False economy (merged threads)

Alison_Funnell

Errata wrote: »

I have to agree with this. I have an M&S nightshirt that I'm wearing for the 27th winter, it wasn't cheap at the time but the label didn't say it was indestructable! My Ercol coffee table is 40 years old, has been in every room in the house including the loft and excluding the bathroom and goes in and out of fashion. My Denby dinner and tea service is the same age both are a couple of pieces short now but what has lasted has no chips whatsoever.
I'm convinced all that lot will see me out!

I have been gathering old Ercol and Denby ever since I met the Mr. My Inlaws bought theirs when they wed (and added to over the years) They married in '56 and the original bits are still going strong. Some have been passed on to us or the SIL (who also has Denby and Ercol - hers from the 80s and 90s) Definitely the best investments.

I have to agree on washing detergents, tried the cheap ones, none are as good on our muck. Also perfumes. I get Chanel, normally when travelling, lasts well and you only need to use a little. Same with some cosmetics. I use a solid powder foundation. Costs a bit more but suits me well so I use less and it also saves me time and a concealer.

I have never been able to afford really good clothes to know if they are worth it, but cheapest stuff is a waste of money and materials.

ALIBOBSY

Just remembered laughing at some of the plug plants on sale in b & q last year. A pack with 6 part grow carrots for £2 I think-totally crazy, carrots don't like being transplanted anyway and 6 for that price lol. I grew mine from a free seed pack I got with a magazine (a gift subscription from OH using a voucher to reduce it lol) but they had packs for 29p ish in Lidl.

Ali x

anguk

Definitely washing-up liquid, I've found nothing is as good as Fairy and it has to be the original one, the different flavoured varieties they do don't seem to last as long as the original.

Cling film and foil I always use Lakeland, on the odd occasion that I've ran out and had to use supermarkets own brand you can normally hear me moaning about the quality. Lakeland is dearer but the foil can often be wiped clean and used again.

Only DH drinks coffee but it has to be a good one, we normally buy it when it's on offer. I drink tea and much prefer to pay a little extra for Ringtons, plus the nice young man delivers it to my door in his van.

Milk from the milkman, I know it's cheaper to buy milk at the supermarket or local shop but if I go into a shop to get milk I always end up buying other things too so it works out cheaper to get it delivered. Plus there's the luxury of having fresh milk on your doorstep no matter how bad the weather is, even when the roads are thick with snow our milkman still manages to deliver.

I now only buy decent cookware, so many cheap roasting tins end up chucked out so now I'll pay extra for something that lasts much longer.

Alison_Funnell

anguk wrote: »

I now only buy decent cookware, so many cheap roasting tins end up chucked out so now I'll pay extra for something that lasts much longer.

Definitely. Though I have atough time finding a good non stick.

Florenceem

pollyskettle wrote: »

I have no problems with it at all, works just as well as before it was frozen and everything tastes/rises/bakes just as well, so I'd be inclined to say no. I do tend to chuck it in a freezer bag (in it's packaging - I don't decant the flour into it!) prior to freezing, one of those zip locky freezer bags fits a bag of flour nicely.

What I do with flour - also had a visit from weevils!

stiltwalker

Buying things because they are a bargain never works - only get stuff if you would get it anyway, nothing to stop you waiting until things that you actually use are on an offer and stocking up then which is what I do.

I also find being too frugal all the time is a no no as I start feeling deprived, skint and miserable so always try to build a little wiggle room into the budget to allow for spur of the moment treats - it doesn't need to be much just a single bath bomb from lush (rather than my usual HM ones because they are always prettier colours, I've never got the hang of colouring them properly) or the occasional new book with crisp new smelling pages (cheap in the supermarket or off Amazon) rather than library books that have been read loads of times and the pages are all soft and smell of library.

Simple things but it makes all the difference.

Just read that back and realise I sound a bit odd - hey ho!!!

Hardup_Hester

GYO works for us, we use seeds & not plug plants, hubby built our raised beds from scratch, being outdoors helps him fend off depression. As for prepacked salad leaves you don't want to know what I know about them. At least I know our salad leves are safe to eat.

tru

GYO is cheaper for us too. We have two 8' x 6' greenhouses - total cost £20. We buy seeds, start some of them off in the geenhouses then plant them in the garden, some are sown straight into the veg patch. The veg patch is a dug-over bit of garden. I fancy a couple of raised beds but no way would I buy a kit, we'll be making them out of old pallets which I can get for free.

We grow carrots, potatoes, beetroot, spinach etc. All things that we eat every day, I don't see the point of growing things you won't eat, just because you can (what's 'luxury' veg?). We also have fruit bushes. Our garden is 60' x 30' and we don't have an allotment. We also don't spend hours each week just gardening, once you've got everything growing it pretty much looks after itself.

Rainy-Days

Just another nodd in the direction at Denby dinner services, ours was bought in 1993 is in use everyday and apart from two cereal bowls and a tea plate that got broken, it has done beautifully. Ebay prices are holding up very indeed so if we wanted to sell it we could probably make just as much as when we first bought it.

Those Brentford sheets you have taken me back!!!! John Lewis sheets have lasted us for years and years, have washed and worn beautifully.

mardatha

Fabulous thread, enjoying this