Avoiding the shops in April - The NSD Challenge

cw18

kerri_gt wrote: »

Enjoy the clothes shopping Cheryl - I did wonder where you were going with the comment that they also had a Arg0s at the retail park :rotfl:

I'm not sure "enjoy" is the right word - much as I used to spend hours every week shopping for all kinds of stuff I didn't need, clothes shopping is the one type I've never liked doing !!!

But I need to beg for forgiveness, as I've sinned big time when it comes to spending waaaaay too much money for one day


So I guess that makes it confessional time?


first port of call was Mr T, and a hunt through the (rather limited) sales racks before perusing the full priced items. Came out with a skirt (a tad too tight yet for wearing whilst eating, but at £4 instead of £18 for a skirt that will dress up as well as being appropriate for smart casual I'm prepared to put it away for a few weeks while I lose the next few lbs), a lightweight sweatshirt (don't own a single sweatshirt that doesn't hang off me these days) for £6 instead of £12, and two tops (£3 instead of £12 and £3 instead of £14) neither of which are ones I'd have ever looked twice at before. Bill came to £16, but I only had to find 30p as I had £15.70 on giftcards (from Valued 0pinons). Also checked out footwear for something a little more 'dressy' than the sandals I picked up last week, but found absolutely nothing I liked that fitted

second port of call was Mr A (after moving the car onto a different car park, as Mr T is a bit out on a limb at the retail park) - and I came out of there with heaps of stuff...... As soon as I walked into the foyer I almost fell over half a dozen racks of sale items :cool: Took my time sifting through those, then into the store - checking full price goods (and not finding anything) as well as additional sale racks that I came across (a couple more bits added to my pile). Left there with a £5 refund, a £2 giftcard (yes, they managed to overcharge me) and 1 dress ([strike]£18[/strike] £4), 1 pair of jeggings ([strike]£12.50[/strike] £4), 1 lightweight hooded top ([strike]£12.50[/strike] £3), and 11 tops (various prices from £2 to £4 each) - 7 of the tops being ones I wouldn't previously have considered, and 2 of those being ones I still had to convince myself to even try on (but loved them when I did). I was charged £55 at the till, but then got my £5 refund 'cos it should have been £50. Still no shoes though


so far so good, and relatively little spent for a lot of clothing

but......

after dropping Mr A purchases off in the car my 3rd stop was M'n'S - and my first biiiiiig bill. Couldn't find the style of jeans I currently own (which are a tad too loose in the size I have), so had a dig through the sale racks and found a couple of pairs worth trying on. Also found a top in a colour I like, and a dress I wouldn't normally look at twice - not "my thing" and an ouchy! price ticket (even in the sale)..... but I took them all to try on (and asked about booking in for a bra fitting while I was there, which I was told there'd be a 20 minute wait for and I accepted). One pair of jeans fitted fine, the other I couldn't get up (but a quick scuttle back to the sale rail found me a pair in the next size up which fit just fine ), loved the top even more when I put it on, and then came the turn of the dress. Other than having to be a contortionist to get the zip up and down it's a fantastic number - and I couldn't stop myself adding it to the 'keep' pile (so that was [strike]£55[/strike] £25 I hadn't expected to be tempted to spend!). My fitting then led to an ouchy! spend on underwear. Total bill came to.... nope! not telling!!

Dropped that bag off in the car, and then meandered over to the other half of the retail park - discovering as I did so that the toy store that was there has changed to a P0undl@nd - so I clearly had to investigate. I came out after spending a further £8 on two boxes of whitener for my laundry (a last ditch attempt to revitalise my works shirts and T-shirts), 2 tubs of an anti-wrinkle day cream with sunscreen (something I'm told I should be using now I spend so much time outdoors walking the dog and running), a blackhead cleaner, a tube of purifying face mask, and a pair of sunglasses (with UV 400 protection - something else I've been told to add to my running kit, along with a sun visor or baseball cap) plus a case for keeping them in when I'm not wearing them

Then I bobbed into Cl@rks to check out shoes. Since I'd found nothing in either supermarket I decided that it was possibly time to pay the extra for some that will last more than 6 months, and that won't stretch so that I end up walking out of them every time I take a step!! They've got an offer on at the moment, whereby if you purchase 2 pairs of shoes (other than any in the sale) you get 30% off the second pair - and I found some fairly practical dress up/down shoes that came in both black and white, so decided to grit my teeth and shell out for them. Second ouchy!!! total for the day (but still not as bad as my M'n'S total)

From there I called into Arg0s and got the rotary airer for my back garden - and only just in the nick of time, as they were announcing 10 minutes to close as I went to the pay point......

Then back towards the car, but calling into the sports shop on the way back. Managed to get some more sports socks, a bum-bag (for carrying snacks on longer runs, my phone when wearing running trousers with a 'too small' pocket, and a small-ish amount of money now I plan to increase the mileage of my runs - just in case I end up injuring myself and need to get a bus home!), and a baseball cap. Also picked up a huuuuge mug for my never ending brewing up of tea in the vain hope brewing up more at a time will mean less brews actually made..... though it's not working this evening. Once again I was in the store when closing time was called !!!

Dumped all that lot off in the car, and then headed back into Mr A. Picked up a few more bits of underwear, a couple of inexpensive handbags, some make-up (rarely bother with it, so it's not something I keep in the house), and a small watch (my heart rate monitor one - which is the only one I currently own that works - is a little 'clunky' for if I dress up a bit )

I also picked up a few bits of groceries, but am ashamed to admit that most of those probably come under the heading of 'junk' - guess I'd just about lost the will to live (or resist temptations) after 8 hours of trawling shops and trying on clothes

kerri_gt

Wow Cheryl - that's one heck of a lot of shopping sounds like it was pretty successful though - isn't funny how some things when you try them on you just fall in love with even though you're not 100% when they are on the hanger. Prob worth paying more for the better quality shoes - there's nothing worse than buying some new shoes and within 10mins of wearing you're shelling out just as much as the cost of shoes on blister plasters.

There's nothing wrong with a bit of a blow out every now and again, so long as it's in 'budget' and not all the time

Have you had a chance to wear any of the other shoes you bought last week yet?

I'm planning a wee treat of a shopping trip next week after pay day, gonna take a certain amount out of the bank and do some holiday shopping - so s*ds law I'll find nothing :rotfl: I also have a £50 gift card from Mr TK M*xx that's burning a hole in my pocket

cw18

kerri_gt wrote: »

Wow Cheryl - that's one heck of a lot of shopping

Ummm- yep

sounds like it was pretty successful though

more so than I expected when I set out

isn't funny how some things when you try them on you just fall in love with even though you're not 100% when they are on the hanger.

not something I recall encountering before, 'cos if I didn't like it on the hanger I wouldn't have tried it on. I've experienced the reverse before, but went out today determined to look at things outside my comfort zone on the off-chance

Prob worth paying more for the better quality shoes - there's nothing worse than buying some new shoes and within 10mins of wearing you're shelling out just as much as the cost of shoes on blister plasters.

I've had from Cl@rks before, and never been disappointed. It's just a big 'ouch' when you actually pay for them, but I decided to look on them as an investment

There's nothing wrong with a bit of a blow out every now and again, so long as it's in 'budget' and not all the time

All covered by the money I got back from my pension scheme - and I still have some left besides what's in my ISA :T

Have you had a chance to wear any of the other shoes you bought last week yet?

Nope He's going to check what he's got on this next week, and once I/we know when he's free we're going to figure out something for another meet I know he'll be 'spoken for' with a regular activitity on either Monday or Tuesday evening, and then with something else on Wednesday. Friday (being a B/H) will be a biking day for him, but from what he said that might be instead of the Sunday. But there again, I always seem to see a lot of bikers out and about on Easter Sunday - never figured out why, but always seems to have been the case

jintyb

Good morning folks!

