Changes you've made in 2009?

Patchwork_Quilt

So far we have

Started using vinegar as a softener
Used the washing machine on 30 only
Started keeping receipts
Stopped eating out as much
Stopped buying clothes by about 75%
Started and stopped meal planning - but I'm much better at using up left overs
Been conscientious about making packed lunches
Used money saving tokens
Taken things back to the shops if they are not needed

and we have a new garden, most of which I am planning to dig up for veggies.

S_Wales_Saver

purpleivy wrote: »

What's the £100 crazy clothes challenge (and does it include handbags and shoes - she cackles hysterically !)???

Hi Purple Ivy Yes you can still buy shoes and handbags (and underwear, tights etc) The challenge, posed by Lula-Hula who keeps us all in order, is to spend less than £100 on clothes in 2009. Some silly souls , like me, have decided to try for a no spend :eek: . Don't know how to link, but it's in the Debt free wannabe board if you fancy joining us.

In 2009 I've:

1) Got into meal planning properly.
2) Taken lunch from home EVERY day.
3) Begun to shop at more supermarkets, not fewer, to take advantage of offers, low prices etc.
4) Made more use of Lidl and especially Aldi.
5) Used slow cooker more (and thought about the BM-I'll get there...Promise)
6) Thrown nothing out. Leftovers used for another meal, taken for lunch or frozen to be added when appropriate. Even bread crusts are dried when the oven is on to be given to the furbabies instead of dog biscuits.

Great to see some of the other ideas on this thread.

juliapenguin

What a great thread!

I have

* Tried to walk whenever possible instead of using the car
* Tried to use up everything in the way of toiletries/cleaning stuff/store cupboard ingredients before I think about buying new
* Made lots and lots of new recipes, including things I don't think I'll like, like things with cooked spinach in (and I love it now)
* Given up sugar and started eating lots of fruit and nuts instead (for health reasons more than moneysaving - but I've realised how much of my money went to Cadburys/Mars/Thornton/Green and Black...)
* Experimented with lots of vegan food, as I'm increasingly unhappy about the way we farm animals, but free range/organic meat is too expensive for everyday
* Spent far too long on this forum...

Julia x

tigerlily

So far this year I have.....
*Put a compost bin next to my normal bin so everything that can go in the composter does then gives me free compost.
*Bought 3 chickens, they only arrived last Saturday so I am still looking forward to the eggs!!
*Started a veg patch last year with some success, am growing some fruit aswell this year.
*I am getting clothes mended when they need it rather than putting them in the back of the cupboard then throwing them out 6 months later.
*I am running the cupboards down at the moment, it got to the point where the cupboards and freezer were jam packed full but there was still nothing to eat if that makes sense!!
*Bulk buying good deals on household things, like the big box of washing tablets in Tescos for £1.80 a few weeks ago.....I bought 5. lol

Olliebeak

I don't meal plan as such, but I do have a mental list of what's in the freezer/fridge and what we're going to eat each day. Need to get better at remembering to take stuff out of the freezer though - should have a memo board on fridge/freezer door:rolleyes:!

Making chicken stock from carcasses (stored in freezer till I've got 3 in a large bag) for using in soups etc. Also using veggie peelings to make veg stock.

Splitting packs of raw meat into sensible size amounts before freezing - i.e. 4ozs of raw meat per person (2 of us here, so freezing in 8ozs amounts).

Remembering to soak dried beans/pulses overnight where possible to make meat meals stretch to left-overs for topping jacket potatoes for extra freebie meals .

I make the majority of my own clothes (have done for years though) - only need to buy shoes and underwear and the occasional top for work.

Always cook from scratch (unless it's a really good whoopsie that we can use) and have recently started baking again.

Always check out the whoopsies, buy what I know we will eat and freeze them for future use; make sure that I keep long-life AND dried milk in the cupboard so that I don't have to shop for just a pint of milk - which CAN lead to spending £30 on absolutely nothing :mad:.

Check on BOGOF's and '3for2's that I know we'll use and stocking up when I see them.

Planning winter knitting throughout the summer months, so that I've got things ready for the dgk's ahead of Christmas. Knitting baby items for presents for any new-borns instead of wasting money on 'yet another' teddy bear/soft toy.

