NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

cydney65

rosyq wrote: »

Small world! Mum's near the grammar school too, I went there many many moons ago :rotfl:

Another Gravesend Grammar School pupil here! I finished in 1983. Seems a long long time ago now.

Started to declutter today and then felt overwhelmed by it all (I have a gum infection which hasn't helped to be honest) but shall heave to tomorrow.

Spent £2.75 in the chazzer today after dropping off two large bags of stuff. Bought two little toys for GD and a big bag of balls for a ball pond Thing is GD doesn't have a ball pond!

I'm a hopeless case

CydneyX

I_want_a_baby

Thank you 7ww x
I hope to take up jogging for the first time this summer after the baby's arrival, I shall remember your name and seek out tips then!

purpleshoes_2

I wish I could run, Im rubbish at that too I have in my defence done a half marathon, a few fives, a couple of 10ks and a couple of triathlons, one a sprint tri and one a bit longer, not far off the Olympic distance, but if that makes me sound like Im bigging myself up, think tortoise/slug cross and you have me.

I can do 30 burpees in a minute but don't make me run. When I was training for the last triathlon they made us do 2 laps on the running track, no stopping, 3 miles on a spin bike as fast as you could, 2 laps, repeat

One girl was so fast she almost lapped me on the track. I actually started doing the last bootcamp, nothing to do with triathlon to get me fitter and to improve my triathlon time, but then I thought sod it, just carry on with other things.

I do like to walk and I walk a lot because I don't drive, but anything more than a slow jog and I make a !!!! of myself, so well done to anyone who can get out there and run.

In fact, I am a lot fitter than I was a couple of years ago, because theres a bus I get into Glasgow and its about a 12 min walk away from my house, the bus stop, but as I tend to faff around I often have to run it and I can run it in 9 mins and I don't feel uncomfortable, but thats the extent of me and running, 9 mins till I get to that bus stop and collapse.

My stamina runs out when I run, thats the only way I can describe it and no matter how fit I am and I am pretty fit just now, I just don't feel like I have the stamina to run.

Thats why I torture myself doing boxing classes and other ridiculous things, but as long as folk find what suits them its all good.

natnat13

Spent £7 on my DS's street dance class which I would never deprive them of.
Went out with a good friend this morning, took a flask instead of stopping somewhere for a drink, he said it was a vary nice cuppa!
Saved by washing the car at home instead of the car wash and it looks better too.
I made choc chip buns, cheese scones and carrot and sweet potato soup from stuff lurking around and it was lovely because my youngest helped.
Bad news is I spoke to my boss today and I have hardly any shifts this month. I am working 4.5 extra hours tomorrow but its still worrying. But I have a zero hour contract. I have started my own business but its not making money yet so I am really battening down the hatches now.
I hope all those feeling rubbish feel better soon and hospital appointments go ok.

Karmacat

IWAB - from me too, take care of yourself and your bump, thats much more important than the supermarket challenge! Good to have the hospital bag packed ... and I've got news for you, bottles of water and healthy snacks for the hospital are "needs" too! Sleep well xxx

Aril

Evening:D

I've decluttered the medicine box today. All the stray plasters and half used boxes are in a bag together and another one for all the bandages.

3 jigsaws have gone off to a freecycler today and I've made a list where all non kerbside recyling bits can go locally without having to get into the car specially.

Online research and popping into the vet as I was driving past back home have paid dividends with the special cat food Humphrey has. Paid £39 instead of £56 for a 10kg bag which will see us through several months even with a greedy guts like him:rotfl:

As I've sadly had one of my clients die I've got a couple of slots available at the moment. I've put up an advert on a local village's notice board and will do so elsewhere if nowt comes up. With a free afternoon I mosied into town for the first time since earlyish December. Apart from paying money in I just bought big tubs of 3 spices [not too big as don't want them to lose flavour] that I use a lot of on offer from an independent company [much cheaper than the sm] and a packet of popping kernels. Am now in a position to have a go at making some ginger beer and doing some hm popcorn instead of buying as many crisps. Looking forward to making some different flavours:j

I paid a chap back in the summer to do a really good job on cleaning my oven [I hate it and never do it for anyone else] To be honest the vile chemicals frighten the life out of me but he said he uses Astonish and elbow grease. Found it to be cheapest in £land so will keep on top of my own oven from now on. No excuses!

Now the madness of the festive season is over I have started to knit my gargoyle as I have all the wool already. That should keep me out of trouble...I expect you'll hear me cussing!!
Arilx

purpleshoes_2

I think I had better go to bed, too many threads about mince pies on the boards (I dont have any mince pies and Im trying not to touch any alcohol I have in the house either).

I think no supermarkets will only work for some folks on here. I wish I lived in a lovely market town, I live in a very ordinary recession hit town 17 miles from Glasgow that has very few local businesses that aren't cafes or pubs or butchers (and Im doing a bootcamp, don't eat meat and not drinking at the moment)

Im just trying to limit spending for the sake of spending and so far Im doing not so bad, but in order to eat Im going to have to go to a supermarket sometime, even if its home bargains or B and M. I dont have a garden either so I'm more limited in what I can grow.

