2024 April Frugal Chatter Thread (here comes the sunshine)

[Ciel21]

Thanks for talking about garbage can cleaning, @SassyAshley . The can and the cart at home both need a refresh this week, though I recall washing the cart in March on a nice day. Have to loosen the paper/cardboard stuck on the cart bottom! Also the outside gets lots of black oily marks and sigh, that takes some scrubbing to remove with a soapy pad. Never seem to see Mom or Bro do the chore.

I want to get 15% off my purchase of some small things at the Amazing Store this week (saw a few Attitude products-SuperLeaves something or other for adults, one lotion for tots). I saw a treat one friend has been looking for since last year and want to see if I can still buy them for her. It'll make up for a trying month for her.

Have not been finding any coupons for Tetley tea or cereal or breakfast staples I use in stores. Let alone personal care items--hard to find a deal unless something is discontinued and I can get one of something to try out. Trouble is I can get carried away with reduced price item finds then discouver I have less than $20 left for the groceries I did have on my list. Need to pack an extra tote with my usual one to have carrying capacity.

[Ciel21]

@HermanH Good that you were able to avoid the scam scenario. If you do see the person and vehicle again, record details and alert store customer service, as technically the store property is private. If store staff were to call the police, that might get more attention than a private citizen calling in the situation, unless of course it includes some kind of aggressive driving issue>then the appropriate phone line for that can be called. Really surprised how much backstory you were given in the prelude to the ring offer. I mean, if someone needed money but s/he drives a vehicle and offers jewellery for money...questions are raised. Pawnbrokers still exist for that purpose.

[Ciel21]

I am aware that some SC members do shop at London Drugs in Western Canada. Those stores have been closed due to operational issues for the time being.

[lilo0003]

Made it safe and sound to our NS home. I did some driving but not as much as usual. It was an adjustment to driving a big @$$ truck and trailer. But I did pretty well. And I am especially happy about the amount of stuff we brought. The house is coming along nicely and we should have the master bathroom done by the end of the week.

[HermanH]

If you do see the person and vehicle again, record details and alert store customer service, as technically the store property is private. If store staff were to call the police, that might get more attention than a private citizen calling in the situation, unless of course it includes some kind of aggressive driving issue>then the appropriate phone line for that can be called. Really surprised how much backstory you were given in the prelude to the ring offer. I mean, if someone needed money but s/he drives a vehicle and offers jewellery for money...questions are raised.

Good advice. I will advise customer service, but fear it will be for naught. Their only concern is for their private premises. The moment the car moves off their parking lot, Walmart considers the matter resolved and care not a whit for any future victim.

If I report the details to police, it will not stop a crime, but may help when the inevitable next victim reports the crime and needs to identify the culprit. A victim will not likely have the where-with-all to note the details, during the perpetration of the crime.

I passed another car in a different Walmart, today. It displayed signs offering car or window cleaning for donation and that he was currently living out of his car. I couldn't oblige, as I was afoot, but I'm glad to see someone still trying 'earn' whatever he could get, however little.

[coupon girl]

I went to the mall today havent been since months ago,cant remember.

Returned 2 items to old navy $17.back on my credit card

Then popped into the gap factory i got

A long sleeve top to put away for cara next year $3.46 all red ticket was 40% off
saved 5.00 in points so total was $23.66


(2) t-shirts for $4.94 for the girls nothing much in the boys today
pair of pjs for ashlyn for xmas or her birthday in the fall 12.49


Then popped over to the bay -they now have reduced hours 11.00 til 8.00 no wonder the store is dead ,hardley any inventory .
I took in 10 used makeup items got 2,000 points

The found a nice dressy style and company top black 59.99 reduced to 32.96-25 % off on the rack=24.72 and used up all my points total=27.93-27.01=.90 cents
I find it very hard to believe the bay will be around in 4 years if that .
Oh and to redeem points you must show an i.d now -as kids were using their grandparents points up i was told (new in effect this past year)

Then on to toys rus got cara anna doll 19.99 as she will be in the hospital on thursday this week,i promised her a toy and i will give the other 2 some cash .

Then home got a lot of steps in as escalators were not working .

[Frugalbigmama]

Walkonby -one day at a time ,like everyone said short term pain for long term gain .You will be back to a new self in no time.

Our late luncheon was soooo good hubby had the 40 creek ribs and fries ,i had a juicy sirloin burger and salad -skipped the wine and dessert as i need too.
Lizzie i bought unpasterized raw honey 8.99 and pure grape juice white and grape 4.50 each .

