Getting my Old Style mojo back

Hi. It's easy to slip back into bad habits after a spell of belt tightening. You might feel the need to have a treat or two which if you are not careful can lead to many more treats. I have to keep reminding myself that a treat is a once in a while occasion, not an every day thing. I like a Magnum ice cream once in a while, but I only ever have one if I am on a day out, I would never buy a multipack from the supermarket. Last week I bought a portion of chips from a fish and chip shop, this is a treat for me and only happens about 3 or 4 times a year.

When I am shopping I have programmed myself to ignore all the aisles with junk food in them, I just don't go down them. I don't eat out because no one makes good healthy food like I do, at a price I want to pay for it.

Healthy eating is important to me, people offer me rhubarb and goosberries from their garden but I decline because you have to add copious amounts of sugar to it to make it palatable. The same reason I don't bake, most cakes, biscuits, pies etc have sugar in them.

It's very easy to take your eye off the ball, but I incorporate old style into every aspect of my life, the more you do it the easier it becomes. I have given up buying new from shops, if I want something I try and make it, or get it from a car boot sale or charity shop, and as my signature says, I skip dive. People give me things which I love. I have no scruples where second hand is concerned.

Give yourself a talking to now and again, a little reminder, it's easy to forget. Good luck on your journey, you sometimes have to get off the bus now and again, and get on again at the next stop.
Ilona

'Lazy' is not the word I would use, I think that it is just 'easier', when we are busy we just don't have enough time to think. I am now in an opposite position to you as I have stopped working at the weekends (I still do some Home work), but am concentrating on what I believe are the more important things in life. This may be a bit difficult to follow through but I will keep chipping away.

Ilona great advice and just how I would like to be, thank you x

Hello, long time no see!

Amandaatnumber7 here is the old thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5015366

I haven't posted for ages either, had a bit of a crisis and went off most social media, but thankfully I am back, still struggling with trying to be more frugal, but overall doing much better. Good to hear that you are working now and things are better!

Ilona, the other day I bought a multipack of Magnums (pack of 3) in the coop, for myself and the 2 kids I look after, on a special offer for £2. I saw that the individual ones were sold for £1.90 EACH!!! So it might be wise to buy multipacks and have one once in a while. Mind you, I cannot have ice cream in my freezer as I don't have the discipline to leave it alone!

Will we start posting in the old thread again or here? I have also briefly posted in the Not Buying It thread, which is very good!

I seem to have quite a problem managing my food budget these days.......lots of visits from the "children" has meant that I have been buying extra food and gone way over budget, we expect that the twins will be discharged in the next 10 days so the hordes will no doubt descend to see them as only parents and grandparents are allowed into the premie unit.

The point of above ramble is to say that I really need to pull myself up and get organised...hope that we can help each other.

Marie

Caterina wrote: »

Hello, long time no see!

Amandaatnumber7 here is the old thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5015366

Ilona, the other day I bought a multipack of Magnums (pack of 3) in the coop, for myself and the 2 kids I look after, on a special offer for £2. I saw that the individual ones were sold for £1.90 EACH!!! So it might be wise to buy multipacks and have one once in a while. Mind you, I cannot have ice cream in my freezer as I don't have the discipline to leave it alone!

Will we start posting in the old thread again or here? I have also briefly posted in the Not Buying It thread, which is very good!

Hi. Yes, I know a single Magnum makes a bigger hole in my purse than a pack of three, but three in a box would make me more unhealthy because I would pig out on them, then feel sick and guilty. I don't have the discipline either.

I don't do meal planning or have a shopping list, the way I keep my food costs down is to make my meals with whatever I can get on yellow stickers, with a few items from the discount stores. I am flexible with my eating, don't eat meat, and am happy to eat the same meals three or four days running. I eat to live not live to eat.

I had a look at the Not Buying thread, a good idea. I agree with only buying what you need, not what you want. For me, if a thread goes on a long time I feel less inclined to join in, because it becomes cliquey and I don't have time to post regularly. I already post on my blog every day, that takes up a lot of time, so I dip in and out of here when I feel I can contribute something. Although I am retired I am still very busy, living within my means can sometimes take a lot of effort.

I take the point of people who work may not have the time to shop around, but if you get a little bit organised, thinking about what you really need, and the cheapest place to get it, it can be worth the effort. For instance, I very rarely buy food out, I take a pack up from home, whatever I am doing. I batch cook stews and curries and freeze them for the days when I can't be bothered to make a meal. It's the little things that make a difference, like not buying a coffee in a cardboard cup and taking a flask, or making up a dilute cold drink in a bottle and not grabbing a bottle of fizzy pop, and making a sandwich and not buying a bag of crisps. It might not seem like much when you hand a couple if quid over the counter, but five days a week, 50 odd weeks of the year, and it mounts up. Sorry I have rambled on a bit, that's what I do, ha ha.
Ilona