NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

[Deleted User]

Thanks GQ. You understand me better than I do.
Letting go of clothes that don't fit or are damaged I'm finding ok. Its the hoards of good clothing I can't let go of. I'm going to ebay them first. Give them a month and if they don't sell CS them. The funds if any will go to something I NEED. Like a well earned weekend away. This will give me an incentive to get rid. And a sense of purpose for the clothes that don't sell will go to other people that NEED them.
I must say your very experienced in all of this GQ.

Bathory

The biggest area that I wasted a lot of good money on I hate to say was makeup.

There is a brand out there that totally hooked me around 2007-8, now there is nothing wrong with treating oneself but I went overboard with it and now look back in shame. Shame of what I spent to cover my face as I use to have zero confidence and shame to what money I wasted which could have been used towards better things. This brand had (well still have) 2/3 collections out each month, often beautifully packaged and very hyped up, esp amongst the youtube beauty channels who all seemed to have big collections of cosmetics.

It never made me happy, all it did was add to clutter and get put in drawers unused. However, what I did back then, the money/time spent at work/plus overtime to buy more cannot be undone. At the end of the day I age like the next person and my rosacea is still there when the layers come off at night. I do think a lot of shopping fuels adrenaline and it becomes like a drug - leaving a person with a high and then a low. I can only learn from what I use to be like.

Anyway, best catch up on some sleep, its been an emotional day and I am waffling on now... Night, night folks

Picklepot

Thank you lesson learned for your very kind post and for the suggested links.


I am loving this thread and feel positive that I can make some real changes in 2015.


Went off to physio today , try to make sure I do multiple jobs when I get the car out. So on return went past T0sco..collected a prescription, icing sugar and birthday card, nothing else.
Note to self be more organised for birthdays... cards are fraction of price in local market.


No inclination to get any sale item. Just watched with amusement at all those stressed people and thought of my shipmates!

GreyQueen

ImDoingItForMe wrote: »

Thanks GQ. You understand me better than I do.
Letting go of clothes that don't fit or are damaged I'm finding ok. Its the hoards of good clothing I can't let go of. I'm going to ebay them first. Give them a month and if they don't sell CS them. The funds if any will go to something I NEED. Like a well earned weekend away. This will give me an incentive to get rid. And a sense of purpose for the clothes that don't sell will go to other people that NEED them.
I must say your very experienced in all of this GQ.

That's kind of you. I'm 50 and got ME when I was 20. Never have been able to work f/t and have always therefore been pretty poor. It's hard to not clutch and hold onto stuff, even stuff you constantly bypass for use, because of the Fear of Want.

Commercial society likes to have us fearful of Want, so we grasp and strive and cling and clutch, even when it does us no good, makes us ill, stressed, anxious and actually harms our security and financial wellbeing, such as paying for the storage unit full of tatt because we might need it someday.

But, in case you think I'm some wise old crone or an evolved soul shortly to disappear up her own fundament, you should know that I struggle with these issues on a daily basis myself, so I'm walking the talk (and laughing at my own hangups as I do it).;)

Slowdown

Well Ahoy shipmates!

I have been sailing to distant shores these last few days and have now returned to harbour and glad to be back. I had a good time but I would be lying to say it wasn't without stresses. Close family proximity for seven days can be heavy going, even when you are away holidaying so to speak. My youngest son was ill for the most part and couldn't join in with much. He has come home quite depressed I think. My SIL was also ill and couldn't spend time with her kids as much as she would have liked. My ma was stressed and passed that on to us all! (Though mostly because she worries we are all doing too much, and she's right).

The excess was astonishing. Presents ripped open and barely acknowledged, food was gobbled, drink was heshed back and relaxation wasn't really on the cards.

I am in no way ungrateful for the experience as my ma paid for 14 of us to go away and I do love my family to bits but my guess is, we could all have done with a little less in all departments.

Like most of you, I too have had thoughts provoked by seeing and hearing things that I have disliked or have seemed indicative of our wastefulness. On Boxing Day I recieved an email from ebay that said it was a great time to get rid of my unwanted Christmas gifts!!!! On Boxing Day!!! What amazed me was
A) that they thought I wanted to hear from them on Boxing Day at all
that they assumed I had unwanted gifts and..
C) that if I did, I would want to make a profit out of them!

Now this really is thought provoking and indicative of a society that has way, way too much in terms of 'stuff'. I admit I both recieved and gave too much this Christmas but really? Do I really want to sell it all the next day?

Anyway I made a decision while I was away that if I could have a not buying it 2015, I would go away again next christmas but just me,DH and the kids and we would do a secret Santa type gift giving. That way we could enjoy the experience and be together without all the 'stuff'.

I am really glad to be back on board ship with you all and having read as many posts as I could delighted you are all still afloat.

Now the countdown truly begins. Make sure you've packed your sou'wester because it's only 2 days until we weigh anchor!
Kindest regards
Slowdown

Caterina

Bathory I hope your mum gets well soon. xx

[Deleted User]

GreyQueen wrote: »

That's kind of you. I'm 50 and got ME when I was 20. Never have been able to work f/t and have always therefore been pretty poor. It's hard to not clutch and hold onto stuff, even stuff you constantly bypass for use, because of the Fear of Want.
Nice to virtually meet you GQ. I'm 50 next year and I think its that that's making me think differently.
I've had times where I've had more money than sense it seems and times where I've had enough money and also times I've had not enough money.

Its the not having enough money that's made me cling onto stuff just incase - in case of what. I've bought stuff just in case. In case I get old and can't afford it when I need it. In case im ill and can't work. I've lived on my own so haven't had the back up in case im ill and can't get out.
Too much hanging onto the past. So as I'm hitting half a century soon its time to stop worrying about what ifs and in cases and declutter.

GreyQueen

Nice to virtually meet you, too.

I really think we need to get together with Mr Justin Case. It seems to me that whenever people are gathered together, his name crops up as the reason for all sorts of stressy, hoarding behaviour.

Shout out to Justin - I'm gonna find out where ya live and send the boyz around.:p

Rowan9

I'm sorry that your son was ill slowdown. A degree of depression sometimes follows illness. I hope he picks up soon.
Well, I love all natural things, love no sulphate shampoo etc etc so.......why did I jump at the email from debbehnaams offering me free clarrrins products if I bought two, and why did I quickly put a lovely lovely BIG bottle of their fab cleanser into my online basket and then a hand cream which I could give to my niece for her birthday.....next December? Luckily I thought about this thread and didn't buy. I do love clarrrins but hey ho I'm sure there are lots of other very lovely things I can use on my face. I know that there are. Lesson learned has some fab posts on the fab thread on health and beauty about this very thing!
Knowing that I read all your posts daily helped me from kerrrching at the online till.
Tomorrow I will be going on another afternoon walk with DH and then home to make huge pot of soup and maybe one of stew. I've really enjoyed the walks on these hols and also eating left overs afterwards, so nice easy meals.
W

FrugalinShropshire

What a fab lot of posts I have just read.
We had a gloriously simple Christmas. Turkey and veggie roast were cooked on Xmas eve, as I only have a table top cooker. We sat in front of the fire and sang carols and watched a few tear jerking TV programmes. It snowed Boxing Day, so we had a snowy night time walk.
We have bought only bread and milk since the 23rd and have eaten really well. We were all a bit tired tonight so had snack suppers, I wanted something hot, so cooked a packet of noodles (15p ones) and added a knob of butter and a tablespoon of Boussin cheese. It was delicious
I am so excited by the new year, I turn 50 in February:rotfl: