June 2023 Frugal Chatter

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
I did find my ambition yesterday but maybe I shouldn't have.

I needed to clean my kitchen, it was a disaster, all of the hand dishes from Thursday and Friday were not done and we ran the dishwasher Thursday and never emptied the dishwasher so my kitchen needed attention. I emptied the dishwasher, reloaded it, did the hand dishes and cleaned all the counters. Now normally I would stop because I hate washing my kitchen floor but I thought, no, we are going to clean the floor and then the kitchen is done. I was vacuuming the floor and moving the mats and somehow knocked the vacuum over and it came down and hit me on the cheek.

It actually did not hurt so I finished the floors and then realized it was starting to swell so back to the couch I went with an ice pack on my cheek. Not going to lie I was super worried I was going to end up with this massive bruise I would have to explain all week but so far no bruise.

Later in the day, I had some fresh Pineapple I needed to use up so I decided to make a Pineapple Upside Down Cake and decided to record it as a Reel for IG. All good made the cake and put it in the oven. I went to take my phone out of the tripod and somehow my finger got stuck in the Tripod and I ripped a chunk out of my finger.

Yep, should have spent the day on the couch. But in all honesty, super happy with what I got done. I am trying so hard to get everything back on track and to be honest, I have mixed emotions. Feeling number one, I feel like I am stuck in this vicious circle of knowing I need to do it, telling myself this is the week we turn it, then feeling number two is me failing. It is like I know I need to do it but I just cannot get ahead, things keep happening.

Yesterday was a bit of a day for me because not only am I failing at the house stuff but now I am also super behind at work. I was supposed to spend 3 days, maybe 5 tops with a staff member, but I ended up spending three weeks with them. This is what it is, it is my job but just before this I was given a list of tasks they wanted me to work on and originally I said "Oh no problem 100% by the end of June, I will have this done, I was expected a larger list." Needless to say, none of that list has been done and now there is no way I will have it done by the end of June. Now don't get me wrong, my boss knows there is no pressure there, the pressure for me from myself and again just feeling like I missed a goal. I was just feeling very overwhelmed because a lot of the house stuff isn't oh just give me a day it will be done and then the work stuff isn't oh I can knock that out this week because there is so much background work I need to get done, I haven't even started.

Last night I went to bed feeling like I need the world to just stop for a week so I can try to catch up. I know some people have said well you have vacation time, take a week but the issue is, my job doesn't stop because I am off. I need a week where nothing new comes in, which is why I say I need the world to stop. But, it is a new day and I will do my best to do what I can and go from there.

Happy Sunday Everyone.

[harbie]

I’m sorry you’re under so much stress @SassyAshley I really hope things get easier for you soon

[Angela273]

We spent a total of 6hrs at the fair and rodeo yesterday. I was surprised that it cost $60 for our family of 5 to enter the event. We ate lunch before we went and brought water with us. We returned to our house to eat supper and cool off before returning until our kids’ bedtime. Twin girl still didn’t want to leave.

In the morning I took twin girl shopping with me. We paid $20 for two bags full of items at the second hand store’s bag sale. We got kids rubber boots, sandals, running shoes, swim suits (Dh, Ds, abd myself), shorts for Dh and myself, shirt for Ds, sleeveless blouses for me, capris for me, art/craft supplies for twin girl, etc. I was pretty happy with that shopping trip.

[coupon girl]

Sassy -i hope you can find a work ,life balance and it gets better for you.

Angela -love the deals you got second hand ,i truly miss shopping second hand .Not in the cards right now as we got an unexpected bill this past week and bought a new power washer .

Today hubby and i maybe will work on our closet,as we may get rain this afternoon.

[SassyAshley]

@harbie & @coupon girl , thank you.

Took out a Roast for dinner, it is raining here and cooler and just feels like a good comfort meal day. To go with it, we will have Mashed Potatoes, Gravy and Broccoli.

Deep Cleaned the stairs from the Main Floor to Upstairs. I do not know why but stairs are always gathering places for randomness in our house.

