January 2024 Frugal Chatter thread (it's a leap year!)

[SassyAshley]

Cake is done, I let it cool and I topped it with Ganache, I just need to make Whipped Cream when we are ready to serve.

Cinnamon Buns just came out of the Oven, just need to make the glaze, regular for me, cream cheese for Mom. Yes, I am weird and do not like Cream Cheese frosting on my Cinnamon Buns, I feel it is too much.

Change in plans for dinner, I have decided we are going to make Pizza with either mid-afternoon appetizers or appetizers with dinner we will see how we feel. I am going to Make Mozzarella Wontons since I had some wonton wrappers in the freezer. Puis I will make Copycat Montanas Spinach Dip.

Oh my gosh, my house smells like cinnamon buns, yum!!!!

[walkonby]

aghhh!! Cinnamon buns fresh out of the oven? Be still my heart. @SassyAshley as one who also does not decorate cakes well, I think the finishing touches you described on your Mom's b'day cake will cheer her up. Reading about her past talent/skill with cake making, I'd be very intimidated to bake one for her....ha ha
A more than l-a-z-y day here. No one is moving about faster than an adult sloth.

About the Loblaws post on them slashing the 50 % stickers to 30 %, the jokes on them! I never shop at Loblaws and NF has always only had 30% off stickers, so I feel " whatever ! "
@coupon girl what a lovely visit with DD and GS. Did ya hear that Toronto has banned tobogganing in quite a few parks? Including the Riverdale Park East one that we used to use.
The article headline was " No Fun! " as T.O. bans tobogganing.

[flemeth]

@SassyAshley Happy Birthday to you mom. You mom Would love your cake no matter what because it is made with love.

[coupon girl]

Sassy -happy birthday to your mom .

Walkonby-yes i just heard on city24 news about the tobogganing hills .Riverdale hill we walked down in the summer too steep for me .I hope my grandsons park by his house is still available for the kids.

I slept for 40 minutes this afternoon ,it is a get what you want supper ,we both had cereal and an english muffin .Too tired to cook,i did about 5 loads of laundry for my dear daughter and i dont mind helping her as she has to go into the office 3 days a week ,her ex has to go in 3 days a week in march .I dont know how they will swing it picking up sebastian as all after school programs are full.I wish i could help her out more .

Son called us his sump pump broke in his basement and he had to buy a new one $200 later a small puddle was down there ,at least his basement is not finished .Due to all the rain the other night.

[Shwa Girl]

My store already only uses 30% off stickers and honestly, I barely look at them anymore unless the product is on sale. 30% off regular price on most items especially meat, I might as well just shop at Costco and get a better quality.

I agree! Loblaws prices were always higher. Now changing from 50% off to 30% off is laughable. Plus their PC Optimum offers recently for Loblaws is a joke.
I agree about shopping at Costco: $5.99 rotisserie chicken (next day), at least one fruit/veggie item on sale for 1 to 4 weeks, good quality and an annual cheque (executive membership YMMV).

Sometimes a Costco warehouse has bought too much and they have instore specials. Milk goes on unadvertised sale and we buy at that time.

[lilo0003]

Sassy, that cakes sounds yummy.
I find I do less of my shopping at the Loblaws chain because they piss me off most days, not with their prices (which are terrible) but with announcements like this. People can’t afford to feed themselves so let’s not sell the product and just throw it out grr. Today superstore was my shopping location of choice because I needed very little and Flashfood had some good bakery prices. Clearly people are still shopping here because it was a mad house and my son works in the PC express and says they can’t even take breaks they are so busy.
I have really made a dent in the freezer and pantry. Last night I did 8 dozen meatballs and used up ground pork and ground sausage that needed to be used. Tonight is was a brownie for dessert. My father-in-law joins us for Sunday dinner and like a dessert.

[HermanH]

I slept for 40 minutes this afternoon ,it is a get what you want supper ,we both had cereal and an english muffin .

Nothing wrong with breakfast for supper.

[HermanH]

My store already only uses 30% off stickers and honestly, I barely look at them anymore unless the product is on sale. 30% off regular price on most items especially meat, I might as well just shop at Costco and get a better quality.

All the RCSS in our area only have 30% discount; it is a joke.

They are all 'racing to the bottom', in terms of service. From dropping their 'Price-Match anywhere in Edm' so that they now only match the big 4 stores. They do just barely enough to qualify as PM. i.e. "We match on any day with an 'R' and only if the date is divisible by 7." What a joke. And it is doubly insulting to hear them preach on national TV and in front of Parliament how great they make things by matching prices.

Walmart has their discount clearance bags for produce at a max of 50%, but they are often in such bad condition that everyone just ignores them. Usually, their clearance area is picked clean, when they still had the $1, 2, or $3 bags, but now bags just sit there all day until thrown out. They are so desperate to cheat customers that patrons ignore them and let them go to waste. One can only hope that someday, someone will realize just how much money they are spending to dress up and sort their garbage just to throw it out in a few hours.

[walkonby]

Sassy, that cakes sounds yummy.
I find I do less of my shopping at the Loblaws chain because they piss me off most days, not with their prices (which are terrible) but with announcements like this. People can’t afford to feed themselves so let’s not sell the product and just throw it out grr. Today superstore was my shopping location of choice because I needed very little and Flashfood had some good bakery prices. Clearly people are still shopping here because it was a mad house and my son works in the PC express and says they can’t even take breaks they are so busy.
I have really made a dent in the freezer and pantry. Last night I did 8 dozen meatballs and used up ground pork and ground sausage that needed to be used. Tonight is was a brownie for dessert. My father-in-law joins us for Sunday dinner and like a dessert.

@lilo0003 I started singing a version of 96 bottles of beer but replaced it with meatballs. Your palms must have been done after rolling that many!
Great job getting at stuff in your freezer, it seems to be the " go-to " plan for a few of us on sc. I've had to stop myself from making a grocery list
before I first check what we actually have here. Often times the sale prices in each weeks new flyers distract me.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Thank you for the well wishes for Mom, I do think she enjoyed the day although it was sadly a rough day with pain, I think it was the weather.

I have to say the cake was a success, I got another "You can make this again, just not too often." I will admit it is a very rich cake so small slices and topped with Whipped Cream which helped to cut the richness. Wishing I had some berries to top it with but we were working with what we had.

No appetizers were had, and we did not get hungry mid-afternoon as expected and decided to just go with Pizza and Salad for dinner. So they are the fridge to have this week.

Today is a bit of a rough day, I have to work on a project I have been putting off for 2 weeks because I just wrote all of these manuals and training plans 6 or 7 months ago and due to a workflow change they are all obsolete and have to be redone and I need them for next week. So I am finding it very hard to focus and I keep thinking 500 others I could be doing.

I do have to get out and shovel today, why does it have to be so cold, I was preferring our fake winter with rain and warmer temps. Cold and snow just no, no thank you.

I should also run to the store, we just need Milk and Mushrooms. I can admit I am one of those people who get pulled in by the sales, I look at them every week and feel like I am missing out if I miss them. But also realized that outside of Milk and Mushrooms, there is nothing we "need" right now.

Thinking Dinner tonight will be Chicken Enchiladas with a side of Corn. I am really working on upping the amount of produce I get each day.

Happy Monday Everyone.

[Frugalbigmama]

Good Morning!

We cleared the driveway twice yesterday- at noon and then again at around 6pm. There was lots of snow both times and it was like a blizzard at 6pm.
I was going to go out before bed but the plow still hadn't been by so waited till this morning. Just had the end off the driveway to do and just a light dusting everywhere else. Happy that is done.
Wondering if it is done snowing now. Would like to get out for a bit after work today.

Just tossed a load of laundry in the washer that I will hang to dry when done. (My stuff- yoga pants/socks etc that I don't like to use dryer for)
Then will wash a load of towels and put in the dryer. That is all the laundry I plan to do today.

Have a wonderful day!

[Angela273]

It’s -45 with the windchill where I’m teaching, so the busses are cancelled. I have 1/2 the students in my class, which means I’ll have to do plan B for today’s lessons. It’s -48 with the windchill where my children are, but their bus still ran this morning.

[lilo0003]

@HermanH racing to the bottom. Truer words have never been spoken. @SassyAshley I don’t even look at flyers in January because I know I will be tempted. I make my list and then use flip to see where the stuff is on sale and decide where to shop. It saves me so much time because it’s one store and done. Yesterday I made a slight exception as the metro offer was too good to ignore. So I went to metro for the bread and some prince apples they are my favourite. Metro is also my closest store so it’s not a stretch to pop in there.

[lilo0003]

Lol @walkonby I usually have an assistant but he was out. Today it was butter chicken. Made a vat of it for dinner and then put 7 individual meals in the freezer for later. If I buy the PC frozen meal it’s at least 4.00 each. It’s less then half that to make it at home and that’s still using the jarred sauce.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Ugh, more snow. According to the weather apps, it is not supposed to start snowing until 10 am but it has been snowing since I got up at 6 am. Another day of shovelling and cleaning cars.

Yesterday I did all the shovelling and cleaned off the cars until I got too cold. I had planned to run to the store but did not want to go back outside so worked with what we had.

Last night we had enchiladas, tonight, I am not sure yet.

I got up at 6 this morning to start my day but already I feel like the morning is slipping away from me. How is it already 8 am?

Happy Tuesday Everyone.