~~~ November Frugalistas 2021 ~~~

[EmilyGF]

I was able to talk with a tax accountant and figure out that the extra bill I got from the IRS was most likely sent due to lack of documentation. The accountant is writing a letter and sending the documentation and thinks the bill will get reduced to zero. Once I no longer felt ashamed for screwing up my taxes and started talking with people about it, I found out this is pretty common. Many people I mentioned it to had a story to tell me about their own scary, end-of-year, "pay this in 30 days" IRS letter.

We're cleaning out our fridge before traveling to Thanksgiving, so we're eating a lot of veggies! Zucchini pizzas for dinner last night, roasted squash with lunch yesterday, and leek soup for dinner tonight. DS9 now knows how to make bread, so he's been using that skill a lot. 

I emailed my mom about some toys she has at her house for presents for dd5. My mom keeps a lot of things, and I know dd5 would like them, and if just doesn't make sense to buy new stuff. So mom will get the Schleich dogs out of storage for me to give to my dog-crazy daughter.

Saturday night I went to a college performance for Love's Labour Lost with dd15 and some friends, and we had a good time for $16 total. Then, yesterday, I heard the gurgling sound of migrating sandhill cranes, so ds16 and I sat on our back porch, wrapped in blankets, for 90 minutes and watched approx. 1500 sandhill cranes migrate. So happy!

[mommyoffive]

15 hours ago, historically accurate said:

I listed a whole bunch of stuff on ebay and FB marketplace today. Fingers crossed some of it sells. Still have a little bit. Sold some Build a Bear stuff to my co-worker last year for her granddaughter; that'll be split with the two youngest. 

Still have some stuff to list. Possibly a few more things as I go through stuff. 

Have a bonus kitty in the garage for the week. My kids' friend left to go on Thanksgiving vacation on Friday, and their cat got out as they were leaving. They couldn't catch her, so we did yesterday, and she's living in our garage for the week since I don't know how my cats will do with her in the house. 

Down to 2 Christmas gifts to get and some stocking stuffers.

Bought myself the last piece to my Calico Kitten nativity set today since it was a good price. 

Aww the nativity set sounds so cute.  I got out some of the holiday decorations over the last 2 days and the kids just love playing with them.  So magical for them to see the same toys/decorations every year.

 

Good job listing everything.  I did a bit of that yesterday.  Trying to clear things out before they get the new toys. 

 

I am glad you found the kitty.

[mommyoffive]

58 minutes ago, EmilyGF said:

I was able to talk with a tax accountant and figure out that the extra bill I got from the IRS was most likely sent due to lack of documentation. The accountant is writing a letter and sending the documentation and thinks the bill will get reduced to zero. Once I no longer felt ashamed for screwing up my taxes and started talking with people about it, I found out this is pretty common. Many people I mentioned it to had a story to tell me about their own scary, end-of-year, "pay this in 30 days" IRS letter.

We're cleaning out our fridge before traveling to Thanksgiving, so we're eating a lot of veggies! Zucchini pizzas for dinner last night, roasted squash with lunch yesterday, and leek soup for dinner tonight. DS9 now knows how to make bread, so he's been using that skill a lot. 

I emailed my mom about some toys she has at her house for presents for dd5. My mom keeps a lot of things, and I know dd5 would like them, and if just doesn't make sense to buy new stuff. So mom will get the Schleich dogs out of storage for me to give to my dog-crazy daughter.

Saturday night I went to a college performance for Love's Labour Lost with dd15 and some friends, and we had a good time for $16 total. Then, yesterday, I heard the gurgling sound of migrating sandhill cranes, so ds16 and I sat on our back porch, wrapped in blankets, for 90 minutes and watched approx. 1500 sandhill cranes migrate. So happy!

Oh wow, that sounds amazing!!   Do you live near water?   We have a few cranes that come in our neighborhood, but as it gets built up more we don't see them anymore.  That would have been amazing to see. 

Glad you were able to talk to an accountant and everything worked out.  We file our taxes with an CPA every year just for our peace of mind.  Totally worth the $.

Yay for a cheap week of groceries. 

Yay for cheap presents for your dd.  Where the dogs yours?  It is so neat to see your kids love the toys you loved as a kid.  Glad you got to see a performance.  

