NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

fairy3

Afternoon shipmates - it was morning when I started catching up! I agree with Thriftwizard that stuff happens whilst you are doing other stuff - mine has been a long time accumulating and the business of work has meant there was never time to do anything about it. Well not next year, as a new retiree it stops now. Mine has started with getting rid of a bag a day either to charity, recycle or bin.
MrsLurchwalker - do you go to my coop? It's exactly the same there and they try and 'hide' the receipt in my bag! I just stick the YS label on the receipt and take it in the next time - so annoying but it is their policy not mine so they can deal with it.
I spent yesterday in Sainsbugs to use up my 'free' £5 and bought items I will use when not using SM's in January and hopefully longer......
Have tosco vouchers which will use before the first on staples to add to stores.
Have stepped on the scales this morning and set up a free spreadsheet app to update weekly and will be trying to see this reduce before the clearing of the wardrobe begins.
Plan on getting to grips with the finances today and alternating with menu planning, the sun is out if a bit icy so stroll by the river with t'dog is in order.
Lovely news of more babies - makes me want to knit!
Have a lovely afternoon all - hope Slowdown is having fun in the sticks.

miss_emmajane

Afternoon all, having a lazy day here both in our pyjamas still but I have been very productive this morning.

I booked an @sda delivery to come at 12pm today with big items that we needed to stock up on, some electric kitchen scales using Christmas money as mine broke a couple of months ago, and a couple of fresh bits to accompany what we have in. I have to say I am not sure I could participate in the non-supermarket challenge. I shop mostly as LIDL/ALDI when I am near them on my work commute but we live alongside a canal in a small village so have to travel out to shop (other than a corner shop and very expensive bakery/fruit & veg place) - and also have to carry around all of our shopping from a car port to the front of the canal. I have a little 'teacher trolly' to wheel it all round in but it is on its last legs. It is fantastic to have the @sda delivery bring big bags of rice/pasta, lots of tins, 24 toilet rolls, boxes of cat food etc. We do get our eggs delivered to door weekly from the local farm though so I suppose that is something.

Before the delivery came I gave our kitchen a good clean, and also cleaned out the fridge and boxed everything up neatly that had been put in over Christmas or given to us (we got stuffing from both our parents and made our own so have lots of stuffing!). I cooked a big batch of parsnip chips in the halo using the very sad looking parsnips leftover from Christmas dinner - will also help me get me back on track with losing weight after lots of treats! We might go for a walk down the canal this afternoon for some fresh air, but won't be doing much more - it is very frosty and cold here, was glad to not have to travel out for shopping as the roads/paths here get really dangerous, sadly last time it was like this just before Christmas someone died in a RTA and even as I walked to the village post office it was a task to stay upright.

Hope everyone has a nice Sunday, enjoying coming on each day and reading everyone's posts.

I_want_a_baby

Following on from a few previous comments:

Free treats for me:
Reading a chapter of a book I own but have not yet read.
Awaiting and reading each copy of home farmer (free as a Xmas present).
Manicure/pedicure with items already have.
Bubble bath, face mask and candles.
Making a homemade cake or biscuits.
Half hour of reading my favourite blogs.

Unfinished projects to be completed in 2015:
Cross stitch sampler started x1
Knitted blanket started for baby
Make curtains for kitchen with material/items already bought.
Patchwork memory blanket started with old baby clothes
Put photos in albums already purchased.
Finish the children's baby books and start one for the new baby.
Room by room declutter and make each space homely (no spending!).

Small win today-
Wanted to move my computer/paperwork from the current unheated office to the warm unused garden room.
Talked about how we would buy some wood to make a desk etc.
Remembered not buying it and this thread.
Wandered round the house and realised I had two matching small dining room tables that would fit the gap and only need a small amount of modifying to make it into a large desk :-) no spend required.
We will also be able to store our homegrown fruit and veg in the unheated office rather than the stuffy hot utility which will mean they keep for months rather than a week!

A huge amount of mess, paperwork and junk to deal with in the storage room come office first though but as someone said before I will take it a step at a time, remove a handful of paperwork or small box and close the door and sort it bit by bit!

Anyway excited to be getting organised and making our new home work for us xx

mothernerd

Primrose wrote: »

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 !!!

My mother sometimes gives me stuff that is totally unsuitable and I will never use. I take it because she needs to declutter much more than I do, it's an ongoing process at our house, the boys would ask from an early age where the cs bag was if they had something which couldn't be passed to a younger sibling.

I don't want mum's stuff but didn't want to hurt her feelings if she subsequently saw it in the cs, so I got into the habit of taking a bag when I had occasion (voluntary work, cinema or shopping) to visit one of the nearby 'big' towns (both 8 miles away).

Loving the thread. Planning my next de-clutter (currently on crutches - have a full bag and two started with goods for particular cs but couldn't persuade DS3 to take them, he had done cs/library books and food bank the previous week).

