It was really good but way too much for me. Love getting 2 meals from one dinner out.

[walkonby]

I would say not the frugalist of days today ( physio and pharmacy costs ) BUT a ray of sunshine ( as well as that awesome sunshine high in the sky! ) was getting the water sewage bill and comparing the consumption over the last bill. More days on this bill ( 126 days vs 119 on the last one ) but the bill was LESS money! Small victories.

[GeorgiaK]

Being self-employed does not mean that I don't have days that make me want to quit. Thought today was going to go smoothly but the day has blown up in my face. DS is home on March break and bugging the heck out of me, clients are calling non-stop and I need to meet tight deadlines. I need everyone to leave me alone!

At least the sun is shining and spring is in the air.

[SassyAshley]

@GeorgiaK , I feel your pain, no kids here but nothing worse than having a deadline and all of a sudden everyone wants/needs your attention. It is guaranteed if I have deadline our staff is going to try their best to blow up the system.

[SassyAshley]

Ok, I am feeling a bit more back on track.

Had to come up with plan B for dinner, I lost track of time this afternoon, I knew I needed to put the Chicken in at 3 pm to have dinner around 5 pm. All of a sudden it was 2:54 and I had not prepped anything so had to come up with a plan B for dinner.

On the weekend I saw a recipe for Baked Feta Chicken with Sundried Tomatoes, I just picked up a tub of Feta from Costco recently but had to check my Sundried Tomatoes, they were still good, YAY! I was not sure what to serve on the side and from the photos it looked like there was no sauce so I found a recipe for Lemon Orzo and for a veggie I made Lemon Roasted Asparagus. Turns out there is a sauce in the pan and I could have just cooked Orzo and mixed it with the sauce but honestly we mixed the sauce in the Lemon Orzo.

I will admit I was having one of those days and trying to tackle 2 new recipes at the same time had me a little stressed. I just felt like I was going to mess something up but it all worked out.

Kitchen is clean. I still have some cleaning I need to get done, depending on when I head to bed I might give the bathroom a quick clean before bed, if not there is always tomorrow.

But first I need to dig through my yarn bin and see if I can find some scraps to make more Easter Eggs, I think I want to crochet a bowl and fill it with eggs.

[walkonby]

Wow! @SassyAshley you really hit a Home Run, caught the ball for a Touchdown and scored a Goal! Your plan B dinner was a challenge but seems it worked out great! ( sounded yummy too ).
Oh boy.. @GeorgiaK that sounds like way too much aggravation while you are " at work ". Hope you catch a break.

Clearly by the calendar it's Tuesday but it doesn't feel like it yet. I was up too early maybe that's why? Started on another physiotherapy journey. More of an attempt to strengthen whatever I have left in the quads before doing knee replacement surgery. Getting assigned " homework " on my first visit there yesterday was the thing I forgot about. Stretches, reps, sets...all words I dislike. Here we go!

[coupon girl]

You can do it walkonby -small words of encouragement.

Waiting for a friend to come for a visit .Hubby has gone to dentist for a cleaning lets hope he has no cavities.lol

[Frugalbigmama]

@GeorgiaK, I feel your pain, no kids here but nothing worse than having a deadline and all of a sudden everyone wants/needs your attention. It is guaranteed if I have deadline our staff is going to try their best to blow up the system.

Add me to this group! 3 days left before vacation and trying to get stuff done. But you need other people to do their thing 1st and they called in sick today!!