~~~~~~~ October Frugalistas ~~~~~~

[mommyoffive]

Happy Fall Yall!

Any fun fall or Halloween plans?

Anyone started their holiday shopping yet?

 

[prairiewindmomma]

Homecoming is themed this year, so my high school aged kids are reusing those outfits for Halloween. Youngest wants to be a steampunk magician, so we are working on her costume right now. 
 

We had a gorgeous 70F weekend, so Dh and I went out to a local brewery out in the countryside and had a gorgeous dinner on the patio for date night. I had an apple pecan rum cake for dessert that I am still thinking about. I picked up a candle and a face mask from Trader Joe’s this weekend also and now I am ready to buckle back in to a tight budget for the month. I think one of the things that I have realized mid-life is that life isn’t supposed to be all grind. 
 

I am eyeing the Amazon and Target sales that are coming up, but I haven’t settled on any holiday buying plans. I am open to it, though. I usually try to finish by Thanksgiving. 

[prairiewindmomma]

I forgot to mention—we grew our own pumpkins for Halloween. It is definitely not worth the time spent watering and weeding. TJ had pumpkins for $4 each. We are not doing that again.

[Brittany1116]

Is there a way to sneek peak Amazon deals for next week? All the Lego we need to snag for gifts is already on sale so I am trying to decide when to buy. 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Brittany1116
Typo

[JustEm]

Dh and I have a costume party in 2 weeks. We're going as Ash and Evil Sheila from Army of Darkness. We'll also go as them while walking around with kids on actual Halloween.

The kids costumes are coming along nicely. Everything for them has come from what we have, the dollar store, and goodwill.

October is likely to be a very little spend month. And if we do spend on non bills  it'll be Christmas present shopping. We started talking about that last night but don't have a good idea of what everyone will get. I'm trying to convince the kids to ask for an excursion while we're in puerto Rico but they all like opening gifts on Christmas morning, which I get

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I forgot to mention—we grew our own pumpkins for Halloween. It is definitely not worth the time spent watering and weeding. TJ had pumpkins for $4 each. We are not doing that again.

We accidentally grew pumpkins last year.  Meaning we threw out our old pumpkins in the yard, left for 9 plus weeks over the summer and we came back to tons of pumpkins growing in the yard.  Maybe it was a super wet summer, because I didn't water them once.  It was fun to grow them.  Competely forgot to do that this year. 

[prairiewindmomma]

We live in a Mediterranean climate with essentially no rain from April-October. If you want to keep anything alive you’ve got to water it. If we didn’t water the pumpkin plants at least 3x a week, its leaves wilted and it showed signs of heat stress.

[mommyoffive]

4 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

We live in a Mediterranean climate with essentially no rain from April-October. If you want to keep anything alive you’ve got to water it. If we didn’t water the pumpkin plants at least 3x a week, its leaves wilted and it showed signs of heat stress.

Yeah, sometimes I feel like there isn't a lot of savings growing something on your own.  With all the water used and paying for the plant if you don't grow it yourself.  

[prairiewindmomma]

Walgreens just posted 40% off photo gifts and 50% off photo cards. We had print problems with them last year, so check your order carefully, but it looks like they are starting the season early.

We just took senior photos (ourselves) so I might try to finish my touch ups and get stuff ordered.

[prairiewindmomma]

We grew tomatoes this summer and ended up with enough for snacking. The flavor made it worth it. As to the rest, most of the rest of the garden wasn’t worth the effort. I need to do the final cost tally, but I think we would have been better off at the farmer’s market even. 
 

Our hydroponics lettuce and herbs in winter are the only thing where we clearly save in time and money trade off.

[JustEm]

2 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I forgot to mention—we grew our own pumpkins for Halloween. It is definitely not worth the time spent watering and weeding. TJ had pumpkins for $4 each. We are not doing that again.

That's funny because we grew our own pumpkins too. I spread the seeds, buried them a bit, and watered them once. Then I forgot about them. We have 4 great pumpkins and possibly more smaller ones, I haven't been out to check 

[JustEm]

Dd13 was asked to perform with the company in their production of Coppelia this month. So, that'll probably be a new pair of tights to perform in and new makeup. Not too expensive but not fully planned.

She also wants to do a ballet competition this year. I told her it was either competition or intensives, it can't be both unless she finds a way to pay for part of them. The plus side is that a single competition is cheaper than intensives. The downside, I the to pay for it a lot sooner than intensives. 

Other plus side is that our tenant offered to choreograph her contemporary piece and coach her on it for free. Which saves us a good chunk of change. He doesn't know it yet, but we'll give him a free month of rent in exchange for that.

We'll still have the coaching for the classical piece and the competition fees.

 

[mommyoffive]

3 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Dd13 was asked to perform with the company in their production of Coppelia this month. So, that'll probably be a new pair of tights to perform in and new makeup. Not too expensive but not fully planned.

She also wants to do a ballet competition this year. I told her it was either competition or intensives, it can't be both unless she finds a way to pay for part of them. The plus side is that a single competition is cheaper than intensives. The downside, I the to pay for it a lot sooner than intensives. 

Other plus side is that our tenant offered to choreograph her contemporary piece and coach her on it for free. Which saves us a good chunk of change. He doesn't know it yet, but we'll give him a free month of rent in exchange for that.

We'll still have the coaching for the classical piece and the competition fees.

 

We are weighing the thought and cost of competitions right now too.  It sounds so expensive to me.  I see some of the good things about it, but there are good things about intensives too.  

Has your dd already been rehearsing for Coppelia?

[JustEm]

7 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

We are weighing the thought and cost of competitions right now too.  It sounds so expensive to me.  I see some of the good things about it, but there are good things about intensives too.  

Has your dd already been rehearsing for Coppelia?

Yeah, I think I'd prefer intensives. But she did do the masterclasses during a competition last year and got some good scholarships for intensives. So, the way I see it, she can try competition and maybe it'll end up making intensives cheap enough with a scholarship for her to be able to afford it with her own money. We'll see.

No, rehearsals start Saturday and the shows are oct 21st and 22nd. It may be a variation she's already learned though, I'm just not sure. Oct just turned into a crazy busy month

[mommyoffive]

3 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Yeah, I think I'd prefer intensives. But she did do the masterclasses during a competition last year and got some good scholarships for intensives. So, the way I see it, she can try competition and maybe it'll end up making intensives cheap enough with a scholarship for her to be able to afford it with her own money. We'll see.

No, rehearsals start Saturday and the shows are oct 21st and 22nd. It may be a variation she's already learned though, I'm just not sure. Oct just turned into a crazy busy month

Is there anyway she can just do the masterclass again?  A person at one of our new studios told me the cost of doing a competition all in and I was floored. You could do tons of summer intensive auditions for the cost and score scholarships.  Wow, that is so impressive that she would be able to pay for an intensive with her own money.  Is she thinking of going away or living at home for the intensive?  Or is she hoping for a free ride?  Our experience with free rides is that unless they are close to you the still end up being $$.

Oh wow, those shows are close!  When do they start Nutcracker then?

[Condessa]

Ds is losing feeling in his feet.  He has permanent nerve damage to his spine that causes some sensation loss in his feet at all times, but it has gotten worse the last four days, which may indicate that his tumor has grown and is putting pressure on his spine again.  His oncologist moved his MRIs up to Saturday.  I am sick and frantic and frozen, torn between feeling like I need to prepare everything in case of another extended hospitalization next week and feeling unable to move at all.  Hopefully, if it is tumor growth, we will be able to get him into the new drug trial that will mean traveling to Seattle once a month for a while.  But I am so scared that if it has grown this fast, it will mean surgery again.  I felt like we were just getting finances back in order after totaling and replacing the car, still.  The emergency fund is not back up to where I wanted it yet, though we do have a full month's expenses set aside.

[prairiewindmomma]

I’m sorry, C. We dealt with leptomeningeal spread happening super fast. It was high grade glioma, though.

