Living On A Shoestring

moneysavermum_2

JackieO wrote: »

Yes, I agree with a lot that's been said already. I try not to go near any shops ,in fact if I turn right outside my house, and go for a short walk, I reach the local library (free books) and the park, not a shop in sight.
I live three minutes away from a shopping precinct, and if I turn left, then I end up spending cash on stuff I don't need.
Go onto the grocery challenge and see what tips you can pick up from folk like myself, who has lopped £20 a week off my food bill over the past couple of months by sticking to a set amount every week. there is lots of support there and we always welcome 'newbies'
I also do crafting and knit and make cakes for my tribe of grandkids .
There are two charity shops in my local shopping centre, plus a second-hand bookshop,very tempting, as I am a total 'book nut'.I daren't go into it or I know for sure that I would probably buy something .
I once years ago worked for a guy who had made a lot of money out of his various buisness's He always insisted that all of his employees made a 'to-do' list last thing at night for the morning.So when you started in the morning you had a list of jobs to work through no matter what else you did.
I still have a list by the kettle that I add to daily .Some days I don't get everything done ,but most days I do.No matter how daft it seems it does work, and does take your mind of off just 'wandering around to the shops'

Tomorrow I have on my list of 'to-do's'

make a chocolate cake (should have done today but DD and tribe of said grandkids arrived unexpectedly)

some ironing,

chop up five onions to freeze before they start to grow

Bag up some junk to go to the tip on Monday

Peel and mash some potato's to freeze when cold

Hopefully that will be done by lunchtime when my eldest DD will come for coffee.In the afternoon I shall put my feet up and finish off one of my charity blankets that I am knitting, and at around 3.30-4.p.m. I shall take myself off to see my grandkids and help the younger ones with their homework before having dinner there at around 6.00
Back home by 9.00 in time to watch Doc Martin then probably off to bed to have a read.I try to make sure I have things to do to take my mind of needlessly shopping. Not very exciting I know, but it does cut back on wasting money.

Thankyou...life isnt exciting but at least you have your priorities right.....family is always first to me. I desperately dont want to get into debt and having overspent on bargains already need to turn it around. I thank you for your post i will try religiously to follow it. Not baked for ages!! and forgotten how to knit.:A

tori.k

when we first started cutting back i kept myself out of the shops by decluttering the house and ebaying the mountains of books and clothes (well im gotta face it im never going back to a size 8 thanks to this lot and their cheap puddings ) ive spent the last couple weeks sorting the loft so we can top the lagging up, the freebee board is great i havent brought any make up this year, craft projects as other have said are great time killers, i just made the dog a new bed cost me £2.65 rather than £15...happy days

freakyogre

JackieO wrote: »

I still have a list by the kettle that I add to daily .Some days I don't get everything done ,but most days I do.No matter how daft it seems it does work, and does take your mind of off just 'wandering around to the shops'

I like that idea as i'm a list person. I will put off little jobs for ages although they're always at the back of my mind, but if I had a list to tick off I think i'd do them as would feel like i'd actually acheived something!

Mrs_Thrify

Hi everyone, I have to go into town today for an appointment so thinking how I can multi task. Writing a shopping list and menu planning for the week.This is after looking in the freezer/cupboard to see what I have.
I plan to visit the libary to see if they have a book I was recomended to read - saves on buying it. Just wondering if I could take anything into a charity shop like old books/DVD'S.Will have a look around the house later as they only collect dust when everyone has read/seen them.

foxgloves

We've recently started keeping the housekeeping budget in cash in a separate purse. It concentrates your mind wonderfully against buying unnecessary bargains (nothing is a bargain if you don't really need it or it leads to you spending more than you can afford). We set a budget for groceries/household stuff a long time ago but because we always paid by card, we never really picked up when we were going over. Now we're sticking to the budget much better, even though we've actually lopped a bit more off it, because as soon as we've been paid, the cash goes in this separate purse and you can't help but be aware when you see a 'bargain' that buying it will leave insufficient funds for next week's shop. I agree with all the people who suggest keeping busy to stop going out spending. I do lots of crafts (you get the added advantage of being able to make presents for people - my friends have got funky handknitted socks for this Christmas) Also, try to keep in mind a dream purchase you would one day love to own....doesn't matter what it is.....and when you are in the shops thinking 2 or 3 little bits & pieces don't cost much, multiply it by how many times you'll probably do this over the next 5 years and you start to see how a spending habit ultimately just gets in the way of your dreams. I used to love spending but I can't tell you how much happier I am now that I feel in control. I try not to think about the huge amounts of money I used to waste before I saw the light! And it was doubly silly beecause I haven't just suddenly acquired housekeeping, cooking from scratch, make do and mend & gardening skills, I've had them all my adult life, just not really chosen to use them properly until more recently! But we can't dwell on feeling bad, we live in a capitalist system, the idea of which is to try & get us to spend as much as possible whether we have the money or not. Now, my pleasure comes from beating the system!!

*Chattie*

Eat chocolate.

[Deleted User]

Hi Foxglove where did you find the pattern for funky bedsocks as I might make some for DGD's to put into their Christmas bags. Both are 16 and far too old for toys anymore so am doing two seperate bags with lots of small gifts in make up,adress book, pen,hair shampoo ect

foxgloves

Hi JackieO, Hey my socks are too funky for bedsocks, they are socks for every day They are knitted in that German sockwool you can get called 'Regia'. The pattern must have come from a Regia website or something? I'm not sure as my friend photocopied & gave it to me. She got it to knits socks for her student nephews. The sock wool self-patterns. In our woolshop, it costs £6-99 for 2 balls but I did manage to find some on ebay. A woman, I think up in Manchester somewhere who has an ebay shop and I don't know if they were discontinued lines, or what, but I got 4 balls (to knit a mosaic pair and a stripey pair) for about £4 a pair. It's mostly wool but also has something strong in it that makes the socks hardwearing. It's guaranteed for 10 years! Not often you hear that with socks! Actually, I don't mind the £6.99 at our local shop as you'd never get a pair of handcrafted woollen socks for this at a craft show, so I think it makes a reasonably priced present with a bit of a personal touch. Currently making a pair in all different blues for partner as we like walking. Expect this will be moved to the knitting thread as I don't want to hijack this one! P.S Opal sockwool also lovely. Some of it knits up like fairisle.

septemberblues

JackieO wrote: »

Tomorrow I have on my list of 'to-do's'

make a chocolate cake (should have done today but DD and tribe of said grandkids arrived unexpectedly)

some ironing,

chop up five onions to freeze before they start to grow

Bag up some junk to go to the tip on Monday

Peel and mash some potato's to freeze when cold

QUOTE]

I would never have thought about chopping the onions and freezing, even though I once bought a reduced packet of chopped onion and froze it) I just throw them away usually, not now tho!

Potatoes to freeze - do you specially cook the pots to make mash to freeze or is it leftover mash? I often throw away pototoes as they go green or sprouty..............

psso

nje24 wrote: »

Thankyou to all of you who have posted and taken your time to follow this thread. It is great to get inspiration in so many ways. I am now going to stop going on grabit now thread and buy bargains using my card details that are already off by heart in my head. I am going to takle my debts, make lists the night before for jobs to be done and do more crafty and baking things. which is the best forum to be involved with if these are the sorts of things i need to be doing.[/QUOTE]

I find this one is great for moneysaving ideas, recipes, keeping warm in winter tips, and the special occasions and celebrations thread has loads of super crafty ideas you can play around with. OK you might need to spend some money but you`ll have fun and produce unique hand made gifts which will be cheaper than shop bought ones.

I also love reading but go to the library instead of buying books. If there is a particular one I want to read, I request it (costs 50p ) instead of spending ££`s .