Marching Forward with Frugality & with Savings 2015 frugal chatter

[saundyl]

Omg hit up the thrift store. 50 intrigue books for grandma for $10. Annnnd



A bag of wool for $10.... above is my keepers. Below is the rejects ill redonate.

[bobbiegirl2010]

I'm freaking out right now!!!! Just checked my bank account and my Child Tax Benefit is not there but the UCCB is - weird... So I log onto CRA to see what's up and my payments have been suspended because of a discrepancy in my marital status??!! I looked into it and there is an error on DH's 2014 tax return where his marital status is checked off as single!!!! I filed netfile with turbotax as a married couple so I don't understand how that happened. I have no idea what else is messed up because of this. Hopefully DH can call and straighten this out this morning! I'm going to call Turbotax too as this looks like it was their system that screwed this up - grrrrr.....

Update: by doing some googling it seems there is a major glitch with turbotax and marital statuses. I think I should be asking my money back! Warning to anyone else who's already filed their taxes with turbotax - check your marital status on your copies!

[Natalka]

Good morning! Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and a great start to Spring!

[Andit]

Good morning, everyone.

Still waiting for Mother Nature to turn on the light, can't wait til summer when dawn comes earlier and brings the heat (when it actually makes sense to get up at an ungodly hour ).

Had fun at the theatre. There is something weird going on, tho, with me and Spoon River. Last week, I'm innocently handing out programs, when one of my specialists comes up to me and asks what I'm doing there. Last night, while I was in the theatre trying to help patrons find seats and make sure no one tripped on the stairs (the theatre is much darker than normal to set the tone for the funeral), a teacher I hadn't seen in 30+ yrs comes up to me, takes my hands and says, "Andi, it's so good to see you." Before I could respond, she was off. When you think about the odds that someone would buy tickets on the night I'm scheduled to be there....So much for Toronto being a big, unfriendly, impersonal city.

Still fighting something, feel ok, just a bit sneezy. Lily dog is back to her old self, thank goodness. She was even miffed that I didn't want to sit outside and spy on the neighbours (waaaay too cold still for that!). Quincy cat is being his usual silly self, demanding food and being sucky.

Better go get treats for the brats and breakfast for myself (see, I am well versed on my priorities ).

Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

[Andit]

Update: by doing some googling it seems there is a major glitch with turbotax and marital statuses. I think I should be asking my money back! Warning to anyone else who's already filed their taxes with turbotax - check your marital status on your copies!

Hope things get resolved quickly for you.

About 5 yrs ago, my folks went through the same chaos - except they had filed a paper return and someone entering the data manually ticked off the wrong box in the computer. It took weeks to resolve (every time someone said it was fixed and showed us on the screen - I made sure I went with my folks & got proof they did it! - the system didn't accept the change and they got another notice). I know 2 people who work for Rev Canada - one is absolutely brilliant but only works on corporate stuff, the other I wouldn't trust to get me a cup of tea. I'm guessing it's the latter working on these returns.

[Andit]

I slept late this morning (til noon) I find that the night I do my Methotrexate injection I sleep really well. Woke up at 5:30 this morning for a bit so took some Tylenol arthritis. Hope getting 3 doses today keeps the head pain away.

Hope you are feeling better.

QOTD: Anyone planting anything this year?

I kill plants. Seriously. When I first moved to the condo, I brought my cactus with me (it was a present I got when I was 8 - my Mom always took care of it). I had to take it back to my Mom's within a week, cause it was not happy and close to death. It's still thriving at her place.

Last year, I bought all sorts of seeds for bff who has a huge yard and a nice garden. The resident groundhog ate anything with a bloom, the resident wild rabbit at the beans & the carrots, the resident racoons dug up the beets and squash seeds and turnips even tho they get fed (it keeps them from trying to destroy the garbage bin). The only thing that thrived were the raspberries (an Ontario wild black raspberry bush appeared out of nowhere - likely thanks to the resident critters). I was thrilled since raspberries are my fav fruit. Unfortunately, the resident birds had other ideas and attacked whenever bff tried to pick them.

