what luxuries have you cut 25 February 2011 at 2:22PM edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in Old Style MoneySaving 127 replies 32K views

jumblejack

JenniO wrote: »

Don't 'watch tv' - so don't have a TV license or SKY/freesat, etc. Just watch catup up tv online and haven't missed it a bit! Only use my tv now for DVD's or for the games console.

Us too!!!!!! We haven't had tv for 9 years as my son was copying the awful expressions from cartoons, etc instead of using spontaneous dialogue. We made the decision and never looked back. It is so much better now though with bbciplayer!!! We are with lovefilm and have 4 films a month which we struggle to watch believe or not! Time is so short, I don't know how we ever got things done before!!

GreyQueen

Hmm, apart from depriving the trainee hairdressers of a chance to practice on my mop-top, I do the following....

Get the regional and city paper as cast-offs from a friend 6 days a week. Buy no newspapers or magazines, will read online and have been known to turn up a little early for appts so I can read the mags...

Seldom go "out" in the evening, unless it's to friends or something very cheap or free. My big Saturday night this week was to have a good pal around to share a bottle of el cheapo red (yes, I do have a headache) and a £1 Mr T cheesecake. She's been made redundant and is no more able to live it up at the pub than I am. We had a lot of laughs. Total cost for me as hostess? £1 cheesecake and £2.99 bottle of wine, minus 5% discount as I buy wine 6 at a time from Mr T (not much of a boozer, 6 bottles lasts me about 4 months.....)

Have an allotment. Apart from initial start up costs and the peppercorn rent, it keeps me occupied for several weekend hours and, when I come home all grubby and muddy, I want a bath and a rest, not to nip out to the shops.

Had a car from 1991-1997. Don't need it for work but miss the social freedom. Often have to pass on out-of-town stuff unless I can get a lift as places are inacessible by public transport, or you can get there but not get back again. Don't miss the stress of running a banger on a shoestring one little bit.

Cinema. The last thing I paid to see was Avatar. Will go if I can get freebie, otherwise might rent a DVD from the library. Have found TV series much better value for money than single movies.

TV. Gave that up in 1987 and consider it one of the best things I ever did. Have saved a couple of thou on licenses. Can't watch TV online as my dial-up connection is too slow but do watch the DVDs on the computer. Got a 17 inch CRT monitor and nice speakers so don't feel hard done by....

Expensive toiteries. Wrote my uni dissertation 20+ years ago on the cosmetics industry and spent an awful lot of time with my nose in the Lancet and the British Medical Journal (pre-internet daze). You'd be horrified at some of the stuff in there. I keep it very simple with basic toiltries and no make up.

Contact lenses. Went back to speccies as I couldn't stand the faff, pain and expense.

Have an approximate idea of what I shall be eating but change it in a second if a bargain pops into view....

Holiday seldom, didn't go anywhere in 2010 may go somewhere in 2011. Hanging fire for a sweet late deal.

Only go into bookshops to see what's new, then order it from the library.

Clothes are from charity shops or jumblies/ bootfairs, apart from underwear. Might buy the occasional new thing from TK Maxx...total clothes and footwear spend in 2010 was...........£67.33. I'm not in rags, btw.;)

Shop for gifts for Xmas and birthdays throughout the year, make stuff for those who'd appreciate it.

Enjoy my life!

SailorSam

quintwins wrote: »

it only cost you £10 to get your haircut? my last one was £21 and i think it's £26 now thats just a wash/cut/blowdry, i meantioned this to my mum and she said her last one (fancy salon) was £46:eek:

You should find a local college that does hairdressing, they're always looking for guinea pigs, i mean models. You may get your hair cut for nothing.

natlie

Hi
we used to go for breakfast on a saturday - either to the cafe on the beach near us or to Starbucks/Costa we don't do that now, We have cut out nearly all unnecesary day trips and we stay at home more. We dont really go out for food anymore. I think this must save me about £150 a month
Nat
xxx

happierdaystocome

Its been really intresting seeing the ways people have cut back and it has give me some good idea on other areas I can save the pennies. As in the past 5 years I have moved in with OH and there has been some slippage in my OS/money saving ways.

DD and DS both read a lot and I find it really hard to pick up appropriate books in CS, where I get most of mine. So I use read it swap it to find the books they want.

Going the cinema use to be a weekly thing but now we go as birthday treat using Orange wednesdays and take our own snacks and drinks.

We have found somewhere cheap and smaller to rent, so hopefully this will reduce our energy bill and sa it closure to DD school has cut out bus fares.

Not having Sky/Cable, which DD and DS where horrified by.

We dont go out and bulk buy wine when it is on special offer. Which means it always available when we have friends round for dinner.

Cook as much from scratch as possible but unfortunately there has been a number of Take aways snuck in recently as Im unwell and OH does not like cooking.

Holidays abroad are a thing of the past: last year we stayed at OH parents for our holiday while they where away and have since bought a tent or OH's parents have offered us the use of their caravan.

budgetboo

Clothes are bought because something has worn out, not cos it caught my eye in the window as I walked past the shop.

Coffee comes in a flask, no cafe nero. Meet friends less often unless they are up for the park and a flask.

Free museums libraries etc rather than paid for venues for days out.

I've become queen of making a nice picnic.

Got rid of car - though currently rethinkng this.

No tumble drier though I only ever used it in the winter for nappies.

Furniture is left to totally wear out.

Stopped buying kitchen gadgets and shoes unless I NEED them.

Stopped buying condiments like pickles etc - make them.

Less heating in the winter, more blankets etc

No foreign holidays, stopped long distance train and get the coach on cheap tickets.

Walk rather than catch bus a couple of stops.

Grow your own salad and herbs has saved a fortune.

No extra bits in the grocery baskets.

Hobbies now have to be cost effective - I love various crafts but now they are more likely to be ones that help save money

The worst is - amazon is no longer my best friend for new books, library, free fan fiction etc instead. This is the cut that really hurts!

One credit card with a £200 limit for emergency use only.

Puddleglum

Stopped buying the knitting magazine which I really enjoyed but have so many patterns that I will probably never be able to knit all the ones I like.

Never buy preprepared food anymore.

Cut and dye my own hair having watched YouTube videos until I thought I knew what to do.

Clothes come from my favourite charity shop not my favourite designer!

No longer go for a drive at the weekends.

Walk rather than drive wherever possible.

Strict budgeting.

Cooking is inspired and not always inspiring.

Discounted food websites have allowed me to slash the money I spend on food.

Avoid using the tumble drier unless I have damp clothes which are threatening to go mouldy if they are not dried asap.

GetRealBabe

Hi

No more Hotel Chocolat tasting club now buy Asda 30p Smart Price chocolate.

Now cook from scratch and no longer buy ready made meals/pizzas.

Am going to have a go at making red onion jam instead of buying a small £1.79 jar from the Tesco finest range.

Library instead of buying books.

Yes, another walker and save £1.30 single or £2.60 return bus fare.

Use buses more now instead of the underground/rail. It takes longer but I just read a book and don't really notice.

Haven't bought any clothes for a while.

Not really a luxury but bake all of my own bread/cakes/buns/muesli bars and biscuits.
:j:)

redkids1972

I have joined the grocery challenge and this has really focused my spending. I now visit all my local supermarkets for the best offers and use lidl and Aldi for fruit and veg and other offers. This has cut my weekly bill from over £100 a week to £60 so a massive saving there previously would have done all my shopping in Tesco. We eat better and always have food in the fridge I don't see this as cutting out luxuries just changing a habit.
I rarely buy myself clothes and only buy clothes for my 3 children when on offer and with the use of codes discount days etc again don't feel to be missing out.
we never have takeaways now and have packed lunches for work/school everyday which again has saved a fair bit.
Days out are fewer but that is due to work commitments and kids getting older. However we went to Alton Towers recently using vouchers and same for Blackpool pleasure Beach. Holidays is the one area we have not reduced but plan in advance for cheap flight deals and also collect airmiles which I am saving for special holiday to Las Vegas which will be even sweeter knowing it was free.
I have reduced my electric consumption and monitor it like a hawk as my kids leave all their appliances on all the time hence £90 a month for electric since monitoring I have got this down to £65 a month with no impact on lifestyle. Little changes like this have saved me lots of cash with very little impact to quality of life. Im sure their are lots of things I have forgot ooh one big change for me was the change from Heinz salad cream to Aldi own this was previously somthing I would pay for whatever the price but someone gave me a bottle of Aldi own and I have not looked back so yes it is a luxury I have could have done without but now I dont need to.

purpleivy

I'm lucky that Aldi opened up just down the road from me and there is usually a parking place there. By doing the bulk of my food shop there I have brought my food cost down. Having said that, there are some more expensive food choices made, some of the everyday meat comes from Aldi, but most from a really good local butcher and Costco. Lamb from a local farmer. Shopping in Sainsbury's is a luxury, but when I do a foray there for stuff that Aldi don't keep and I can't/won't manage without, then I try and make sure that I top up on their special offers on wine, good cheddar etc etc.

I didn't buy many magazines, but hardly ever do now. If I want a book I tend to look out for it 2nd hand on Amazon or ebay.

Make up, perfume, I know what I want and can usually get it much cheaper on Ebay.

Have started to use a haberdashery wholesaler instead of mail order where possible.

Don't buy fancy cleaning products and dilute ariel with washing soda. I also don't buy Ariel EVER or dishwasher tabs unless they are on special offfer. In fact I try and avoid ever paying full price for anything! This sometimes requires good planning and patience.