NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

thriftwizard

Hoping I'll have an NSD as well, but that rather depends on the fuel situation; I'm driving DS1 back upcountry today. I may pop into my brother's too whilst I'm up there, just to pass on our festive wishes, but I'd quite like to get back before dark, as a fair bit of the route is on rural roads that may not get gritted.

I'm quite looking forward to tomorrow, when I'll be able to remove some excess stock from the far reaches of the house, and take it down to one of my fixed stalls on "sale" i.e. ridiculously cheap. As long as I cover what I paid for it I'll be happy; it's hung around for far too long & the sheer amount of stuff has been hanging over me like the proverbial sword of Damocles, for months now. Anything not sold in a couple of weeks will be removed & sent out to the 3rd world, where people don't have too much stuff & will know exactly what to do with it.

So my New Year's Resolution, apart from Not Buying It in general, which I'm not too bad at, is not to bite off more than I can chew; i.e. not to bring stuff in that needs attention, if I don't have the time or space to give it that attention & move it on straight away. I got into this mess because of two changes in our situation; my stepfather's rapid decline, meaning I need to give a lot more time in support, as the closest able-bodied member of their joint offspring, and DS2 & TDiL moving back in with us, taking up rather more than half of the available space. I didn't adapt quickly enough... lessons well & truly learnt now!

It's taken me a lot of thinking over the last couple of days to put my finger on how it happened, 6 months after I became aware that I did have a huge problem. I wonder how often we all end up in one mess or another, because we literally don't have the time or head-space to sit down & work out the whys & wherefores? And we keep behaving in a way that was appropriate before but isn't now?

nursemaggie

So glad you found a use for those annoying ribbons GQ. Been looking for a use for them for years. I did save them for a while hoping DGD would use them for her dolls but she never did get into dolls.

I gave up on using cards to make gift cards years ago have accumulated so many along with all the Christmas and Birthday wrapping paper I have enough to leave a substantial amount in my will. I stopped buying them about 10 years ago.

Eventually found our how much I had been buying in the January sales when I bought a bag especially to keep them all in. Was finding the stuff all over the house for years.

Looking for somewhere to donate my cards for reuse as we moved again last year.

GreyQueen

I think you' ve hit it on the nail there, thriftwizard.

Most of the time we're busy keeping up with the day-to-day stuff and simply don't have time to recognise that the house is becoming like one of those backwaters on a river where the detritus builds up in drifts. It's only when something happens that we suddenly 'see' the the problem which was there all along, and then have to deal with it.

An example could be a sudden health problem, your own or a relative's, or something leaking or falling in, or vermin getting in and having to move loads of stuff to deal with it.

My parents' home has double-glazing and the front window into their living room is a single pane which can open like a door. It's apparently the largest the company could manufacture which opens like this, and is fabulous if you need to get furniture in and out of that room, as the window opens like a book, the sill is relatively low, and you can virtually post the stuff through, rather than go through the front door, porch door and turn a sharp angle by the stairs to go through the living room door.

So, why were we struggling to wrestle an armchair past the obstacle course last autumn? Err, that'll be because the key to the wonder window was lost a few years ago and it can only be opened a few inches on the tilt function without it.

Just one small example. And the key is probably behind the sideboard, which hasn't been moved in decades. Actually, I am inspired to move it today, assuming I can get maternal authority to start pulling stuff about. Those dust bunnies ought to be rousted out, if nothing else.:rotfl:

kacie

Day 2 of operation declutter will be happening today, got to tackle all my craft supplies, the bookcase and desk, hopefully I can get it all finished today, but I thought I would get more done yesterday than I did, so we'll see!

Nargleblast

Hallelujah, kill the fatted calf and celebrate, as my OH is the long lost member of the male quintuplets on here who hoard stuff!

We have a good, working breadmaker - he buys a new one because it was a bargain.
He has over 30 good watches - so guess what he bought with his Christmas money? How many watches can you wear at once,for goodness sake - is he a man or a bleeding octopus?
His side of the wardrobe only contains trousers. All his shirts are on hangers in the back bedroom and every now and then I have to surreptitiously ( ok, sneakily) put one shirt he has not worn for ages away in a cupboard and smuggle it out in the next charity bag.....he bought himself two shirts a couple of weeks ago, because they were on sale.

The decluttering will have to step up a notch in 2015.

[Deleted User]

Morning everyone! :-)

My sister has very kindly given us her slow cooker and I am hoping some of you lovely folk could point me in the right direction of any slow cooker recipies, either online or in borrow-able book form from the library, or if you have an easy meal I can try out for my first slow cooker meal attempt? Hoping to improve my cooking skills this next year!

Bit icy here today, but the sun is out so after my youngest son has finished watching this guinea pig movie (!), we will be walking our dog. Toying with the idea of taking down the decorations so that I can clean properly, in this house they went up on the 14th, after we babysat our neighbours dogs (chaos!).

Hope everyone has a lovely day :-)

tori.k

I've started the poke around the drawers turned up 6 birthday cards that were purchased then re-purchased once stashed somewhere safe last year, ideal as I have 3 adult Birthdays in Jan to deal with, im staying with the practical this year and gifting services vouchers instead of stuff, will be seen as a cop-out by some of my family but im thick skinned.

We are taking a kiss approach this year (keep it simple stupid) I find myself slack jawed due to the amount of choice and variety there is and even the task of cooking a meal is just another chore and headache so plan on running down my store cupboard over January and implementing very quick simple meals with a take it or leave it attitude.

Ive binned my Gym membership this was hard but I need to force some self discipline, I have a dusty bike and striding distance from both beach and moorland I need to maintain my weight over this year as I decluttered my wardrobe

we are keeping our budgets the same as last year the money saved from simplifying and not buying will be going into a pot towards a family holiday instead of Christmas where we get too depends on everyone's effort to stand down from the consumerist merry'go'round.

[Deleted User]

Morning all, I had an issue a couple of years ago with my local Co Op about YS goods. I was continually being charged full price for reduced items and having to go back to get a refund. One day I saw red and asked to see the manager who said the staff were supposed to cover the original bar code on the reduced item with a sticker but didn't like using the machines! Why, I asked, because they're oily and dirty he said. Seeing bright red by this time I suggested that the machines be cleaned? in the fullness of time I noticed that they were covering the original bar codes and the staff member I knew well actually thanked me for precipitating change which had made everyones lives easier. Shortly after this the store stopped routinely issuing receipts at the till, you had to ask for one! I do this every time I shop and make sure I have my glasses with me to spot discrepancies, and sometimes I do as it's easier by far to sort it out at the time of purchase rather than later on. Bad practise from the shop and very weak management but it must be a lovely little profit maker for the store if you don't spot it mustn't it?

vulpix

Ah yes the watch collection,how could I forget.

Primrose

Nargleblast wrote: »

my OH is the long lost member of the male quintuplets on here who hoard stuff!

His side of the wardrobe only contains trousers. All his shirts are on hangers in the back bedroom and every now and then I have to surreptitiously ( ok, sneakily) put one shirt he has not worn for ages away in a cupboard and smuggle it out in the next charity bag.....he bought himself two shirts a couple of weeks ago, because they were on sale.
.

I occasionally do identical sneaky stuff to our charity shop but my OH often visits there too, sees shirts whixh are identical to ones he thinks he has in his wardrobe amd buys them as "backups" to wear when his exiating ones wear out, :rotfl:
Either that, or he has a very tactful way of playing me at my own game !!!