2025-04 April Frugal Thread

Good Morning Everyone,
Today is supposed to be prep day but not going to lie, I am lacking a little ambition. I woke up at 4:30 and was going to get up but I started reading some articles that popped up on grocery prices and somehow I fell back asleep.

I am not a political person but I find it fascinating what people think/believe. One article I saw was from the US and it was about how some of Costco's most popular products were going to go up because of the tariffs. The number of people in the comments who were saying the article was "wrong" because the tariffs are to help the US not punish them and think the country sending the product has the pay the tariff. One example was Olive Oil which I believe they said had a 34% tariff (don't quote me on the number it was 4:30 am) because it comes from Italy the number of people who think Italy has to pay that amount and it won't change the price at the store in the US.

Not going to lie I have stocked up a few things but sadly I do not see this turmoil ending any time soon.

I think I am going to do a light prep today, nothing too big, keep it simple. I want the food prepped but I don't want to do the work (story of my life LOL).

Happy Sunday Everyone.

Sassy, i have stocked up on a few products too like the purex laundry soap the huge jug .I paid 7.10 with a rainncheck about 2 months ago and got 6,now its 10.99 to 14.99 in price.

Watched the girls last night,it was fun i was dancing with them to music ,colouring ,just all round fun .I also did 2 loads of laundry for my son and put away.
So when i got home at midnight was tired slept 7 hours last night .

@walkonby Suggest you check your Loblaws affliated stores' clearance sections for 50% off Tassimo coffee discs. My local Fortinos has Great Canadian coffee and light to medium roast coffee discs at 50% off. Do not know what regular price was as I am noticing prices are not always marked on the stickers, which will stump cashiers if upcs are not in the registers' database.

@lizzie bargain The lazy river sounds like fun, just like the Ontario Lottery Gaming ad about two dreamers one-upping each other on their dream additions to their homes! Johnny Strides mentioned that there was a similar ride at his Hard Rock Cafe resort in Mexico this winter.
By the way, the EU travel authorisation program will not begin until late 2026, so no more paperwork for your Malta trip this summer! https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias_en

My lottery dreams did not result in any Lotto Max or scratch ticket wins this weekend. I know that I just supported funding provincial healthcare and education.

@SassyAshley did you use the frozen butternut squash in a rosemary casserole? Or just even with some oil and seasoning, you can roast the squash at 400F for about 35-40 min.
When you mentioned the amount of movement you can do with nose injury, I thought that you must have experienced a lot of pressure changes before, during, and after the recent storm/snow this week. Hamilton has flurries in its forecast twice this week...

Today is your LAST DAY for Hudson Bay gift card use. Physical or digital (ahem, Roll Up winners) cards; online orders may still be subject to two gift cards per order limit.

Today is also last day for Giant Tiger's save $10 wus $50 VIP program members offer, which includes grocery!
Tomorrow, Giant Tiger has its 10% off Senior's Day.

👋Great to see members posting on the board! @Angela273 , @cath007 , @Giseledta , @lilo0003 , @Coupon_girl , @Frugalbigmama

o.k. NOT sure what the heck happened ( inspiration from Sassy maybe? ) but about 45 minutes ago I cleared out the 4 shelves that had ice build up on them from the stand up freezer.
I never unplug and wait, plus where would I put all the frozen stuff while it defrosts. Nope, I lay thick towels down and pour hot tap water over each shelf. The shelves are like grates, so it all melts down and drops through to the next shelf, then I remove that sopping wet towel and repeat. Fun? wow!! lol.

Well finished buying the easter chocolate for the grandkids all on sale

got grapes reduced for .80
cranberry watermelon drink 3 reduced 3.59
cesar salad reduced 2.48

oikos yogurt 3.33-50checkout51=2.83
scruncies reduced to 3.13 Gonna give every girl one 4 one left over for me


THen went to canadian tire got a new nozzle ,loaded 2 offers so got back 2.30 in points .Told hubby please dont toss this one as that is when they break .

@SassyAshley I find it so disheartening how many Americans do not understand how tariffs work, including their leaders. I think we are well positioned to manage because we are all such frugal folks. ButI do worry about those that blindly shop with no idea of sales.

