Tips and Quick Questions on “How To Start Being Old Style”

Trinny

Hello Nikkei

I am newer than you and i am sure someone wiser than me will be along in a bit to help out - or to link your question to the best place for advice.

This is what helped me.

I did the freezer and storecupboard inventory to work out what i had and then meal planned from there

I also started posting if i had a rogue ingredient like rhubarb/ eggs which needed using up - so i could reduce waste and learn to use up leftovers - there is a great thread for this.

Then i joined grocery challenge and for one month kept all my reciepts - set myself a target and have gradually dropped the monthly spend from there

From there i have taught myself to bake using twinks hobnobs recipe and the banana muffin recipe etc - the recipe mega index is brilliant

Other things to try is to investigate the bigger threads - like sneaky ways to save, preparing for winter etc and save zillions on cleaning products.

Its a gradual thing really - but each thing you do - make it part of the everyday routine and it doesnt seem like any effort.

best wishes

And welcome

Trin

Little_Vics

Hi! My top tip would be to only do things that you enjoy - if you love cooking then cook, if you love sewing then sew, if you love knitting then knit - but don't feel that you have to do everything! You'll never see me with a knitting needle in my hands!

2cats1kid

Depends what "OS" means to you. I think a recent debate showed that it meant different things to different people.

Do you want to reduce shopping bills?
Eat more healthily?
Not buy things you can make for yourself?
Reduce heating bills?
Make sure you have provided for emergencies (by having extra in the house maybe)?
Reduce your carbon footprint?

Probably some or all of the above!

I'd work out what my priority was, as trying to do too much at once will drive you crackers, and within that try to identify two or three things that you can implement quickly and that will make a difference to you.

e.g. if your food shopping bill is your priority you may want to meal plan, use everything up so your money isn't going in the bin, try going down a level from branded to own brand, go to the store to chase up reduced items rather than buy online etc.

Barneysmom

2cats1kid, I read your post too quickly! I thought it said 'have an extra house' :D

Butterfly_Brain

I agree with checking your store cupboards and freezer - then menu planning
Always write a shopping list and keep to it - if possible only take cash when you go shopping, it seems to concentrate the mind more.
Try going to Aldi for their super six fruit and veg deals.
I find getting fruit and veg from the local market is fresher though and does last longer. There is an added bonus if you go just before the market is closing you can pick up some real bargains because the stall holders try to clear their stock (Saturday is the best day for this)
Look out for whoopsies late in the day.
Get yourself a bottle of stardrops for cleaning it is cheap and very good for most cleaning jobs in the house.
Just keep reading the threads on this board and slowly but surely you will be as OS as the rest of us.
Baby steps is the best way to tackle all the information; make a list of what your aims are and tick them off as you go.

Penelope_Penguin

Nikkei wrote: »

What is the best plan of action for a new o/ser?

I'll add this to the thread Edilass mentioned, so that you can see how others new to OS started out

Penny. x

coookiewoookie

How did u all do it ???

For years now i have always bought my children the top clothes , best branded toys , convience/take away food etc ..I have realised the errors of my ways and im trying to cut back on everything , but i feel a bit jittery like im going cold turkey and that im gunna slip up and have a mass blow out and spend loads:o

I have made some positive steps to save money I know my familys xmas presents are sorted already as i went to the next sale and bought fragrance sets ranging from £2 - £5 and i also picked up some for the birthdays , so all i will have to do is buy my childrens xmas presents now .

I have done some menu and im going to try and do a cleaning rota :T hopefully i can stick to it all

How long did it all take u to adapt to these new ways untill it was the staples of daily life / routine ?

T.i.a xxxxxxxxxx

Aril

You can't do it all overnight- just bit by bit so that your family get used to it and praise yourself everytime you make a step forward. Take it slow and steady- find an area that you think you could make changes, set some small achievable goals and go for it. Gradually you'll get used to the different way of doing things and then be ready to try something new. You know where your strengths lie. Don't try and do it all and leave the bits that don't appeal- I for one am not one for gardening [I do what needs to be done but OH grows a few veggies]. I've said on previous threads that I do my own version of shortcut Old Style eg I can't be bothered to make pizza bases but I'm happy to make the topping and garlic bread.
Good luck and keep us posted!
Aril

clutterydrawer

It must be gradual. If you cut out everythign at once you will jsut feel deprived and end up spending even more to make yourself feel better.

Mayeb you could start by keeping a diary of what you spend to identify the areas you want to prioritise. Take them one at a time and keep a track of the progress you've made to encourage you to keep at it

Confuzzled

taking it easy is definitly the preferred option when you have to get the entire family on board and it's NOT being done due to crisis such as losing a job. i've found that when i first started out if i cut back too severely i just felt deprived and was prone to big blow out spends as you mentioned but now after many years of more and more trimming i sometimes look at cutbacks as a fun challenge, yep i said FUN!

if you are goal oriented or slightly competitive you can set yourself completely reachable goals to get the high of making the achievement but you'll probably do more than that because you want to beat your best so far and that makes it fun

if the family members aren't very receptive you'll probably have to do a mixture of just not mentioning certain things to them, putting spin on new ways of doing things and getting them to suck it in for their own good though if this measure is taken i highly recommend giving them a goal to work towards as well that makes the 'sacrafices' worth it for them and they are more likely to help and less likely to sabotage your efforts.

i think with anyone moving from one end of a spectrum back towards another you will have to judge when (and with whom) it's right to dicuss changes and bargains and when just not to mention it but you'll figure that out quickly enough!

even if you only do one little thing each day, something maybe as simple as saving that last portion of peas you might have thrown away so you can sprinkle them in a salad or put them in risotto for the next nights dinner, that is something to be proud of for that day.

as for dealing with 'temptation' you could first try writing down what you've accomplished each day for a few days then read back through it and that can help with your motivation. if that's still not strong enough then allow yourself a mini splurge. me and my ex used to try avoiding going out for dinner but if it had really been tempting us for several days then we would often break down and allow ourselves to spend half the amount we would have spent on a restaurant for any thing we wanted from say lidl or aldi's. we would usually get some nice things with the added bonus of having enough for several meals!

somethnig i used to do was take a trolley, spend time in a shop admiring things, and putting things that i wanted in the trolley, just like a regular trip...except that before i went to the til i would carefully reconsider each item and think things like 'well i can get this next month i don't need it now' or 'it will probably be on sale next week and i don't really need it' or 'i already have something that is similar' etc etc and i would then put back those items i deemed i didn't need.

this gave me a sense of pride that i wasn't wasting my money but i still got the feel good factor of allowing myself (initially) to have it and for me it really worked. now i do this with online shops instead and i find it even easier to resist buying things i don't need, especially if i have to pay for postage!

one thing you need to remember though, sometimes spending the money IS good, if say you can stock up on something you normally use for a fraction of the price. i've got myself trained so now i tend to enjoy these splurges rather than splurging on things i don't need so i get double my 'money' for them in savings and retail therapy :T

i think one trap to try and avoid when cutting back is thinking of spending money as bad. sometimes it's very good. it's what, when and WHY you spend your money that needs to be examined and everyone has different reasons for being OS therefore if you want to squeeze pennies on your groceries all year so you can have a lush holiday in foreign climes well good on you etc etc! once we understand our spending WHY'S we find we can find suitable alternatives to poor habits and eventually it becomes second nature.

wish you the best of luck, i'm sure you'll do better than you think you can