NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

greenbee

sjprmc01 wrote: »

Hmmm I'm not too sure about that!

I have an 80l box full, a 40l box full, a 3-shelf bookcase full, at least 3 toiletries bags full and some stuff in a cupboard and in use in the bathroom. And it's all solely mine, OH and kids have their own too

Oh and I think I have about 15 or more bottles of perfume. I'm terrible! - NO! I was terrible! A lot of it is stuff I've aspired to try then for the prev yr and a half we had a lot more money than we thought we'd ever have and my collection has spawned from that. Flash forward to after summer when our money has gone back to what it was before that 18months and now, fair enough, I have many years supply but I look at things and think they will have gone to spoil by the time I get to use them! I've parted with many (mainly to the school as prizes for parent council held events) but atm I'm of a ' I wasted my money on it so I'll bl**dy well make sure I use it' frame of mind!

Edited to add: oops I also have one of those big s&g bags (last yrs b00ts star gift?) rammed full and another gift box of stuff too :eek:

Pamper party round at yours then?

savingqueen

Another NSD here. Mending jobs done and various food bits that needed eating.... well .... eaten or incorporated into meal plans. Tomorrow kids back to school, DH to work and I will be striding on (or at least plodding on) with all sorts of OS plans to make the most of our resources. Feels good!

Tillytrotter1

Hi all

What a great thread this is, really keeps me motivated. I have been pretty frugal for about 6 months now but the food spends still seem to elude me, can't seem to manage to spend where I want to but when I look back it is probably a case of not meal planning enough and buying too much junk.
We have a great little farm shop just around the corner so am planning to go there tomorrow for our fruit and veg and also use our local butcher once the freezer has run down a bit. Also will start to look at growing our own veg however it will have to be in containers as we don't have room for a veg patch.
After reading this thread I feel so much more positive about my spending this year as there are so many like minded people to spur you on.
Thanks all x

7_week_wonder

grunnie wrote: »

I got the recipe from this thread and went and bought slowcooker for £10 from Tesco
500 g of chocolate
1 tin condensed milk
1 tablespoon of butter
1 desert spoon of vanilla extract
put all into a slowcooker on low with no lid on and cook for 2 hours. stir every 15mins or so. then pour out into a lined tin and put in the fridge
I used plain cooking choc from Lydl and it tastes like a cross between chocolate brownies and fudge:j

Thank you so much grunnie. I must have missed this first time round, but I've now copied it to my recipes folder. I can't wait to give it a go

Bobarella

BettiePage wrote: »

I thought it was yellow sticker? As in Whoops or reduced labels?

yes it is yellow sticker. Mark downs. Reduced etc.

Bobarella

vulpix wrote: »

Hi All,
O dear i do sound ungrateful and negative,I'm not really,sorry.

Vx

you really don't. You just sound like you are very different from the buying things mentality. What a shame that his mother wastes her money on those things. It obviously doesn't make her happy for long either.

Aril

Evening:D

Mr GBT has decluttered a very ancient shirt as he had a new one for Christmas. Buttons removed and main parts cut into the polishing cloths he uses for his furniture making. Small person's 2014 calendar has been torn up and made into a notepad for next to the pc where I can make all my jottings.

No shopping but online deal found for cat food I think. Shall price check against the vet's tomorrow. Out with my parents and hubbys this afternoon to a short concert with a chap playing a nyckelharpa. Never seen or heard one before. Good new experience to have had.

Over and out.

Arilx

purpleshoes_2

natnat13 wrote: »

I spent some money!! Bought some soap nuts, my washing powder has nearly run out and people seem to rate them so I thought I'd give them a go. I live in a soft water area so I'm hoping they last a while.

I used soap nuts and they were fine, but I preferred the eco balls, I got them on the site natural collection, bought them for my mum a few years back and then bought some for me, in theory, they save you a lot of money on soap powder over the years, just that your clothes come out of the wash not smelling of soap powder but you get used to that, the ones I got my mum lasted years with just few top ups of the granules inside.

Bobarella

I_want_a_baby wrote: »

Bobarella -

My plan was to save £55 per month over the 12 months to bring our emergency savings pot up to £1000, to OP our mortgage by £45-£80 per month and to save the rest/anything else towards debt repayments as I wanted to feel I was making improvements on all.

However now after reading his 7 baby steps I now want to -

1 - get emergency fund up to £1000 ASAP - all money to go towards this first so that if anything happens our debt repayments won't be affected.

2 - pay off debt in full (should take 18-24 months to clear the 10k if I am extremely focused and stay on this thread/in a frugal mindset daily.

3 - increase emergency fund to 6 months expenses. I'm going to aim for an emergency pot of £12k which is just short of 6 months income instead. This will see us ok if my husband ever lost his job or if there were ever any big repairs needed on our rental property. My haste to pay off the mortgage made me overlook this very important step.

4 - invest/save 15% of income (approx £300pm) between a pension and ISA for long term retirement savings. We want to pay off our mortgage as part of a long term plan so it makes sense to so this as well!

5 - with a decent emergency pot and savings being made for retirement, pay off the mortgage!

2015 goals from the above will be to save the £1000 emergency pot and reduce debt down to £4500 or lower is possible! The first step to achieving the above!

Financial stability is extremely important to me and much more important than anything else I could buy! My mum and dad always lived for today and when he got progressive ms and consequently my mum had to be his carer they have lived so close to the breadline and still make poor financial decisions (despite me trying to help).

Who knows what the future holds for me (or any of us), I think one day I might get Ms and so getting our finances in order and securing that element of our future is vital for my peace of mind. I do have life insurance for my husband and I too but unfortunately no one would cover me for getting ms.

I am lucky to be someone who enjoys living frugally, loves simple pleasures and my husband does too. So despite scrimping and saving we will be having lots of fun too, we aim to have one break away in this country every year and a few paid days out to supplement all the free or low cost things we do - I Strive to keep the balance right.

IWAB x

ETA - I'm only 28 and know how lucky I am to be able to organise all this now, the compound effect over the years before retirement should hopefully help too.

Thanks for the answer. I see DR is similar to Martin from a bit of further reading. You sound like you have very similar goals as me this year although we are coming at them for different reasons. I can imagine having MS in the family must be very worrying especially when you fear it could happen to you. Good luck in all your efforts you sound like a force to be reckoned with and I'd bet on you hitting your targets any day.

oceandreamer

Thought I might be having one of those elusive nsds today but remembered that i had to top dds lunch account up for school. Good job i remembered as still in the doghouse as school books haven't turned up - hope her teachers understand what i mean by decluttered! Cleaned out hens today and one has started laying again so two lovely eggs. While i was outside i picked up a binbag of stuff oh dear it gets everywhere! So, as i was saying, not a nsd but i have decided that they aren't really important to me (although it would be nice to have one sometime). What i am making sure is that i write down what i spend. I have worked out what i can spend over the year so i know what that equates to in months, weeks and even daily. Trying hard to keep within this, seems ok not but i know i will find it harder as time goes on. Hopefully this thread will help keep me motivated!