Are you ever embarassed by your money-saving ways?

Katie1980_2

Frugalista wrote: »

When we recently went for a Toby carvery I enquired about the turkey they were carving (nearly finished and the legs ignored and put to one side) - there was still loads of meat on it. I was told it was against Health and Safety rules for them to supply me with food to eat off premises . I even offered to sign a disclaimer, but they were adamant, so presumably it was binned :mad:.

Such a waste (in my mind I had already made a big pan of soup and a few portions of curry out of it ) - my family, on the other hand were mortified that I'd asked - especially when I gave the manager a lecture on food waste!!

Last Christmas I brought home all the left-over veg out of the serving dishes - made a huge pan of Cauliflower & Stilton soup and a cheesy vegetable crumble. My sister would have just chucked the lot :eek:!!

OMG!! I think I am just being thrifty and realistic - but reading this back it makes me sound like I am cheap:o:o:o!! Somebody reassure me that it's OK!!

If I was still working at the Toby that would not have been binned I used to make the Turkey Curries out of the leftover meat off the Turkey that they cant carve... spent many a quiet afternoon stripping the turkey :rotfl:

stingey

I've found that over the last few months, being frugal and become something of a necessity and when you talk to people about it, it's as if people are trying to compete with each other to see how much they can save!!!

I used to own my own house and at one point my mortgage was less than my council tax, and the thought of how much money I wasted then horrifies me. Lunch from Greggs, McDonalds. Out every night Thu-Sun. Chinese/Indian takeways 3/4 times a week. The company that I worked for used to give us a free uniform of our choice every month (2 tops and 2 bottoms) and then I would go out and buy more clothes!!

I've found now I've got a happy medium. Not totally tight with my money, more aware of where my money is going and how to save and stop waste. But still living...

ragz_2

I don't get embarassed, I'm proud of my MS ways. But my younger sister once saw me watering down the milk and mentions it every time she visits.
She also likes to take the mick out of the fact that I freeze stuff a lot...

yummyhoney

ragz wrote: »

I don't get embarassed, I'm proud of my MS ways. But my younger sister once saw me watering down the milk and mentions it every time she visits.
She also likes to take the mick out of the fact that I freeze stuff a lot...

your sis sounds like my younger one too,her and her hubby work full time and 1 child,,we have 3 and i dont work at all so she cant understand why i would have to economise,,she likes splashing out and tries to get me to go away on little trips with her,,but i'm proud to be dealing with my debt now and by the time we get to march i'll have cleared €5,000 in loans:rolleyes:

zippychick

ragz wrote: »

I don't get embarassed, I'm proud of my MS ways. But my younger sister once saw me watering down the milk and mentions it every time she visits.
She also likes to take the mick out of the fact that I freeze stuff a lot...

People always mock what they don't understand . My Mum does exactly the same :rolleyes:

looby-loo_2

joshieg3011 wrote: »

Yes, you are right - I should just keep my mouth shut but the problem is, when I see a bargain/food being wasted, I want everyone to know about it!!

Guess what my New Year's resolution is?;)

That's just like me! I can't resist telling the people I work with and now they look to me to know where to find the bargains. They ask how I know but I think twice before I buy and just keep my eyes open (and read this site;))

tara747

I love this thread!! I'm not ashamed of being frugal either, even though my OH takes the mick all the time. I just remind him that we have a very good life thanks in part to my moneysaving tendencies!! Also, if we ever were short of money, thriftiness is a great quality. He says I'm more sensible with money than any girl he's ever met, which I take as a huge compliment.

I don't broadcast the fact that I use MSE all the time, because:

My friends and colleagues can't be bothered saving money, they are all very profligate and seem to think that saving is boring!
I don't want people to think I'm a cheapskate if I buy them something from a Grabbit thread (ok this is a bit shallow of me)
I have previously told a couple of peeps about this or that good deal and they weren't at all interested! So why bother?

So all in all, I am very proud of my frugal ways! I get it from my mum, she has always been great with money (and had to be for a few years when we were little) and she has instilled into me the need to have one's financial independence. She is also the living embodiment of the saying 'waste not, want not'. I love her.

Phew, sorry for the long post!!!

piglet6

I'm not embarrassed by my frugal ways. We have survived some very "tight" times (redundancy, long-term illness, etc) as a result of the tricks picked up on this website, whilst still appearing on the surface to be living a very comfortable lifestyle. In my old job, I was known as the "queen of shopping" - not because I shopped a lot personally, but because if anybody wanted to buy anything, I could usually come up with somewhere cheaper/a way to get money off or money back for them. Am I embarrassed by this? Not a bit!!! :rotfl:

"Frugality" has meant that we have cleared our debts (which were £10k+ when I found this site :eek:) and have just sold our house, and moved out of a big city back to the countryside (back to where we were originally from) which has left us mortgage-free and owning our own "dream" house outright. In our mid-30s, I think this is something to be proud of. (Sorry if this sounds boastful - this is not the intention...I am just saying that it is possible with a bit of effort... ). Life is by no means perfect - the house we are now living in requires a lot of renovation, which will be funded gradually over time by further frugality and bargain hunting. My frugality is now a little more "pick + mix" because that we are not in such a tight spot with cash - for example, I still scour the Yellow Stickered food section of the supermarket, but the savings made allow me to indulge in M&S Oakham chickens if we want to eat chicken (we prefer to eat "happy" and tastier meat, less often, than mass-produced, water-pumped, cheaper meat, every day).

Sorry for the long post - once I got started, it was difficult to stop!! :rolleyes:

Piglet
x

P.S. OP, I would have definitely taken the cheese...!

tara747

Katie1980 wrote: »

If I was still working at the Toby that would not have been binned I used to make the Turkey Curries out of the leftover meat off the Turkey that they cant carve... spent many a quiet afternoon stripping the turkey :rotfl:

I would have done exactly the same, Frugalista's post really shocked me!! Such waste... :eek:

richj

I agree there is too much stuff wasted, thrown away. reading this thread is great for ideas.