I need more photos of LO. She's growing so quickly.

You don't want to know how many pictures I have of the brats, even if I've slowed down in taking photos.

[Frugalbigmama]

Welcome back @Frugalbigmama !!!!

thanks! I was still at the airport when I posted waiting to board but was ready to be home! So happy to be home. We can't wait to see our dog. Figured it was better to let her stay another night at friends then to have her home alone waiting for our 2 am arrival.

[Frugalbigmama]

Good morning everyone! So happy to be home! Was hoping our snow would be gone but it is still here. Has melted which is nice. Glad I took today off too so a 3 day weekend for me after vacation to get things done. Hockey Sunday so 2 hockey free days . Off to pick up a few items I purchased on a facebook mom swap. Will post details later .

[thriftygranny]

When you are substituting buttermilk, yogurt , sour cream etc, all you are looking to do is replace one acidic ingredient for another so the science of the recipe works.When substituting any of these in a baking recipe it will work, not sure what was happening with you Mrs Sunshine, maybe not enough vinegar. Almost always when using acidic ingredients a recipe needs to have a bit of baking soda in it when using baking powder, something to do with the reaction of the two, remember baking is a science and things need to go together!!
Buttemilk
4 1/2 teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice
milk
Place the vinegar or lemon juice in a cup measure, add milk to make one cup. Let sit for 15- 20 minutes at room temp, use or refrigerate!

[MrsSunshine]

so im not sure how long this old dinasour is going to last. and for some reason i can't access here on my tablet. it doesn't 'remember' me.
so unless it does or i learn how to get into change my password.
once she goes.. im gone. until i get something else.. don't miss me too much..

i may not be on much anyway for the next weeks or so.

nothing exciting can happen.. got it!
for now take care all. have a great weekend.
OH and Happy Spring

[jasperandchar]

@saundyl that's a great loot for the $10.00 and so kind to donate the rest

[jasperandchar]

@bobbiegirl I would definitely call TurboTax that's not right at all, imagine all the people that will be in your situation especially when people are wating for their CTTB and it isn't deposited. Hopefully your dh call call Revenue Canada and get it straightened out rather quickly.

[jasperandchar]

When you are substituting buttermilk, yogurt , sour cream etc, all you are looking to do is replace one acidic ingredient for another so the science of the recipe works.When substituting any of these in a baking recipe it will work, not sure what was happening with you Mrs Sunshine, maybe not enough vinegar. Almost always when using acidic ingredients a recipe needs to have a bit of baking soda in it when using baking powder, something to do with the reaction of the two, remember baking is a science and things need to go together!!
Buttemilk
4 1/2 teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice
milk
Place the vinegar or lemon juice in a cup measure, add milk to make one cup. Let sit for 15- 20 minutes at room temp, use or refrigerate!

thanks thrifygranny - making a note in my recipe book

AND MrsSunshine you were right and I was wrong please forgive me

[jasperandchar]

so im not sure how long this old dinasour is going to last. and for some reason i can't access here on my tablet. it doesn't 'remember' me.
so unless it does or i learn how to get into change my password.
once she goes.. im gone. until i get something else.. don't miss me too much..

i may not be on much anyway for the next weeks or so.

nothing exciting can happen.. got it!
for now take care all. have a great weekend.
OH and Happy Spring

nnnooooooooo don't leave us

Here's hoping your dinosaur survives and you can reset your tablet

All the best to you and your family as well this spring and hope to see you once in a while on here

[jasperandchar]

Evening all,

DH & I went to SDM this am 20x pts wus $50. which was fine as needed quite a few things on sale, I have 14,730 points to follow by April 3

Then popped into Independent Grocers for a few things and we all know how that story ends

Nothing exciting happening here, I really loved the weather today warm and sunny such a nice change

Dh borrowed a bunch of movies from the library so free

Wishing everyone a great evening and happy spring to all!