April 2017 Frugal Chater All Welcome

[Andit]

Good morning, everyone. Hope all is well with everyone. Sorry for going awol. After the of last year, this year was supposed to be easy & fun. Too bad 2017 didn't get the message. So far, I've lost a friend to cancer, bff's brother (I met him shortly after I met bff in Kindergarten) ended up in ICU (he just got out & is still in rough shape) and another good friend is in hospital, waiting for space in the OR to have a 12+ hour complicated surgery (they are trying to find where the perforations in her intestine are to try to fix them, sigh). I spent a week in bed with a bad cold (the other bff came by and took care of the critters, but also managed to mess up an outlet by overloading it, sigh). On a less critical, but still sad note, my local pub is closing down for renos and some of my fav staff are leaving for other opportunities (I'm happy for them & really really hope it works out, but now my fav Chef won't be around to fix my special order ). The icing on the cake, so to speak, was an issue with disability (back in the fall when life was very stressful, I didn't fill out some paperwork properly, so lots of complications are now ensuing - long story short, I understand that they deal with a lot of fraud cases, but I didn't appreciate being treated like a criminal). The delay meant that I couldn't get drug coverage for a few days, so I had to pay out of pocket (at $100 per day, it quickly maxes out one's credit card, sigh). Oh and the plans for a new family member who was to have joined our happy household have been delayed a few months (this was actually a good thing, as timing would have been a challenge) - will update when things are more concrete. On the plus side, so far this year, I spent my b-day in a happy place, thanks to my sweet friends. I also have had the chance to see a bit of theatre, even if some of it was not quite my taste (one play I still can't decide whether or not I like, it was a bit too avant garde for me). I also got to see an amazing concert, all about New York's history (anyone else surprised that Wall Street was named after the remains of the wall that was built around New Amsterdam?). One other major scare was with Lily dog. The poor girl, who never ever makes a mess, did so with a vengeance (she was feeling under the weather & when the elevator hit a little bump, she pretty much exploded - I spent an hour cleaning walls & mats in the elevator - thankfully it was late at night when the neighbours (and my roommates) were in their beds). A very expensive vet visit later (to rule out other issues) showed she had an infection, although she is also starting to show signs of kidney issues (once the infection clears up, she'll have to take daily pills to keep her going for a while longer). On the plus side, the vet kept referring to her as a10 yr old (I had to keep correcting him, saying that she is 13). Everyone was impressed at how bouncy the young lady is. Still working on getting the place to look less like a warehouse and more like a home. My own fault for wanting to waste all my energy playing with the brats. Will try to get on more consistantly, provided life doesn't keep getting in the way. Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

[Angela273]

Thank you for the update Andit. I'm sorry that the year hasn't been going as good as you had hoped.

[jasperandchar]

@Angela273 congrats on paying off your van, 1 less expense
@Andit thanks for checking in, so sorry for the loss of your friend and all the commotion life brings us along the way. Hope things improve and life settles down.

_________________________

Afternoon everyone,

My internet provider sent me a email saying we were over our usage, I checked and the #'s seemed legit. So I unplugged the internet for 2 days which honestly felt like 2 years (lol). It's crazy how dependent we are on such things. I couldn't do any banking because I do it online, couldn't look for recipes, yada yada yada.....anyways I checked the internet usage to this am to see how much over we were and we're actually under.....really ticked off at the internet provider as these are gigs we could have used since we pay for xxxx amount and didn't use them.....

Supper tonight is homemade pogos, ds1's friend that was supposed to come over last week didn't because he had a date. So he's here tonight for supper and a sleep over....

Going to start supper in 1/2 hour or so because I'm getting hungry.

Wishing everyone a very frugal April.

[coupon girl]

nice to hear from you andit
well missed seeing my grandson today my daughter is in town at her hubby's parents and wanted to stop in today before heading back home I told her nope as hubby was sick last night and didn't want the baby to get anything more as he is just getting over a cold ,may pop over to shoppers later for cheap eggs and coffee cream sat/sun special

[Frugalbigmama]

Morning! Didn't get home till dinner time yesterday from out night away and nothing got done so off to get laundry going. Then will eat quick and go shopping to get out for a bit. My honey is working so will go alone. Youngest DS doesn't like shopping unless he is buying stuff foe himself. Life is so much more freeing now that he can stay home alone ☺

[jasperandchar]

Afternoon everyone,

Dh is on his 2nd day of an awful headache, nothing got done but can't blame him as he feels nauseous.

My parents have invited themselves over, they still aren't here and I hate the drama that comes with their visits it's emotionally draining. Thankfully they will be leaving this month until late August

Wishing everyone a great day, it's beautiful here today, need to get dh to pickup a new clothes line & whatever else to get that sucker back up.

[coupon girl]

hung my clothing out at 10.00 a.m then went for a 20 minute walk with hubby and now a half the items are dry -yippee saved on my hydro for the one load from not using the dryer ,made homemade chocolate chip cookies -supper tonight just hard boiled eggs for hubby and an omelet for me -he doesn't want to have a nice roast yet so will use that for another day

[Angela273]

I overdid it today. I did one load of bedding. I had all 3 kids out with me today from 10:30am-3:30pm. We went to the park, then Dh joined us to go out for lunch, then I had our kids outside to play in the yard. I picked up a small grocery bag full of bottles and cans. I also did some weeding in the garden. Our oldest is currently napping.

[Frugalbigmama]

Beautiful weather here today. Dried DS'S bedding outside today. Going to bring in now and make his bed. I went to Shoppers this morning and they had men's electric razors on for 60% off ($39.99 reg $100) and I wanted one for my son for Christmas so decided it was a good day to redeem. I treated myself to face cleansing cloths and moisterizer and also splurged on steak and other food items. I also grabbed 5 cans of sockeye salmon for my mom (reg $5.69 on for .99 cents!) So happy with the razor!!

[Frugalbigmama]

Kitchen is clean. Dinner tonight was steak and chicken on the bbq. Baby potatoes, mushrooms and onions and green beans. I made a Tupperware container of chicken, mushrooms, onions and green beans for my work lunch tomorrow. I also made oatmeal for my breakfast and boiled eggs for afternoon snack all week. Off to put laundry away now.

[Frugalbigmama]

Kitchen is clean. Dinner tonight was steak and chicken on the bbq. Baby potatoes, mushrooms and onions and green beans. I made a Tupperware container of chicken, mushrooms, onions and green beans for my work lunch tomorrow. I also made oatmeal for my breakfast and boiled eggs for afternoon snack all week. Off to put laundry away now.

[Ciel]

Yesterday-Famous Footwear had a DJ playing hiphop music! Thought Ancaster had finally arrived with the music (including one song I remember from the time of In Living Colour in the 1990s)! Sizes are up to 10 (even in clearance though I did see two pairs of size 11s on clearance rack). No luck on walking shoes though I saw an 11D pair; there is a decent wall of Skechers products. Gave my $10 off coupon wub at least $10 purchase to someone else in store. Lineup of people at cash plus at table to sign up for free show draws (by signing up for e-mails etc.) was long.
Did a grocery shop at Sobeys to get tea, coconut oil, hemp seeds and a few other things. Found some beer cans in the lot!
Today-shopped at Longos (found 2 navel oranges, 6 limes and a banana bunch in clearance), SDM (in clearance found 2pr pkg of pantyhose on clearance at $2.99 (reg 8.99) and buying 2 pkg was worth 1000 bonusOpt pts, so I got both (one in size C and other in D-both sheers in Cocoa), and Fortinos. Produce surprise-1lb bag of parsnips is $2.99 at Fortinos (no root veg in the reduced produce section today). I needed 1/2 of the 3 parsnips for a new mashed potato with parsnips recipe (will post it in recipe section). Am certain parsnips came in 2 or 3lb bags.Will check if Walmart has the same size bags because they were bigger some months ago.

Tallied my March other money amounts. Not sure I can top that deposit refund total but it was a good month. Will have money for shoes on Wednesday and I'm keen not to wear boots in warm temperatures (thus I walked locally on the weekend and not farther afield). Should track the coupon/redemption totals to date for 2017-that needs to be my deferred savings to bank one fine day when money is available.

If you use Air Miles, see my post in the Finance section about April bonus AM offers. I missed out on 30 bonus points because I did not see/read the e-mail before my Sobeys shopping trip yesterday. I have the offer loaded on my card today of course.

[coupon girl]

ceil -your adventures are fun to read -I found 2 vodka cooler cans last week in library parking lot are they worth 10 cents each ??not sure and I checked 2 mcdonalds coffee cups on the walk with hubby today -no stickers on them thou -lol

[Ciel]

Things to marvel over from the April 17 issue of First for Women magazine:
Hip-Hop-Healthy Easter Bunny Cupcakes (will post it in Baking/Desserts later)

For children's migraine headaches, one doctor suggests a mini can of soda (not diet soda as the aspartame can trigger a headache) as the caffeine helps to reduce the pain.

Ways to save on spring fun for the family:
-check out a visitors centre for free or low-cost fun;
-visit local colleges or universities for natural history or art museums (open to the public and many do not charge admission);
-like a local attraction's social media pages to learn about discounted passes, promotions, free events;
-visit many world museums through virtual tours online;
-gather a group for cheaper tickets
-find no-cost fun while you shop (demonstrations, storytime, themed nights or classes)

10 brilliant uses for toothpicks-will just mention two:
1) Eject a DVD that won't budge (when it's stuck in the machine-computer high tower shown in photo): insert a toothpick 9the round kind) in the tiny "reset" hold on the device and lightly press in. The force of the toothpick will cause the DVD tray to pop out.
2) Help a potato cook faster in the microwave: poke four toothpicks in one side of the potato to create "legs" for it to stand on. Then microwave for 5 to 8 minutes. The toothpicks lift the potato, allowing the heat to reach all four sides so it cooks evenly. (My note-microwaves heat water so how do wooden sticks not carbonize? Is it due to potato flesh at one end of the pick?)

Place your tablet in a freezer bag to protect it from spills when cooking. (I assume most people have a stand of some kind to prop a tablet up while using it in the kitchen?)
Splatter-proof your microwave: to outsmart splatters (like when you reheat tomato sauce), loosely cover the dish with a paper coffee filter. The filter acts as a lid to keep the sauce from splashing out and it's porous enough to allow steam to escape so the dish does not overheat.

How to clean a coffee grinder:
1) Run a cup of uncooked rice through the grinder for 30 sec. It will scour away buildup.
2) Pour 1 tbsp. of white vinegar in it, swirl and dump. Its acids dissolve buildup plus it nixes odour.

Bunny place settings (napkin holders): for each, use a black marker to trace a bunny-shaped (photo shows side profile of bunny on its legs, not crouching) cookie cutter onto a piece of green felt; cut out. Draw a 2" circle on the cent of the bunny; cut out.
Optional: Draw an eye on the bunny with a black marker (a large dot shown in photo). Finish by rolling a standard cloth dinner napking and slipping it through the napkin holder. Place atop a plate.

[Angela273]

Dh is continuing to heal. He reduced his pain medication again, so we'll see how that goes. He tried picking up a baby today, but it caused him pain.

My younger sister sent me a text this afternoon asking me to give her a call when I had the chance. We had a long conversation, which was nice. She just moved into her new place with her boyfriend. They have been together for 2yrs and have been unofficially living together for the last little while.

I folded and put away 2 loads of laundry, washed dishes, and fed the kids supper. Dh is napping again, he needs it.