Best wishes to you and yours. I’d be stashing the freezer. Something always comes up, iykwim. Hugs! ❤️

[Melissa in Australia]

6 hours ago, Condessa said:

Ds is losing feeling in his feet.  He has permanent nerve damage to his spine that causes some sensation loss in his feet at all times, but it has gotten worse the last four days, which may indicate that his tumor has grown and is putting pressure on his spine again.  His oncologist moved his MRIs up to Saturday.  I am sick and frantic and frozen, torn between feeling like I need to prepare everything in case of another extended hospitalization next week and feeling unable to move at all.  Hopefully, if it is tumor growth, we will be able to get him into the new drug trial that will mean traveling to Seattle once a month for a while.  But I am so scared that if it has grown this fast, it will mean surgery again.  I felt like we were just getting finances back in order after totaling and replacing the car, still.  The emergency fund is not back up to where I wanted it yet, though we do have a full month's expenses set aside.

Sending positive thoughts 

Huge huge hugs 

[mommyoffive]

20 hours ago, Condessa said:

Ds is losing feeling in his feet.  He has permanent nerve damage to his spine that causes some sensation loss in his feet at all times, but it has gotten worse the last four days, which may indicate that his tumor has grown and is putting pressure on his spine again.  His oncologist moved his MRIs up to Saturday.  I am sick and frantic and frozen, torn between feeling like I need to prepare everything in case of another extended hospitalization next week and feeling unable to move at all.  Hopefully, if it is tumor growth, we will be able to get him into the new drug trial that will mean traveling to Seattle once a month for a while.  But I am so scared that if it has grown this fast, it will mean surgery again.  I felt like we were just getting finances back in order after totaling and replacing the car, still.  The emergency fund is not back up to where I wanted it yet, though we do have a full month's expenses set aside.

I am sending every single good thought and prayer his way. I am so sorry.

[JustEm]

On 10/4/2023 at 10:17 AM, mommyoffive said:

Is there anyway she can just do the masterclass again?  A person at one of our new studios told me the cost of doing a competition all in and I was floored. You could do tons of summer intensive auditions for the cost and score scholarships.  Wow, that is so impressive that she would be able to pay for an intensive with her own money.  Is she thinking of going away or living at home for the intensive?  Or is she hoping for a free ride?  Our experience with free rides is that unless they are close to you the still end up being $$.

Oh wow, those shows are close!  When do they start Nutcracker then?

We're sitting down with the school owner sometime next week to talk in more detail about competition. And with the coaching and contemporary piece free competing will not be nearly as expensive. Plus, it is a local competition so there would be no travel or hotel stays to deal with. 

I think I'm ready to consider the competition at least for one year and see how that works. Dd is also considering asking relatives to sponsor her. This isn't something dh and I would ask but we see the value in her making the decision herself.

We're still waiting to get the Nutcracker casting. It should be this week. Rehearsal for that will start right after Coppelia is over. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Is anyone else just entirely unimpressed with "sale" prices lately?

I was browsing the Target ad here: https://weeklyad.target.com/promotions?code=Target-20231001&page=6 and they are advising a package of Charmin for $39.99 (24 megarolls). Like, no. 

 

[Brittany1116]

14 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Is anyone else just entirely unimpressed with "sale" prices lately?

I was browsing the Target ad here: https://weeklyad.target.com/promotions?code=Target-20231001&page=6 and they are advising a package of Charmin for $39.99 (24 megarolls). Like, no. 

 

No way. I haven't checked linear foot prices since spring, but the best TP deals still seem to be Sam's Club and/or Walgreen's weekly $3.99-$5 packs. 

[Shoeless]

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Is anyone else just entirely unimpressed with "sale" prices lately?

I was browsing the Target ad here: https://weeklyad.target.com/promotions?code=Target-20231001&page=6 and they are advising a package of Charmin for $39.99 (24 megarolls). Like, no. 

 

I've been considering cancelling my Target card because their prices are crazy, so we never shop there now. I stopped in there once for TP since I was passing by, saw the $40 price tag, and walked back out. 

[Brittany1116]

Oh speaking of insane sale prices.... Children's Place, which has been on par with Walmart pricing for most of my kids' lives, had a 3 pack of little boys sweat pants ON SALE for $53 this week. Last time I bought them there, they were $8 tops. 

[Shoeless]

2 hours ago, Brittany1116 said:

Oh speaking of insane sale prices.... Children's Place, which has been on par with Walmart pricing for most of my kids' lives, had a 3 pack of little boys sweat pants ON SALE for $53 this week. Last time I bought them there, they were $8 tops. 

