Self-Discipline(SP?)

undercover_angel · 1 January 2009 at 9:01PM

Hello Everyone

I have posted on OS a few times before but I'm not a regular.

My partner and I have had a shaky end to 2008, he was made redundant in early December and although he luckily has mangaged to find a new job to start 5th January all be it a temporary one this 'scare' has really made me think.

I have tried to do OS, cooking, cleaning etc so many times before but I find I do it for a few weeks and then slip back into my old money wasting, none economical ways.

How do you discipline yourselves? How do you (those of you who work) find the time to do it? I guess I have the time to prepare things etc when I get home from work but I am just sooooooooooo tired as my job is so physical and emotionally draining.

I guess what I am saying is How do you make yourselves do the things you know you should be doing?

Sorry for the waffle, I do it a lot, I'm not very good at getting my point accross.

Thanks anyway. xxx

clutterydrawer · 1 January 2009 at 9:16PM

I look at my bank balance, and have no choice.

If you only have £5 left, you think real carefully about what food you buy.

Alternatively, try recording all your unnecessary spending over the month, and consider what nice things you could have put it towards if you hadn't wasted it.

crawley_girl · 1 January 2009 at 9:35PM

Hiya

I know exactly what you mean, I have good intentions and then I slip back into rubbish old ways. I try not to beat myself up over it, but hae decided that if I watch one tv programme less a night then I can use that 30 mins to organize myself, plan for the next day, keep on top of washing and putting stuff away, washing up, getting stuff out of the freezer etc etc

So far so good, but I won't beat myself up if I let myself slip! My BF moved in with me today and we are both naturally quite competitive (especially when bargain shopping) so I have him to keep me on the straight and narrow!

Good luck with your quest, dont be too hard on yourself

:heartpuls CG :heartpuls

PS Plus I plan ahead, totally, everything goes in my diary, including what I am going to eat, what I need to clean on each day, things that I need to buy (milk. choc etc)

Plum_Pie · 1 January 2009 at 9:36PM

I don't think of myself as 'disciplined', infact for me that word has quite negative connotations!

I think about OS in terms of benefits - not just moneysaving, but my health (ready meals almost always have more fat, salt or sugar than a homemade version) and my taste. (I can cook something just the way I like it, not the way Mr T thinks I should.

You probably just need to work out which OS strategies work for you.

E.g. If you don't have the energy to cook everyday, try batch cooking.

Don't feel overwhelmed by how much some OSers do!

Ease yourself in gently and 'budget' yourself some non-OS treats, like a takeaway once a fortnight.

Motivate yourself by thinking 'What do I need to save for?' or calculate how much you would save per year and then add 6% interest to it to find out how much you will save.

SunnyGirl · 1 January 2009 at 10:40PM

I agree with the above posts. Work out where you want to save money & then decide what you're going to use the money for. That way you know where you're upto and can keep yourself motivated. If you decide to shave a set amount off your groceries, say, and save it for a holiday or paying off debts you will feel much more inclined to carry on with the OS things that are saving you money IYSWIM!

I think that a lot of OS ways are more about what you don't buy rather than what you do. For example I no longer buy tinfoil. I only used it for lining oven trays for oven chips si now I wash the trays instead. A very small thing but if I think of it this way it soon adds up. HTH

undercover_angel · 1 January 2009 at 11:55PM

Thanks everyone.

I think I want to do the OS thing for health reasons as much as saving money tbh, I really want to improve my diet and my DP's diet too. The money I saved would go into the savings account which is for....well... decorating my bedroom(desparately morbid in there!) or maybe a short break or something. So I could really use the cash for a treat or (and I really hope this doesn't happen) if DP comes out of work again as the new job is only temporary.

I have just read through nearly all of the "feed a family of 4 for £20 a month" thread and have to say I do feel quite inspired having read it. Not that I am suggesting we do anything that drastic obviously...got to ease myself in gently I am sure! lol

I'm definately going to make more of an effort to try, starting with a storecupboard and freezer inventory tomorrow and trying to do a meal plan for January tomorrow morning.

The thing is with me, it isn't the starting that's the problem it's the keeping it up! Thanks everybody I appreciate your replies.

Plum_Pie · 2 January 2009 at 12:34AM

Don't burn yourself out doing too much too quickly! Babysteps as they say on flylady. Why don't you write a 1 or 2 week meal plan and see how it goes?

EDIT: Thought you might like these

Cooking for the freezer - help! http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=440655#post440655

Building blocks [of meals] for your freezer: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=571339&highlight=building+blocks

undercover_angel · 2 January 2009 at 12:36AM

Yes, thanks. Thats probably a good idea. Maybe thats my problem, I get an idea and want to run with it and because I'm so enthusiastic to start with I burn out and get bored of it quickly. Much like a small child, lol.

I am a grown woman-honest! x

x

Plum_Pie · 2 January 2009 at 12:40AM

I'm exactly like that with house work. One of my resolutions for 2009 is to work out how to have a fairly tidy home 90% of the time, instead of a pigsty 90% of the time and a perfect home 10% of the time which is what I have now...!

bullet_2 · 2 January 2009 at 12:57AM

I pay using cash most of the time (sometimes I forget and use my debit card though).
I stick to my shopping list as well, either mental or in my head.
I don't do online shopping, but this is the opposite for a lot of people. Basically, mainly because of my Aspergers, supermarkets are very overwhelming to me and I can't take a lot in of what's going on around me. However, this works in my favour in terms of budgeting. Because all I can do is focus on my list and what I need to buy I don't register very well the special offers and bogofs and smells etc of things not on my list that the supermarket is tempting me to buy. So usually I'm immune to all the psychological pressure the supermarkets place on me. However, if I online shop all the distractions are gone and I'm far more likely to think "hmm, I'll just click on this or that", so I tend to avoid the online shopping. Plus, shopping in reality means I can see the size and condition of various food items. A lot of people, though, find with themselves that online shopping works for them as they don't then succumb to any of the supermarket's wiles.
I meal plan and I like experimenting with food, using up things and seeing how things will work together. I often have days when I'll cook a batch of things and then freeze them, which works out more cheaply. I have a small obsession with old recipe books and cooking as well and get loads of tips and ideas on cooking using leftover ingredients and cooking from scratch from them.

[Deleted User] · 2 January 2009 at 2:44AM

try to see what you can make with anything left in the fridge before you buy something else I have been 'shopping' from my cupboards and freezer for almost three months and still have loads of stuff. Its suprising what you can make out of almost anything.
Good luck ,remember baby steps at first before giant strides
Cheers JackieO x

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Self-Discipline(SP?)

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free