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, Soror said:

I'm at 21.25 hrs with Cambly and 3 weeks to go for the bonus (30 hrs needed in 5 weeks). I plan to finish it out this week (and should get that easily). We are on break this week so I plan to work extra (except taking off on Thursday). Also, finishing up my Cambly kids profile is on my To Do list. I've got to finish that. (don't know why I dread it so much- I have to do a demo and redo my video- ugh)

I am nearly out of ground beef- 9 months after we got 1/2 beef. So, I told Mom I wanted some more- she brought me 20 lbs- there goes my grocery budget. I'll be scrimping it out and trying to do the best I can. 

Great job with Cambly.  I am glad you are getting hours there and going to hit your bonus.  

[mommyoffive]

Did another Lego order.  So 3 orders over the weekend.  Got the free gifts with every order.  Now I am looking at the Black Friday sale.  Sigh.  If the things I want go back in stock, I might be ordering again.  I guess we will see.   So far each of the 4 oldest are getting a really big set, a 1400 piece set, and then a under 1000 piece set.  We will see if I keep the free gifts for them or sell them.  Oh and then they have an under 200 piece set.   

Youngest plays with Legos, but doesn't love building the sets much.  She did get one over 1000 piece set and an under 200 piece set.  But I am going to get her some other things besides Lego.

Other than that the older kids are getting some Dance gear that I need to order, socks, and maybe a pair of shoes.  That is other than the stuff we have already bought them.  So that is what I still need to order. 

[EmilyGF]

12 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Oh wow, that sounds amazing!!   Do you live near water?   We have a few cranes that come in our neighborhood, but as it gets built up more we don't see them anymore.  That would have been amazing to see. 

Glad you were able to talk to an accountant and everything worked out.  We file our taxes with an CPA every year just for our peace of mind.  Totally worth the $.

Yay for a cheap week of groceries. 

Yay for cheap presents for your dd.  Where the dogs yours?  It is so neat to see your kids love the toys you loved as a kid.  Glad you got to see a performance.  

Yes, we are close to water, but cranes usually avoid where we are because it is too urban. Yesterday, however, there was a strong wind pushing generally in our direction, and the cranes took advantage of it.

[Shoeless]

I found 2 Coach purses, a book for DS13, and an awesome pair of lime green Talbots jeans in my size, all for $34 at Goodwill today. The purses were $30 of that. The Talbots jeans were only $1.65!  The linings of the purses are dirty, but I can scrub those out and they'll be fine again.  I'll use the purses for awhile and then resell on ebay when I get tired of them.

Sadly, there were a few Coach purses I had to leave behind because the linings in them were just awful and beyond what I could hope to clean. I mean, these were really disgusting inside.  🤢 It's a shame, because one of the bags was a 65th Anniversary bag and very, very expensive when it was new!

Part of me is toying with going back for it and cutting the lining out since it's so nasty. I won't ever be able to resell the bag if I do that, though.

Edited November 23, 2021 by MissLemon

[mommyoffive]

7 hours ago, MissLemon said:

I found 2 Coach purses, a book for DS13, and an awesome pair of lime green Talbots jeans in my size, all for $34 at Goodwill today. The purses were $30 of that. The Talbots jeans were only $1.65!  The linings of the purses are dirty, but I can scrub those out and they'll be fine again.  I'll use the purses for awhile and then resell on ebay when I get tired of them.

Sadly, there were a few Coach purses I had to leave behind because the linings in them were just awful and beyond what I could hope to clean. I mean, these were really disgusting inside.  🤢 It's a shame, because one of the bags was a 65th Anniversary bag and very, very expensive when it was new!

Part of me is toying with going back for it and cutting the lining out since it's so nasty. I won't ever be able to resell the bag if I do that, though.

Score. 

Sounds like you have an awesome Goodwill by you.  Are you thinking of going into the reselling business?  Are you wanting to resell the one you left there or use it?   A lot of people sell things with flaws.  Maybe that would work?

[JustEm]

22 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Did another Lego order.  So 3 orders over the weekend.  Got the free gifts with every order.  Now I am looking at the Black Friday sale.  Sigh.  If the things I want go back in stock, I might be ordering again.  I guess we will see.   So far each of the 4 oldest are getting a really big set, a 1400 piece set, and then a under 1000 piece set.  We will see if I keep the free gifts for them or sell them.  Oh and then they have an under 200 piece set.   

Youngest plays with Legos, but doesn't love building the sets much.  She did get one over 1000 piece set and an under 200 piece set.  But I am going to get her some other things besides Lego.

