2024-12 December Frugal Thread

Sassy my dear daughter has been so stressed from the office working 4 days going in ,meanwhile her friend down the street got a new job and only needs to go in one day a week .

She was so upset talking to me twice in the day on sat ,plus sharing sebastian during xmas is hard with his family always having engagements and they need to jig the schedule .Plus she has a cold as Sebastian had an ear infection early last week .I feel for her and you anyone who is so overworked this time of year .


Meanwhile i wanted to go out today but brother is coming at 12.30 with gifts for my grandkids .I did make a basket up for him and his girlfriend with goodies ,wine etc.

Put in a small order from Gap as both codes worked (perk,and addon are the codes and extra 10 and 20% off codes)they worked on 50% off items -already starting my shopping for next year as i got a lovely leather wallet mans for $15 after both codes ,(who it is for not sure right now)plus a few items for the kids .

Happy Monday morning everyone :)

It’s a happy Monday since I’m NOT working today :excited:. December has been beyond NUTS. I’m definitely not built for working my hard job 6 and sometimes 7 days a week! I’m officially done until Dec 31st. Yesterday was my last day and yes I had to work another Sunday :(.

After work Dh and I went to RCSS to grab our regular groceries and I had it all planned out (did a mock order online so I knew the cost and amounts). Unfortunately it didn’t work out as planned.

Several items were not in stock ( wasn’t even the one item that I was warned about online). I also found out that apparently the prices online are not necessarily the prices in store :shrug:. The pasta sauce 2/$5 is only if you order online.

The cashier called a CSM over to ask about the pricing, then she had to call her back because she forgot to take off my coupons so I was THAT person that holds up the line on a Sunday during the holiday rush :yikes:.

In the end my bill was $161.24 and after points $1.24. Then I had to go to CS and she he gave me $5 cash back for my coupons.

Not bad except I realized that I should have purchased the coffee at NF in order to get the 3000 points :doh:. Oh well, it was a freak zoo and the store looked literally like a war zone and was filthy so I was just glad to get out alive…… now I know why I don’t shop there anymore usually.

When I got home I placed an online pick up order for my pasta sauce for Dec 24th pickup. $30 in sauce. $1 pick up fee, .05 tax for a total of $31.05 using 30,000 in points so $1.05 oop.

Off to the gym now so have a great day everyone.

Help me decide, my second dessert, should I make:

Salted Caramel Upside Cake

or

Lemon Ricotta Cake

Salted caramel Upside Down cake!!

https://media1.tenor.com/m/f_pAwG9vq...cing-dance.gif

Lemon ricotta. Refreshing to help lighten up the probably richer other food options. Almost a palate cleanser also fools people into thinking it’s healthier :lolsign:

Salted caramel dessert sounds yummy!

My dear younger brother dropped in i put out baked goods he only had 1 .He gave us a gift plus the grandkids .I told him xmas is for the kids ,you didnt have to .His reply well i didnt want to not give you anything.

Then popped over to LCBO as we got invited out on xmas eve and i like to take a bottle of wine .Then popped into wally parrs and then pharmasave got 11 airmiles .

Saturday afternoon-made a medium pizza with Primo pizza sauce and generous amounts of house seasoning from Marina Orsini's cookbook! 425F bake temp for pizza. Put together double batch of crumble using the last two berry smoothie packs and after taking pizza out, used same temp for the crumble. Having kitchen to self was late in day but I got myself homemade pizza. Wish I knew how to make stromboli - Pizza Pizza's version is amazing and fragrant if you like seasonings.

Yesterday-hot chocolate, eating leftovers and looking at store deals. Got phone call that someone tried to charge$200+ transaction on my card. Will need to visit bank to see what is going on. Good thing I had not put cash into ATM because I was going to spend online.

TODAY-Giant Tiger finally released a VIP coupon that includes grocery. Save $10 wus $75 or more on almost everything online or in-store. Make sure to download entire message to see fine print. One time use from Dec.23 to Jan 5 (Sunday). Looks like coupons are dated to not align with flyers. Maybe managers have data pointing to customer shopping dates and asked HQ to offer something for the anyday shopper. YAY!!!

