2026-07 July Frugal Thread

[Frugalbigmama]

TGIF!!! Looks nice out. Looking forward to my break this morning and going for a walk at the lake.

Yesterday I was so tired! My sister and I stayed up way too late Wednesday night. We had a great night though so totally worth it. And we both left the casino winners so that was great

Today- Work. Go to bank to deposit $. Pop out and get some fresh groceries. We really don't need much and I could totally not go and make do but I feel like a little roaming around

This weekend- Kayaking for sure! Walks. A visit to the beach one morning. Get all laundry washed and put away. Clean out my vehicle. (need to sort the back of my SUV- too many shopping bag/bins etc) and a watermelon that needs to be tossed!

Now to look at the flyers and write out a shopping list- A lemon to make Ceasar dressing (we have everything else to make dinner- Burgers/burger bowl with ceasar salad) I should make a pasta for DS one night while he is home... I am going to be sneaky and use ground turkey for the meat sauce We have everything needed to make this meal as well. See I really shouldn't buy much when out and I probably won't!

Have a wonderful Friday!

[walkonby]

I've returned from an early bird 7 a.m. FreshCo shop. Love that almost no one was on the road there and back.
Got DH 2 tubs of a Rum & Raisin Ice cream, we hardly see that flavour around much. A brand called Tropical Fruit?
Hope it's good.
Also stocked upon the fresh cherries @$1.99 /lb. I had used about 2 cups of them yesterday to make a dessert called Clafoutis.
Batter baked in a cast iron pan, the cherries are pitted, sliced and laid cut side up on the batter. Pretty simple to make but it disappears
quickly! ha ha
I went there for the 2L cartons of 2%, @$3.99 . We just don't drink enough milk to buy the bags which are cheaper but no one wants me
to freeze milk so?? Also got a single bunch of green onions, ( @ .99 ) gone are the days where I buy too many only to watch them rot.
Spoke to a fellow shopper at the reduced veg/fruit rack. We shared our one sure fire way to avoid paying the silly high prices.
We walk away from any item that's an insult to our common sense. That same item will probably be on sale the next week...ha ha

One last thing.. @lilo0003 I discovered that same Shell 3 cents off a L coupon on the belt as I was bagging my stuff. I am sure it wasn't mine
as the cashier handed me my receipt. BUT, you can bet it's tucked away in my wallet for my next trip to Shell!
My coupon says you cannot use it at the self serve pump, gotta go inside. Well that makes sense...

Happy Thursday all!

[Frugalbigmama]

Walk and errands done!

The 4Lb bag of apples for $4.99 is still this price at my fav No Frills ($5.99 at the other one) PM'd 2 x strawberries for $1.77.
Foodland had blueberries for 2 for $4. So we are set for fruit for the next few days. I will restock the berries on Wednesday since I am on an oatmeal kick and fresh berries added is so good! I also picked up 5 boxes of the granola bars for $2.99 each (Foodland) and received 1000 scene points. DS likes granola bars and I haven't bought them in a long while... I will remind him to not eat a bunch in one day! (too much sugar!)

My sister is heading to a beach near us later this afternoon with the kids so will go and meet them later today.. Will wear bathing suit since it is hot hot out there already so I am sure I will want to jump in!

[coupon girl]

Afternoon ladies
This morning i went to La Senza they have a really good sale and i need a pair of sleep shorts got a pair on sale 8.49 plus 3 pairs of red/black fuzzy socks from xmas for half off 2.49 each will put away .

Then i went into dollar tree spent 30 havent been in there in ages their room freshner can of spray really nice one 1.75,i got cleaning vinegar plus a few treats for the girls as they are coming to sleep over on sat night.I so wanted to go into walmart but another day as my knees were too sore.

I got another 3 free coupons from the cereal contest today.

[HermanH]

Rescued a submarine sandwich and 2-litre jug of milk from my Shell station.

Salvaged a jar of Catelli spaghetti sauce from No Frills.

Found an abandoned drill at a bus stop and lugged it home. The batteries are probably shot, but I'll check it out.

[Frugalbigmama]

Morning!

We had a great time at the beach last evening. My niece is always so happy when my sister and I join them swimming- we are both major fish Always have been. I remember years ago when my youngest was a baby my sister and I swam up the river and back while grandma/dad watched the boys.