@lilo0003 I'll be watching even MORE than before ( every week ) how much the costs at the grocery store increase. Forget about thinking of getting a replacement vehicle ( ours is old and has way too many kms on it ) but the prices were insane before the tariffs came.
Sigh.....:( thank goodness we can share ways to save with each other on here!

Even before all of this I could not imagine walking into a store and just buying it because I always buy it. Now, I have no words.

I was reading another article about a Woman who's Husband lowered their grocery bills from over $2,000 a month down to between $400 to $500 a month. The secret was looking at prices. She admitted she just went in bought what she always bought based on what the family liked and to her it was what it was.

Her husband took over and started looking at pricing and trying alternatives and within a few months they were down to spending $400 to $500 per month.

I know some will look at this and think how was she not looking at prices but that is how so many people shop. I know so many people who feel groceries are a need and it is what it is, I have to spend this much, what else can I do. I also realize not everyone put as much time into there shopping as some of us do but, we are at a point where some won't have a choice.

Well, I am just not feeling it today. I tried, I failed and I am good with it.

I did make some waffles for breakfast, I will leave those in the fridge until later in the week and then whatever is left will go in the freezer.

Well the waffles were cooking I cleaned out the fridge, I had the pasta sauce I made last weekend for the Chicken Parm I never made. I was going to freeze it but decided to make a Lazy Lasagna instead for dinner tonight. I am also testing putting them in our Soup Cubes to make a single serve size. I have heard oven ready noodles work really in freezer dishes so we will see. Although it took way more to fill them then expect so we really only had enough for dinner plus one serving as a leftover (which is what I was kind of going for, because as much as I love lasagna, I hate eating it for a week).

Once I clean out the Stand up freezer I want to make space for Single serve meals we can pull as needed. Testing Lasagna, not sure what else I will try making yet but sure there are many options out there.

After my shower, Mom cut my hair for me, it ended up a little (ok, a lot) shorter than I wanted but once the first cut is made you gotta go with it. But so happy to have it cut we cut off about 5", it was WAY too long.

Dishwasher is running, dishes are done and it is time to relax.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SassyAshley

She admitted she just went in bought what she always bought based on what the family liked and to her it was what it was.

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That's pretty much everyone's mentality. "It's in my basket. Therefore, it MUST be a necessity."

I am not sure what is up with Mother Nature but it looks like another blast of winter is coming for our area this coming weekend (I know there is time for it to change but it is depressing looking at the long range forecast and seeing snow).

I was thinking about asking for this Friday off but my plan was to go out, get out of the house but if the weather is going to be bad, I might as well work.

Guess this is a sign to just work this Friday.

I KNEW the return of something white and cold ( snow ) was on the way because my left knee told me yesterday afternoon. What a royal PITA this is.
I will try to find a silver lining here.......While I slept DH with the help of DS did a massive room adjustment in DD's old room. That room had become
an unintentional emergency dumping spot as we made changes/purged in the house.

I opened the door to see they had totally rearranged all the furniture ( bed/piano/his work desk and computer/treadmill/ recliner and so much more.
Hurrah! Feels like a welcomed open space now. Now I think " who cares about the snow!? " ha ha

did anyone read this story? I think the customer that has $43,000.00 worth of redemption points may have broken some Cardinal rule? That is so many points! How could he have earned all of them legitimately ?

PC Optimum accounts frozen, cancelled with little explanation | Go Public | Watch

Quote:

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Originally Posted by walkonby

did anyone read this story? I think the customer that has $43,000.00 worth of redemption points may have broken some Cardinal rule? That is so many points! How could he have earned all of them legitimately ?

PC Optimum accounts frozen, cancelled with little explanation | Go Public | Watch

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Good morning @walkonby I will have to read this. People takes advantage if the see a points error and price error that can stack. A little while back someone post on IG that the potatoes that had 1000 points at No Fills was giving out 10000 points and was selling if I remember correctly for $4.99 Not Normal people was buying them by the hundreds and selling them back for $2.99 . I don’t have IG a friend send it to me.

Good Monday morning all.

Thank goodness I have a normal work week ahead because last week was ROUGH! 6 days, a new client with, long hours and long commutes. I’m ready for some slower times.

I did manage to finally finish my 2024 taxes :excited: and the plan is to get a head start on 2025. That’s the plan anyways.

With the prices of everything going :boom::crazy: Dh and I are making more of a budget. Now, we’ve always had a “budget” but it was more fluid but now with a second vehicle on the horizon we’re nailing down firm numbers. I’m hoping that because our vehicle of choice ( we’ve narrowed it down to 3) is made in Mexico that it won’t be as much of an increase.

We have been going through the last 6 months of every dime we spent and realizing there is actually more room for improvement than we thought. Not that we were bad with money (we always saved for bigger purchase, lived well within our means) but there’s always room for improvement/ reevaluation.

It’s kinda neat and scary at the same time to see just how much is spent on groceries for example in just 6 months. Even takeout, which we don’t do often but we’re shocked at how much we spent in 6 months. Crazy. I mean we have already saved $1700 a year just by changing up our cell phone company!

Today’s plan is to finish up the big budget, deposit my Caddle cheque for $42.90 :cheesygrin: after hitting up the gym. Planning on a walk while it’s dry and the sun is desperately trying to peek out.

Have a fantastic day everyone

Harbie ,it is so true with everything going up ,i am trying to stock up on sales i noticed my large box of tetley i think it has 300 bags went up to 11.99-$2.00 increase so i will be watching for a sale ( i have 2 boxes downstairs of 72's ,hubby doesnt drink tea ).

I just went thru a kitchen cupboard i had to get down on a pillow(hard on my knees ) This is where i should have used my smallest granddaughter Cara age 7 to get in there and clean for me .lol

Anyway i found a cereal container that was moms ,so i will use it and then my small cereal container i will use for minute rice .
There is always stuff we can toss or donate -so i got a little pile going -feels good.


Look at the people that dont buy sale items or use loyalty cards ,i feel bad for them .I had a girlfriend tell me once dont use the scanning code of practise i was telling her on the phone one night (well thats not happening )Look i paid 1.99 for head and shoulders shampoo the other day with scop.

Yes the price of things is so going up ,that is why i keep a small few drawers in my spare room with clothing bought on sale for the grandkids or the odd toy year round .

I have built my wardrobe up buying my pants on sale and slowly working on the tops .Mind you i had about 10 summer tops given to me from my sister-in-law as i lost a bit ,mind you that goes up and down .lol

We are back to watching the girls after school a few days a week saves my son $600 a month .I also told my daughter to bring Sebastian here in the summer for a week or 2 if his dad agrees.To save them 500 -600 a week for camp in toronto.So he told me last night he wants to come for 2 weeks (not in a row ) i will need a break .lol

We had Sebastian last summer for one week my daughter wanted to give us $50 to take him out(which doesnt go far nowadays for sure).All in all love helping my grandkids out.

Well, the temperature is now consistently above freezing. Time to 'harvest' my milk crop from nature's freezer. :)

Sigh, some of the cartons were still frozen into the snow bank and I tried to dig them out with an ice pick. Alas, punctured 3 cartons and wasted them. I just can't seem to get ahead. :(

I watched a video about the tariffs...

It had to do with Florida oranges..

Yes.. the oranges were American... and grown..

But the hoses.... to water the trees will have a tariff
The trucks to transport if they need replacement parts... tariff

The packaging .. tariff...

So those oranges... that were grown in the states....

It was a good video.

I freely admit I don't know enough about free trade , tariffs...but.. waiting for costs to rise...

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by HermanH

Well, the temperature is now consistently above freezing. Time to 'harvest' my milk crop from nature's freezer. :)

Sigh, some of the cartons were still frozen into the snow bank and I tried to dig them out with an ice pick. Alas, punctured 3 cartons and wasted them. I just can't seem to get ahead. :(

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Hope you were able to save some!!!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by coupon girl

Harbie ,it is so true with everything going up ,i am trying to stock up on sales i noticed my large box of tetley i think it has 300 bags went up to 11.99-$2.00 increase so i will be watching for a sale ( i have 2 boxes downstairs of 72's ,hubby doesnt drink tea ).