The Walmart Boxing Week flyer is live in stores today and was active last night online. All outerwear is up to 40% off. I think tonight is ideal time to see what is in-store as well as at Giant Tiger and Value Village. Tomorrow's plan involves at least one mall visit to chase a clothing deal plus library visit before branches close at 1pm.

While the cold outdoor temperatures have kept the heat on inside to dry clothing really well, my skin is struggling. Looking forward to milder temperatures tomorrow!

Had to toss out the Wendy's coupons that expired on Dec 15. Will see if today's mail(second delivery since CP workers returned to work) has any coupons or flyers.

Thinking of members who have not been on the board for some time, including @Skippy and @avoncallingu and @Natalka .

Ok, I am almost done.

Thanks to my bread machine (yes, I know dough is easy to make but times like this where the machine can do the work for me is why I love my bread machine) 2 batches of Cinnamon Bun are freezing. I am giving them to everyone frozen they can take out the night before and bake them off.

I ended up going with Salted Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake because it turns out I do not have any white cake mixes. I know you can make it yourself but I choose these two because I could cheat and use a cake mix. In the new year I will make a large batch of White Mix cake mix to keep in the pantry.

A double batch of Chocolate Chip Cookie Balls are also freezing.

The brownies are cooling and then I have to add two move layers. Going to get this done tonight so tomorrow I just have to cut them up.

Everyone will be getting Cinnamon Buns and Chocolate Chip Cookie Balls. I axed te Waffles (I do not have enough for everyone and did not have time make another batch, might take some if anyone wants to take them). I still need to make the frosting for the cinnamon buns but I think that is a task for tomorrow. It wasn't my original plan but we are rolling with it.

Pretty sure I am going to sleep well tonight, I am so tired but happy to have most of it done tonight so I don't have to rush around tomorrow.

oh my goodness @SassyAshley You did plenty! Home baked gifts are the best gifts. Also having the recipients decide when to bake their own Cinnamon bun
is a nice touch.
I made up very few fun items to have as add-on for appy's for the charcuterie board. Goat and cream cheese herbed balls rolled in fancy cracker crumbs.
Two versions of the cheese trees ( discovered smoked Gouda was a bit resistant to having the herb mixture stick to it. )
The cream cheese ones were way better. Will add the pretzel trunks to them on the 25th.
As for the pinecone treats, I made a total of 11 of them and called it an afternoon! ( the swearing was becoming almost sailor like!
( Stupid **?!X -ing cereal pieces breaking! ). These will be next to the dessert fare after dinner.


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@walkonby , love the apps. Bravo on the Pinecones I have seen them and thought about trying them but they scare me.

Good Morning Everyone,
It feels kind of weird to be prepared for today normally I am running around like a chicken with my head chopped off.

I do need to make the cream cheese frosting and package everything up but going to package just before I leave only because I don't have room for all the bags in my freezer once they are broken up.

Need to get out and shovel and clean the cars, think I will do this after my tea and get it out of the way.

The kitchen needs a little TLC nothing too big, I did clean as I went but clean dishes need to be put away and dishes from the last 2 steps of the brownies were not done as I was making dinner and just wanted to go to bed.

Mom sent me a list of things she wants for her dinner tonight so I will pull that for her.

Merry Christmas Eve Everyone.

Happy Christmas Eve!

We have our annual family gathering later today/evening. We leave home at 2pm so planning my things to get done around that.

Just sipping my coffee and writing out my list and trying to get motivated! I pulled the supplies for my kitchen duties. Mac and cheese for sure and possibly Christmas Crack with pretzels (my 1st attempt so we will see) I am not the baker in the family.

I also need to go to GT this morning to grab the jam on sale for my mom for her Christmas box! Hopefully they have many varieties!

Have a wonderful and safe Christmas everyone!

Walkonby and Sassyashley- Both of you are very creative in the kitchen!! Wow!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Frugalbigmama

Walkonby and Sassyashley- Both of you are very creative in the kitchen!! Wow!

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ty very much @Frugalbigmama but I'll bet you'll have beginner's luck making that Christmas Crack with pretzels. When the ingredients
are that delicious it's tough to make it bad.....lol.
I swear if anyone requests I make them a few of those edible pinecones, I'll lose my mind. If I had young kids again that might be the
only scenario where I would embrace the mess.
All the best to everyone here....remember to just breath.