That's crazy! 

Now I'm kicking myself for donating DS15's old clothes instead of trying to flip them on Ebay. 

[Brittany1116]

13 minutes ago, Shoeless said:

That's crazy! 

Now I'm kicking myself for donating DS15's old clothes instead of trying to flip them on Ebay. 

I have a 5 year gap and save everything for the little one. I buy everything on steep clearance on off seasons and it works well 99% of the time.

I usually resell at kid consignment sales, but have just started giving away the younger one's outgrown clothes. I have a friend who has a boy after a few girls, and another who had 3 boys in under 5 years. Even my niece takes some of the pieces that my sister likes.

[Shoeless]

49 minutes ago, Brittany1116 said:

I have a 5 year gap and save everything for the little one. I buy everything on steep clearance on off seasons and it works well 99% of the time.

I usually resell at kid consignment sales, but have just started giving away the younger one's outgrown clothes. I have a friend who has a boy after a few girls, and another who had 3 boys in under 5 years. Even my niece takes some of the pieces that my sister likes.

We're out in the country, so no consignment stores near me. I've offered his outgrown clothes to people with younger/smaller kids, but they aren't interested. Seems weird to me because DS isn't a rough and tumble kind of guy; his clothes are really gently worn.  

I don't get it, but I've always been out of sync with people around here, so there's probably some cultural cue about hand-me-downs that I'm missing.  

[Brittany1116]

3 minutes ago, Shoeless said:

We're out in the country, so no consignment stores near me. I've offered his outgrown clothes to people with younger/smaller kids, but they aren't interested. Seems weird to me because DS isn't a rough and tumble kind of guy; his clothes are really gently worn.  

I don't get it, but I've always been out of sync with people around here, so there's probably some cultural cue about hand-me-downs that I'm missing.  

Do you have any pop up consignment sales in the nearest city? We have Just Between Friends 2-3 times a year. There are others but I can't recall the names. 

I don't know anyone who would turn down hand me downs. Maybe they graciously take them and just pass on what they don't like, but they still take it and I occasionally see the kids in pieces. I am sad to be moving out of our old Gymboree and Gap, and I also take care of my kids' clothes. 

My mom lives middle of nowhere and has awesome thrift shops. We always find something when we visit. Near me, there is rarely anything worth looking at in the kid section. The JBF sale is where we score big. 

[Shoeless]

2 minutes ago, Brittany1116 said:

Do you have any pop up consignment sales in the nearest city? We have Just Between Friends 2-3 times a year. There are others but I can't recall the names. 

I don't know anyone who would turn down hand me downs. Maybe they graciously take them and just pass on what they don't like, but they still take it and I occasionally see the kids in pieces. I am sad to be moving out of our old Gymboree and Gap, and I also take care of my kids' clothes. 

My mom lives middle of nowhere and has awesome thrift shops. We always find something when we visit. Near me, there is rarely anything worth looking at in the kid section. The JBF sale is where we score big. 

No, nothing like that around me. Every once in a while, there's a church sale that you can set up a table, but it seems more social event than real sale. Everything was priced oddly high?  There's a Plato's Closet about 45 minutes from here, but it's almost entirely college-girl clothes (it's near a university). They don't deal in kid's clothes at all.

I even tried to give away a kid's winter coat and couldn't get any takers! It looked basically new because DS wasn't one of those wrestle-and-dig-in-the-dirt kind of kids. I can't imagine passing up a free coat! 🤷‍♀️ His coat actually fit me but was too short in the arms, otherwise I would have kept it, lol

[JustEm]

We are a huge hand me down and goodwill family. Even most of my clothes are not bought new. It just isn't worth the money to buy new ever when the thrift stores around here have enough good quality clothes for cheap. On the occasions where I do have to buy new it is shocking how expensive everything is

[knitgrl]

On 10/2/2023 at 1:08 PM, hjffkj said:

Dh and I have a costume party in 2 weeks. We're going as Ash and Evil Sheila from Army of Darkness. We'll also go as them while walking around with kids on actual Halloween.

So nice to see another Evil Dead fan. What a great costume idea! Are you going to buy them from S-Mart?

[Melissa in Australia]

 Today I am Wearing the skirt I made from a thick brown cotton double bed sheet.  Total cost $5.

All from op shop

Zip was 50 cents

Sheet $4

Skirt hook 50 cents 

[mommyoffive]

Getting a $7,500 tax credit for electric cars will get a lot easier : NPR

[JustEm]

dd13's pointe shoes are destroying her feet so I had to order new ones! Thankfully, the head of the company sat her down with a ton of shoes and fit her herself.  She was trying on company members' shoes too. It was nice because they were all so incredibly helpful about what they like about each of their shoes.  It helped dd have a better understanding of what she needs for her feet.

But oh boy am I sick of ballet expenses!

[mommyoffive]

10 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

dd13's pointe shoes are destroying her feet so I had to order new ones! Thankfully, the head of the company sat her down with a ton of shoes and fit her herself.  She was trying on company members' shoes too. It was nice because they were all so incredibly helpful about what they like about each of their shoes.  It helped dd have a better understanding of what she needs for her feet.

But oh boy am I sick of ballet expenses!

Does someone from the school come with you when you get her fitted for pointe shoes?

Something I have learned is the ballet expenses never end.

[JustEm]

3 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Does someone from the school come with you when you get her fitted for pointe shoes?

Something I have learned is the ballet expenses never end.

No. We were at the school and head instructor pulled out the pointe shoes they have on hand and helped her find ones that work for her.  Last time we went for a fitting at the ballet store that usually does a great job she tried on like 30 shoes and nothing was working for her. She needed new shoes because her foot grew and changed a lot during that growth spurt.  When she found one that seemed ok she had been trying shoes on for over an hour and I think just rushed deciding that they were good.

 

[mommyoffive]

1 minute ago, hjffkj said:

No. We were at the school and head instructor pulled out the pointe shoes they have on hand and helped her find ones that work for her.  Last time we went for a fitting at the ballet store that usually does a great job she tried on like 30 shoes and nothing was working for her. She needed new shoes because her foot grew and changed a lot during that growth spurt.  When she found one that seemed ok she had been trying shoes on for over an hour and I think just rushed deciding that they were good.

 

So far the 2 places we have been the director always comes with girls when they are fitted for pointe shoes.  And it was AMAZINGLY helpful even with fitters who really knew their stuff.  I wouldn't go get pointe shoes without the director coming.  ODD even just had the directors come the last time she got fitted for a new pair of pointe shoes and she has been on pointe for years.  Again it was crazy helpful. ODD had one of those trips and tried on what seemed like every single pointe shoe in the entire store.  It took like 3 hours.

[JustEm]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

So far the 2 places we have been the director always comes with girls when they are fitted for pointe shoes.  And it was AMAZINGLY helpful even with fitters who really knew their stuff.  I wouldn't go get pointe shoes without the director coming.  ODD even just had the directors come the last time she got fitted for a new pair of pointe shoes and she has been on pointe for years.  Again it was crazy helpful. ODD had one of those trips and tried on what seemed like every single pointe shoe in the entire store.  It took like 3 hours.

Gotcha. Yeah, the first time she had the opportunity  to have the director there but we couldn't make it the day the director was available. And that first fitting went well and those first shows were great. But then Russia decided to  start a was and the Russian Pointes that were great for her feet became impossible to find. Future fittings weren't bad until the most recent ones because her foot grew and changed so drastically from what she needed before 

But we didn't even consider asking again for future fittings. I was really glad the director offered to help her at the school. She got to try a bunch of brands and styles that the shops around here don't generally stock. 

[mommyoffive]

Some good lego deals

LEGO Technic THE BATMAN – BATMOBILE 42127 Model Car Building Toy, 2022 Movie Set, Superhero Gifts for Kids and Teen Fans with Light Bricks - Walmart.com

 

Walmart.com - Mega Barbie The Movie Dreamhouse-1795 Pcs. - Walmart.com (shopstyle.com)

 

LEGO Classic 90 Years of Play 11021, Building Set for Creative Play with 15 Mini Builds Inspired by 90 Years of LEGO Sets, Gift Idea for Kids Ages 5 and Up - Walmart.com

[mommyoffive]

Amazon.com : LAZER Chiru MIPS Mountain Bike Helmet, MTB Helmet for Adults with Visor, Matte Full Black, Medium : Sports & Outdoors

$17.50

[mommyoffive]

Kohl's free shipping all orders today.