Made it #11 yesterday. As promised, I had my relaxing day which I thoroughly enjoyed!
Dont plan on spending today either. The weather looks fine so OH and I are going to tackle the ivy which has gone mad along the wall at the back of the garden. I think a trip to the dump will also be in order.
This afternoon I will be delivering the church's Easter cards. My Mum is coming with me, so we have a right old blether and a nice walk while we're at it!
Simple dinner today, spag carbonara, so it's all good!;)

Have a lovely day everyone:)

cw18

Just had a look on the M'n'S website, and found the dress I splurged on yesterday - for anyone that's interested, it's this one

And these are the shoes I got from Cl@rks.... the other pair are identical apart from being black.

LittleMissHappy_2

:wave:

Hi everyone It was my DD's birthday on Friday so I went shopping with her on Thursday...we had our hair done, she had her ears pierced (she has wanted to do this for the last couple of years and I have said no...she is only 6!) and we chose a couple of presents for her. She had a party on Friday so I didn't have a chance to spend then (we went for dinner after to P*zza H*t which DH paid for ) and Saturday was recover from the shock of 16 6y/o's screaming, running around and generally having a great time in my house :eek: so I didn't spend then, either! Today I have my Mr T order being delivered so it's a spendy day, but that brings my total up to 10 NSD, please, BDINI

I hope you are all having a great weekend......my older sister is running the LM today so if you see her can you give her a cheer along the way

kerryallc71

hi , i would love to join your no shopping day forum , does that include internet shopping ? .. because i would like to add both retail shopping in shops as well as internet shopping as mine . i will also add my husband in as well ( my husband is not on moneysavingexpert forum - not registered its just me ) , if your married it should be joint thing . my no shopping aim is half a month ( 15/16 days ) .. thankyou from kerry .

donna_dynamo

NSD 9 today. Notgoing anywhere today doing some baking with the kids and hopefully tackling the mount everest of ironing baskets (up to 2 baskets piled high Ahhhhhhhhhhhh:eek:). Off work all week so got a couple of spendy days DD1 wants school dresses and DD2 needs new socks and clothes DD2 has all her christmas vouchers left and as she is 1 isn't bothered about what she is wearing DD2 is a pain she is 6 and very particular about her wardrobe. Got 2 suitcases full of DD1's old clothes but was going to keep them for DD2 but could do with some cash at the moment so not sure what to do.

Catslovelycats

Hi all. Updates from Fri PM. Apologies I wasn't on yesterday - nasty migraine that's left me feeling rather odd.

Pinkfluffybabe: 14
Kerri gt: 7
Altbaly: 5
Thriftyfifty: 8
Boultdj: 8
Ebayqueen: 8
Marmiterulesok: 12
Fenna: 9
Trinny: 10
Catslovelycats: 4
Keiss: 9
Chris81418: 12
Deggie: 5
Lauzellen: 12
Wee pilsbury: 10
Twistedhazel: 10
Donnadynamo: 10
Skaps: 8
Beanielou: 12
Nargleblast: 6
Rising from the ashes: 5
Dmb: 6
Postingalwaysposting:11
Jintyb: 11

kerri_gt

kerryallc71 wrote: »

hi , i would love to join your no shopping day forum , does that include internet shopping ? .. because i would like to add both retail shopping in shops as well as internet shopping as mine . i will also add my husband in as well ( my husband is not on moneysavingexpert forum - not registered its just me ) , if your married it should be joint thing . my no shopping aim is half a month ( 15/16 days ) .. thankyou from kerry .

Hi Kerry, welcome to the NSD thread - I'm sure you've gathered that we're a very supportive, if slightly insane bunch on here

For this challenge the rules are bascially up to you - some people count everything including dirct debits that come out of the bank, others have certain exclusions. I used to count all cash and card spends, but not DD as I budget for these already. I have recently modfied my rules so I don't include petrol spends (let's face it, who'd buy it unless we need it) and milk (we tend to go through gallons in the house and given the amount of tea I drink it's a bit of a necessity). I do count any other spends, whether in store or online. There are some 'guidelines' on the front page if you fancy a squizz.

We don't really have any rules - the one we do have, is there is never ever any use of the F word - no, not Gordon Ramsey style, :rotfl:, we never ever fail....we just sometimes don't meet our target when life gets in the way but and NSD is an achievement :j

So welcome aboard and enjoy the ride :beer: