NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

[Deleted User]

Good Morning all,well just whizzed into the local co-op and bought a pack of special offer part-baked garlic breads for a quid so my food shop has now risen to £2.69 this month.:):):)Saw a few 'bargains ' in there but was strong and walked out after spending a pound .

I have my friend coming for lunch today and we'll have one of the loaves with our ham salad, and the other will be used tomorrow night with dinner that I shall prep this morning I am making a lasagne for DGD and I and any left overs will be portioned up for the freezer.Total spent this month on food is now £2.69 as I have been using existing stocks from the freezer and store cupboards I didn't realise how much food had been stockpiling.

I am really pleased at how I have managed to steer clear of buying much at all this month.Plus using up surplus stock is meaning I have a bit more room in my cupboards.At the moment I am playing freezer tetris and I also have four cupboards crammed full of stuff and a larder that is also overflowing,so my NSDs will keep going until I get things back on a more even keel.

My trouble is stockpiling and its got quite out of hand Last autumn when we went up to see my DGS at Uni I took a large box of stuff for him and when I came home every time I went to the shops I would buy often the BOGOFF's and store them up for DGS. Well he went back last week with a big box of stuff and I STILL have lots left so I'm reining in my spending for a few weeks and stashing the extra cash saved into the holiday fund instead.

I hope to balance it out a bit and I know when my friend comes today she will say 'Oh how much more have you got now ?'
She is brilliant, and very minimilistic with stuff.She is also a great help when I want to de-clutter.

Hope we all keep sailing along and keep on the No-Buying trip.

Clothes I am not too fussed about as I have more than enough to see me out :)

I think stockpiling food comes from growing up with rationing and making sure I have stuff in 'just in case'

As my two DDs say 'Just in case of what Mum a famine ' :):)

But saying that it has got both myself and my DDs out of trouble when times were lean:) So being along for the ride is doing me good in as much as I am definitely not buying groceries as much as I used too.
Have a good voyage fellow matelots :):)
JackieO xx

[Deleted User]

I bought the kindle marie konvo book, I dipped into the konmarie thread and liked what I saw. I think I am stuck now re sorting, so the book may well inspire me, anyway the book is permanent and better than a couple of magazines

Knitting is now 5 inches long, each row takes a while as 268 stitches but a row at a time and it adds up. Very nice to knit as the pattern is very easy to remember

More freezer food today, this time a hm fish pie, only put in last week but I don`t want to keep it in for long. Slow going re the freezer, I may well have to move things so that I can free a drawer at a time, this will stop me adding more to it as I`ll have a definite target. I am doing a further tinned/packet food sort later, all in date and for the village food bank box. I want to get down to a minimum, rather than catering for masses and `what if` scenarios. Too many of my storage spaces are consistently blocked by these stores, so again, a bag at a time and deposited quietly into the box, knowing that they will help someone out

Re cd/dvd sorting
I have a few cases https://www.caselogic.com/en/gb/products/cd_dvd/albums/224-capacity-cd-wallet-_-cdw_-_208_-_black
and discard the hard cd covers. I store the cases in a small cupboard and each case has a basic label, made with my garden labeller and that includes one for the grandchildren. They take up such a small space and don`t get dusty

I feel your excitement and endorphins GQ

Jackieo, same here, exactly, my stockpiling has been so psychological being brought up in that generation. I am trying to change my mindset but it is hard going

115K

Deleted_User wrote: »

All of this makes me want to ask you all the following;

A. How much do you think you'll save Not Buying it in 2015.

B. Are you tracking what you would of usually bought to see if your rough figures compare to the reality*

C. What will you be doing with the money you've saved from NBI in 2015?
Paying off debt? Paying off the Mortgage? Saving it? Other?

I did a new savings plan the other day and worked out that if I carry on the way I'm spending now (eg: a lot less:D) I should have £20k saved up by July.:) That is the month when we really should to decide whether to move house or not.

I'm feeling a bit blah today, I couldn't sleep last night.
I think I might look on Pinterest as that usually distracts me. Everything looks so beautiful on there, it's like a fantasy world.:p

No Spend Day again.

GreyQueen

:j:j:j:j:j:j The washer has arrived. I may explode with excitement, just going to take off the bolts and set 'er up.:j:j:j

vodkawitch1

I`m planning a NSD today which will be my third. I won a prize of a large toy car yesterday so when that arrives it will go away for nephews birthday in March. I babysit for my niece twice a week while she works nights, helps her out and saves on my heating bills.

GreyQueen well done on the new washing machine

Bambywamby

Little one is short of jumpers... she has a few but as you know, toddlers can mess up their clothes pretty quickly so we can go through one or two changes of clothes a day.

She is quite tall and leggy and has quickly grown out of last year's Minnie Mouse fleece onesie that someone kindly bought her. Rather than charity bag it, I have chopped the legs off and machine stitched the top section just underneath then zip so she has a new fleece (which she loves as it has a hood and ears.)

This challenge is making me think hard before I get rid of things/before I purchase anything and also helping me ditch clutter as I am starting to get the 'less stuff' brings 'more calmness' bug.


