Life without spending, another light bulb moment

Kate_fixing_it

Pee wrote: »

My boyfriend doesn't do presents. I will get him some stuff, but it's all stuff that he needs bought at a good price - there is a second hand shirt in there, new jeans that were a bargain price etc. I was feeling a little bit left out as I will only have a £10 secret santa to open and thought what would I most want. A holiday, yes, of course, and there is some jewellry I would like but not at that price. My car may be very old but it's beautiful.

I always buy myself a Christmas present. I buy for the people I love and I should be one of them. Mine is usually one of the boots star gifts and that way I get something I definitely like and will use

Kate x

Ilona

Yes great post OP. My lightbulb moment was when I was in my early fifties. I thought, if I don't spend any money then I don't have to earn it, so I cut down my hours and reduced my pay. Life got much better from then on. Now I budget my pension and spend it on what is important to me. I don't need any more stuff. I don't have a tele, thank goodness. I don't mind that I haven't got much money.
Ilona

boltneck123

Kate_fixing_it wrote: »

I always buy myself a Christmas present.

Me too , usually after xmas though lol.

OP your original post is indeed food for thought, and I my self have been trying to head this way. I am very money hungry, however I have no desire to spend it on cr*p.

I have an iPhone, car and computer. My laptop is a loaner from my girlfriend lol. I am exceptionally happy with what I have and more thrilled to have just purchased a house and I now have a place to build an independent life for my self.

My hunger and greed for money though, I sometimes think is an issue, but on the other hand I cannot help but think - I need to clear my debts and I can only achieve this with money. Once I hit that magic £0 and I am actually classified as debt free (I exclude my mortgage), and maybe I can relax. However, I realise that once I get to £0, now I need to earn it all over again for emergencies, pension etc. The rat race is bloody annoying.

Personal growth, spending more quality time with my family and girlfriend and even one day starting a family of my own - are my ultimate goals. I just think at the moment though, while I am young at 26, I should get my head down and hoard dosh lol.

I do however still aim to enjoy life around all the work , I spend at least 6 days off a month in Lincoln relaxing with my GF and that is plenty enjoyment for me.

Fair play to all of those who have found contentment and true happiness without material cr*p, I am not far behind you .

squeekymoo

We decided not to buy Christmas presents a few years ago except for one larger present for my two children (they are older and let me know what big ticket item they want - if it is out of my budget they will get money towards it to buy for themselves in the sales).

I also do a lucky dip when it is my day to host the family over the festive period. The gifts in the lucky dip have been collected throughout the year from charity shops or boot sales. This makes for fun and excitement from the children (and adults) and gets a better reaction than crackers plus there is always the opportunity to swap gifts with others at the table and not offend anyone by doing so.

flowerofscotland

Brilliant post

The comment about not watching TV reminded me of my astonishment that the majority vote a couple of weeks ago was for the BBC to be funded by ads. Ads which encourage over consumption, materialism etc etc. I actively avoid all commercial channels as much as possible And I hate the way the Christmas ads by the big retailers have become news items in themselves. Am proud to say I haven't seen any of them

I have a long way to go to become a non consumer but posts like this are so inspiring.

It was my birthday last month and I told my DS I don't want a present as he and his family are having a hard time financially He bought a lovely card and wrote the most touching messages in it. I will treasure that card forever and it meant so much more than a gift that I didn't need

littlemiss_pretty

Brilliant Post

I am one of those people who just impluse buy and it really hit me the other day that if i had put aside £200 each month ever since i started working, i would have £24,000 by now. That made me really upset.
I have so many clothes which i don't even wear but I can't stop myself from buying. I know this will sound silly but I have promised myself that I will not buy any clothes from now until end of december just to see how i get on.
I do put £600 into my savings every month and my saving fund is building up nicely but i know i can save more if i spend my money wisely.

tiger_eyes

flowerofscotland wrote: »

It was my birthday last month and I told my DS I don't want a present as he and his family are having a hard time financially He bought a lovely card and wrote the most touching messages in it. I will treasure that card forever and it meant so much more than a gift that I didn't need

On my twenty-first birthday my parents wrote in my card, "We are so proud of you." And I've kept it ever since. ♥

ska1982

Couldn't agree more about the television and adverts! We threw our tele out in July and the difference is just enormous. Even though we were aware of the psychology behind the adverts, the actually not seeing them at all makes such a difference . I love my tele-free home and in these last 5 months I've maybe watched 3 programmes on Iplayer!

We did the whole xmas present talk last night too and got nowhere with it, lol! For our family we are making home made gifts this year.

I too love being an anti-consumer !!! Yeah!