What changes have you made to become OS?

katglasgow

I have probably been brought up fairly old style by my parents. My mum taught me how to cook and likes to make most things from scratch.
This site has inspired me to "finese" some of the things I was such a meal planning and separating money into different wallets and only taking cash to supermarket.
Probably the biggest changes I have made have been buying a slow cooker last month (love it!) and I am planning to grow some of my own veggies this year!
I feel quite inspired by my little visits to this site!
Karyn

Asiacat

Complete the sentence for yourself.

What did you do in your spendthrift days that would horrify you now?


I'll start:-

I used to buy every book that took my fancy in a bookstore, now I simply write the titles and authors in a notebook and then read every review of the book on amazon.com before deciding whether to go back to buy them.

I used to buy a nearly new car every three years and probably spent about 4k a year on motoring related expenses, but now I ride a Yamaha nouvo moped and hire a car only when I absolutely need to.

I used to go to the local shopping centre every Saturday for my weekly dose of retail therapy but now I haven't set foot in a mall for over a year.

What are your used to/now behaviours?

Vaila

cant think of anything
ive always been mse, im actually quite shocked at reading how spendthrift people were or things that they consider to be old style, which ive considered to be just common sense

flutterbyuk25

Asiacat wrote: »

I used to buy every book that took my fancy in a bookstore, now I simply write the titles and authors in a notebook and then read every review of the book on amazon.com before deciding whether to go back to buy them.

I used to be like you re books, but now I note down the title and order them from the local library, totally free and not taking up space in my flat

x

valk_scot

My idea of being a spendthrift was a single impulse buy of a pair of shoes or T-shirt that I didn't actually need, iyswim? I don't think I ever went in for multiple impulse purchases or "retail therapy". Nice if you had the income to support it though! I don't actually think there's anything wrong with what you describe as long as you can afford it though. It's when you're piling up the debts at the same time it's a problem.

Last car lasted me 11 years btw, from buying it at 6 months old to when a numpty drove into it and turned it into a wreck that was uneconomic to repair. It's definately the cheapest way to own a car, if it's a reliable make that's not prone to mechanical problems.

Gigervamp

I've never been in the position to be spendthrift, however, I did used to buy more processed food such as pasta sauces, jam, cakes and biscuits etc, which I now make mostly.

fletch3163

I used to.....

spend treble figures each week on "bargains" at the supermarket

Now I...........

go to Lidl on a Sunday and buy only what I need. I've analysed why Lidl stops me overspending and it's because it doesn't "distract" me with offers. Simples!!

I used to ........

Waste a ton of money on what I would now term as "lifestyle" things (Lush, Waterstones, Farmers Markets, Yankee Candles, specific wines, cigarettes.........)

Now I......................

DON'T

Ladyhawk

I too used to go shopping when I was bored... I've put a stop to that.

I have also stopped buying books - I either borrow from friends or from the library.

I used to think the YS items weren't worth buying... how wrong I was!

I used to walk on by charity shops - now I pop in to see if there are any good bargains

there are many more things that I could admit to, even though I have always been a bit money savvy.

The only problem now it trying to not be too smug about all of this money saving. I suppose it is a little like finding a new religion ir having a baby - you want to tell everyone what is missing from their lives (but noone else wants to hear it!)

Tulip09

I used to think that it was acceptable to buy a £200 pair of shoes you really wanted even if they didn't have your size!! (They were nice to look at occasionally and i maybe would wear them on a really thin day:p)

I used to think it was ok to buy your child the shoes in every colour as she couldn't decide which were her faves

I used to eat takeaways/meals out every night and the cooker had plastic on it for 3 years as i wanted to keep it clean and i never bothered to learn to cook anyway.

I used to think that people who used coupons must be extremely poor or mean.

I used to think nothing of giving the big issue guy a £20 tip :eek:

raphanius

i used to throw away pefectly good leftovers - for example i would cook a whole chicken and we would only eat the breast and perhaps one leg
now i use every bit of a chicken and do the same with ham hocks.

i used to throw away food just because of a date on the pack.
now i understand the difference between use by, sell by and best before dates and use my common sense to check food.

i used to do the weekly food shop on a credit card and i never cleared the balance each month.
now i use cash to buy everything, i use a prepaid credit card online so i know exactly what charges i am paying.

i used to buy a different cleaning product for each job around the home.
now i just use bleach, stardrops, washing up liquid and vinegar.

i too used to buy paperback fiction books on a whim, recently i sold several on amazon i hadn't even read.
now if i want to read somthing new i enter competitions to win books.

i used to buy xmas cards, tags and wrap before xmas - full price.
now i buy them in the january sales. by next xmas i will have forgotten the patterns i chose and will get a nice suprise when i rediscover my bargains.

i used to buy online without going via a cashback site
now i always check with quidco, nectar etc for cashback or points. i get £100 a year in cashback doing this.

i used to buy everyones xmas pressies full price in december.
now i buy gifts through the year and use the grabbit board on here and pay a fraction of the rrp so xmas i no longer the financial strain it once was.