What little things have you been priced out of?

tinktinktinkerbell

starrystarry wrote: »

No hot water? How do you bathe/shower? Do you have to boil a kettle to wash pots?

we have a electric shower for hot water, yes we just put the remaining kettle water in the sink for dishes or just wash them straight after eating in cold water

something else weve stopped, take aways, used to regularly get papa johns/pizza hut/chinese/indian/fish and chips etc, think the last time we got one is coming up to 2 years ago!

Edwardia

We're on metered water so instead of chucking boiled egg water away I let it go cold and use it to water houseplants, ditto water the dog hasn't drunk from his bowl.

Live 5 mins walk from station so stopped OH buying coffee when he gets there and made him use travel mug from home saves £6 a week.

Don't buy newspapers, Evening Standard and Metro are free and nationals all have websites.

Buy books and DVDs from charity shops. Could afford to keep buying new but just means more for the money.

Taking sandwiches..I'm not convinced this saves money. OH buys Dijon, English and French mustards, piccalilli, Branston, remoulade sauce, gherkins, fresh corned beef, chorizo, Krakowska sausage, salami, various hams, chunks of Cheddar and Red Leicester, goat's cheese, Brie, Port Salut, Scotch eggs, pickled eggs, pickled onions, spring onions and cheese rolls and gets through French butter like crazy.

Threebabes

I dont buy magazines any more, we do not buy the paper.

We very very rarely go to greggs for saturday lunch sandwich and cake, make sandwiches at home.

We very rarely have a take away, due to me weight watching and its so much cheaper to make at home.

cyclingyorkie

have given up on the Radio Times and am putting the £1 into my £1 savings tin and putting the 20p into DD1's savings tin ( she has no income since she was turned down for DLA, but is certainly not well enough to work, so it's back to the bank of mum and dad again...)

victory

amiehall wrote: »

I don't buy fizzy drinks when I'm out and about anymore (I used to get through about 2 bottles a day oops)

I buy 1 2litre bottle when I do my food shop and tip it out into little bottles. Once it's gone, it's gone. Tbh I do miss it but it's horrifying to think I was spending £3 a day on that. I'm sure my dentist bills are going to be lower as well

Thanks for the tip:D I went to buy the morries deal of buy 2 get 2 free for this reason to decant but OH says it will not work because the big bottles unless all done into small bottles at the same time the big bottle will loose its fizz, is that true?

How do you do it?

Gleek

Not really too bad on the old luxuries front. I couldn't get rid of my Sky (tv, phone and broadband) as it's really our only source of entertainment and we've pressed for a deal on it and got a good deal.

We don't drink (not teetotal, just my grandfather is a recovering alcoholic and I've been through the damage it causes and don't see the appeal.) don't smoke, don't have nights out (full time carer to said grandfather), have never had a holiday even as a kid. Don't really buy magazines (unless something's in it I want to see) anymore

Do have days out but because of grandad it can't be anymore than that as he has dementia and we're involved pretty much every day as he's not able to do anything for himself and his behaviour is and always has been challenging. Have a tendency to buy the odd DVD from Amazon marketplace (pennies and £1.26 postage). Love a wander round the shops too (mostly charity shops tbf :rotfl: )

Cor, written like that it sounds really sad It's 'tighter' than usual purely because I'm saving everything spare for Christmas and shoving it in sealed pots before I change my mind. I'm determined to make it a good one and get to the panto etc etc, something we've wanted to do for years but never had the chance.

ska_lover

In our house, luckily (touch wood) we have all managed to stay in full time employment throught the bad times- so we are still earning the same, but the bills have gone up somewhat, and we are trying to save for a deposit as quickly as possible plus got son going to Uni this september, so luxuries are non existant really in this house at the mo.

I dont find living like this a major culture shock though, because I was a single parent when my son was little so to be honest, things arent as bad as they were back then.

We always take a home prepared packed lunch, but we always have. Things like newspapers/magazines do not get brought anymore, which I miss! I used to love my weekly 'Love it' Magazine.

Socalising is a big one, me and my OH used to have a couple of nights out per month for meals, cinema, bowling etc, we haven't done any of these in a long time.

An earlier poster mentioned not spending much money on hair/make up - that has applied to me as well, I dye my own hair, and have recently started letting it grow (not sure I like it though!) for a while to save on costs.

I think the food bill has been the biggest saver - Food shopping is done with prescision nowadays, its all meal plans and lists, not the ad-hoc grabbing of stuff in the supermarket that I used to do. Food shopping has gone down my half doing this. Plus I feel far more organised - I dont come home from work and rifle through the cupboards wondering what to cook, I know what we are having every day. Also neither of us drink much these days, in fact we still have a few bottles left over from xmas that were brought as gifts for us.

split_second

i dont feel like i am priced out of anything i just think most of it costs stupid amounts

example:
when i go on holiday in the summer i will be going for 2 weeks, i havent had a 2 week holiday for about 4 years so i dont have very many tshirts and could probably do with buying a whole new set of them, looked on the burtons website (i buy my jeans there as they are excellent) one tshirt i liked was £18 :eek:

meritaten

I used to love the craft mags for cross stitch and embroidery. but when they went up to over £3 I thought 'rip off' and didnt buy them - I have loads of them in the attic from the 90s I could buy books cheaper than that! I havent bought a magazine since!

michelle2008

I have cut way back on designer make-up and cosmetics.

I have really simplified the make-up I use - and only use own brand or special offer toiletries. The savings more than pay for my one luxury - the expensive foundation i have not yet been able to find a good enough cheap replica of!!