I hope you all have a lovely day... and the weather is kinder to you than it has been for the last few days. xx

[Deleted User]

Grey Queen - Yay :j. Bet your soo excited. Must admit my machine is getting old but still works. Years ago I would've replaced it just because, but now I never replace anything until it stops working. That goes for tvs, kettles and anything electrical. I don't have up to date gadgets or a very posh TV (mines 11 years old but touch wood, still working).
N6CNH - I have built up savings over the past few years by cutting back and now cutting back seems the norm.
But there has to be a time when I need to cut slack. I'm in the situation where I've scrimped every penny but sometimes seem to get nowhere. Ie car needs work or home needs jobs doing. All I can hope for now is I do have this money if something NEEDS doing. I try to fix anything I can myself but most times ive needed a mechanic or plumber etc as I haven't had the right tools for the job. Maintenance I can do though and some diy so my home atm is up to date.
This year will probably be the first year I can say I can properly save if I want to. But as I've said I've scrimped to buy this home, scrimped to do it up, scrimped to help a family member and scrimped on minimum wage to save up emergency funds.
I've changed all utility companies. Ie e electric, mobile and cut the sky bill to over half price which includes landline BB calls and TV.
Heated one room only. And only when I needed to. (I'm on E7, I turn it off most of the time and use a hot water bottle, fleeces and jumpers. Used washing machine twice a week only.
Had showers instead of baths.
Only bought YS food. Used out of date food when safe to.
No new clothing or shoes (if NEEDED eBay or charity).
Walked instead of taking the car.
Eaten at work.
Cut out social stuff.
Reused everything that I can.
I think I need to cut some slack lol. :rotfl::rotfl:

Edited just to say. I bought some YS hair dye (my natural colour) £2.50 a good make. So I'm going to try and get it back to its normal colour and therefore not have to dye it so often. (getting a few grey bits now). God I live the high life lol......

VJsmum

Congratulations GQ - enjoy yourself

Still resisting "doing the shopping" here - i keep thinking i should but then realising that i don't need to. Did pop to our little Mr M yesterday for some bits for tea - but i could only buy what i could carry, so not much. Had to spend a whole 49p on milk in the morning for my coffee at work. But that saves me buying coffees at £2 odd a pop.

Todays tea is a hairy dieters chicken dish. Chicken from the freezer, and all the other bits got yesterday.
tomorrow OH is away so DS and i are going to have left over dinners i made up at christmas time - already on the plate, so very much "ping" dinners. Roast gammon and all the trimmings - yum. OH would have chucked everything on those two plates away - "crumbs" from the gammon and left over veg - I only just stopped him in time, and it made 2 dinners :0
Thursday is another fast day - and i have some veg curryies for OH and i in the freezer - DS can have a pizza.
that takes me to Friday and a whole week of shopping pretty much saved. :j

Got to do some batch cooking at the weekend - I am off to Singapore and Hong Kong next week, for two weeks. it is work, but i am a bit excited :j I need to prepare some meals for OH and DS to have ready in the freezer. i don't need to in that OH is perfectly competent - but i should like to make life easier for them both and make sure they eat healthily. I follow very much a "wholefood" no wheat no sugar, no MSG regime as well as intermittent fasting, so want to ensure they don't revert to "bad" ways Gosh it sounds miserable when you put it like that - but in fact I LOVE my diet and the variety of food i eat. it is no hardship at all. In fact Mumto2monkeys have you looked at dietary connections with your fibro? I have researched into MSG and sulphite sensitivity (which i have in abundance) and there are a lot of indicators with fibro?

I buy Bosch too - on the whole. Though my new washer is Hotpoint as my friend swears by them. Time will tell......

The bathroom men are upstairs banging away - ooh err missus - we spent the night with a bathtub in our bedroom.. Taking "en suite" a bit too far, I reckon. :rotfl:

GreyQueen

It's running on its inaugural wash cycle, 90 degrees as per the instructions, nothing in the drum. It's a bit nerve-wracking moving into a new washer, isn't it? This is only my second washing machine in my whole life, I'm also on my second fridge, first freezer and first cooker.

If you wanna laugh (I was laughing heartily at myself) imagine me a few mins ago, kneeling in front of the undersink cupboard, thinking Is it this way or that way I turn the lever on the fill pipe to let the water through?

Before connecting the hose, I thought I'd just move the lever a smidge to check and got a half-second fresh-water spritz right in the face...........it's quite pressurised, isn't it? I turned that lever back pdq. :rotfl:

ImDoingItForMe , I really can't get my head about replacing stuff which isn't irrepairably (on un-economically repairably) broken. I'm glad some people do, because it gives me a chance to buy stuff secondhand, but it messes with my head, couldn't imagine myself doing it.

This 90 cycle seems to take 2 hrs 45 mins according to the display, and is probably the only time I shall ever use 90. I have things to do today but am a bit of a worrywort and want to be here in case Something Happens. Then I shall do my errand and then I shall *cue drumroll* do washing.

I'm beaming with joy at the prospect.

[Deleted User]

I am jiggered and need a break, been like a whirling dervish, so whats new as I am like that when I have a focus. Have packed 23 tins of food and I mean good meals, like chicken meals, beef meals and veggie meals. I don`t need them and someone else will

Chutneys, I started off by moving some bottled blackberries and gooseberries to under the stairs and one thing led to another. The berries are great, we love them and I just get rid of the light syrup and put them into a blueberry/raspberry mix every day. I planted 5 more bushes so will have lots more. Then I started moving chutneys and taking out all the green ones, keeping some beetroot ones and marrow/apple, I make lots of green tomato and green bean chutneys and now I need to whisper, I got rid of 37 jars this morning. I started off straining and wrapping for re cycling but there was way too much, so I liquidised and they have gone to feed the fishes. Several empty glass jars out in the recycling bin and all the kilners are being cleaned ready for bottling. I never once thought of the hours I spent in making them, more like the pounds of sugar now gone down the sink and less on the hips. What was satisfying were the pops when I opened them, good seals and no contamination. Now to dive in and strain 6 jars of brined green beans, I don`t need them so they will be gone before lunch

I wasn`t going to do any clearing this am, just food bank stuff but thats how it goes

A nice big space opened up this morning :T