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

save-a-holic

LJM wrote: »

go through your cupboards write a list of everything you hav in them also fridge and freezer then sit and make a list of meals with what you have meal plan in advance

I started doing this at the beginning of the year and still haven't done a full shop yet - we had 2 freezers full of food and all of the cupbards full of food. This year to date I have spent less than £100 on food.

For me, the thing that works best is the challenges as it gives me something to work towards. I do the No Spend Day challenge - at the beginning of the month you say how many days you are NOT going to spend and then aim for that. Last month I set my challenge at 15 and managed to reach 23. There were a few days that I was tempted to spend but I knew that I would lose a NSD so that encouraged me not to.

The Grocery Challenge might also be a good one for you as you set yourself a limit of how much you will spend in the month and then stick to it. In the last week of Jan I only had £15 left of my grocery challenge money and managed to do that week's shop for £14.64 (I'd have spent a lot more than that without the challenge).

I would highly recommend the challenges as (for me) they make it fun and give you goals to aim for with a great feeling of success when you do - little wins all the way.

I do the following (but there are many more):
Grocery Challenge
Storecupboard Challenge
No Spend Day Challenge (NSD)
Live on £4000 for the year (but I am living on £7000 for the year as I'm counting ALL outgoings)

Hope this helps!!!

Marie

dom300186

i just thought if i buy in bulk i wont need to buy like washing up liquid like once every two weeks and in the long run will save me money, like wise for washing powder but i have since realised that looking on the washing up box their measurments are toomuch for what i actually need and i can stillget the clothes cleaned just using a tbsp of powder which will slow the usage of me using so much powder.
im just thinking of as many things as i can to bring my costs down.

dom300186

i have decided also this year i am making gifts my self for peoples birthdays, so far the adults who had january birthdays i made them a chocolate cake, the kids i will buy for.
at christmas i made sugar scrubs and soaps for the adults and they absoloutly loved them.
my aunt who just had a baby i am making her a gift in a mug with different sachets of hot chocolates and treats in a mug then wrapping nicely which i know she will love.
so this should help in the long run as well.

dom300186

just found this on home made hand soap, i posted this to see if this helps anyone else in cutting some corners

Moisturizing Liquid Hand Soap


Ingredients

• One bar of your favorite soap
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil or glycerin
• Some cold water

Instructions

1. Grate your soap with a kitchen grater and place the shavings into a blender. Alternatively, chop the soap into little pieces.
2. Bring the water to a boil and add it to the grated soap in the blender. Let this sit overnight.
3. Set the blender to its "whip" setting, blending the soap and water. Add the honey. Add the olive oil or glycerin and blend the mixture again.
4. Add some cold water until you get the consistency that you want. Blend the mixture one final time.
5. Pour the mixture in a soap dispenser.
6. Shake the dispenser each time before using it.

Herbal Liquid Soap


Ingredients

• 1½ cups water
• 1 heaping tablespoon dried herbs*
• 2 tablespoon vegetable glycerin
• 1 bar soap, grated
• 1 cup boiled water
• Essential oil (Optional)

Instructions

1. Bring the water to a boil.
2. Place the dried herb or herbs into a mug and cover with half a cup of the boiled water. Cover the mug and let the herbs infuse for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, stir the grated soap into the remaining cup of water until it is completely dissolved. Stir in the vegetable glycerin.
4. Strain the infused liquid and stir it into the grated soap mixture.
5. Add a few drops of essential oil (optional).
6. Let cool uncovered and pour into a soap dispenser.

Iris_Blue

Dom you asked for help re spending and said you was willing to do anything to cut costs BUT spending is all that you are still considering doing and all that you have mentioned doing since your first post.

Bulk buying is great, I do it myself but you need to ask yourself "Is it just another excuse to spend?
Do you need to plan to bulk buy so much? With 3 in your household I'd say no, whereas here , with a household of 8 I NEED to bulk buy and I have a budget to enable me to do so.

Save your money , don't even think of making soap, get a shopping budget on track and reign in your spending. I'm sorry if I sound blunt but you asked for help with spending not advise on spending more.

I think the issue here is yourself , buying things no matter what it is.

quintwins

i bulk buy but only when makro do offers as i find with added vat alot of these places are acually dearer than when you buy things on offer in supermarkets ect, so i get my washing liquid and dishwasher tablets when there on bogof (usually before xmas) it means these only cost me about £30 for the whole year, you need to make sure it's not a false economy

with regards to soup, i buy value baby bath at 11p and fill up my soap despenser with that it smells lovely aswell and lasts about a month and thats with 2 toddlers who do 20 trips to the toilet aday so lots of handwashing

i completely know where your coming from with regards to spending when i was first pregnant and for the first year we were completely skint so then when things leveled out i spent every spare penny, then i got pregnant again and was even worse to the point where we were panicing leading up to rent day, what i've found has really helped me is a goal, i'm saving for a house i know that my kids will benefit more from thats one day that anything i buy them now, i think you just need some focus

Iris_Blue

I feel guilty for what I've said and hope I haven't offended you. You could have been me years ago.

We are all on this site for a reason , spending mainly. It's a problem for everyone until you realise you cant afford it any more and with redundancy looming now is your time to sort it out.

My "story" is I had £30plus k of debts and I spent spent spent on food, meals out, clothes, ANYTHING I could. It came to a head and hit us with a sledgehammer. It took just under 2 years to pay if off (We was very very lucky to get money from various avenues to go towards the debt ) and we've now paid them off BUT the big thing is it's took YEARS of learning not to spend for a few minutes satisfaction and YEARS of cutting back here and there to get budgets on track and now I have a budget for everything ! (and I stick to it ) . I'm now so tight with money but I don't care.

Spending is an addiction, whether in be on cars, meals, clothes or bulk buying food.

JulieGeorgiana

I went through this phase once... First I left at home my cards... and I gave myself the challenge to go through 1 week and not spend anything not in budget... so I HAD to do the shopping for £x and Petrol for £x!

Just 1 week later I realised I could do it... and tried for a 2nd week....!

But why do you spend? I did it because it made me feel great when I did... the rush... feeling special I had soemthing new... feeling happy I had treated someone...!

Then I felt depressed and mad and angry... why had I done it to myself???

So I would spend to feel better again.

You need to break this cycle and feel good about NOT spending! The rush from not spending is BETTER then the rush from spending... because you know you are doing something about your situation.

I went away to London for a weekend away... we had very little cash (Tesco CC Points paid for the hotel and 2 evening meals) and we wanted to buy things... we wanted to make the most of the weekend away... but we didn't... we stuck to budget, denied ourselves a few things... now 4 months later I remember it as the most amazing weekend... we LOVED it... and we came home with 4p left in the purse and that made us feel so much better about the weekend.

As I said... NOT spending can be a rush in itself.

funkymonkey849

It's really quite easy not to spend once you get out of the habit:

1. Don't go shopping! Sounds obvious, but if you don't go you can't spend money. Do something else on a Saturday.

2. Do your food shopping once a week on the same day. Make a meal plan and a shopping list. Make sure you have enough to last the whole week so you don't have to go again mid week. Bread and milk can be frozen if you're worried they won't last the week.

3. If you decide you really do need something, or have a major attack of the wanties (happens to the best of us :P) you need to think carefully about the purchase. I often wait a week or two, or even a month to decide if I really need it and can afford it. Often you find you didn't really want it that much in the first place!

4. If you need to buy something big that you can't really afford, then something else will have to give. Can you cut back on the weekly shop just a little bit more, or use the car less to try and pay for it? I decided I really wanted a nintendo wii but couldn't justify the extravagent purchase. I bought the wii second hand and have been ebaying my old clothes to pay for it. I've made £60 so far and my target is £100.

5. Don't try and think up new ways to try and cut back like making soaps which often need a big investment at the start. The only way to save money is to cut back and spend less. Once you've been doing it a while you start to realise how little you actually need to get by, and buying something new becomes such a treat when you're not feeling guilty about spending money you can't afford :T

dom300186

i thank you for all of your honest replies, i am glad i gave my partner my bank cards and i told him i cant do it to us anymore spending money when i dont actually need too, i think being frugal at this time and defo in my future is key to not get in trouble again.
i made a spag bol last night so instead of chucking it in the bin ive made chilli out the rest which means hardly any cooking for me tonight.
ive just made some hand wash cause we had non left, which means i dont need to walk to the shop to get any which also means im not tempted to get anything else.
I think last night i thought this has to stop now!! and whilst im off im going to spend my time doing bits round the house to keep me busy which should stop me spending.