Gosh we have been busy today.....

and very productive for a change. Feel like I have ticked off a lot of boxes on my to-do list.

I read through the flyer's and figured out what I needed to get, and made a list....as I have a memory like a sieve!!! Then I sorted out my coupon book and envelope and discarded all the expired coupons, and that also reminded me what coupons I actually have. Before we went out I put the breadmaker on timer, so we would have a fresh loaf of bread for supper.

We went out and I called into Sobey's first. They had Lipton's Onion Soup Mix on sale and also they have started a new points card system, so wanted to sign up for that. Its called Club Sobey's and there is more info here I must admit I only buy the things that are on sale at Sobey's as I find the store expensive. So I won't be accumulating many points fast, but they will build up slow and steady. I also save the receipts as a lady I know through the internet donates them to an animal shelter, they must get some money back for the shelter?

After that we went to the planning/permit department for our city. We are going to finish the basement and you need a permit to do that. Most people don't take a permit out, but two of our neighbours have had a right carry on with basement apartments, I swear the building inspectors were around weekly at one point, so we'd rather pay the $100 and do it right and not get into trouble. Not that we are putting an apartment in, we're just drywalling and tidying the place up, so if we come to sell, it'll be classed as a finished basement. Dh did a great job on doing the plans and the guy seemed to be happy with it all. We should hopefully have the permit in a couple of weeks time.

So after that we drive to the dreaded Wal-Mart. They are having an anniversary sale at the moment. Evaporated Milk (cans) was on sale for 90 something cents which is a great price, of course they didn't have any left. I did pick up Chunky Soup (cans) for $1.38, again a great price, plus a couple of other things.

We then headed to the mall, as dh wanted some work pants with his birthday money. We went to Mark's Work Wearhouse, and they have a great system. If you can't find the size of clothing in the store you want, they will order it from another store and have it delivered to your home, via Purolator at no extra charge. We have used this system before and it works a treat. Prior to us going out I looked online for a coupon for Marks Work Wearhouse and found a 20% off coupon when you signed up for their rewards programme. There is more information about that here So that saved dh well over $20 there.

While on vacation we picked shells from the beach. So I wanted a glass container to put them in. So we popped into Home Sense to get one, plus a couple of other things. Here is a photo of the shells in the glass jar:



We then popped into Home Depot to pick up some wood. Dh had some Tim Hortons gift certificates, so I "suggested" it would be a good idea to take me there for lunch...LOL

We then called in at Food Basics and I picked up Choc-Chips, Butterscotch Chips, and Skor bits all on sale and stocked up on enough of those to last me through Christmas and probably longer. We then came home and dropped all the shopping off. Changed over to my car, then went to Canadian Tire to pick up some things.

I wanted gas in my car and as it was only $1.106 per litre I wanted to take advantage of the low price. I had half a tank, and it still cost me nearly $30 to fill it........

We then went to the bank, as I needed to get some British pounds and it is under $2 per pound which is good. However when I got home I see they have charged me a $5 service charge so will be calling them up to complain about that!!!! Called in at the dollar store and then came home...whew!!!

Picked some carrots from the garden to make carrot soup, recipe here, that will go just fine with the bread in the breadmaker.

I am closing off my month for grocery shopping, with again being slightly over budget. I had only wanted to spend $100 this month, instead I spent $113.75, and only had $31.50 in savings. Still I am pretty stocked up on a couple of things. I want to try and keep my budget under $300 for the month of October and hopefully have around $100 in savings.

Funny thing is, on Wednesday morning, we have another set of errands to run again. Stuff we didn't get done today, and actually they are in another part of the city, so it'll be the same tomorrow morning!!!