Ive made far fewer visits to supermarkets since this thread started, Ive done less spending just because I happen to be out and about and I just might get to the end of this month without needing to food shop for me, just the cats, that will be more than Ive done in the last few years and Im not someone who spends tons of cash when I do go to a supermarket, but I'm still spending too much on food when I already have food in the cupboards.

Do what you can to make changes and then don't worry if you need to shop somewhere you would rather not in the meantime.

Managing to dig out a lamp that I found in my spare room and wearing a pair of shoes that had been sitting around for years and had never worn are two things Id never have done if I hadnt been on here, Id have bought a new lamp and wouldnt have thought to look for one that still worked and I also wouldn't have chocolate brown hair (I must admit when I see my blonde hair on my facebook page pic I think I miss it, but it's fine).

I might even attempt to bake a loaf, a cake and do a 5k by the end of the year, who knows, miracles might yet happen

Slow cooker fudge might not be beyond me, who knows

thriftwizard

I've fallen from grace twice today. I'm taking the DDs down to Cornwall next week for a few days walking & sketching, staying in a Youth Hostel for a well-earned break. (Our plans for a family holiday last year came undone for one reason & another, and it's not looking likely we'll get away much this year either as we have DS3's braces to pay for.)

The weather's not looking brilliant, and my old waterproof "died" a couple of winters ago. I do have a splendid warm wool coat, but it's not good for walking in (far too heavy if soaked) and several jackets which are fine for a quick run to the shops or similar, but not the sort of thing you'd want to be caught 5 miles from anywhere in the rain in; one WILL be, when I've re-proofed it, but apparently I need a day or two of warm sunshine for that to be effective! I've bought a couple of secondhand decent-make ones from charity shops, only to find that the waterproofing's gone beyond any hope of a respray being effective. I'd begin to think I'd have to go to a camping shop & hope to find something in the sales, but luckily I found a brand new Regatta one in a charity shop in another town today; it was half what I paid for the last one (in the sales) which lasted 5 years, so I'm not too downcast.

I also had to go to our local supermarket, as we'd run right out of one of the two things I was unable to buy before the start of January. Total spend was £16.85; it won't be the only one, but needless to say I bought more than I'd gone in for... only a little bit, though!

allybee101

Golly, you look away for 5 minutes and when you come back the ship is in full sail! I have been busy with work and family visits.

Spent a very enjoyable day on New Years Day blitzing my bedroom (the rest of the flat is still quite a state). It's now clean and restful. I chucked out some v old toiletries, had a declutter and it's feeling quite restful in there now. Still need to do some more wardrobe decluttering.

Took the Christmas decs down last night and I think my Christmas tree lights will have to be replaced this year. Three bulbs have gone (on a string of 50), and I cannot find replacement bulbs for the make with the right holders. They're from the 90s I think (second hand to me from parents). I think I will try and sell them on Ebay for someone else to use as spares and repairs.
I also found some small paper honeycomb decorations that I bought reduced last year (£1.50 for 12). They're little trees. And they are still unopened after a whole year. So they are going in the charity shop box.

Listening to R4 on catch up as I catch up on here - great listening.

System

Well that was a marathon reading session, have finally caught up with the thread and learned a lot!
cydney65 I left GGS in 1979
So may I join you shipmates? I may not be able to post often but i will cheer you all on and join in when I can.
I have a small house and I'm not keen on clutter, it makes me feel uncomfortable, so I tend to move 'stuff' onto the CS fairly often. That hasn't stopped me buying too much in the past, but I'm hoping this thread will help me to buy less now that I'm thinking about it more.
I have a lot of fabric stashed away but I'm on a mission to use it up, and made most of my Xmas presents for 2014 which was fun and very satisfying. So I'll hopefully do the same this year.
I'm mid-fifties, at the moment with dyed dark red hair which is gorgeous but SO high-maintenance I'm considering, as mentioned earlier in the thread, stopping the dyeing process and letting the grey run free. I realised I'd spent about £45 a month last year on having my hair coloured, and buying ridiculously expensive shampoo to keep it that way, and I just don't want to do that any more. I'm trying to save for retirement and that £45 would be much better off in my ISA.
Also work are going through a major reshuffle at the moment and I'm wondering about taking voluntary severance and looking for something less stressful - but I need to think carefully about that.
I won't be able to join the SM free January - or should I say I choose not to just now - I'm at Asd@ once a week waiting for DD to finish work nearby so I can give her a lift home, so I do most of my shopping while i'm there, it's convenient. I then use the nearby COOP for top-ups. I need to re-visit my spending on food though because I do tend to go for the easy option and get a takeaway when I'm tired, when there's perfectly good food in the freezer.
So this week I've done an inventory of what we have, and planned meals for the week, and I only need to buy pasta and yoghurt and milk. And the pasta and yoghurt could wait until next week! I make bread in the BM so that's no problem.
I need to plan some more meals to use up random things like lasagne sheets and giant cous-cous.
Then what I've been thinking of doing is using Tesco delivery because there isn't one near us (am I the only person in the country without a Tesco nearby? :rotfl:) and I'd like to collect their vouchers to spend on our annual trip to Legoland.

Sorry for the long post, I've had a lot of thoughts while reading!

Take care all, especially IWAB