NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

Butterfly_Brain

We cancelled Sky in December, just too many repeats for an extortionate amount of money.

I can heartily recommend netflix as well.

candygirl

Sorry to butt in, but NOW. Tv is also a fab alternative to sky, n no contract too:D

boultdj

Went and did the weekly shop on wensday,got the mincemeat from sainsbugs at 5p a jar,will go nicley with the cooking apples to make crumbles for quick puddings from the freezer, feed the car and apart from that I'v just been keeping up with doing my 'sisterhood of the skinny jeans' exercise challange, and... picking up some work for the part time self-employed job:D

PenguinOfDeath

DianaMattos wrote: »

Just had a 'we miss you' letter from Next come in the post this morning, with a £10 off a £40 spend. Normally, I would have jumped straight to the sale section of the website and spent £40+ on stuff I didn't need it or really want, just because I got a money off voucher.. Instead the whole bundle of papers went straight on the fire. Feel like I have had a narrow escape!!

I just had similar to be fair, spotted a sale on at Matalan, went straight on adding things to basket then realised most things don't even fit me from there when I try them on! Walk on by...

natnat13

Ahoy there shipmates
I have been shopping, stupidly asked bf if he wanted anything (he's here tomorrow) and he asked for a premium beer the cheaper supermarkets wouldn't stock so I went to Mr T's. Still only spent £17 ish. And the bf is treating me to a nice takeaway tomorrow.
Then bought some coal which in truth probably isn't a necessity as I have central heating but I love my fire and when its lit the heating rarely kicks in so I save on oil.
But overall, doing a lot better with not spending, no extras or treats. Thinking ahead and planning.
Re Next, I looked at my account and I have a £5,000 credit limit!!! I also did have 2 CCs I think their combined limit was over £6,000. So if I wanted to I could get myself in £11,000 worth of debt, which is quite scary. I have cancelled one credit card and may cancel my Next account although it is handy so I may just not spend on it.
Re TV, I can't remember if I mentioned showbox, its an android app but I managed to load in on my laptop (there's a good video online on how to do this) then I plug my laptop into the TV. It has a lot of films and series on and it's FREE! I used to have prime when it was lovefilm and I found only some stuff was included in the subscription then you had to pay for the rest, very annoying with TV series' but it may have changed, that was a year ago.
Not planning on spending much this weekend, work tomorrow am, then seeing the bf, may take the DS's swimming on Sunday afternoon which will be a cost.

Busymumofthreeplusdog

DianaMattos wrote: »

Just had a 'we miss you' letter from Next come in the post this morning, with a £10 off a £40 spend. Normally, I would have jumped straight to the sale section of the website and spent £40+ on stuff I didn't need it or really want, just because I got a money off voucher.. Instead the whole bundle of papers went straight on the fire. Feel like I have had a narrow escape!!

Me too, mine went in the shredding!

Picklepot

Hope all of you are safe in this howling weather.


Just wanted to say thank you all for your very honest posts about work issues. I'm so relieved that others also have questioned the madness of when work takes over. I'm surrounded by 'career climbing successful people (or they appear to be)' and just didn't realise I wasn't the only one that felt there must be another way and that I didn't want to climb the ladder anymore . I am starting to make plans for the future


You have all really made me think, I don't know whether its good or bad but I appear to have developed an inner 'smugness' about consumerism and the ads and the pressure to buy. I am also more honest in talking about money. we have just changed vet practice and I asked the new vet if we could talk cost before they started a treatment. I was amazed at how easy it was! and how willing they were to discuss options. My old vet never used to give an itemised bill half the time I didn't know what I was paying for 'I'm not vet bashing honestly but what made me leave my old one was when a young locum (far to young to be qualified!) told me a treatment was 'not much' . Quite embarrassed I had to prise out of him how much that was 'only £46' he said! I understand in vet terms its not a lot but when you go to pay ..


Had a long chat with DH to say this is not just about me what did he want and he'd like to retire early so another crew member on the good ship!!

bookworm_nat123

hugs to all those that need them,

I read avidly every day still even if i do lurk on the outside!

have been keeping up with the challenge and have yet to set foot into Mr T's this year. I used to have a habit because of how close it was to work so would pop by on my way home for a YS bargain and come out with extras.

The cupboards would have been classed as bare 9days ago and yet I have not gone hungry yet, its amazing what you can actually make from things lurking in the cupboard when you put your mind to it xx

Minimalist

Now the holidays are over, I’m really struggling to keep up with all the good stuff on this thread...just catching up on this week's posts & dropping in to say hello and wish everyone well on this cold and blustery afternoon - especially our shipmates north of the border (who might not be able to read this until power is restored - hope you're weathering the storm without incident!)

GreyQueen wrote: »

Trouble is, people who care and who are good at their jobs are often the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to internal problems, and the people who don't care, who abuse colleagues and subordinates, are likely to remain in post. The sociopaths end up running the organisation.

GreyQueen has exactly summed up the situation at my employer too. I really sympathise with everyone who’s having / has had problems with overwork, stress and bullying at work. I’m currently in the process of extricating myself from a very unhealthy workplace, via secondment to another organisation - and hopefully a reduction in hours during 2015. I agree with all that's been said - it's just not worth compromising your health over, but people shouldn't have to make that choice.

