Anyone fancy joining me in a challenge.. Champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget

flutterbyuk25

Interesting challenge. I'll be a watcher too if that is ok!

Skintslimmer wrote: »

I'm not too sure how I'm going to do things like buying shampoo for 50% less - I already buy Alberto balsam from £1 shops, but I don't think its RRP is much more .. any suggestions here greatly appreciated! At least I don't have to worry about laundry liquid, as I recently bought some eco balls *phew*

This shampoo is only £1 in Tesco and other stores so you are making no saving in £l shops. Often in Tesco it is on 4 for £3 or similar. Or you would be better buying it in Boots when they have their 342. This way you would actually save money.

Skintslimmer

babie_gurl wrote: »

skint slimmer i will join with you on this thread i do probably spend way more than the average person on luxury items so this should help me i am also on the caveman diet at the moment although my weekness is cakes ohhh and chocolate lol

Welcome fellow caveperson (although my weakness is also cakes but I have given up chocolate for a year!)

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Am another one watching this thread with interest, but would like to make a couple of points:

- Groupon and the like are not offering anything luxurious, the offers are on cut-price services and I agree with PipneyJane about their ethics (or lack of).
- you can end up spending more than you would otherwise have intended if you go mad on dscounted toiletries, as there's always something better round the corner (new hair products etc)

I've spent the last 18 weeks running everything down, and using up what I have. It feels far more satisfying than spending on bargains!

I'm happy to agree to disagree with people over Groupon, who I have had very satisfactory service from as both a customer and a supplier. I only mentioned them as they are a way for me to access hair cuts for less than RRP.

I'm on a very limited budget, so I simply can't go mad buying "bargains" at 50% off if they would cost a lot more than I would normally spend.

Perhaps the title is misleading. All I want to do is live frugally, try to see if its possible to live almost exclusively on at least 50% off RRP. It will almost certainly involve buying things I wouldn't normally, but it might mean I buy a better brand level of goods than the value ranges i normally buy. I will still be spending no more than I do usually, and its a way for me to tart up the necessity of living on a budget without getting too down in the mouth about having to buy value products all the time.

thriftwizard wrote: »

I'm probably not in a position to join in as I have 6 other people to cater for, and some have allergies/sensitivities which makes shopping economically for them a bit of logistical challenge as it is! But could I put in a plea, on behalf of anyone else who joins in & has access to them, to allow things bought in street/farmer's markets? I've picked up so many brilliant bargains from ours (which is both) including, recently, a sack (12.5Kg) of organic parsnips for £1, as they get towards the end of the weekend & just need to clear the stall, and the prices are regularly much lower than our two local supermarkets. We've been living a champagne-ish lifestyle on a lemonade budget for years, thanks to our local stallholders!

Thanks, I think markets should definately be involved. My local farmers market is very expensive :eek: but I have had some success at my local indoor market.

My supermarket shop tonight was... interesting
Highlights:

Gluten free teacakes (which I will use as savoury rolls as I like fruity breads like that) 59p instead of £2.60. I nearly didn't even look at the bakery because me and bread don't get on well. They will do nicely for lunches.

Pizza (not gluten free, but I have got a friend staying this weekend who I will feed it to) £1 instead of £1.99

Pork hastlet from the deli, 41p and 40p instead of 82p and 80p.

Prepared raw swede and casserole veggies - I freeze then make into soups at a later date - 30p and 20p respectively.

Posh pea and garlic chive sprouts for salads - 15p each, retail at £2 odd (does ANYONE actually buy those full price?!)

Quilted loo roll - £6 for 16, RRP was 9.99 so not quite 50% off. Wanted to got to morrissons for a true BOGOF but they had shut

Corned beef - my 10% not reduced - sainsburys basics, but twice as much in it for the same price as the local co-op so I get it here if I can.

Oh, and I got a discovery sour cream and a salsa because they were 1/2 price, and I figured I would want something like that sooner or later.

Bleach, best I could find was 2 for £1.20, which wasn't strictly 1/2 price but not far off (86p each).

Paracetamol and ibuprofen I needed, and don't buy branded per se, but did go down an own brand level to the 19p versions instead of the 48p versions.

