2025-07 July Frugal Thread

[walkonby]

Too hot outside to think but I did " harvest " a decent 1 1/2 cups of fresh strawberries and weeded a bit before retreating back inside ti the A/C .
There will be no shopping for any deals today. Speaking of that, I was furious over the price jump in those bags of shredded Tex Mex cheese.
I've been able to buy different brands on sale anywhere from $4.44 - $4.99, the odd time I'd pay $5.29 but yesterday they were closer to $7.00 !!
Nope. I reached my red line.
So I decided to use my handy dandy hand crank grater and made up a whole bag with x-old cheddar, mozzarella seasoned with red pepper chili flakes
and taco seasoning. I felt like shouting " SO THERE! " ha ha

[cath007]

Good late morning all!!!
@walkonby:
Yes too hot here too in QC.
Day 3 of heat advisory.
It is now 27 degres celsius.
The A/C is on all day and night since a few days now....
I consider myself lucky to have the A/C.It is a necessity.
Even for Eve too would not be comfortable without A/C.
Some people are still not capable to have it.
I wont go outside me too,well except for 1 small errand to go later today.
I am not capable.
Too hot for me even just sitting outside on the balcony is to much for me...

Enjoy the day all!!

[SassyAshley]

I truly feel for the those who do not have AC, the heatwaves we get now, I could not imagine.

We got the ones in the bedroom because we were noticing even with a fan we were seeing more and more nights of horrible sleep due to the heat.

Then the one in the Dining Room/Main Floor I broke down and got after working from home during the pandemic and even sitting with all the lights off and a fan blowing directly on me well I worked I was sweating.

Now, I could not imagine not having them.

Question: Would you clean before or after new appliances are being delivered?

This morning I took a break and vacuumed and mopped the front hallway and now I am questioning should I have waited until after delivery incase they track in dirt. Although I guess anything they bring in should be easy to clean up maybe just a quick vacuum.

I think I will leave the laundry room until after delivery. The company I went with also disconnects the old appliances so hoping maybe I can sneak in and do a quick vacuum once they move the old out but before the new come in. Then I will do the rest of the floor after they leave.

[Arjon]

There will be no shopping for any deals today. Speaking of that, I was furious over the price jump in those bags of shredded Tex Mex cheese.
I've been able to buy different brands on sale anywhere from $4.44 - $4.99, the odd time I'd pay $5.29 but yesterday they were closer to $7.00 !!
Nope. I reached my red line.
So I decided to use my handy dandy hand crank grater and made up a whole bag with x-old cheddar, mozzarella seasoned with red pepper chili flakes
and taco seasoning. I felt like shouting " SO THERE! " ha ha

Making you own produces a different end product since the pre-shredded stuff has stuff mixed in (some kind of starch?) to reduce clumping. So, the former is somewhat cheesier but clumps more. Which is better is a matter of personal preference.

Another possible consideration is that since there are few if any coupons available for bars any more, it's possible to find deals where shreds aren't meaningfully more per 100 gms, or sometimes are even less.

[SassyAshley]

I have seen people online say and show that they rinse there pre-shredded cheese before they use it. Most say it melts better if it is rinsed.

[harbie]

Question: Would you clean before or after new appliances are being delivered? .

I would suggest if it needs a real cleaning do it before they come, they really shouldn’t be making that much of a mess so you most likely will only need a quick vacuum. As for the actual appliances, I’d suggest having the vacuum and or mop plugged and ready to go so once the disconnect the old one and are on the way out with them you can get it done before they bring the new ones in. You can also run that by them when they arrive to make sure it’s seamless.

[Angela273]

I did my Sobeys shop this morning and it went pretty well.
3,000pts when you spend $150 personal offer.

I bought 2 pork loin roasts ($2.20/lb) and 2 whole chickens ($2.50/lb) on clearance.
$5.99 Cheerios + 1,000pts wub6 (cheaper than the store brand)
2/$3 speghitini + 100pts wub2
50% off Activia yogurt cups
$2.78/lb broccoli crowns + 100pts/$5 personal offer
$1.87/lb cosmic crisp apples + 20pts/$1
$6.99 Taylor farms salad - FPC + 100pts personal offer

$150oop and I earned 5,975pts earned.

[Angela273]

When I was shopping at Sobeys this morning a library employee called to tell us twin girl won a weekly prize from the TD Summer Reading program. We spent time at the library this afternoon and picked up her prize. It was a much larger prize than any of us had anticipated.

[walkonby]

@Angela273 what a cool prize package !! Congrats to your DD and what a great way to incentivize kids to read!

[SassyAshley]

@Angela273 , congrats to your DD for winning the prize. It looks amazing.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
Things are moving along to get everything ready for the washer to be delivered.

