cutepenguin

@cutepenguin (6430)

Canada • Age 47

Joined myLot 20 years ago

All Activity

Discussions (88)

cutepenguin's Discussions

Do you ever feel like giving up?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 19 Apr 13

We live in such an expensive city that no matter how frugal we are, we will not be able to afford to buy a house. And so I kind of have given up because there doesn't feel like any point. We make enough to be comfortable, and...

14 responses •

1 person

Would you take a paycut?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 29 Mar 13

my husband starts a new job next week. This job is a salaried position that does not pay overtime, whereas his previous job was salaried but you could be paid overtime, so even though the base salary is higher, he will be bringing...

career

paycut

promotion

10 responses •

2 people

Hot Chocolate mix with garam masala in it?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 18 Mar 13

My friend mentioned the other night that she gives her kids hot chocolate that is made with cocoa powder, garam masala, and one other ingredient which wasn't sugar. I can't remember what it was, but am about to experiment. I might...

hot chocolate

make your own

spices

2 responses

Are you over-scheduled?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 1 Mar 13

I think I have too many things on my plate right now - I am working almost full time, my husband works full time, and my son has preschool (one day a week), Mother Goose class, gymnastics class, and Multisports. We also do a...

8 responses

Reading picture books again

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 25 Feb 13

I've been reading a lot of picture books lately, with my son, and there are a lot more choices and variety than there was when I was a kid. I mean, classics like Robert Munsch have been around forever, but authors like Oliver...

kids books

picture books

4 responses

What does your toddler like best?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 25 Feb 13

Someone told me that a stage toddlers go through is where they fixate on one type of thing, so that they become a little expert on dinosaurs, or get really good at puzzles, or know all the characters of a tv series. My son, I...

stages

toddlers

toys

9 responses

Almost done, but...

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 21 Feb 13

So, we still have one debt left, and we have enough money to pay it off, but because it's a small payment each month, we've been putting it off. First, we liked keeping the money in our accounts. Then, we put the money into a...

6 responses

How old was your child when they gave up their nap?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 21 Feb 13

My son seems to be outgrowing his nap - some days, he doesn't nap at all, and on days when he does nap, he doesn't want to go to bed until fairly late. To be honest, it's getting frustrating. I can't plan a day because I don't...

11 responses •

1 person

How long did it take you to learn another language?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 12 Feb 13

And how did you learn? I am trying to learn Japanese. I took lessons in school but haven't used it in over 10 years, so I've forgotten a lot of it. I'm trying to teach it to my son so that he'll be bilingual, but I'm worried...

learn a language

20 responses •

4 people

Which do you prefer?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 12 Feb 13

My good friend has recently taken up quilting, which looks really beautiful and I admit I'd love to try it. but I mostly have been doing crafts that are done in less than a day, like my most recent project which has been fleece...

crafts

distraction

instant gratification

patience

sewing

17 responses •

2 people

Entertaining your children

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 12 Feb 13

Isn't it fun how even though your kids have plenty of toys, they will spend so much time playing with things that aren't toys? Like cardboard boxes and the tubes from paper towels? My son has just spent the last half hour...

entertaining your children

toys

14 responses •

1 person

Am I the only one who does this?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 30 Sep 12

Quite often, when I'm about to read a book, I flip ahead to the end to see how it's going to end. Sometimes if I don't think I like the ending, I might not read the book. I especially do this if it is a mystery novel. I didn't...

reading

suspense

the end

5 responses

do you buy recipe books?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 25 Sep 12

I'm thinking about getting the Martha Stewart Every Day foods cookbooks. We've been getting the magazine because my husband got a subscription for Christmas, and he really has been enjoying the recipes. But it might just be a...

8 responses •

2 people

Are your friends frugal?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 9 Sep 12

I have friends who don't make as much as we do. They make enough to be comfortable, but they are living paycheque to paycheque. Sometimes I want to suggest ways they could be frugal, especially when they make purchases of things...

14 responses

How do you marinade?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 2 Sep 12

As in, what do you put in your marinade? and for how long do you personally marinade it? my parents used to use a mixture of apple juice, vinegar, and some different sauces for flavour, and they'd do the marinade the night...

dinner

meat

4 responses •

1 person

Can your child be bilingual if you aren't?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 26 Aug 12

I learned some Japanese in high school and we are thinking about trying to teach our son Japanese. He might be a bit too old to start, but he's not getting younger, so we figure we'll start now and send him to Japanese preschool...

bilingual

language

teach your child

12 responses •

1 person

How long could you go without grocery shopping?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 22 Mar 12

With the food you have in your home right now, for how long could you go before having to go grocery shopping? We just went grocery shopping this morning, but only bought a few things, and I am going to try to make them last...

18 responses •

4 people

Designer clothes?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 17 Mar 12

When did it become important to your kids what brand name their clothes were from? I only have one child and he is still a toddler so he doesn't really care what he wears so long as I get it on him quickly so that he can go and...

12 responses •

1 person

I've been coupon hunting...

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 20 Feb 12

I've found coupons in lots of odd places - I'd expect to find them online and in the newspaper, but I found coupons for frozen sliders (cheeseburgers) on the hot chocolate box. The coupon is for a free box, which is a pretty good...

3 responses

How much do you think that you save per day?

cutepenguin @cutepenguin (6430) • Canada 5 Feb 12

By being frugal or by making extra money online? We're trying to pay off the rest of our debt and save up to buy a house, and we're trying to set some goals. It's hard because my job is really flexible, which is normally good...

18 responses •

1 person