Other than that the older kids are getting some Dance gear that I need to order, socks, and maybe a pair of shoes.  That is other than the stuff we have already bought them.  So that is what I still need to order. 

What really big sets did you get for them?

[mommyoffive]

9 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

What really big sets did you get for them?

DS so far 

Ninjago City Gardens

3 in 1 Medieval Castle

Nutcracker Brick Headz

Free holiday set

 

ODD

Police Station

Central Perk

Nutcracker Brick Headz

Free holiday set

The VIP camera set that they had over the weekend

 

2dd

Home Alone house

3 in 1 medieval castle

Nutcracker Brick Headz

3 in 1 caravan family holiday

 

3 dd

Nutcracker Brick Headz

3 in 1 medieval castle

Pirates of Barracuda Bay

Free holiday set

 

YDD

Lego Friends Heartlake City Grand Hotel

Nutcracker Brick Headz

 

Did you get anything else with your points?

I want to buy a few more sets, trying to restrain myself.   🙂    I don't even like Lego, but my kids do and the things are so cool. 

Edited November 23, 2021 by mommyoffive

[JustEm]

I have seriously contemplated getting the Pirates set because it is a throw back to the pirate sets they made when I was a kid.

No, I didn't end up buying anymore with my points mainly because we hosted my families Thanksgiving on Sunday and the last guests didn't leave until 11 and I was exhausted after that I completely forgot. 

 

[mommyoffive]

2 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

I have seriously contemplated getting the Pirates set because it is a throw back to the pirate sets they made when I was a kid.

No, I didn't end up buying anymore with my points mainly because we hosted my families Thanksgiving on Sunday and the last guests didn't leave until 11 and I was exhausted after that I completely forgot. 

 

I really like the Pirate 3 and 1 set too.   I honestly think it is cooler than the one we bought.  Dh picked that one out.   Sigh.  I wanted something else for her.  I wonder if there is going to be more sets get put back in stock for Black Friday?  So much is out of stock this year.   

Oh wow, that is a ton of work hosting Thanksgiving.  I hope you had a great time. 

How is your reselling going? 

[JustEm]

the 3 in 1 pirate is pretty cool too.  Things really are low in stock this year.  Hopefully things get back in stock because there are a few I was hoping to get for the kids.

 

I really did have a great time and it wasn't too hard hosting.  My only task was cleaning the house which I just did over the span of a week.  Our homeschooling room was the worst because it has sort of been a catch all room during the pandemic and I don't think I've cleaned it in months. My brother, sister, dh, and dad did all the cooking.  I honestly don't know how I got out of cooking anything but I did!

Reselling is going well enough.  A few sales a week. Biggest issue right now is the post office is screwing up my orders.  I have had 4 packages recently just not get scanned.  1 has made it to the buyer, 2 have made it back to me, and 1 is currently missing.  I think I may start doing only local sales because I get dinged on ebay every time I have to cancel an order because it is lost.  I also don't want to risk the negative feedback

[mommyoffive]

4 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

the 3 in 1 pirate is pretty cool too.  Things really are low in stock this year.  Hopefully things get back in stock because there are a few I was hoping to get for the kids.

 

I really did have a great time and it wasn't too hard hosting.  My only task was cleaning the house which I just did over the span of a week.  Our homeschooling room was the worst because it has sort of been a catch all room during the pandemic and I don't think I've cleaned it in months. My brother, sister, dh, and dad did all the cooking.  I honestly don't know how I got out of cooking anything but I did!

Reselling is going well enough.  A few sales a week. Biggest issue right now is the post office is screwing up my orders.  I have had 4 packages recently just not get scanned.  1 has made it to the buyer, 2 have made it back to me, and 1 is currently missing.  I think I may start doing only local sales because I get dinged on ebay every time I have to cancel an order because it is lost.  I also don't want to risk the negative feedback

Oh wow, that is awesome that you didn't have to cook.  

Oh what a mess with the post office.  Ugh.  Not cool that you get dinged all the time for the orders that are getting lost. 

Yeah I will be watching Lego and looking to see if things come back in stock.  They did over the VIP weekend.  Things were not in stock Saturday at 12:01 and then were Saturday at 8am.  But then they quickly went out of stock or back order .    I found things better in stock on other websites like Target, Amazon, Costco, and Walmart.

[Shoeless]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Score. 

