How long did it take you...

[Deleted User]

Can't remember being anything else being a war time baby meant that there was always shortages so improvisation became second nature .I still have the same thing my late Mum had which was a little book to write down all you need from the shops and STICK to it.My DD's are the same .Everytime I buy something I look at it first and think
do I need it
can I do without it
If the answer is no & yes then it goes back on the shelf. I have become even more frugal in the past few months by being on the GC challenge .It really helps to focus your mind on what you are spending. So far I only overspent slightly in November but 'borrowed' it from my December food purse and I'm back on track again.
On college days or nights I always take a drink from home as it used to be 75p for a cup of plastic-tasting tea from the machine. Tonight I am off to college and I will make a small flask of coffee to warm me up whilst there.
Every bit of edible food gets used in my house and streeetched to snapping point.But then I am saving hard for next years holiday.
Tomorrow I am going out for Christmas lunch with my craft class but the cost has come from my 'Happy cash' fund so a NSD from my 'food fund'By the time we get home I won't be needing dinner tomorrow night either as hopefully I shall be full up. Cuppa tea and a biscuit will do me

moanymoany

A question that made me think clutterydrawers. I started being really OS to raise an extra £500 a month. The money was taken out of the account, so it just wasn't there to 'fall back' on. It was hard work to think out new meals and replacing/cutting out all the bits and pieces we used to buy.

It was when we started being amazed at how much we 'used to spend' that I consider the transition had been made. This took about four months. I then learned about and read the Tightwad Gazette books which took me to a whole new height of money saving. Every time I read it I see another way to tweak the OS skills.

I can only make a few changes at once. The start was the biggest shock when I had to make a lot of changes at once, it seemed to take a lot of effort. The incentive was a big one and paid off. That £500 was saved every month and seeing the figure build up was exciting.

So, it took me about four months before I instinctively turned to an alternative OS way to do something.

mudgekin

I think over the past year I have definately become much more OS. I am doing a lot more cooking from scratch and I have certainly cut my grocery bill from around the £90 pw mark to around £50. Still room for improvement there though.

DH is my biggest challenge. He leaves the house looking like Blackpool illuminations so my electric bill is still high despite switching to energy saving bulbs. My gas bill is also on the high side as my hearing is pretty much on all of the day as I have my elderly mother staying with me and she never has any concept of whether she is cold or not. Last winter I came home from work and she was icy cold and when I said to her she told me that she didn't know she was cold so I now err on the safe side just to make sure she is ok.

mumoffour77

I try quite hard to moneysave!!!
I also have difficulties......but isnt that what life is? A learning curve to help us overcome difficulties? they could be debt, disability, parenting and saving? I love reading about other peoples achievments here....it makes me think and gives me hope!!

juliapenguin

I realised on Saturday how far DH and I have come on this OS journey when we walked past Woolworths (with our shopping trolley on the way to the market!!!) and noticed the 'up to 50% off everything' signs. We both agreed that as there is nothing in the world we need which Woolworths sells, there was no point in even looking... To have got to the point where I genuinely feel like I have enough and am content is a miracle!

But, I think my point is that it's a JOURNEY. You don't wake up one day and become unmaterialistic/free from the urge to spend. I'm 44 and was not at all good with money until my divorce at 30 - I learnt the hard way and it took a long while for the spendiness to disappear!

Leopardlady

I am on the journey that is OS, and it is all down to this thread. Well i have always had a pretty good understanding of things like home cooking, but i did spend more than i should have. Now partly due to necessity I have moved towards a more OS lifestyle and OH is more than happy to join in.
We have taken to buying own brand stuff saying that we will try it and if it is ok, we will stick with it, but otherwise we will have to change when it is finished. This way we usually end up sticking with the own brand stuff and not reverting to the more expensive branded goods.
With sales i have got much better at looking in a sale, but only for things we need, not just getting stuff because it is a bargain, although this is what my mother is very good at, so it can be quite difficult when talking to her!
Well i love this thread and this whole site as it has given me the support to try new ways of moneysaving and i do believe it is a journey, and a long one at that, but at every stage there is something exciting and new to learn. Enjoy

purpleivy

Went into Woollies on Fri as friend wanted a look, but we both decided there was nothing that we wanted so much that we were prepared to queue right to the back of the shop! So we went home!

I guess if you live in Cheshire JuliaPenguin the stock may well be similar - you didn't miss anything at all!

I didn't seee anything at 50% off , some was 10% the rest I saw was 20% off.

gailey_2

For us its gradual as I gave up work in july bills and petrol had risen and food prices seemed to shoot up so had to be more frugal and less impulsive.
so far we now

buy more own brands
activly seek multibuys
even hubby now looks at reduced he used to make fun of me before
i bake my own bread
do ost of my meals from scratch however want to go further by stopping buying sauces and always making my own pasta/curry sauces.
just started baking mainly packet mixes and twinx hobnobs yum want to start
baking from scratch so we dont need to buy biscuits and cakes @shop and even try making a savoury pie.
Trying to eat less meat much to dissapointmnet of oh and substitutes
cut back on soft drinks like pop
cut back on alchol although we never been big drinkers and rarly go out..

not always have heating on and wear more layers
turn lights off
switched to energy efficent bulbs
grow our own veg.

Clothes shop in sales,outlet village,ebay,carboots and charity shops
made real savings with toys and books
brought tent in asda sale but not yet used as summer was dreadful but cheap hols next year!

russetred

juliapenguin you are soo right! We met friends of ours heading to woolies just for the sale and I asked them if you thought it was sh1te they were selling before what difference does it make now its cheaper its still sh1te.That really caught them off guard.

Esor

Bah, just wrote a fairly long post for this thread and it has dissappeared!

Basically, started cooking from scratch recently (having always been a disaster in the kitchen before) and it's going really well thanks to this board and all of your support.

Did hit Woolies sale, got some christmas chocs and some baking trays really cheap.

There was more but about to go in the bath so might come back and add the rest later!