What everyday goods do you now consider a treat?

Kerfuffle

Ben84 wrote: »

For me, coffee out. Seems like a cheap indulgence, but it really adds up over a few weeks so I've been drinking less. I'm going to get a thermos and largely stop the take away coffee soon Frustratingly, modern thermos aren't that good so I'll try to find an old one somewhere.[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
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Hi Ben84, on the subject of thermos flasks. My hubby bought a stainless steel one from Millets 3 years ago. His is a really big Stanley one although you can get smaller Stanley ones, and it's really good. He fills it with boiled water out of the kettle at 7.00am to take to work and the water is still hot enough to make a decent tea with at 3.30pm - it's still fairly warm 24 hours later but not hot enough to make a drink with.

The stainless steel ones are so much better than the ones with the glass inside as these break too easily.

I've bought 'other' stainless steel flasks and they're not as good as the Stanley, it will be a bit more expensive in the first instance but you'll recoup your costs in not time at all. A Stanley flask for myself is definately on my wishlist for when my cheap ones finally give up the ghost.

Hope that helps.

Nicoll

Kerfuffle wrote: »

Hi Ben84, on the subject of thermos flasks. My hubby bought a stainless steel one from Millets 3 years ago. His is a really big Stanley one although you can get smaller Stanley ones, and it's really good. He fills it with boiled water out of the kettle at 7.00am to take to work and the water is still hot enough to make a decent tea with at 3.30pm - it's still fairly warm 24 hours later but not hot enough to make a drink with.

The stainless steel ones are so much better than the ones with the glass inside as these break too easily.

I've bought 'other' stainless steel flasks and they're not as good as the Stanley, it will be a bit more expensive in the first instance but you'll recoup your costs in not time at all. A Stanley flask for myself is definately on my wishlist for when my cheap ones finally give up the ghost.

Hope that helps.

I'll have to try one of these, I use a flask every morning whilst I clean out my horses stable, need coffee to keep me going! Over the years I've go through lots of flasks. I buy the stainless steel ones from places like Sainsburys but find the tops either start leaking or just break after a few months. Get fed up with replacing them so will have a look at these ones from Millets.

Thanks for the tip

Ben84

oldtractor wrote: »

I too stopped buying kitchen roll ages ago. I dont do coffees out anymore either, nor flowers or even plants these days. I have stopped buying DVD's to unless they are heavily discounted. Infact I dont buy anything thats not discounted if I can help it.

DVDs are comparatively cheap now. However, this cheapness can encourage wasteful buying habits and I've turned full circle in how I feel and am realising the buying habits we had in the 80s made more sense, it's better for me to borrow most tapes/DVDs. There's still no good reason to buy something and clutter up the house when it's going to be used so little, so I normally borrow DVDs from the library or rental shop.

We also have digital TV now with extra channels so we get a better selection of films to watch at home too.

Ben84

Kerfuffle wrote: »

Hi Ben84, on the subject of thermos flasks. My hubby bought a stainless steel one from Millets 3 years ago. His is a really big Stanley one although you can get smaller Stanley ones, and it's really good. He fills it with boiled water out of the kettle at 7.00am to take to work and the water is still hot enough to make a decent tea with at 3.30pm - it's still fairly warm 24 hours later but not hot enough to make a drink with.

The stainless steel ones are so much better than the ones with the glass inside as these break too easily.

I've bought 'other' stainless steel flasks and they're not as good as the Stanley, it will be a bit more expensive in the first instance but you'll recoup your costs in not time at all. A Stanley flask for myself is definately on my wishlist for when my cheap ones finally give up the ghost.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for this. Unbreakable sounds good. I'd originally avoided the steel ones by assuming steel isn't a good insulator, but if they keep hot for a long time that's ok. I don't mind paying £20-30, because you're right that it will pay for itself fast in comparison to buying coffee out

rosalie-lavender

I have two Stanley flasks. One is a wide necked food flask and the other is a normal drinks flask. They are both excellent and keep the contents hot for hours.

Broomstick

My drinks on the move solution is only possible because, when I go out and need drinks with me, I always have the car and can take a bit more.

I have three little plastic containers for coffee, teabags and sugar that I keep topped up. I use two stainless steel flasks for drinks: a medium sized one which has only ever had water in it so it only ever needs rinsing out and doesn't retain the smell of the drink that was in it (so if I'm out for the day I have fresh hot water for both coffee and tea as I wish); then the other flask is a little one from Lakeland which only ever gets used for cold milk. Everything lives in our picnic basket and it only takes seconds to fill the flasks and go. By having one flask as water-only it makes it possible to ask at cafes if they will fill it up again - people rarely say no because all it is is water and I've never been asked for money for doing this although I usually offer something.

We also keep spare sandwich boxes of various sizes stored in the picnic basket too so that if I need to pack a snack in a hurry it's all to hand. Since the picnic basket is a wicker one with a flat base and upright sides it works very well in keeping all the flasks etc upright in the boot of the car.

Outdoorlass

I used to love browsing the boot sales, I like the atmosphere and love the idea of finding some kind of treasure! (not than I ever have:p) But even that is getting a luxury now, that I only do once a month or once every 6 weeks, petrol to get there, £2 parking and money to spend, although I do manage to pick up some nice clothes that I otherwise wouldn't be able to afford. I miss going so much!

Butterfly_Brain

Iceland have country life butter on offer at 2 for £2 this week :j

quintwins

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

Iceland have country life butter on offer at 2 for £2 this week :j

are these 250g blocks?

persa

Although I have just started a new job, I spent a few months this year unemployed, for the first time in my life. There is nothing like the government telling you that after living on a decent wage, all you need to survive is £65 a week, to make you reassess your spending habits.

I don't eat meat at home anymore - I will eat it when I'm out if the pricing is similar to the veggie option, but I certainly don't buy things like Parma ham anymore.

I don't buy brands anymore - well, unless they're for sale in the 99p store at a better price than the unbranded version elsewhere.

I buy as many value products as possible - at the moment I'm mainly buying Morrisons Value and Sainsbury's Basics. I also shop in Lidl - used to shop in Aldi, but there isn't one where I live now. Really miss Aldi.

Aldi were the cheapest for milk and butter - 79p for a 2l bottle and 98p for a 250g block of butter. The cheapest I have found around here is 95p for a 2l bottle (in the local 99p shop) and £1.10 for butter (same price in Sainbury's, Morrisons and Lidl). Their toothpaste is also fab - around 47p for 125ml, if I recall correctly, with a fluoride level of 1450, which is 'high' and therefore great for adults. No compromise on your dental health.

I haven't bought any yet because I no longer do that much baking, but Lidl sell 6 free range eggs for 85p! Cheapest I have seen free range eggs for a long time, without having to bulk buy.

Store brand shampoo costs around 71p for a big 750ml bottle from Asda or Morrisons. It's fine. You can also get away without using conditioner, if you aren't using any heated products on your hair.

Someone mentioned apples - I buy a bag of 9 value apples from Morrisons for £1.05. They are little Cox apples with a satisfying bite to them and they keep long enough to eat.

That's something I'm struggling with - finding cheap ways of getting my five a day. Generally you have to buy too large a quantity to get the price down and then it gets wasted. Anyone found any good deals? I'm thinking I might have to buy frozen fruit and value juice to my intake up.

Sainsbury's Basics tea is only 30p for a big box of teabags and it's Fairtrade. OH hasn't tried them yet, but I like them and they're strong enough to reuse the bag a few times.

It's a bit sad, but I've made getting the prices down into a bit of a game and every time I manage to save some money by finding a cheapy product to replace a more expensive regular buy with, I get quite excited. I guess it's either try to enjoy being a recessionista or cry!

Oh and as a final word - the everyday goods I now consider to be a treat are anything from M&S! I used to shop there semi-regularly, now I only buy clothes/shoes in the sale if they're more than 50% off. Don't buy any groceries from there anymore at all.