De-cluttered ruthlessly before recent house move and have been strict when unpacking. Ripped up each box as it was emptied so there is nowhere for more clutter to accumulate. Have written a list into next years targets as there are some things in the shed at the old house, some larger items I was trying to get rid of before Christmas (needed someone to collect, still waiting for one organisation to get back in touch) and still refining/ sorting stuff that was given a place when we moved in.

There's also still some stuff left by DS2 (he was renting this house from me previously) and am currently working on Ds3's room as he is away at his gf's family house (ideal de-clutter would be to get rid of him this year but think he and gf are a long way off being able to support themselves - I have tried to get her back into education).

Now have 4 boxes and several charity sacks to fill (+ list of items) but also want to do more thoughtful giving - I don't want to 'dump' something on a charity, I want to try the group that can make good use of it. that isn't to say that I normally dump things by giving them to the cs, but some of the things DS2 has left are challenging but i still don't want to give in and send them to landfill.

fevertotell

Well done all, glad you are all going full steam ahead so to speak.

Well i am here with the dreaded lurgy and horrid double earache, missing out on a family get together and my turn to go to the football match (i share a season ticket with BIL) So i'm feeling a little sorry for myself, using the time wisely though...just culled ds2 wardrobe, a whole binbag for cs, sorted the linen and towels, whoever mentioned sticking them in a pillowcase is a genius!!! why didn't i think of that? saves time rooting through draws and saves space. And rolling towels to store?! fantastic.

I'm going to go into dds room and try to sort that a bit-she has so much stuff. i've culled all the Christmas cards bar family ones and made gift tags this morning, so less cluttered...it's my birthday tuesday and hubbys on thursday so need to make room lol.

I love this thread and look forward to getting to know you all.

Honey_Bear

I'm taking my time reading the thread from the beginning - I've been doing so in my spare time for over a week and I'm up to about Page 38, but you guys are making it impossible for me to catch up! The contributions from everyone are just amazing, and I take my hat off to you, Slowdown, for starting something new and really interesting.

It's helping me to reflect on my 2015 Goals as I use this week every year to set my goals for the following year. Resolutions don't seem to work for me, but I can track my progress monthly on Goals and even if I don't reach them I always manage some progress and learn a huge amount about why I haven't been able to reach them all. (There wouldn't be a lot of point in setting goals I knew I could achieve.)

Buying/spending generally is something I've been tracking ever since I joined this site and that's helped me cut down the spending hugely. I've just calculated my No Spend Days for 2014 and I'm absolutely horrified to find my longest period for not spending money was four consecutive days, and I only managed that three times! So, January should shape up really interestingly because the first place I'm going to make a significant change is eating from the store cupboards and freezer, and staying out of the supermarkets. We've got an excellent market and some independent shops near it, so I have absolutely no need to go browsing in a supermarket at all.

The Goals, generally, are setting themselves while I'm reading everyone's thoughts on 'Not Buying It' for 2015, with 15 featuring in most of them - decrease spending by 15%, 15 NSDs every month, 15 NSDs in a row at least once, increase income by 15% (I have very little income, so that shouldn't be impossible) increase new customer base by 15 (difficult but possibly do-able) etc etc - and there will be 15 of them.

I find the time taken to reflect on changing habits is usually well spent - it means when I'm tempted to go back to old behaviours like window shopping because I'm bored, I recognise that's when I end up spending money, probably unnecessarily.

Just wanted to say that, and to thank everyone who contributes for helping me clarify things.

boultdj

CAFCGirl wrote: »

Should you be wanting anything other than salad leaf and fancy a swap, feel free to pm me. I've got a fair few seeds for things that we simply dont eat/i cant grow for the love of God, but salad leaf I like and we eat

PM sent...and message is to short to post:o

smileyt_2

CAFCGirl wrote: »

I'm waivering on the no supermarket challenge.... More in the sense that Im fearful of failing..... Give me a boot up the bum please

What is the no supermarket challenge? Is it really possible to live without supermarkets????

I will probably lurk on this thread to remind me that if I don't need it, I won't buy it! Although I do have to go into town tomorrow to buy a couple of presents for friends, and will probably by a magazine from WHSmths as inspiration for my little business. Plus bird food for the sparrows and the robin. But that's all. That's not too bad, is it?

Effyb4

I took the boys to our local shopping centre to spend the vouchers they got for Christmas. They did really well and didn't ask me to top up for things they couldn't quite afford. We only went in 3 shops and I managed to not spend any money. We even went home to have a home cooked meal, rather than eating out. I'm feeling quite proud of ourselves.

CAFCGirl

boultdj wrote: »

PM sent...and message is to short to post:o

Replying ASAP

smileyt wrote: »

What is the no supermarket challenge? Is it really possible to live without supermarkets????

Hairbrained idea I had to attempt to live the month of January without shopping in a supermarket as frankly I hate them. I hate the food that I end up buying in them - although i know thats on me to take personal responsibility for, I just hate feeling 'tricked'....

I dont know why I've suddenly become petrified of trying it. Maybe its because im feeling very lazy over cooking tonight so it would be something on an oven tray. if Im not shopping in a supermarket, I wont have that fall back :rotfl: