NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

TudorRose

Good Morning everyone. It's good to be in the second day of our journey. If we were on a real boat I would be another who would be drugged up with anti seasickness tablets. I have even had sea sickness on a pedalo!

Friday is my usual shopping day so I went to nearby usual town where I am able to get the bits I need. I took a list so that I didn't forget anything and also so I wasn't tempted to get what wasn't needed.
In the end I spent just under £13.00 which covered fruit & bread from Ald!, de-icer & a new scraper for the car as I gave my son mine at the weekend, some toiletries for me and cat litter.

I did have a look in a few shops to see what was reduced but am pleased to say that I didn't see anything I wanted let alone needed. Usually I wouldn't have come away empty handed but this time I did which is great as it means money kept in my purse and no extra clutter for the house.

On the way to the shops I called in at the tip and got rid of two small defunct electrical items for recycling. Have been meaning to do this for weeks and hadn't even though I pass the tip every week on the way to my weekly shop.

Have also taken down my cards & few decorations and replaced them with my normal non Christmas items. I enjoyed them when they were up but it's nice to get back to normal.

There was no need to buy any food today except the fruit and bread as I am well able to feed myself from my stores this coming week.

Let's keep up the good work. There's a long way to go but it is a real help to me to have someone to tell what I have done and to realise that there are many other like minded people out there.

savingqueen

Too lazy to find the poster who asked about adding soft cheese to a white sauce - but yes that works well!


An almost NSD for us, we are going for a walk in the woods after lunch. We do need milk though so will pick some up on the way home but I don't consider essentials as spends as such. We have 2 young lads who drink a lot of milk so essential in this household. My NSDs will aimed at not buying anything we don't genuinely need, doing things for free, walking instead of driving etc.

thriftwizard

Morning (just) me hearties!

Had a welcome NSD yesterday, but have spent just under £60 at the local market this morning. As we still have some leftovers, plus a full freezer, that will form the basis of this week's food for 6 of us, though there are actually 7 until tomorrow afternoon, when DS3 starts his journey back to the chalkface in Provence via a stopover at his uncle's in Essex, somewhat closer to the airport he flies out from at silly o'clock on Monday morning.

I will have to update bread & veg & possibly even a little fruit mid-week, and I will always do my 50p-veg run when the market is closing down on Sunday; it's total pot-luck what we find, and sometimes there's nothing much that I can use, but by & large it's a huge saver for us and it's less than quarter of a mile's stroll, so not much trouble to go to. Also, there was no fishmonger today, so that's another thing I may have to buy midweek; once DS3 is gone, the rest of us love fish, so it's been off the menu (apart from a spot of smoked salmon) for the last two weeks but will be firmly back on again now. The best source locally is the fishmonger's stall in behind the post office, which is open most weekday mornings & Saturday; always good & fresh, with a good selection, if not always cheaper than the SM. So between the fishmonger, the bakery & the greengrocer, I should be able to keep out of the SM this week, BUT there are two household members who for some extraordinary reason prefer sliced, packaged bread & I may to have get some in for them.

Christmas is still with us until DS3 leaves, but then it's on with the new year & the spring cleaning has already started. Plenty of decluttering yet to go, but as people straggle back to work, I'll be able to get stuck in & get it sorted. I never want to have to spend the month before Christmas trying to find enough room for all the family to sleep in, ever again...

Bathory

oceandreamer wrote: »

Well day 1 has gone quite well! Have decided to draw money out of the bank each week to cover food, petrol etc and not use card. Anyhow nothing spent today, eaten up lots of leftover cheese, pate and mince pies (may end up accumulating pounds in more than one way!) then made a curry from the freezer/cupboard. Tomorrow I shall take a trip to the farm shop to get a sack of potatoes which is about £4.50 and lasts us about 6 weeks. They also sell 'dirty' carrots ie with the soil still on, which keep really well too and work out cheaper than the supermarket, so I shall get a sack of those while I am there. Took the xmas decs down today and decided to only have one or two ornaments out on the surfaces. I have put the rest away so I can change them over now and again. I can't believe how much bigger the room looks and how much calmer it feels! Just the rest of the house to go now!