And my favourite: McGuigans Merlot (the best wine I think money can buy) 1/2 price at £4.99... I couldn't resist. Stuff your bubbles, I would drink this over champagne any day! And to go with my "champagne" I have some posh toasted nuts, £1 instead of £1.99. In hindsight though I would have been better off getting a multipack of 6 packets of crisps for the same (half) price. C'est la vie, nuts are a bit posher

I am lucky in that I am only shopping for me, and can come home at about the time the best prices are via a supermarket, but even so I can see this could be very limiting. I was too late to snaffle the really good bargains tonight, so whilst everything was mega cheap, there wasn't much decent stuff left. I bet you could do this easier if you weren't as "fussy" as me, too - plenty of junk food half price, and loads of the offers were on wheat-based products.

Also annoying is the 3 for 2 offers throughout the store. I saw a red shelf edge label, got excited but when I got closer it would be no good! :rotfl:

Also... milk for brews. What to do? I think I'm going to invest in it on the basis that taking a flask will work out cheaper than buying even subsidised coffee at work.

Taadaa

Can you colour your own hair? I started doing that a few months ago. I was in Boots yesterday and many of the colours are on a 'two for x' deal - XXL for example was 2 for 8 pounds. (don't have a pound sign on our foreign keyboard ) I went for a different make this time, a L'Oreal one that was 2 for 9 pounds. So doing that every eight weeks instead of at the salon has saved around 20 quid.

eleanor73

People constantly tell me I do this-will have a think if I can follow your above challenges. I work for a charity and earn rubbish money but manage to squeeze all means of luxury into my frugal little life!! Recently ate at a Michelin star restaurant for £30 including bubbly and currently am using an £8 conditioner which I found in the 99p store!

PipneyJane

lostinrates wrote: »

I think one of the things about 'champagne lifestyle products' is ypu get sure about your purchase and you buy it ONCE, rather than working through cheaper alternatives upgrading and spending more.

Also, patience. I would rather wait a couple of years for the lamp/machine/whatever is not something with a sell by date that i want than get a compromise or pay over the odds.

Absolutely. This is a lesson I learned watching my mum. She spent years lusting after a Pfaff sewing machine - my entire childhood, I think. Rather than stick with her 1960's basic model (which she kept), and save up for the machine she really wanted, she sequentially bought two machines "that would do" the job of the Pfaff and clearly didn't. Neither of the two replacements matched up to what she wanted. Together they probably added up to the same price as the Pfaff, but she wouldn't wait the extra time needed to save for the Pfaff.

Inevitably, we'd find her sewing on the old 1960's machine instead of the replacements.

lostinrates wrote: »

And knowing where top compromise is the hardest thing i think. E.g. We live in a house that is practically a wreck, but we will never out grow it, and neve NEED to move, we saved all our adult lives to buy it, and are now doing the same to make it more luxurious, but there are compromises we will and will not make. This year we are having some structual work done, to create a new kitchen and (whoohoo) and indoor loo, But we will not be able to afford the kitchen we want for some time. We could get a cheaper one and make do with it or make do with it for ten years or so, but whata waste! Instead we re using furniture we have, some antique gun chests and cupboards that don't really fit well elsewhere in our house,and some odds and sods paired with some ply board shelving and reusing an old sink unit. Originally we were going to move the pld kitchen units over, but they are too far gone to survive a move.....they are at least thirty years old, and would last longer in situ, but the room they are in is falling down, lol. We would rather have an unconventional kitchen for a few years than 'waste' money and resources on a kitchen we do not love and that sometime in the fifty or so years we might live here we will want to replace.

Sounds just like my kitchen!

I have a couple of wall units and a sink unit left from the original kitchen, but it was pretty rubbish when we moved in here. We did some building work 2 years ago (new boiler, rewired, moved kitchen door, etc) but ran out of money to do the kitchen. My storage consists of Ikea "Ivor" shelving, with pull-out fruit boxes for "drawers". My workbench is the kitchen table, a 25-year-old round pine table I've lugged across the world (it was cheaper to ship than to replace). The kitchen is lit by an Ikea uplighter my SIL gave us.

This year's project: replacing the flat kitchen roof with a proper, pitched, tile one. It'll be really nice to have something that won't threaten to leak when it rains. (That's what triggered the building work originally - a leaking kitchen roof coupled with a failing boiler. We've been living with a "temporary" roof ever since. The builder laid new plywood and new felt over the top of the old one, as a temporary measure. It doesn't leak but I'm still paranoid.)

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Penny-Pincher!!

Hi OP

Im going to watch this too. I think we pretty much do this anyway and feel fortunate to of found this website when we did many years ago when we were in a lot of debt.

We live and eat well. I manage to always buy my branded items I like. We eat good quality meat/poultry/fish. We grow a lot of our own veg and salad and have several fruit trees that we try and utilise.

I only shop online when I can buy a minimum of 2 weeks shop and find the biggest voucher I can and utilise current offers. Generally this way I save at least 40% on each shop. Ive switched to cheap value watery bleach for 29p for 2 litres as it really does do just as good job as the more expensive ones. I like Pledge and Mr Sheen wipes/sprays, so these are bought at Poundland once every 6 weeks along with sugar, corned beef, branded shampoo DD likes, shower gel OH likes and other bits and bobs. Ive switched to Tesco value baby shampoo and baby bath which I use in the shower on a sponge. They are 11p a bottle. I only like one particular bread which is 70p for a little loaf, so we get and freeze and get out when needed. OH doesn't eat bread and DD has a white or granary loaf. We often find loves reduced and these are then frozen, the same with the milk.

DD has a packed lunch for college and usually find sausage rolls reduced heavily, so they are frozen then got out when she wants them. I also still make up marmite, cheese and jam sandwiches when we get a cheap loaf and then freeze them, so she can pull out a sandwich and sausage roll when she wants and its all done.

I bought loads of couscous packets when they were 10p each at Approved Foods along with other cupboard items and all branded. TBH though, I haven't bothered with them recently as I can never get the free delivery codes to work and its too much energy for me.

I will come back with more when I can but just about to have lunch.

PP
xx

Katie_Cash-Strapped

Do you have a £9 hairdressers near you? They are a chain (not sure if I can say the name). I too am quite fussy about my hair, as there's a lot of it and takes a lot of taming (a bit like me )...but I tried them recently and had a really nice job done on it. I just went for a wet cut, but was chuffed. The girl listened to me and did what I wanted.

I have also used Alberto Balsam and it is very good. A**a usually has a deal on those. I also like Mr S's Basics baby lotion, but not so keen on Mr Ts - I would describe that more as baby milk as it's quite runny. Tried the baby shampoo and was no good for my hair.

W'insons do their own hair serum and heat protecting spray for £1 or just over and I think they are great and much cheaper than the main brands.

I've been looking on YouTube recently for tips on how to do my own manicures/pedicures/eyelash tinting to try and get salon beauty results without paying out as much. I have so far not been brave enough to try it out as I am very kack handed and don't want to end up looking like a drag queen :rotfl:

One thing I would need to work on would be my food shop, currently all lemonade and not a whif of champagne in sight, so will watch & learn with interest at everyone else's bargains.

Good luck all.

K

lessonlearned

I think this is the beauty of MSE in that it teaches us how to get the best for less. I also agree about waiting for things rather than making do with second best. It's often false economy to just buy cheap.

I too have champagne tastes and a very tiny lemonade budget, so I will be watching this thread with great interest to see what I can learn.

I am currently looking out for some new bedlinen and some new towels. I want good quality Egyptian cotton sheets and large soft fluffy bath sheets. I don't like poly cotton sheets - they just "bobble" after a while and cheap towels are a waste of space. I am happy to wait until I see the bargains.

I don't know if any of you travel by train but I have just acquired my first senior citizen railcard. Now I hate travelling "sardine class". I have learned that if book well in advance I can afford the upgrade to first class - it's often only a few £s extra. A recent trip to London was £5 extra for first class and to Devon an extra £15.

Upgrading to 1st means that all snacks and meals are included in the ticket price, internet access, a more comfortable seat and plenty of leg room. All I need now is to find out know is how to upgrade flights cheaply.

phizzimum

Re towels - we recently went on holiday and the towels at the cottage were super fluffy and lovely. When I looked at the label they were from Dunelm Mill! No idea how much they had cost but Dunelm prices are pretty good and they were obviously lasting well.