What everyday goods do you now consider a treat?

jollymummy

Joints of meat on Sunday, it's rubber chicken now or small gammon joint, melons, wine, Lindt chocolate, Fairy washing powder. All supermarket own bands now.

tara747

froogs wrote: »

Excellent. Thank you for read it swap it.

Hair conditioner. I use egg yolks mixed with a little olive oil now.

Eggs are really dear these days though! Surely a cheap conditioner would be more moneysaving?

froogs

tara747 wrote: »

Eggs are really dear these days though! Surely a cheap conditioner would be more moneysaving?

I get mine for free as my mother-in-law has chickens.

YORKSHIRELASS

Our occasional nights out became nights in with a bottle of wine - now we cant even afford that!!!

I used to buy diced lamb from the butcher and make a hotpot, its just too expensive now.

It worrying how many people have cut back on fruit. I buy apples, pears and bananas and sometimes grapes for a treat. DS was with me when I was shopping last time and there were reduced price raspberries for £1.25. I gave in and bought him some, I wish I had counted them, there was only about 20 berries if that! He shared them with his brother and I only got 2.

When I started my MSE journey I made myself a promise not to buy any ready made food items that I could make easily myself and this has become second nature now. Its comforting that my family would rather have home made now anyway.

With make up, shampoo, moisturiser etc I still buy it - but less often -and I bulk buy products I know and trust rather than waste money trying new things. I cringe when I think I used to pay £55 to get my hair done. I make my haircut last 9 or 10 weeks and colour it myself.

At the moment I am working my way through my wardrobe getting rid of a lot of my clothes. I have started to yearn for a simpler life with less clutter around me. I still have my moments though - I took my Mum to the railway station yesterday and was going to stop at the shops on the way home. I had a little argument with myself because I "needed" to buy DS some socks - although I would of course have bought other stuff as well. In the end I came straight home and was quite proud of myself.

EstherH

spike7451 wrote: »

Tesco's have 70cl bottles of Grants Whisky on offer for a tenner a pop!! I got two today....As it was my last pay cheque since being laid off,I stocked up with loads of stuff for the future,One thing I did find myself doing tho was to rummage thru the trolley & ask myself 'do I really need/want that?'...I reckon I saved £20 doing that.

When we came back from our honeymoon nearly 30 years ago, we bought a bottle of Bells whiskey duty free and it was about £8.00. I have been shocked for a number of years at how cheap alcohol has become. £10 for a bottle now seems rediculous in comparrison all these years later.

anguk

EstherH wrote: »

When we came back from our honeymoon nearly 30 years ago, we bought a bottle of Bells whiskey duty free and it was about £8.00. I have been shocked for a number of years at how cheap alcohol has become. £10 for a bottle now seems rediculous in comparrison all these years later.

I don't drink (it makes me ill) and it shocks me how cheap it is, I keep saying to my OH that it's cheaper to drink than it is to eat now! :eek:

When I was a young teenager (almost 30 years ago :eek:) every now and then a group of us used to club together to buy a bottle of cider (very sophisticated we were), I was looking in the drinks aisle in Tesco the other day and was gobsmacked to see that it's now cheaper than what we paid back then! No wonder so many people have a drink problem now.

spike7451

Breakfast cereal...Have you noticed how expensive it's become?...I was getting my shopping yesterday & looked to see what was on offer,most branded cereals were near £2 a box,with the MrT's brand at least 60p cheaper...In fact,I think that the store brand is often better than the name brands! It has got to the stage now where I look to see what's on offer or in the reduced shelve's,but I still think that meat from a supermarket is more expensive than my local butchers.

ali-t

I clearly still have a long way to go as many of the things you all do came as news to me.

The main changes I have made is not buying as much from the premium make up counters and trying to use what I have before buying more - £20 for a shower gel should be a birthday or Xmas treat not an everyday norm. What was I thinking?

I have changed hairdressers from one where a cut was £50 to one where a cut is £12. I get the brazilian keratin treatment for £125 now rather than £200 and highlights are £60 rather than £100+. These are the things where there is no visible change apart from on my pocket. Who can tell if I am wearing a £25 blusher or a £3 one?

I tend to take my car when I go on a night out rather than getting taxis to town (£10 each way) and tend to buy branded frozen food out of farmfoods rather than tesco.

Its nowt compared to many people on here but is saving me loads with very little impact on my standard of living.

Nimeth

spike7451 wrote: »

Breakfast cereal...Have you noticed how expensive it's become?...I was getting my shopping yesterday & looked to see what was on offer,most branded cereals were near £2 a box,with the MrT's brand at least 60p cheaper...In fact,I think that the store brand is often better than the name brands! It has got to the stage now where I look to see what's on offer or in the reduced shelve's,but I still think that meat from a supermarket is more expensive than my local butchers.

Quite often the store brand is made by the same people who produce the branded stuff. It's just the packaging and brand name you're paying extra for. I buy my cereal from A!di, most of the ones I buy are around 99p for a box. If you've got an A!di near you, might be worth a look.

Oh and thanks to those of you who suggested the book swap sites, will check those out!:cool:

natlie

natlie wrote: »

Hi
I think its mosty just eating out - I do still eat out but only if we have vouchers like bogof in La tasca, I very rarely have a frappuchinno in Starbucks - yum, do make them at home but its just not the same. Dont buy grapes anymore.

I think I manage with most other things as I shop around so much, biscuits are really cheap in Farm Foods as as their frozen chicken fillets I get my fave coffee and tea bulk buy on internet, I love cherries but at £5-7 a bag they are a major luxury item! I wish they did pick your own cherries - we can only get berries on the pick your own farm here,

Nat

I am adding to mine now

Grapes ouch! just seen the price increases in the daily mail
salmon
crisps - I only buy on offer
I love flakes but I don't think they are worth 60p
nappies - I use reusable ones
wetwipes - I use reusable ones
I don't really buy anything disposable
I don't buy ready meals
cds - havent bought music for years
dvd's only buy if I really want it and its under £5
dvd rental is a treat too - we had 4 films from blockbuster for £8 keep for 4 nights and there was 20% discount - first films we had rented for about 18 months
cake - mostly homemade but can't make custard slices yummy yum yum
make up - stick to basics foundation and mascara - all the rest of the make up I have I ask for birthdays and xmas as my sister works in Boots
handwash lol - we use sainsburys basics baby bubble bath decanted into handwash bottles
Nat