That is one thing I need to find around here - a farm shop or somewhere that sells veg with the soil still on. Carrots especially taste amazing, unlike these bleached plastic bagged things in the supermarkets, takes all the flavour out of them. We had to throw away parsnips after a day buying them because they looked so bleached and super clean that they developed a rancid vinegar smell.

Happy new year to everyone, sorry its a little late but since my last post with my mum being in hospital I have not had much time to write properly. She is on the mend thankfully from pneumonia but is being kept in whilst she gets properly better, it was a scare for all the family when it first happened though.

The only sale item I got was a couple of pairs of thick winter socks, needed as all my others are wafer thin. A grand total of £2.50 and that is it - it stops there. Nice to read of a lot of decluttering going on, I'm a minimalist by nature but OH isn't so the house never looks as I'd like it to. Over the past day or so I have thought about Christmases past and how it was nothing like it is today, I am aiming to go backwards in a strange way rather than forwards in my life - ie: a proper return to old values and a simpler approach to life, which is why this thread is so appealing to me and I enjoy reading everyones posts. I know I can't technically go backwards in time but making life simple from now on will mean cutting out unnecessary stress, waste and above all thoughtless consumerism.

purpleshoes_2

I made curried parsnip, apple and onion soup yesterday, my mum liked it even though she doesn't like parsnips. Had a no spend day yesterday as my mum bought my dinner, but we had had enough of curry by last night so I had a mushroom pakora, my mum had a veg pakora, came to 6.40 for the two of us. Have left my mum plenty more parsnips so she can make more soup. I tend to spend very little when I food shop but going to supermarkets less will stop the impulse buying. I actually don't need anything today apart from one more pack of cat biscuits so that will be a 2 pound spend over a four day period which is great.

I'm doing OK with the decluttering, my home isn't minimalist but its got far less clutter than a year ago. I don't like binning lots of things so most local charities take items not fit for sale including shoes, some also take magazines. I also need to spend the year using up, probably got enough perfume, make up and toiletries for the year ahead.

I'm going to set a target of ebaying two items a week until anything sale able has gone, and do a big charity shop donation in the new year. I also need to get out more, I do get out enough just that most of the nights out I go to are through the site meet up, I run a couple of groups, but I need to do other things, I joined a couple of walking groups and I didn't dislike it, just that you need to keep up with the fastest person, I'm not unfit, just don't like zooming around at 100mph.

I thought I was frugal last year but there's massive room for improvement and the food budget is where I can make the savings. Not been tempted by the sales, I have more than enough clothes, shoes, bags and bits and pieces. Nothing apart from corner shops, takeaways, garages were open here yesterday, all the supermarkets were shut and no public transport yesterday either.

Have only spent 20 pounds on alcohol in the last month, case of prosecco bought with money saved in a virgin wines account and the 20 made up the shortfall. Was an extremely frugal Christmas and new year but it was good as well.

[Deleted User]

we went shopping this morning and was at aldi for 8am. We bought pilates equipment and various stretching and strengthening items, a trolley lot and all for around £90, which would cost several hundred more in specialist shops. Most are neatly stored in a basket on the floor in our living room, visible but not in the way and so easy to pick up and do a bit eg the kettle weights, just a few arm movements with them, nothing strenuous. Dh also got a gym ball, a big roll. a medicine ball and some wrist supports, knee support and socks. Such excellent prices https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/specialbuys/friday-2-january/