Went out for a morning solo kayak! It was so nice and peaceful. Nothing better then sipping coffee you made at home out on water
Came home and washed up the dishes in the sink then decided I was hungry so made my oatmeal. Enjoying it now and then will take a shower and get dressed for the day and head out for some errands and steps.

Dinner tonight will be burger bowl/burgers and salad unless I find some crazy deal out in the wild.

Have a great Saturday!

[coupon girl]

I went over to walmart at 8.00 a.m no crowds so nice.
I needed the janes chicken that was on sale 6.97 as Sebastian comes next weekend and he loves the nuggets.

This is the clearance stuff i got
t-shirt for hubby 2xl 4.00
(2) nice t-shirts for the girls 5.00 each
reduced 2l milk 2.74
Dove body lotion 5.40
Clarifying shampoo loreal 8.36
Honey blends shampoo 3.14
Ladies hanes nice thin underwear i got Xl 4 pairs reduced 8.48(they are full briefs but hey rant of the day they dont cover all of my butt,they are skimping on material i am usually a large but got the xl .Well no returns so i will give them to my daughter-in-law as she is that size .uggggg
I found a brown baby doll on reduced for 5.98 (my nefew may drop in with his little 3year old from montreal soon)
oikos 16 reduced 5.48 they are smaller than the reg oikos

Oh and i found a nice flowy burgundy tank top for me 10.00 .I am now done my shopping for summer clothing for me .

Anyway now home for the day til the girls come to sleep over .

[SassyAshley]

Good Afternoon Everyone,
Another insane week but hopefully the last one because we went live on Monday. Monday and Tuesday were a blur, originally I was going to not go in Wednesday but I did and after a meeting I got kicked out of the boardroom so I left.

I decided to stop and do some grocery shopping on the way home. First stop was RCSS I got 3 x bagels, 1 x Cherries, 1 x 11-count Cucumbers, 1 x Sourdough (marked down to $1.50), 2 x Breton Rosemary and 2 x Breton Dill, 1 x Olay Face Cream, 1 x Apple Cider Vinegar Pills, everything was on sale and I got 3300 pts.

Next stop was Food Basics, I wanted Mushrooms, Cherry tomatoes and cookies, they only had the Mushrooms.

Thursday I had to go into a different branch to meet 2 sales rep and was going to again grocery shop my way home but it was raining so I just went to Sobeys. I wanted Tortillas and Water, they only had the water. We refill the 2L jugs and keep them on hand just in case and they had them 2/$3 plus 50 pts figured for something I usually end up just buying when the handles break (we also use one in the living room so Mom doesn't have to walk back and forth).

Original plan was to go do the rest of the shopping Friday on my lunch but it didn't happen, then the plan was to go this morning but I slept until 8:30 which was so needed I have been exhausted for a couple of weeks now. I was in bed 9 last night not sure when I fell asleep but think I got about 10 to 11 hours.

Maybe tomorrow or maybe sometime next week I will get the shopping done, we will see.

Happy Saturday Everyone.

[walkonby]

good afternoon shoppers! I had a plan. Oh well, plans change. DS wanted to hit WM today to get new work boots so I offered to take him at 7 a.m.
when they open. He passed on that offer. He'll go in the late afternoon with DH I guess. NF was my intended destination anyway, ( at 8 when they open )
but sleep overcame me and when I read 9:30 on the clock, well all my incentive vanished.

I'm still here...ha ha, so no money spent. The freezer(s), fridge and cupboards have plenty in them but trying to decide on something " different " to make
for both Sat and Sun dinners has me lost. Making the same old standby casseroles or BBQ meat with sides just gets to the one cooking.
@SassyAshley , I'm pretty sure you get what I'm saying. Guess I'll have to dive into the internet for new ideas. Adios for now!

[SassyAshley]

@walkonby , story of my life, best laid plans LOL.

We also had that what's for dinner question that has been plaguing us nightly. It is weird, I crave being back in my routines including making dinner but figuring out dinner, so hard.

I went to Sobeys to get Tortillas on Thursday to make Enchilada Bake because Mom sent me a message "Yum Enchiladas" but they did not have any of the ones that are one sale. Well cleaning up today I found a part pack of small Tortillas I did not realize we had, add those to the open pack of big tortillas and we had enough to make Enchilada Bake so that was Dinner with Cheat Mexican Corn.