Need to get my family to agree to a sensible price limit on Christmas presents for adults so that we can all concentrate on buying for young children instead. Have stopped buying for over-18's nieces now - but I do put a £5 Lottery Ticket inside their christmas cards - you never know ......... (just hope they remember who bought the ticket IF it comes up trumps !)

Planning ahead for our holidays so that we can comfortably get it paid for well in advance and pre-booking trips etc so it doesn't all come out of our spending money while we're away! As we stay self-catering in a caravan, planning to put some money on supermarket shopping vouchers so grocery spending has a head start as well :j.

Have taken a better grip on the gas/electric usage.

Only use washing machine 2 -3 times a week - 1 load pales, 1 load darks and 1 load dishcloths/towels/teatowels (unless bedding is due to be washed) and keep to drying outdoors/on airers/radiator rails.

Checking charity shops all year for any new items that may be useful for Christmas/Birthday presents etc - already have quite a good stash in my wardrobe .

Keeping out of 'posh coffee places' (ie Costa/Starbucks/Cafe Nero) and using supermarket cafeteria instead - or my favourite charity shop which does delicious fresh coffee!

bellaquidsin

What a good thread, but I think I have come in a bit late as most of my ideas have already been covered. But at the risk or boring you all I have -

Revisited my dressmaking skills and started making my own clothes.

Resisted buying new clothes and am having great fun scouring my wardrobe, it's really interested to fird that different combinations work which I would never have thought about before.

Stepped up the knitting from my accumulated stash, so that there is a steady supply of cardigans etc.

Like Olliebeak, I'm knitting for pressies for new babies - no more silly spends.

Bought birthday pressies for coming months in January sales.

Waged war on waste and made LOTS of soup.

Used the Remoska more than ever.

Stretched meat almost beyond recognition, but not quite, no-ones noticed yet.

Included a couple of meatless meals in our weekly menus, vegetable frittatta and tuna rissotto being favourites.

Used more blankets, wraps, shawls and throws and less gas/leccy.

Started growing veggies and salad.

Think I should stop now, enough to say I have become a regular scrouge.

Bella.

cheerfulness4

We now:

* save all our survey/reward vouchers for replacing broken appliances or things needed for the home rather than waste on dvds as before.

* recycle most plastic pots, bottles for the veg garden (milk bottles cut down to make great seed labels )

* declared 2009 a 'use it up, wear it out' year and am using up everything that has been lurking for months (foodwise, clothes, pencils/pens, toiletries, make-up) Thats been fun!

* Scoured the net and booked/paid in full for a week in Wales (£85! ) Won't be the ritz but good reviews and I won't do that 'book it now, worry about the balance later' trick I've been doing for years. :rolleyes:

* Finally, stopped feeling guilty that my kids haven't got as much as some. Realised I didn't have half what other kids had either when I was growing up but it didn't bother me, I was always happy.

savingforoz

Let's see , what have I done:

1. Bought a breadmaker and yoghurt maker and now enjoy delicious homemade bread and yoghurt.
2. Started buying frozen veg instead of fresh, saving more money.
3. Continued menu planning, with a new emphasis on thinking how far I can stretch food. For example, previously I would use a whole carton of silken tofu for scrambled tofu, and get two breakfasts out of it. Found a recipe for tofu loaf/terrine and now that same carton stretches round 5-6 main meals, and it's delicious too.
4. I'm cooking everything from scratch, and reducing eating out - I started noticing how very salty a lot of restaurant food is, and often felt that I could cook better at home.
5. A strict "no waste" policy with food/leftovers.
6. Made more effort to shop where the prices are best - I find a combination of Sainsburys/Morrisons works best for me.

The above has meant that this month I'll have spent just £50 on groceries/toiletries/cleaning stuff, and I'm eating better than ever. I would not have thought that possible at one stage! So rock on OS! :T

puss14

Use all food up
Grow more in my garden
OH cuts my hair
Make pizza

Austin_Allegro

Main changes this year:

Zero clothes budget. Actually have only just broken that rule, my cycling trousers went at the seat and my amateurish efforts in patching them looked ridiculous, so I got a pair of cheap jeans to replace them. (Fine for short journeys)

Growing own vegetables and encouraging a 'foraging area' at the bottom of the garden (ie, not bothering to cut back the brambles and nettles!)

Only drinking home made wine. This one has been a little TOO successful as it's a great temptation to drink too much when you have 5-6 bottles of wine on the go that cost 20p to make!