Not Buying It- A Consumer Holiday 2016

I keep the back of an old xmas card as a shopping list, and keep it right by the kettle in the kitchen,as I either run out, or run short of stuff, I stick it on my list.

Once I have around 10 things listed then I open my food budget purse and go shopping. the 'pop-in for 1 or 2 things is a quickway to splash the cash.

So far this month I have only two things listed so I won't be buying anything this side of the week-end :):)

Morning shipmates

I am still on board and yesterday I realised how I had changed.
We found out we are due back a large VAT refund :T About time is all I can say but not counting chickens etc etc until it lands in Bank Account. But before my change of buying habits I would have been thinking what can I buy how can I spend it and what do I want

This morning what am I doing yep you guessed it having a look around at the best savings accounts :rotfl:So I can stash it away


Mav x

I decided to do an inventory of my cupboards. Considering that I've been following this thread for a few months and trying to use up our supplies I still have a mountain of stuff in the cupboards and freezer. If the zombie apocalypse should ever happen I have enough food and drink to keep us all going for a very long time.

Unfortunately I have no plans to become a prepper for the apocalypse and worse than that I've discovered that having too much stuff actually makes you less efficient. Most of the time I cook from the fridge and that means the tins and packets and the contents of the freezer aren't used because quite frankly there's that much in there I simply can't see the wood for the trees. I often end up buying the same thing two or three times because I've completely forgotten that I have it. I now know that I have seven bags of frozen peas and seventeen tins of tomato!
So from now on I'm going to menu plan to use up the food mountain. That will hopefully stop me stocking up food in multiples. Pretty much everything in my cupboards was a bargain or a BOGOF but it has to stop.

I've written down a list of dinner ideas using up my supplies that won't mean I have to buy any extra ingredients. I know that for many on here this is all second nature and whilst we don't spend excessively compared to many there is no need to have so much in long store.

I think I've found it difficult to adjust to having just the two of us at home and I'm still shopping for big family meals. I'm somewhat ashamed because I like to think of myself as thrifty but I need to tackle the issue I have with overstocking my cupboards.
We're going to a monthly, shared family meal tonight and I've made a dinner and dessert using cupboard stuff. Normally I'd stop off at the shops on the way to pick up something for the table. I am just going to have to accept that although my food never looks as fancy as the stuff you buy in the shops it is just as tasty and far cheaper!

Hello All

Lyn, I agree re needing some BS spotting techniques taught at GCSE level (nearly wrote this in my last post but realised I had already droned on for long enough!) - not just re the ads, but re newspaper headlines, politicians etc too. The problem is, because everything these days is done in a 140 characters or less twitter/instagram style, people aren't always willing/able to read more deeply and get the full facts, they just get the headline which is often misleading. There was a series of headlines a while ago along the lines of having less sleep causes strokes, all very scaremongering. In fact when you read the articles, they admitted that while a correlation had been found, they had not found a causative link, and it was entirely possible that in fact it was the other way round. This is why everyone is so confused about how to manage their health, which is even more important than managing your money!

anyway. I'm loving the strategies for not buying too many groceries. Now I'm not doing a big monthly shop, I don't use a trolley when I go, I use a basket. I always forget to take my bags in (and refuse to pay for more), so I'm then forced to be really careful about what I buy as I know that I'll have to leave the basket at the checkout and carry it all to the car by hand. It's better for the arms too, carrying a basket.

Just a small NBI day today - had another using-up-leave day off, this time with DH, so we decided to treat ourselves to lunch - walked to a local cafe in the village (supporting local business and all that), and had had a main course only - although DH hasn't quite got the hang of NBI and ordered two sides which we didn't need. I was offered the option of pudding (which I would normally hoover straight up), but said no, and we went for a walk instead. Am hoping all this NBI will be good for my health too as buying nice sweet treats is my main vice!

butterfly2507 isn't it great when you get a little bonus of 'road-kill' i.e. cash found on the road I have a tin in the kitchen that I put odd coins in and every year we use it on holiday for my DGS ice-creams The boys also join in and often when they come home from school I come home with 5ps and coppers that they have found.one year I had almost £80 odd in the tin.One of my DGS Henry has hawkeyes and is always looking out for pennies for the holiday tin :):)
Good Idea too about 'fining yourselves' Anything that makes you focuss on where your cash goes to is good .So far this month I haven't been near to a food shop so my food purse is intact with my £60.00 budget for February.I thought I will hang on until next Wednesday when the Lidls offers finish, and go then I still have enough fruit and veg to last out until then.
Cleaning and baking is on the menu this morning as I want the house to look a bit shinier tomorrow as both of my DDs and some of the grandchildren are visiting as its my birthday. So JackieO's Towers must look smart and shiny for once :):),plus I really want to get a start on spring cleaning.Because I don't go to the shops so often, it means I have more time indoors to catch-up on things.
This afternoon it will be feet up and a bit of knitting and I may start to watch the War and Peace thing that I have recorded on my TiVo box as its the last episode tomorrow night

Hope you all have a good NBI day and hang on to your ha'pennys :):)