I just went thru a kitchen cupboard i had to get down on a pillow(hard on my knees ) This is where i should have used my smallest granddaughter Cara age 7 to get in there and clean for me .lol

Anyway i found a cereal container that was moms ,so i will use it and then my small cereal container i will use for minute rice .
There is always stuff we can toss or donate -so i got a little pile going -feels good.


Look at the people that dont buy sale items or use loyalty cards ,i feel bad for them .I had a girlfriend tell me once dont use the scanning code of practise i was telling her on the phone one night (well thats not happening )Look i paid 1.99 for head and shoulders shampoo the other day with scop.

Yes the price of things is so going up ,that is why i keep a small few drawers in my spare room with clothing bought on sale for the grandkids or the odd toy year round .

I have built my wardrobe up buying my pants on sale and slowly working on the tops .Mind you i had about 10 summer tops given to me from my sister-in-law as i lost a bit ,mind you that goes up and down .lol

We are back to watching the girls after school a few days a week saves my son $600 a month .I also told my daughter to bring Sebastian here in the summer for a week or 2 if his dad agrees.To save them 500 -600 a week for camp in toronto.So he told me last night he wants to come for 2 weeks (not in a row ) i will need a break .lol

We had Sebastian last summer for one week my daughter wanted to give us $50 to take him out(which doesnt go far nowadays for sure).All in all love helping my grandkids out.

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Helping for summer care is a very very nice thing to do!!!! I'm. Sure they will have fun

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I am so all over the place today. Just could not focus.

W have snow again. Ugh

Rinsing beans and soaking them for chili for tomorrow. Seems like a good idea to make a nice pot of chilli..... supper and some for the freezer for future meals



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@harbie , I feel this on adding things up although in my case it was necessities (Hydro), I had to submit it to my accountant and when I sent the number I wanted to cry a little.

Also can someone please tell me why if I rented I could claim part of my rent but because I own, I cannot claim part of my mortgage. Sorry, this one gets me every year because for some reason every year they ask me for my rent and I have to them I don't rent.

@walkonby , I actually saw that article and read it this morning and I found it a bit weird. I am not sure how they got all these points but to me the article came off like everyone has all these points and reaching that amount of points is easily achieved.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by harbie

We have been going through the last 6 months of every dime we spent and realizing there is actually more room for improvement than we thought. Not that we were bad with money (we always saved for bigger purchase, lived well within our means) but there’s always room for improvement/ reevaluation.

It’s kinda neat and scary at the same time to see just how much is spent on groceries for example in just 6 months. Even takeout, which we don’t do often but we’re shocked at how much we spent in 6 months. Crazy. I mean we have already saved $1700 a year just by changing up our cell phone company!

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Awesome to see such an exercise of discipline. It's just too bad that it isn't commonplace. :(

We finally got the call to work the election. Training is tomorrow. Anything I can do to not draw on our investments will help. Taxes are done and I am getting a decent return which was expected as I put a some extra in my RRSP. @walkonby thanks for the inspiration. I too thawed my freezer today. Taking inventory helps avoid waste. I found a prime rib I had forgotten I bought for NYE and never used so it will be Easter dinner. I made a batch of meatballs as we were out.
I took a page from @HermanH when I picked up a can of mushroom soup in the parking lot. I am sure this is the 1st time I have ever found food.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lilo0003

I too thawed my freezer today. Taking inventory helps avoid waste. I found a prime rib I had forgotten I bought for NYE and never used so it will be Easter dinner.

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Discoveries like that are always a nice tasty surprise. :)

I've got so much inventory spread over 4x freezers that I now make a little list of what is where. I note the date of purchase, weight of the roast/chub/item, and location/freezer. It has helped me immensely in rotating the stock. (Also depresses me a bit, when I see how much I have yet to eat. :biggrin:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HermanH

Discoveries like that are always a nice tasty surprise. :)

I've got so much inventory spread over 4x freezers that I now make a little list of what is where. I note the date of purchase, weight of the roast/chub/item, and location/freezer. It has helped me immensely in rotating the stock. (Also depresses me a bit, when I see how much I have yet to eat. [emoji3])

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Sorting and organizing my freezer usually makes me feel rich. With lots of options. ;)

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