Do people ever think you're 'odd' for being old style?

Rage_in_Eden

jeanniebeanie wrote: »

I have had sarcastic comments about my shopping at Aldi (I adore Aldi no matter what anyone says) and I have also had comments about my charity shop cookbook buying addiction such as "charity shops stink" or "how could you read anything second hand- you don't know where it's been?"

The last comment being from someone who borrows books from the library!:rotfl:

Aldi has some lovely stuff - we were very pleased when we got a local one..... charity shops I love so much I am no longer allowed in them unsupersived LOL as for libraries... love 'em!

Goldiegirl

I've always planned what we are going to eat and have made sure that I've shopped to make sure we have everything that we will need for the week. I've also always made use of offers, vouchers, coupons etc.

I enjoy cooking so I will often cook from stratch, doing double portion sizes, so I can freeze the remainder for next time.

I didn't even know there was anything called 'old style' until I joined this forum.

I don't think people think I'm odd, as I just do what I do. Other people I know are obsessively thrifty, other people I know spend money like there is no tomorrow. I'm somewhere in the middle of the two camps.

I like to buy the best I can afford, and I'll shop around for what I feel is a good deal. I buy some clothes second hand from eBay, but most of my clothes are bought new in shops, but after I've finished with them I'll sell them on eBay to raise money for other clothes.

In the supermarkets I'll shop sensibly and look out for deals, but often on Sundays I like something from the M & S Cook range, and if I want a takeaway I'll have one.

We don't live the high life, but a couple of times a year we like to go to London for a meal and theatre.

I like to go on cruises so we have good holidays.

We save regularly and live reasonably modestly, so we can afford to do the things we like to do.

I'm probably not 100% old style, but I like to live my life on a generally old style basis.

Maybe some hard line old stylers think I'm profligate, and maybe some high rollers think I'm parsimonious, but I'm just living my life my way.

sonastin

To turn the question around, does anyone else find themselves thinking people who aren't living their lives "old style" are a bit odd?!

I look at them and wonder why they would throw their money away like that. And then I remind myself that its their money to spend and what else would the spend it on if not that. It entirely their choice. But still, why??! I'm sure its a bit odd

Tenyearstogo

Not everything in my life is OS, but by making somethings OS, such as meal planning and using leftovers etc, I can spend more on things I do want.

I have a lady do all my ironing now, I'm using the money saved from OSing my food shop. Not only do I no ironing now, I have an extra two hours to do what I want.

[Deleted User]

Hi, im not completely OS but after splitting with an ex partner who got into a mountain of debt, i bailed out and got a small mortgage and place of my own. My oldest son mocks me saying oh which coupon did you buy that with then or i bet that was on a BOGOF haha! Hes in debt btw, probably learnt off my ex when we lived together. My exhusbands wife wears the trousers and there in debt too even though when wer were married he was in charge of our finances and we never had debt bringing up our children. Whereas im in a low paid job, single but ive still managed to go abroad once already this year saving for it. Im the only only with no credit cards at all, i budget, and buy my meals around YS products, i dont buy a lot of cleaning products, just the basics, i scrape and tip everything upside down, jars, bottles, shanpoos etc. i dont buy binbags i use supermarket carrier bags etc. i wear jumpers if i getting cold instead of cranking up the heating. Ive saved on utilites, mobile etc by shopping around. But still None of them get the fact that the less you spend on rubbish the more money you have to do what you want with, surely thats why we work. Give everyone else (all the supermarkets, utility companies etc) less money for yourself to enjoy more of..

frosty

Lots of people think being OS means your poor:eek::eek:.As someone said before they don't see the bigger picture,some of our family and friends thought we were struggling and when I tried to explain how much money can be saved when your OS you could see their eyes glaze over with boredom:D.I don't talk about it,and they don't know we have cleared £35,000 worth of debt and we don't owe a penny on our home,the penny might drop when they see the Vw camper van we are buying soon, parked on the drive.We couldn't of done it if we were not OS.:T:j

thriftwizard

I've been really lucky; I live in a very prosperous area but there are two other families locally who are pretty much OS. We were kind of forced into it by having a big family, as was one of the other families, which makes it virtually impossible for both partners to work FT - childcare costs would have been phenomenal, there'd be someone off sick at least once a week, there were 5 x parent-teacher consultations, sports days, prize-givings, plays, concerts, important games, music exams, endless doctor/hospital visits etc. - but there was still the mortgage to pay & rather a lot of shoes, uniform, sports kit etc. to buy! The other family had a lot of debt from a business venture that went wrong. Interestingly I think they are the ones that feel "left-footed" as the wife puts it, by the necessity of being OS, and try to hide it. (Doesn't help that her mother is a great believer in "attracting money to money" by spending it like water!) Anyway, we were not alone, and that really helped back when the idea of not spending money you didn't have to seemed laughable.

But some of my wider family are career-minded overachievers, who clearly believe that you should flaunt "it" whether you've got it or not; they find our lifestyle incomprehensible and don't hesitate to make little barbed remarks. Water off a duck's back now, but it used to hurt. Now I just wonder why they feel the need to make hurtful comments; do they feel threatened in some way by the fact that despite all the money that has passed through their hands over the years, we're in virtually the same place now - mortgages paid, kids doing OK - but we've done it differently?

katieclampet

sonastin wrote: »

To turn the question around, does anyone else find themselves thinking people who aren't living their lives "old style" are a bit odd?!

I look at them and wonder why they would throw their money away like that. And then I remind myself that its their money to spend and what else would the spend it on if not that. It entirely their choice. But still, why??! I'm sure its a bit odd

Totally agree with this!

katie

jeanniebeanie_2

Rage_in_Eden wrote: »

Aldi has some lovely stuff - we were very pleased when we got a local one..... charity shops I love so much I am no longer allowed in them unsupersived LOL as for libraries... love 'em!

I love libraries too! My point was that while she was being so snooty about my charity shop books saying "you don't know where they have been" she completely didn't get that her library books have probably "been" in far more places!:rotfl:

mishmash

I have found that some people have been suprised that I shop at Lidl and Aldi, have one friend who ' only shops at marks' but always likes my food!
My mother was devastated when I bought my wedding dress from oxfam, an said I was handmaking the invitations and favours! However when the wedding was a hug success and all her friends commented on my dress, and the invites an stuff, she then bragged about how arty and clever I was, that I'd always been a bit different and an individual!
Mostly I find people generally are interested, I got a stunning designer gown from oxfam for a ball (it was £4:99) and told anyone who asked, they were all good reactions.
Lots of the things in my home are junk shop finds, people seem to like that.
I suppose it is a bit necessity for us and our large brood, we both work and have decent salary's but for us we save where we can so we can spend where we want, if that makes sense?