Starting as I mean to go on, I took this afternoon off - not for anything very productive, just some relaxation. This is the new me - sitting on the sofa, with a cup of tea and Radio 4 - leaving work at work, not rushing around, taking time to do the things I enjoy without feeling guilty. So far so good, 2015! :T

My frugal achievement for this week is giving up my (privately rented) parking space near work - and embracing the world of bus travel! I feel ridiculously happy about this. Not only am I saving myself £35 quid a month, making greener travel choices and getting more exercise, I’ve also been able to transfer the parking let to a friend with small children, who needs a handy parking space much more than me and who paying £50 a month more. There is a good, direct bus service, so this is not a major sacrifice - my excuse was always that I needed to use the car due to working late so frequently...but that's all in the past now!

Less frugally, OH and I are having a trip to London this weekend :beer: - we always like to have some fun stuff booked in to lift the January gloom. This is not as unfrugal as it might appear - being courtesy of £120 rail compensation vouchers I received last year after a horrendous journey home from a work meeting (got back home around midnight instead of 7pm). Thanks to a very good online deal, we’re staying in a nice hotel, booked via a cashback site - using funds left over from Xmas.

The plan is to do a bit of foodie grazing around Borough Market, then go to the William Morris exhibition over at the National Portrait Gallery. No other firm plans, we’ll just see what happens! (For me “not buying it” is mainly about avoiding unnecessary stuff - I’m happy to spend money on experiences, although within some newly-introduced limits. Let’s see if I can make it home without the exhibition catalogue!)

Well, I think I’d better go and start cooking - tonight we’re having a gratin with potato, spinach, brie (left over from NYE) and smoked garlic (Xmas gift). I’m also doing a leek and goat cheese tart for supper when we get back on Sunday, to prevent further eating out temptation.

Have a great weekend, whatever you're up to :beer:
(with apologies to non-drinking shipmates for my excessive use of the beer emoticon)

mothernerd

dND wrote: »

My belief is that it links in to when Personnel Departments were re-named Human Resources - a total depersonalisation/de-humanisation and the rise of the faceless corporation and demise of the family firm

Many years ago, when DS3 was a baby (he's nearly 24) I did a management course with all lessons being taught in one day 9am to 7pm. Wasn't really impressed by 'human resources' then. Didn't help that the tutor had formerly worked for the same bus company as my dad, where the people re-writing the timetables wouldn't listen to the drivers and conductors, with the result that a nearby village got 4 buses an hour - all in the same 5 minute window with nothing at all for the rest of the hour.

A few years later, I was doing Chartered Institute of Management Accounting. Loved the IT teacher who told me that former tutor was now doing a prestigious Masters degree (big feather in the cap for the college and she was rising rapidly through the ranks). Same college had made life impossible for a number of p-t tutors including my talented and experienced Accounts tutor - a former top flight tax inspector working for a tenth of her former salary because she was a single parent and it fit in with her home care responsibilities.

It Tutor and myself pondered long and hard about what she could find to write about - it's simply a non-subject. Basically studies of workers from the time of Henry Ford onwards found that most workers flourished under most conditions - turn lights up greater productivity, turn lights down, greater productivity - before concluding that workers just like someone to show an interest so did well as they were being studied.

We also found great amusement in a then recent study (late 1990s) that human resources contributed nothing to organisations and companies that did not have them performed better. Bring back the old 'wages department' - three people who made sure your pay and tax were correct and did battle on your behalf (or told you how to fix it).

Unfortunately since most of our manufacturing has been killed off and with the rise of technology (a good thing but again we are serving it rather than it serving us) office workers are the new factory workers and many organisations add layer upon layer of managers to grind every last pip out of the wage slaves.

Another poster pointed out the increasing disparity in the already iniquitous distribution of wealth. Without asking for the revolution now (and by the way where are the hover boots we were promised in the sixties) - in a fair society we could all work for a few hours a week (production went up in the 3-day week in the 70's - happy well rested workers with extra leisure got the job done in less time, to a higher standard) and have a modest income.

Instead those in employment live with constant pressure, whilst those without a job are forced to jump through ever more ludicrous hoops (work for nothing - lose money if the cost of getting to your 'work experience' is more than your benefit, finally get a Mcjob on a zero hours contract - live on 4 hours a week or face sanctions if you dare to leave, but 10 people on 4 hours a week is ten people off the unemployment figures even if it is only one real job) and made public scapegoats.

Sorry - this isn't a political forum but as the mother of three sons all of whom I encouraged to go to university it's so hard that only in recent times have the two eldest gained a foothold. DS1 is 29 and has only gained permanent f-t work 15 months ago (worked for the same organisation for many years), DS2 has just completed his probationary period and now has a job which uses his degree at the age of 27 (I told him not to give up the p-t pub job he's had since he was 16 until he found something permanent) and DS3 is still struggling (self-employed). He's 24.

The examples two paragraphs back are from DS3's gf who is still in post, getting better hours some of the time but has also had time off with depression (and the firm decided to discontinue a disciplinary procedure with the bully who was making her life hell and then promoted her).

I'll stop now (get down from my soap box) but as someone who worked with young people in the early eighties (and know how many of them didn't make it), I really hoped we would never re-visit those times.

I am doing all the making do and mending (starting to feel like I never stopped). I have gone through the 'anti-shopping' list and have identified things I can do and use to solve a number of household problems.