There were a bunch of cookbooks on the stairs as we have decided to downsize our collection and I tried to sell them last year but that did not go well. I had a lot of interest but no one (except one person who bought like 50 from me) actually wanted the books. It was constant requests for "Can you look for this recipe" and even if the book had the recipe they did not want the book, just wanted to me type out and send them the recipe. Or some found the cookbooks online and just sent me lists of recipes they would like but again did not want the books just wanted me to type them out. It wasn't that the books were overpriced, I was selling them for $0.50 each.

So for the time being I have moved them to the basement, it seems so wasteful to just throw them out but I am pretty sure that once in the basement they won't get used. But at this point that is a problem for another day.

Then I swiffered and vacuumed the stairs. Then took a bowl of hot water with dish soap and wiped the walls as high as I could reach and the sides of the stairs, then took a Swiffer wet and did the treads of the stairs. The stairs are officially deep cleaned, now we just need to install the new railing I bought as the one, the screws are stripped and won't stay in. But first I need to charge the drill.

Cannot decide what to tackle next, I was thinking of the upstairs hallway or the dining room but I also need to work on the basement because we need to have our hot water tank replaced. Cannot remember if I mentioned it here but turns out the previous owner did not install a valve to empty the tank so the plumber is just going to have to cut the pipe so now I need to move everything out of that area.

I have a few more small things I want to tackle around the house today and then I think I will sit down and lay out exactly what I need to get done on the backend to move forward the list of tasks I need to complete for work. There is one, in particular, I think if I spend about an hour working on it today, I can cross two people off my list this week. So maybe I will put a movie on and try to knock that out. Also, send an email to my boss as there are a couple in limbo as I wait for him to do something first.

Oh I am such a sucker for a plan.

[coupon girl]

Hubby and i put the rod up in closet (free from his brothers garage ) saved us $30.00.

Then we went to canadian tire and used $55.43 in points up and 11.07 left on a gift card ,love the triangle points system and i dont even have a credit card for canadian tire ,i just accumulated about 80.00 in points from weekly offers 20Xon items ,spent 25 get 5.00 in points etc .

[lilo0003]

Thankfully the rain held off for much of our day in Niagara on the lake. Traffic was awful coming back but it always is, it was raining so that did not help. But it was a great day with my 2 favourite work friends. One has bought a house in Niagara region during the pandemic so we picked him up and went for lunch and the came back for a tour of his home and we came back with lots of fresh veg from his garden.
I think it will be an early night for me.

[harbie]

Fantastic day here. Long walk followed by a little pickle ball and another walk with Dh. Bank deposit done finally. Stopped by Safeway for my Silk Nextmilk and creamer and some bananas for Dh. Used scene points so paid $4 and change oop. Better than nothing. Throwing together a quick late dinner and then off to bed.

[Frugalbigmama]

Good Morning! It is a rainy day here today. My potted veggies are enjoying it!

Was a busy weekend and late nights both Friday and Sat so the days were a bit lazy. Finally got my mojo yesterday after picking DS up at work and started in the kitchen. Cooked up rice/shrimp and asparagus. That was dinner and I have leftovers for my work lunch today.
Washed all the dishes. Cleaned out the fridge completely. Was nice to see what we have to use up and organize it. Put leftovers on top shelf so they would be eaten. I have been picking up cheese bars as I see them on sale and we have a nice stock pile. Organized them in expiry date order.

Will look over the sale flyers and grab the deals I want on Wednesday as we are ok for the next few days. (Will pick up more cherries for sure- they are really good!)

The freezer on the bottom of the fridge needs to be emptied and then organized with a plan to use stuff up.
Think I will do that tonight while making dinner and I think dinner will be pasta with a meat pasta sauce from the freezer. We also have garlic bread in the freezer. Will make a few slices for DS. (He will eat later since he gets a free meal at work and usually eats it at 3pm so he isn't hungry at dinner time)

Off on vacation next week (no big plans just have so much time to use up) but will do a few day trips for sure. Thinking of hitting up the hiking trail on the other side of Collingwood that we went to for the first time during Covid. Was a very good hike up cliffs and this time I will where my proper hiking shoes! (we were out for drive and found it last time) Will make egg salad sandwiches for sure that day!!! Love packing the cooler on day trips!