Late lunch and the few goodies courtesy of the gift card our daughter gave us.We went to Carolina cellars -food is supurb.

Checked out the website/menu for this place and the prices are very reasonable! Figured being in NOTL area and a winery they would have been $$$$$.
Will add this to the list of places to check out when in the area Thanks!

[coupon girl]

Frugalbigmama-we have been to Caroline cellars 4 times now ,my daughter took me one mothers day then gave us a $100.00 gift card 2 years ago ,which i just finished yesterday .It is good to book a reservation online as then you are not waiting as it is always busy.

The food is very reasonable in price ,and so good ,their burger was one of the best i have ever had so juicy too.My dear hubby always gets the ribs fall of the bone .
Enjoy .

This is what smart canucks is all about tips for everyday or coupons or helping one another with ideas to save in all aspects of life.

My dear daughter calls me on her car ride home or the bus from work ,today she booked a getaway just for her at a wellness retreat near peterborough i think .She will get half off as they are under construction in the main room in may .She loves it ,she asked me but i am not vegan and it was a little too much for me to spend ,as i need a 3-d dental scan in june ,then after my implant (dont know how much that will cost).

This afternoon was cutting the grass with hubby and weeding before the rain tonight and tuesday .

[HermanH]

Got the heating bill today and noticed that I spent $21 on just the natural gas, but paid $37 for Federal Carbon Tax.

Is this the case for anyone else?

[Ciel21]

Fortunate that the rain held off until after 9:30pm as I was walking home from shopping trip two. Felt two drops as I was about 10min from home but had my umbrella ready. Body was throwing a fit at the heavy cart as I carried two well loaded totes on my afternoon trip and muscles were not happy. Seemed to have aggravated some pain in a lower quadrant I have not felt in years. Epsom salts in the morning will fix most of the pain issues and I'll make sure to have plenty of tea ready before the soak to enhance the experience ($2.47 Tetley decaf Earl Grey from Walmart).

Thanks @coupon girl for mentioning the escalators not working still. I'd like to visit the same store but I feel I need to visit the Burlington Centre location to see what's left of last year's spring/summer apparel and see if any stock from Mapleview Centre may have arrived. I feel that the doors of the latter store will be closed prior to June. Still finding the website store pickup check for inventory infuriating for seeing where the sale merch might be stocked. Usually answer is not available. I too feel the Bay stores might be sticking around for 2024 holiday season if they remain then bye! Problem for me if the stores close is a few clothing items are sold through stores and I know their fit. Amazon online shopping is not the same, reliable way as bricks and mortar stores with fitting rooms and actual stock on the sales floor.

I cannot redeem my points as I have not linked the Rewards card to a phone number. Checked my account yesterday and cannot see how to do that but it'd be irksome if phone rang often just for texts.

Managed to score the 15% off my Amazing Home store purchase as well. Yay. Did not put more than a minute looking at apparel-only two spots with clothing and I knew it was getting close to store closing. I need time to sift through the smaller box and the tabletop left of items. Could not find a stationery item I had seen on prior visits.

Winners-lots of cards for birthday marked down from $3.99 to $3 in the clearance endcap area. A few for baby or teachers. What was odd was noticing two designs were the same as the regular priced ones in the card/gift section (where I spent over 15min going through each pocket of cards, except the separate location for Mother's Day cards). Found two baby cards (one regular price, one marked down) plus 3 gift bags (medium size as my stash has been used up) without a specific occasion message (two came with tissue paper as well-worthwhile).

Longos has Pepsi cases of pop 12s on sale for $5.99. Not any new flavours but plenty of Pepsi cherry cases and some Mountain Dew zero sugar (I bought this variety). Have not seen that price in awhile. Would have liked to try the 7Up grapefruit pop but it is not stocked at my store. Happened to see some Compliments napkins ($1.99! ) in about 8 prints at the store (hadn't seen that store brand of Sobeys in Longos until now) and the Compliments cellulose sponges ($3.49, same as at Sobeys). Got both. Last visit to Sobeys Extra, I could not find any Compliments napkins. So this is truly random and surprising for me.

Did take a bread bag along to collect the takeout litter on the bridge and on shoulder of road (within limits). Found a dime in a parking lot and Shoppers tote bag part way down the hill behind Cdn Tire.

Off to bed. Tuesday requires some meal planning after breakfast.

[Ciel21]

@HermanH I have not remembered what just came on the last gas bill but what you posted aligns with warmer weather rates-actual gas use is less than any carbon charge or even the delivery rate. Have to get bill out tomorrow and see how bad the $$ situation is. Should be slightly less because I was turning down the thermostat sometimes during the two weeks I was at home before bedtime. Made for some chilly mornings!