On my lunch yesterday I deep cleaned the front hallway, vacuumed, mopped and wiped down the walls. I know I should have used my steam cleaned on some of the stubborn marks but yesterday was not the day for that.

Also found out, we are not getting rid of the filing cabinet, we now want to keep it. Sadly it is too heavy for me to move it to the basement until we find a home for it so it lives in our hallway.

Now I need to figure out how to move the fridge. This might sound insane but work is insane for the next few days so we try to make it work with what we have. I got the lifter from Amazon and it works (YAY!!!!), but I still cannot slide the fridge. So I am going to take 2 shelves from the bookcase in the basement and put these under the fridge and see if that helps. Normally I would get plywood but I just won't have the time this week so we are using that we have, bookcase shelves.

I have also hit that point of being a bit annoyed as stuff in the wrong places but it has to be until the washer comes but it is driving me a bit insane right now. I just want to put everything back in its place but if I do it will be in the way when they deliver.

Super proud of what I have accomplished but I am starting to feel it today but still more to get done and today is a day of back to back meetings.

Happy Tuesday Everyone.

[Frugalbigmama]

Good Day! Another hot one.

Yesterday at No Frills I picked up the last 2 lasagnas for the freezer (DS likes them) and they rang in for $10.94 so I got one for free
Had lunch at the beach with my friend. We love this Beach Restaurant- Best Kale ceasar salad- so garlicky!!!
The beach was packed! We had to drive around to find a parking spot.

Today- Busy work day- Tidy the kitchen- Move shopping bins/bags back to vehicle. Take a bin of empties to the beer store (not mine!)

Ice Cream- FL has Kawartha Dairy Ice cream on sale- Have $1 coupons. Picked up Moose Tracks (family fav) and Key Lime Pie (do not like!) So next time I go visit my mom I will bring it to her (She will like it I am sure!) My brother in Law and niece are always raiding her freezer for ice cream so someone will eat it!

Dinner- Not sure the plan- I picked up cheap burger patties and buns yesterday for the guys- I had one and instantly regretted it.
Maybe tonight is a deli salad kind of night at the town docks!

Have a wonderful day!

[cath007]

Wow just wow...

I cannot explain how much I am frustrated and pissed right now about Reitmans...

About my Jeans Concerns.

I wants to purchase 2 new pairs of Jeans light blue.


Online ,they are 11,99$ on sale clearancde but of coarse none left in my plus size.

Not happy, I sent (*?(*??( 3 e-mails to Reitmans.

To say I want my size at this price.

They finally response to me that like I wrothe my idea I can purchase in size 25 and exchange them in store for size 36..

It have to be same model,same style and size.

Ok.I am ready to order 2 pairs online and do that.

I called the store to see if this size is available in my city store...................AND THE RESPONSE WAS NO!!!!

PER CHANCE I HAD THE BRIGHT IDEA TO CALL BEFORE ORDER THEM ONLINE.,

The person I speaks she have no ideas when she will receive this size...not before the fall maybe....wow

So if I go to the store the jeans not only they will be not the same model but 70$.... !!!!!!

Insane ,none sens....


What a waste of my money and time...

Seriously,Reitmans have a serious problem of available stock!!!!!

No ,thanks I will not paying 70$ x2 plus taxes...I will wait!!!!

Pissed,pissed pissed....

[HermanH]

Walked onto, literally, a bag of Koolaid crystals, in the middle of a grass field. The bag was unbroken and I would never buy such things for myself. So, I picked it up and took it home to make 4.5L of Koolaid. Great for the warm weather approaching.

Went to visit a neighbour in hospital. Another neighbour had gone to see him earlier and left a bag of food. He told me to take most of it, since he could not bite through the hard stuff like apples and peanuts.

I see that I am not the only one who uses shopping carts to pick up litter. I saw a full cart of garbage during my walk. So, someone else must also be doing the same.

[SassyAshley]

@cath007 , I know how frustrating it is when a store does not have your size.

Have you considered ordering from another store? I do not know how Reitman's is in the Quebec but in Ontario I know their plus-size section is limited, they added it after Penningtons bought them out but it is not their focus (I think they would prefer plus-size women shop at Penningtons).

If I can make a suggestion, have your tried Old Navy?

Old Navy has inclusive sizing which means you do not pay more for plus-size clothing. They always have sales, sign up for their emails, they are mostly two day sales and some are better than others, I generally try to wait for a 50% off sale. The only downside is they do not stock plus-size in stores but you get free shipping over $50 and returns are so easy, you just mail it back.

I will say, I have not bought their jeans in years, I stopped wearing jeans but I used to buy them with no issue. But if there is an issue as I said returns are super simple.