Have a great day!

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Rainy cooler day here, I have all the windows open letting the house air out a little. It has been feeling a bit stuffy with having the windows closed last week with the wildfire smoke.

It is the perfect day to curl up on the couch with a cup of tea and write manuals for work.

Laundry is going, got a late start as I woke up late with little ambition but the last load is now in the washer.

Well, I was downstairs waiting for the washer to finish I tidied up a little bit. Tidied up the Chest Freezer and put the buns I got from Costco in. It is really full right now. I have a bunch of little bags of frozen veg we need to use up as they are taking up a lot of room.

As well, I had a load of random clothes I washed to sort and decide what I was going to keep or donate so I sorted those. Also, have a pile for textile recycling which I have bagged up. I still have more loads to wash and sort, I need to stay on top of this and get it done.

Took a look around the basement to see how I could move stuff well they install the new hot water tank. It feels so weird to say this because we lost so much in the flood but I still feel like there is so much randomness down there and this leads to the question of does it have a purpose. I would love to do a major purge but most of it is not mine.

Happy Monday Everyone.

[barbis9]

Hubby and i put the rod up in closet (free from his brothers garage ) saved us $30.00.

Then we went to canadian tire and used $55.43 in points up and 11.07 left on a gift card ,love the triangle points system and i dont even have a credit card for canadian tire ,i just accumulated about 80.00 in points from weekly offers 20Xon items ,spent 25 get 5.00 in points etc .

@coupongirl its definitely worth it to get the credit card. My income is low, and I got approved, and I get even more points. I started buying pet food there and it really adds up. Plus the prices are better than at the grocery stores. |I love the points transfer feature as well.

[barbis9]

Ugh my Cogeco isn't working again.....third service call today. I told them it happens when it rains. You don't need to be an expert to figure it has something to do with the outside lines. I asked for a credit to my account. They asked how often my internet goes down, I said I lost track and just assumed it was normal. I wish there was a cheaper option as Cogeco service is going downhill in my opinion.

Lots of rain today which means I will have to cut the grass :-(

Sound of Music festival is this upcoming weekend, looking forward to seeing A Flock of Seagulls for free.

Did volunteer event for local humane society yesterday and I don't know if it was the event or the rain today, but I am super exhausted.

Have a great Monday everyone.

[coupon girl]

Thanks for the tip barbis ,but we are happy with our credit card ,dont wish to get anymore but thanks.Can you do the points transfer if you dont have a cell phone or not,is it like p.c points were you can save them for the following week.?

[lilo0003]

Very cool today so I took advantage of it and made a batch of soup. I used the last of the kale of 2022 and was able to clear a bunch of stuff from the pantry and the freezer. Dinner was spaghetti and meatballs again because I did not have to worry about heating up the house. I also made a big salad to go with dinners this week.
DH is home from his whirlwind trip. The house is very quiet with only one kid left at home.

[harbie]

Ask me why I decided to do a 6km run incline hike this morning after my yoga? I’m crazy! It was SO humid and I was sweatin’ up a storm but I got it done. It was tough but I do feel better after (plus the cold shower after helped too).

Hubby and I went to save on food’s in hopes of finding some of the No Milk coupons and the Not Burger ones but found nothing. I did pick up so JJ Bean cold brew since it was on sale and then I don’t have to hit up McDonald’s for one. We also picked up their in house hummus and it was FANTASTIC! Super garlicky but so good and I’m a bit of a hummus snob. I still have not made one myself that I really enjoy but this was probably the top choice in the top 3 (there are only 3 I like).

Oh ya, I splurged and bought a plant based Hagen Dazs raspberry and chocolate and Dh got the peanut butter version. It is sooooooooooooo yummy.

Off to water the garden, pick more lettuce and get my garlic scapes clipped. Going to make garlic scape salt.

Have a great night everyone.