Sounds like you have an awesome Goodwill by you.  Are you thinking of going into the reselling business?  Are you wanting to resell the one you left there or use it?   A lot of people sell things with flaws.  Maybe that would work?

I actually have a terrible Goodwill near me, lol. It's an anomaly to find anything worth reselling.  I live in a rural area with a lot of ranches nearby, so most of the clothes are not fancy.

I've been reselling on eBay for over 10 years. When I lived in Chicago, I had a nice business going just from restoring and flipping expensive handbags. I don't find that kind of thing often here, and the bottom kind of fell out of the fancy handbag market, anyway.

But the Coach purse I left behind? It was really bad inside. A bit beyond my abilities to clean and make it worthwhile.

[mommyoffive]

Black Friday 2021: Get Hulu for 99¢ per month for a year with this deal for ‘GMA’ viewers | GMA (goodmorningamerica.com)

[mommyoffive]

Dollar Tree will soon be $1.25 tree. The company — one of America's last remaining true dollar stores — said Tuesday it will raise prices from $1 to $1.25 on the majority of its products by the first quarter of 2022. The change is a sign of the pressures low-cost retailers face holding down prices during a period of rising inflation.

[Shoeless]

Ok, I went back and looked at that Coach purse again. It wasn't nearly as bad as I first thought and it was only $8. The leather is fine. The lining can be cleaned to make it sanitary but it will probably always be stained. But as long as it's clean? I can live with it.

[Soror]

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've been sick- seems to be a sinus infection. My dr called about my thyroid lab results and offered to call in a Zpack. YA!!! I just started that last night.

Because I'm sick we are doing T'giving at home. So, I had increased grocery costs for things I didn't plan on cooking and even extra because I had to send ds and dd to get it (dd does well but ds o'vey every time). 

Remember my labs that last time were $50ish, this time were showing at $150ish, now the last one came through and it is showing $260ish. Very, very not happy. Still haven't got the bill but now that they are all through that should be soon, not looking forward to that call.

I forgot I needed to fill my one thyroid med this month- $144, plus the extra for groceries, and the higher medical bills, lots of work on the budget this morning but I finally got it reconciled. I need nothing else to happen between now and the end of the month.

 

[historically accurate]

6 minutes ago, Soror said:

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've been sick- seems to be a sinus infection. My dr called about my thyroid lab results and offered to call in a Zpack. YA!!! I just started that last night.

Because I'm sick we are doing T'giving at home. So, I had increased grocery costs for things I didn't plan on cooking and even extra because I had to send ds and dd to get it (dd does well but ds o'vey every time). 

Remember my labs that last time were $50ish, this time were showing at $150ish, now the last one came through and it is showing $260ish. Very, very not happy. Still haven't got the bill but now that they are all through that should be soon, not looking forward to that call.

I forgot I needed to fill my one thyroid med this month- $144, plus the extra for groceries, and the higher medical bills, lots of work on the budget this morning but I finally got it reconciled. I need nothing else to happen between now and the end of the month.

 

Feel better soon, Soror! DH and I spent time on the phone yesterday afternoon talking to medical insurance, doctor's offices, etc with a pile of $$ issues. Hopefully, it'll get fixed soon.

[mommyoffive]

12 minutes ago, Soror said:

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've been sick- seems to be a sinus infection. My dr called about my thyroid lab results and offered to call in a Zpack. YA!!! I just started that last night.

Because I'm sick we are doing T'giving at home. So, I had increased grocery costs for things I didn't plan on cooking and even extra because I had to send ds and dd to get it (dd does well but ds o'vey every time). 

Remember my labs that last time were $50ish, this time were showing at $150ish, now the last one came through and it is showing $260ish. Very, very not happy. Still haven't got the bill but now that they are all through that should be soon, not looking forward to that call.

I forgot I needed to fill my one thyroid med this month- $144, plus the extra for groceries, and the higher medical bills, lots of work on the budget this morning but I finally got it reconciled. I need nothing else to happen between now and the end of the month.

 

Oh I hope that you feel better soon.  Ugh about the medical bills.  So annonying!

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving all my Frugal Friends.   I hope everyone has a great day. 

 

[mommyoffive]

Not much going on here.  I have bought nothing for Black Friday so far.  I will probably do a bit of spending today.  But no awesome deals. 

 

We traveled for Thanksgiving so $ spent for the meal and came back with days worth of food.  