[HermanH]

@HermanH I have not remembered what just came on the last gas bill but what you posted aligns with warmer weather rates-actual gas use is less than any carbon charge or even the delivery rate. Have to get bill out tomorrow and see how bad the $$ situation is. Should be slightly less because I was turning down the thermostat sometimes during the two weeks I was at home before bedtime. Made for some chilly mornings!

I don't think it matters all that much, which month it is. Here are my past few months (incl. winter months):

April
Gas $21 Tax $37

Mar
Gas $62 Tax $62

Feb
Gas $56 Tax $62

Jan
Gas $57 Tax $78

Dec
Gas $37 Tax $43

Nov
Gas $33 Tax $41

I also turn off the furnace at night. Some mornings, I was waking up to 5 degrees Celsius inside the house.

[coupon girl]

Herman i hear you ,my april gas bill had $33.49 carbon tax on it.Yes the goverment gave us climate tax rebate but how far does it go .

Woke up early and relaxing before our haircuts .

Just put an order into old navy for another pair of flare leggings ,they dont sell petite in the store .On sale now saved 4.00 from before tried to get my bill adjusted

but the last pair i got for 23.00 after my gap cash.So then they dont adjust ,which is okay .

Ceil-i slept yesterday afternoon for about 40 minutes i guess not having a working escalator helped me get steps in for sure.I agree if the bay makes it to the xmas season i dont think it will be around much longer so glad i redeemed my points for that top for .90 cents .lol

Now i will be set for summer pants ,i dont care for shorts mind you i do have a pair of bermuda shorts go right above my knee.

[SassyAshley]

Good Afternoon Everyone,
It is only Tuesday but I feel like I need another weekend to recover but gotta push through.

Yesterday was another all over the place day, I went into a branch to work with a new hire. Dad was supposed to meet me to give me a car to drive because he was taking mine but he ended up in a meeting so he gave me the option of taking my sister-in-law's or meeting him to get the loaner but if I took sis-in-law's tomorrow I would have to switch cars again. Originally because my day felt so upside down I was going to take sis-in-law but then we ended up needed to drop a computer off at our new location so I decided to meet Dad and get the loaner.

Since I was about 15 minutes away from Costco picking up the loaner, I decided to go Costco shopping as this was the last week for the current sale and they had Melatonin and Collageen on sale. If it has not of been for the Collageen which Mom takes daily I probably would have held off. Well I was there I grabbed a few other things so if need be I can hold off a couple of weeks, things like cheese.

Today I took Mom to her Dental Procedure and worked in the car well she had it done. She is now asleep on the couch between the pain of the dental procedure and her hip which does not like the dentist chair she is in a lot of pain. I am hoping she can sleep the afternoon away as the past two nights she has slept in 1 hour stretches as between her tooth and her hip something woke her up.

Trying to get all of the things done but I have I gotta be honest, it is only 4 pm and I am ready to call it a night and curl up under my blanket.

Happy Tuesday Everyone.

[HermanH]

Day didn't start out all that well, but improved. Went out into the falling snow. I thought that winter was over, but am glad I did not put away my winterwear. Snow turned to rain.

Things got better after lunch. Found a can of Peace Tea, dropped in front of a Dollarama store.

Then I got waved down, again, at a 7-11 by a guy in a Jeep wanting 'help'. I said 'okay' as I reached for my phone. He sped off like a rabbit and made sure to back away, so that I could not see his licence plate. I was surprised and was tempted to run after him to force him into traffic. Get away from, will you? Let's see how you run into traffic! I didn't, but was sorely tempted. I told my Gal Friday at Walmart about the incidents and she told me that they she worked at Value Village thrift store and they were pulling the same scam over there. I told her about my plan to grab a licence plate for the police and suggested that she try to do the same.

Later on, I saw an Audi SUV pacing/chasing a guy down the street. He kept walking away and I surmised it was the same scam. Again, I wanted to run across the street to snap a photo, but was laden with cans of food. I'll get the b*stards one these days.

Found an abandoned bum shopping cart and salvaged 3x bags of bread (best before today!), 2x cans of vegetables, and 2x packets of soda crackers.

Walked into Freshco and they were getting rid of 4-litre milk for $2.40 (best before May 3). I grabbed three. There was a lady who thought about it, but hesitated since she saw the short date. I joked with her husband how we used to check things before BB dates by just sniffing first and that I often drank milk 5 days past the date. She changed her mind and grabbed one.