Today was one of those just see what we can get done type of days to try to get this house back on track. She needs some love I have been neglecting her.

I gave the kitchen a good clean (not a deep clean, but a good wipe down). There was a bunch of random stuff living on the counters plus I did not clean up after dinner last night, so dishes to be done and as always dry dishes in the drying rack. I got all of that taken care of. As well sorted some random bags living on the kitchen floor.

Once Mom was up I decided to do a load of laundry which turned into two because it was a large load of towels and white.

Nothing major but we are taking steps to get this house back in order.

Happy Saturday everyone.

[barbis9]

Nice for you ladies to take advantage of the weather to be out and about. ( Frugalbigmama with your daily walks and coupon girl chatting over a
coffee or two with a friend, plus helping with the lawn care!
I had my Endodontic route canal this morning. Went very well probably because I was breathing in nitrous oxide. ha ha
Just have to visit my regular dentist ( Wednesday ) to get the crown repaired.
The frugal day is off to a decent start because all I want to do now is sleep. No money spent in my dreams.

@walkonby love the "no money spent in my dreams". I don't ever recall dreaming about shopping either.

[SassyAshley]

Good Morning Everyone,
I procrastinating a bit this morning, although with that being said I have already:

Taken Mom's car for a drive to keep the battery charged and since I had to go out I decided to do some of my running around so I have less errands to run this week.

Since it was 7 am and most stores don't open till 8, I started at Wal-Mart I went in for Alfredo Sauce, Dish Soap, Rolaids and Toothbrushes. I came out with Alfredo Sauce, Rolaids, Toothbrushes and a few more of the hand towels Mom likes. They did not have the dish soap with Oxy on sale so I skipped that.

Still had time before Food Basics would open but Freshco was open so I ran in for Mushrooms & Rice Cakes. Got those plus a bag of Popcorn for Mom.

Lastly to Food Basics where I got Hamburger Buns, Strawberries, Lettuce, Peppers, Lemons, I could not find the popcorners but sine I already grabbed popcorn we are good.

Now I need to do all the house things but I am procrastinating on the couch instead LOL.

Happy Sunday Everyone (oh my, I almost typed Saturday, oh to have two more days would be amazing, but is not reality).

[barbis9]

Good morning, another beautiful but hot sunny day. Given up on finding a windshield cover to keep my broken a/c on my explorer cool. I may just buy the one on clearance at Canadian Tire but its' an outside the windshield one. $9.99 on clearance versus the inside one $24.99 . I may check out Temu and use Rakuten to get cash back.

I also discovered that by shopping at Costco I'm saving a lot of money by buying in bulk and staying out of the stores. I bought a tray of lasagna for $20 and that's 6 meals for me. I have given up on coupons for overpriced items.

I have a few returns tomorrow and have lots of gift cards to use up. I won a $300 for a local market by buying a $5 ticket to the food bank.

To anyone struggling with food, please visit a local church. The ones in my area provide lunch and needed emergency supplies regardless of your religion or lack of. Such kindness and friendly staff at these places and nothing is forced (no missionary pressure).

Have a great Sunday everyone and stay cool! At least my a/c works in my home.

[coupon girl]

Barbis nice win on the $300 for a local market.

Hot here i have the girls spent 10.00 last night at McDonalds only had to buy for one as Cara had McDonalds at a birthday party before coming to my house .I got a free cheeseburger -love getting free items with the app.

My son and his wife are picking the girls up at 1.00 ish which is fine with me.

Cara wanted me to play catch in the backyard ,only a few minutes out there.
Stay cool everyone .

[lizzie bargain]

Just picked up a summer dress at Costco for $20. Summer has finally arrived here. Filled up for 149.9 while we were there.
Gearing up for DH's hip replacement on Thursday at considerable cost but there is no way he can suffer for two more years! He dusted off all his equipment from the last hip 5 years ago and is raising the mattress to get in and out of bed easier. We put a couple meals in the freezer for busy days. We expect he can come home the same day like last time but will see how he does. Alberta health covers up to 7 physio sessions after so we have the first one booked

Meantime the public system called him to book a consult on Sept 10 but then who knows when the surgery would be-could be a week or a year or whenever so once he is done surgery we will cancel so that somebody else can have that apt. Not hopeful but wrote to the health minister to see if they will pay part of the cost-it doesn't hurt to ask!