[JustEm]

1 minute ago, mommyoffive said:

Not much going on here.  I have bought nothing for Black Friday so far.  I will probably do a bit of spending today.  But no awesome deals. 

 

We traveled for Thanksgiving so $ spent for the meal and came back with days worth of food.  

Im at the mall right now. Not to shop but to get dd a covid test for an musical she is seeing tomorrow. There really aren't many good deals

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Im at the mall right now. Not to shop but to get dd a covid test for an musical she is seeing tomorrow. There really aren't many good deals

Bird of Paradise Lego is 69.99 on Lego.com.  Just thought I would let you know since I think that is one you wanted and you might have VIP points to spend.  🙂

[JustEm]

3 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Bird of Paradise Lego is 69.99 on Lego.com.  Just thought I would let you know since I think that is one you wanted and you might have VIP points to spend.  🙂

I do want it and I do have the points. But I can't buy myself Christmas gifts

 

[JustEm]

Just now, hjffkj said:

I do want it and I do have the points. But I can't buy myself Christmas gifts

 

Or buy myself anything until after Christmas

[mommyoffive]

AeroGarden Sprout Indoor Garden & Herb Seed Kit Just $49.99 Shipped on Amazon (Regularly $100) (hip2save.com)

[mommyoffive]

FREE Customized Gift Tags at Walgreens w/ FREE Same-Day Pickup (hip2save.com)

[mommyoffive]

$5 Off $20 Book Purchase at Target | Includes Christmas Titles & Advent Calendars (hip2save.com)

[Soror]

I'm finally feeling better. 

Dh bought a new vent pipe for the dryer (it was getting rather slow)- we had Menard's gift cards to cover it. 

I've done some online shopping this weekend. A few Christmas items- hopefully I can finish up anything I need to order today. 

I also bought myself some boots (been shopping for awhile now), cosmetics and face care- combined sales with cashback. I hadn't used any of my personal money in a couple of months so I had a little stash built up.

Make sure you use- cashback moniter- cashback is up at a lot of places. 

Dh's paycheck goes in tomorrow. It is a nice bigger check so we have some cushion for holiday happenings and some to put towards sinking funds.

Finished my 30 hrs with Cambly so I think I should get the bonus today. I need to up my hours to 18 per week with them (on top of 10-12.5 w/ Korean gig) to meet my goal by the end of the year but I'm not wanting to work that much. Sigh.

 

[JustEm]

Aside from stocking stuffers, I think I'm done my Christmas shopping!

 

I made $650 pet sitting this weekend.  Sold a vintage snowsuit on ebay for $145. Sold a cookbook on fb marketplace for $30.  I only had $7 into those 2 items total.

[mommyoffive]

24 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Aside from stocking stuffers, I think I'm done my Christmas shopping!

 

I made $650 pet sitting this weekend.  Sold a vintage snowsuit on ebay for $145. Sold a cookbook on fb marketplace for $30.  I only had $7 into those 2 items total.

Yay for the sales!  Was it an adult sized snowsuit? 

How many families did you pet sit for? 

Awesome weekend of income!

[JustEm]

3 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Yay for the sales!  Was it an adult sized snowsuit? 

How many families did you pet sit for? 

Awesome weekend of income!

yes, an adult snowsuit.  

3 families.  1 dog stayed at our house for 3 days, 1 dog I just had to feed twice on thanksgiving, and the other dog was 2 visit a day for a few days.

[mommyoffive]

Gas, grocery shopping (big trip), signing up for summer auditions, and deciding not to book a vacation.

Gas- gas dropped 10c a gallon.

Didn't grocery shop last week at all and found tons of deep discount health goodies.  Also bought mini trees and lights.

Got the older kids into a summer intensive audition they really wanted to get into.   And it will save us a bit of money doing this one.

[JustEm]

set up to have someone come out and give us a quote for a geothermal system.  we'll see how that goes.  Major expense upfront but hopefully will be worth it in the long run

[mommyoffive]

9 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

set up to have someone come out and give us a quote for a geothermal system.  we'll see how that goes.  Major expense upfront but hopefully will be worth it in the long run

Keep us posted.   I have been interested in this in our next home.

[JustEm]

2 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Keep us posted.   I have been interested in this in our next home.

will do. my brother who just moved across the street has it and likes it a lot. 

[mommyoffive]

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