Britain in grip of 'shopaholic' epidemic - The Telegraph

Strings

SingleSue wrote: »

Feel sorry for me? Why?

Make up - just how much do you need to spend on it? A bit of lippy, some eyeliner, eye shadow and bob is your uncle (I have ultra long lashes so mascara is not needed)...and I only wear it once a week between March and the end of October and on the very occasional special occasions, so it lasts longer

If I need any more, I ask for it as a christmas or birthday present...very handy for those relatives (e.g the children), who have only a very limited budget and want to buy me something.

As for clothes, I could never see the sense in spending lots on them, why buy more when you already have plenty in the wardrobe, there is only so many clothes you can wear at the same time and why spend oodles more on a designer option when you can buy similar for a fraction of the price.

I'm from a make do and mend family, partly due to my father having an accident at work which meant that money was extremely short until he received compensation and partly because my parents had a working class upbringing which was also make do and mend, it sort of rubs off on offspring.

I do have wants....books, I used to spend oodles on books. Now I buy them, read them and sell them on to buy more (needs must).

I like to have an intoxicating chocolate all over body massage and wrap when money allows (I usually ask for a voucher from my parents for birthday or christmas for this).

I can look through an Argos book and mentally spend thousands (I do have very expensive taste) but when it actually comes to buying it, I have always asked myself..."Do I need it?" "What is wrong with the old one?" If the answer to the first one is no, then I don't buy it, if the answer to the second one is nothing, then I don't buy it.

I live in my means (another family trait, we don't like credit) and if the money is not there to purchase something, it doesn't get purchased.

I'm a bargain hunter and get the same thrill from finding something at a fraction of the cost as someone else will get from spending willy nilly.

Although you would never find me in a jumble sale....they give me panic attacks.

so you do spend more than £15 to £25 a year on clothes then.
I would have thought a new bra and underwear would cover that quite easily.

sss555s

nicko33 wrote: »

Certainly. I agree that both offset mortages and credit cards, if used wisely, can benefit the holder.
Ahh, the good old days when cahoot gave you 4% if you transferred a balance to them. Nowadays, I prefer to stooze on 0% purchase cards, and stick the money to pay them off in Lloyds Vantage at 4%, or any regular saver paying more than that. And anything paying more than 2.4% is better home for my money than my offset mortgage

Given that the vantage pays 3.1% net and you will pay a handling fee for the transfer is it still worth it?

SingleSue

No, I don't.

I ask for them for birthday and Christmas or will buy cheaply from discount stores in the sales.

In fact, my underwear (bra and knickers) actually makes up a good proportion of the £15-£20..the rest is where the money is not really spent.

The sales are brilliant for this.

Jeans I tend to get for a fiver in the sales, a good pair will last a year or so (actually at the start of this year, one shop was doing them a £1 a pair - I bought 5 pairs which will see me through for a fair few years). T shirts are recycled from the year before (I was wearing a t shirt this summer which is approx 10 years old!) or I look around boot sales/sales and pay 50p-£1, I am still on the same pair of high heels as 3 years ago (and they were £3 in a sale), trainers last anything from a year to 3 years (generally £5 a pair in the sales), summer sandals similar...or are £1.99 a pair.

Mum also gives me the clothes she has purchased but then doesn't want/they don't suit her....and she doesn't want anything for them as they were destined for the charity shop anyway. Ex mum in law works in a charity shop and she will on occasion, pick out decent clothes for me (and the boys) to give to me as they are unable to sell them in the shop for any some reason.

I have special occasion clothes but as the special occasions are few and far between, they never get tired and last years before needing replacing.

sss555s

wageslave wrote: »

A months interest free is only of use to you the first month you use it after that you are just playing catch up.

It is a bit like an overdraft.

The way it works roughly is, say you spend £1k on your card in Aug, they bill you around the 10th of Sep and require payment by around 25th sep.
From the Aug 1st to Sep 25th is around 55 days. This is how you can have up to 55 days of credit.

If you clear your full amount by the Sep 25th then you pay no interest. You can still use the card in Sep to buy within your credit limit and you will be billed for that in OCT, pay that off in full and you pay no interest and so on.


If you have a 1% cashback card and you spend £1k per month on your card, you will have £120 in cashback or vouchers by the end of the year. They used to give far more but this is the reality now.

It's not earth shattering amounts but it's a nice wee bonus for just spending the same money you would anyway and also your bank account keeps the money in it for longer. You are also far better protected buying with a credit card.

Course if your not disciplined and over spend then cant pay it all off by the repayment date, you will pay interest at a high rate. This is where people come unstuck and why cards make their suppliers a lot of money.

Cashback cards are usually a higher % interest rate if you fail to pay off your balance.

nicko33

sss555s wrote: »

Given that the vantage pays 3.1% net and you will pay a handling fee for the transfer is it still worth it?

what handling fee?
if you mean credit card balance transfer fee, then no. I don't use balance transfers - just run up the balance using normal purchases.
So it's effectively interest for free

And for the offset mortgage it's not as worthwhile as it was last year when savings could be had at 8%-10%

wageslave

chucky wrote: »

"round my way" the water is very hard and men need to moisturise

I have noticed the water in England is carp, it is impossible to even work up a decent lather in the shower. I never feel clean.

How anyone drinks it is beyond me.

Do you do the whole cleanse, tone thingy too?

lilac_lady

I think that debt became acceptable when student loans came in.

Some people seem to take pride in the fact that they owe so much money. I'll never understand that mindset but they probably wouldn't understand mine which is that no debt means freedom.

chucky

wageslave wrote: »

I never feel clean.

yes, we've heard...

wageslave wrote: »

Do you do the whole cleanse, tone thingy too?

nah, that would be a bit too metro-sexual...

michaels

Whereas I find when you have a shower at my parents in Devon you spend hours just trying to rinse all the soap off - but admittedly a lot less time trying to get the scale off the bath and taps after every shower.

wageslave wrote: »

I have noticed the water in England is carp, it is impossible to even work up a decent lather in the shower. I never feel clean.

How anyone drinks it is beyond me.

Do you do the whole cleanse, tone thingy too?

michaels

Yep - I currently alternate between these and intro offer cashback (am dong AMEX 5% at the moment as they also have a 6 months 0% on purchases offer) - I tend to spend on each card for about 3 months and then take advantage of the remaining 9 months interest free - my best available savings account currently pays (my wife) 3.15% tax free (have maxed out the LTSB and Santander accounts) which beats offsetting my mortgage as well.

nicko33 wrote: »

what handling fee?
if you mean credit card balance transfer fee, then no. I don't use balance transfers - just run up the balance using normal purchases.
So it's effectively interest for free

And for the offset mortgage it's not as worthwhile as it was last year when savings could be had at 8%-10%