I put trousers on to go and shock and amazement, they are far too big in the waist (thank you d`adamo) I eat 5 small meals these days anyway so never feel hungry. Lol I love the fact that my waist is shrinking. Altering them will be a job for tomorrow, I don`t like doing alterations and am not in the mood today as it involves getting my sewing machine out from the back of beyond. Too faffy to do properly, so I will just move one side of the zip and the catches, a bit like a dart. I wear my tops over anyway so no-one will see but at least they won`t fall down

I have delved into some more of my food stash and have soaked dried baby figs, chopped organic apricots and some inca berries in a bit of hm white wine. They are now in the rice cooker on the porridge setting and will be done at 3. I have also cut up some home dehydrated banana slices for dh, d`adamo avoid for me, and they are soaking in some wine, together with mulberries. I will cook them later in the rice cooker. I love a few dried fruits with cold brown rice, also pre-cooked in the rice cooker and a splash of almond milk. That will be my tea at 5 and that is my last eat of the day

grunnie

Another NSD for me. Watching the sleet battering against the kitchen window and getting it clean for free! so not venturing out. Have taken down all the Christmas decs and tree and tidied and decluttered them and they are now in the loft. Had a good inspection of the loft and took down my winter boots and wellies -maybe that is why the snow arrived. :j

Broomstick

I_want_a_baby wrote: »

My biggest aim however is to do as OP says and SLOWDOWN, to potter around rather than rush, to take pride in making a small area better than before, to enjoy the simple things like the sun on my face whilst washing up or the birds singing in the trees whilst hanging the washing out (it's lovely and mild and sunny so I am going to give it a go and see if it dries outside!)

Have you seen the thread '5 OS Pleasures in your Day'. It's good for taking stock of small pleasures and sometimes when I don't feel as if I've had any nice things happen at all, other people's pleasures remind me of ones I'd forgotten.

B x

lobbyludd

nsd yesterday and will be today too. Today is first day of no wheat/sugar. dad is coeliac and I'm beginning to get some of the symptoms that led to his coeliac diagnosis in his 40s . was going to go out and get olive oil as we've run out, but as I'm working from home with the kids in their rooms the only option is the local delicatessen, 100yrds away where I can buy 1 of 50 types of hand picked EVOO at hand-picked prices (it's a great deli, but I live on the very edge of an incredibly affluent area - I can easily spend my entire week's shopping budget on a few pieces of cheese, ham and olives - they are thriving and we only go in as a very very special treat - which is what I mean about independent shops leading me to spend money in an aspirational way).

anyway instead I've put in my online shopping basket and used sesame oil to dress the red cabbage and carrot slaw for lunch (with lemon juice) - tasted nice so will do that again - although didn't really go with the smoked mackerel so it will be with something else.

had a look at the blood group thing, and sugar and wheat are avoids for my blood group (I've a sneaking suspicion they might be for each of them!) so can carry on reading up on it whilst tackling those 2 and seeing what I think.

beautiful sunny day but will be dark before I finish working so can't take the chance to go for a walk, but hopefully I can have a stroll later when the kids go for tea with their dad - will look at the end of the christmas lights in town and not take any money!!

I_want_a_baby

Thanks broomstick!

A couple of extra little OS "wins" here:
Put an index card in each side of an unused magnetic photo frame on the fridge. One has this weeks meal plan and the other this weeks shopping list. Put a couple of coupons behind the magnet part and stuck a pen on the fridge with blu tak. Easy to update and take the card/coupons shopping with me!
Rearranged the fridge so one shelf is a use it up shelf.
Moved the fruit bowl to a better location as it was in direct sunlight.
Found a carrier bag of bin bags in the cupboard - we used these when moving house to hold clothes, bedding and towels. I saved all the ones which stayed intact to use for the bin. Forgot about them so that will save a few pennies.
Received two books I've been waiting for paid for with Christmas money PLUS the next edition of home farmer - can't wait to read them. Will save them until it gets dark as I have jobs to do whilst the sun shines.
I've amended our meal plan so that our tomato pasta is now a creamy garlic cheese pasta bake!

IWAB x