2025-01 January Frugal Thread

[coupon girl]

Harbie thanks yes another 6 months of pain free-lol

Just got back from Toronto ,watched Sebastian tobogann with his friends yesterday.Daughter made a lovely roast chicken ,fresh rolls and mashed potatoes and corn .I played a few games with Sebastian .Today we went out for brunch at a lovely restaurant ,daughters treat (she spoils us)

Now we are exhaused ride home wasnt bad 1 hr 20 minutes .Take care everyone stay warm.

[flemeth]

hello to you all
i am not feeling any better...i just try to survive
hugs to you all

((((hugs))) @cath0007

[flemeth]

So it feels like ages since I’ve posted but probably not. I’ve been reading just not posting. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride.

Just the basics of being frugal. I did a NF shop at the beginning of the week. Spent $133, used $4 in coupons, PM’d 3 items, earned 25,050 back in points.

Work week got rearranged last minute due to getting a cancellation with the dr that had up to a 1 year wait time. Yay. Kinda. While I got amazing care from her and answers it wasn’t the answers I’d hoped for. I can get very limited HRT and it’s only possibly going to improve a few of the lesser symptoms. Unfortunately I’m in a gray area when it comes to the broader spectrum due to the uterine cancer

It was a bit of a gut punch and unfortunately brought the surface some bad memories that I’d hoped were behind me but they weren’t. It has made for a bit of a week here . On the positive side the stuff I can try that costs $450 was free with insurance so I have to be positive and happy with that.

I really need to up my gym game (it’s been slowing down a bit now). I’m hoping to hit the gym shortly after I finish some laundry.

Stay warm everyone and have a great weekend

@harbie so sorry you did not get the answers you were looking for .

[Frugalbigmama]

Ok. All grocery shopping is done. And picked up a can of paint for the closet project.
FYI... I know most people use the scene points on groceries, but you can use them at home.hardwear as well.... on ya know... paint that is on sale...
Just saying...


I need to find a system to track my 25.00 challenge. To myself.

I have sourdough pizza dough doing its thing, and I m off to get the closet painted.
Stat frugal

Sent from my SM-A526W using Tapatalk

Thank-you! I did not know I could use Scene points at Home Hardware! I need to re-paint our front door in the Spring (hate the colour that we painted in the Fall ) I really only use scene at Foodland but haven't been in the store in a long time so will save the points for paint

[Giseledta]

Thank-you! I did not know I could use Scene points at Home Hardware! I need to re-paint our front door in the Spring (hate the colour that we painted in the Fall ) I really only use scene at Foodland but haven't been in the store in a long time so will save the points for paint

Foodland is so so expensive!! I only buy there sales.

Sent from my SM-A526W using Tapatalk

[Frugalbigmama]

Foodland is so so expensive!! I only buy there sales.

Sent from my SM-A526W using Tapatalk

Me too! I look at the flyer each week and see if there is a deal and for awhile there was something each week at a great price but I haven't seen anything for months!

[Frugalbigmama]

Good Morning! A snowy Monday for us

Our driveway is a mess but DS will do it when he gets home from work today. I really don't have to go anywhere today but would like to go to the gym this evening. I need to switch up my schedule a bit and see if it helps get me out of the winter funk.

I have a roast beef in the slow cooker. Will do mashed potatoes, gravy and veggies for dinner.

Groceries- Spent the $100 last weekend and only went yesterday to No Frills because I had to go to the bank and it is across the road so I always pop in if downtown. Picked picked up wraps to make quesidias later this week (we have 3 small sealed sour cream that just expired so it was my plan to try and use some this week) I also still have the 2pk lean beef in the fridge that I will cook up tomorrow and plan dinner around (meat sauce/meatballs I am thinking).

So the meal plan for the next few days: (We have everything needed so no shopping!)
Roast beef dinner
Pasta and meatsauce/or meatballs
Chicken Quesidias with side (sliced cucumbers/salad/curly fries/perogies- depending what I pull from fridge/freezer)
Shrimp Fried rice with veggies
I will also make a small mac and cheese tomorrow to test out a new baking dish I picked up. I want to buy a few of them because I like the size but wanted to test one out 1st. (we have everything needed on hand to make so it just adds to the sides or DS's late night eating!)

Yesterday I sorted the laundry and tossed old towels and then did 2 loads. One is in the dryer ready for me to fold and put away today. The other I hung to dry and will put away tomorrow.

Busy work week but I am ready for it! Will be happy for the weekend for sure!!

Have a wonderful day!

[Giseledta]

Me too! I look at the flyer each week and see if there is a deal and for awhile there was something each week at a great price but I haven't seen anything for months!

Totally agree.
I'm trying to make it part of my reg walk. It's very close to me.
We have been having... manager specials alot... a direct response to rhe brand new no frills within walking distance. Lol

Sent from my SM-A526W using Tapatalk

[Frugalbigmama]

Totally agree.
I'm trying to make it part of my reg walk. It's very close to me.
We have been having... manager specials alot... a direct response to rhe brand new no frills within walking distance. Lol

Sent from my SM-A526W using Tapatalk

Maybe I should try popping into mine more often....I could add it to my walk (I park and do FB/Dollar Tree and then walk to SDM. I could walk a little further to FL!

[Frugalbigmama]

Budget talk.

Utilities- I budget $275.00/month for Hydro/gas(heating) and water and sewer. Years ago I started putting the difference in its own savings account. This way the months when the bills were over $275 the excess covers it. (before the extra/less would come from misc. account but I like seeing it this way)
I don't think I am going to raise the amount at the moment since all bills are paid up to date and we have $399.00 sitting in the account. If I notice the bills over the next few months are going up then I wlll figure out how much more to add each month. (I think they just upped the carbon tax so I am sure will notice on gas bill ) I notice at the gas station- up everywhere

Property taxes. I upped the amount put away each month by $40 (I started in December) Lots of talk about high increase due to OPP costs going way up. We have a balance in there building but I think we will see a huge increase this year so want to be on top of it.

Annual Car and house insurance. Have had a good balance forward in the account for years and after this months transfer it will have the total amount due for both bills at the end of June. Will keep the amount the same for the next 6 months and will see what the bills are in June and decide then if we need to increase the monthly amount starting in July.

Next month I hope to start posting stuff for sale and build our "crap sold" envelope. Have one on the go so will continue to add to it and see where we are in June and figure out the plan for the $.

[Frugalbigmama]

I made a new sweet treat last night and I love it!

I mashed up frozen raspberries added coconut/chia seeds and a bit of maple syrup. Mixed together and used my cookie scoop and put on a plate with wax paper and put in the freezer. Once frozen I dipped them in melted chocolate. So good.
Many different variations I am going to try.

[Tweets77]

We are in the process of ordering a new vehicle so went to our insurance company to find out the price difference between our old (2014) Fusion and a new (2025) Subaru Crosstrek. Turned out it will be about $150 a year more for the same coverage. A pleasant surprise I thought!

[coupon girl]

Well had a good sleep ,was up at 7.00 a/m out shovelling part of the driveway as we were in Toronto on the weekend .

Took down my tree,i thought the tree(which i had given to me this year free (7 ft tree)would fit in my dads army trunks -but nope .I am not buying a tree bag as they are made with plastic now and the zipper breaks not worth $40.So i used 2 construction bags we had left in basement .

Just purchased a birthday gift from the gap for son next month plus a few other sales .

[SassyAshley]

Good Afternoon Everyone,
I believe tomorrow is a full moon and I am feeling it, woke up tired again but we are pushing through.

Got some of the prep done yesterday, not all of it, we did not deal with the meat. As well I am still rotating some stuff into the freezer the flash freeze and package.

My Black Friday Package finally arrived, so I took a slightly early lunch and ran to pick it up. Now to try everything on....... Might be a little scared after all this time they won't work for me and I will want to return them.

Well I was grabbing my package I also ran to No Frills and grabbed:
1 x Ground Pork (PM another pack to Food Basics, Mom wants to make her own Sausage Patties)
4 x Canned Tomatoes (Mom wants whole tomatoes, PM Zehrs)
1 x Hot Dog Buns
4 x Whole Wheat Tortillas (Noticed my freezer stock is running low so slowly restocking, plus I plan to make Baked Tacos this week)

Need to use up some of the oddities in our freezer that are taking up space but are still perfectly good food.
Ham, I have so many packages of Ham from making Ham at Holidays we are small family never eat it all and now I have all this ham that just floats around my freezer.
Walnuts, why did I buy a Costco bag of Walnuts, they are not our favourite nut but they were on sale and that is why I bought them. I have already stopped doing this getting it cause it is on sale or the cheaper options but I have Walnuts coming out my ears.
Pumpkin, Mom like to make her own Pumpkin vs buying canned pumpkin but seriously I have 20+ packs because we just are not using it.
Buttermilk, bought some for Mom (not the biggest fan) and now it lives in my freezer, same with some Apple Cider I grabbed to make a recipe.

None of these things are bad, they are just taking up space I would like to fill with other things so that is my new goal, use these up so I get back my freezer space.

Happy Monday Everyone.

[walkonby]

@Frugalbigmama your smashed raspberry sweet dessert treat sounds so darn good! Also today our Mayor ( Chow ) has proposed a 6.9% increase to our property taxes.
Thanks for nuthin!!

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow's budget for this year features a proposed 6.9 % tax hike for homeowners to help fund $18.8 billion in operating expenses she says are aimed at improving key city services. ( That includes a 5.4 % property tax increase plus the annual 1.5 % " city building fund" levy, a tax introduced in 2016 that goes toward major infrastructure projects. The combined increases would amount to an additional $268 annually for the average homeowner in Toronto.

@SassyAshley that habit of buying items in bulk per a sale has bitten us a couple of times too. I spoil DS all the time with his fav's. Who eats Spam? Yuck,
but since he loves the stuff I find myself stocking up on cans when they go on sale ( imho the stuff is overpriced to begin with, lol ) . Same goes for recipes
that I need just a small amount of......the remainder often sits unused in the fridge or freezer.