[mommyoffive]

Rakuten has 10% back on a bunch of stores Lands end, Boden, Zappos, Nike, Ulta, Under armor 12% back at Macy's.

[mommyoffive]

Double points at Lego

Up to 10% cash back on Raktuen.

3% on exclusives and hard to find

10% on everything else

[mommyoffive]

Yay, one of my ccs has been hacked.  Off to figure that out later tonight.

[historically accurate]

Not too much happening on the budget end. Found a new consignment shop; really liked them, found some interview clothes for a kid and some other clothes as well.

Still using YNAB, really like it, so we decided to keep it. 

Got mad at my cluttered house last weekend, and listed a ton of stuff on ebay. Have bids on 3 different items so far. 

Lots of changes with the kiddos:

Middle DD got 2 job offers in 2 days (she just got her CNA license). She'll start as soon as the paperwork comes through.

Youngest DD may be getting a job at one of our local libraries - my boss (I work there as well) told me to have her come in for an interview. 

Oldest DD will be having another knee surgery, so she's moving back in with us next month. Her temp job ended after 9 months, and she is thinking of doing the Mechatronics certification at our local cc next year (it's a 2 semester program). She'll probably get a part time job while she pursues that.

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, historically accurate said:

Not too much happening on the budget end. Found a new consignment shop; really liked them, found some interview clothes for a kid and some other clothes as well.

Still using YNAB, really like it, so we decided to keep it. 

Got mad at my cluttered house last weekend, and listed a ton of stuff on ebay. Have bids on 3 different items so far. 

Lots of changes with the kiddos:

Middle DD got 2 job offers in 2 days (she just got her CNA license). She'll start as soon as the paperwork comes through.

Youngest DD may be getting a job at one of our local libraries - my boss (I work there as well) told me to have her come in for an interview. 

Oldest DD will be having another knee surgery, so she's moving back in with us next month. Her temp job ended after 9 months, and she is thinking of doing the Mechatronics certification at our local cc next year (it's a 2 semester program). She'll probably get a part time job while she pursues that.

Congrats to you MD.  Is she taking both jobs?

Fingers crossed for your ydd.

I hope the knee surgery goes well for your odd.

[historically accurate]

8 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Congrats to you MD.  Is she taking both jobs?

Fingers crossed for your ydd.

I hope the knee surgery goes well for your odd.

Middle will take one of the jobs (it pays $2 more than the other offer). She has to do a minimum number of shifts a month, but she can pick up as needed. She's still a senior in high school, so she'll be working on Saturdays & Sundays mostly.

Thanks for finger crossing & well wishes!

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, historically accurate said:

Middle will take one of the jobs (it pays $2 more than the other offer). She has to do a minimum number of shifts a month, but she can pick up as needed. She's still a senior in high school, so she'll be working on Saturdays & Sundays mostly.

Thanks for finger crossing & well wishes!

How awesome!!  Getting a CNA as a kid is so smart.  I found kids who did it when I was in high school and they had jobs that were paying like triple of what  I was making as a babysitter and in the mall. 

Good for you for getting stuff listed on Ebay.  I have so much stuff I want to get rid of.

[mommyoffive]

Deals on the Kalahari 

"The Don White Block" - Kalahari Family Nights

[Condessa]

After scans and visits with the oncologists and the neurosurgeon, they have determined that Ds's problems with feeling in his feet is not the result of tumor growth.  Which is great!  But also frustrating that their response to him having numbness/tingling/nerve pain/even more stumbling and falling than normal is that if he wants pain medication, they will give us a prescription.  Otherwise, they are not going to pursue the issue unless it increases to the point that it is preventing him from participating in his normal life.

It really is great news, that it is only this mystery problem and not this problem in result of cancer growth.  Wonderful news.  It is a huge weight off.  It's just that I want to help my boy and can't.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Condessa