NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

I_want_a_baby

Back from my first weekly shop:

Market:
300g Wykes Farm Cheese, 450g pack bacon & 500g pack delicious looking sliced cooked ham £5.
4.5kg potatoes, 3 x tomatos, 1 cucumber, 8 large clementines, 6 large jazz apples, 3 large pears, 8 mushrooms, 1.3kg white cabbage £10.85

Waitrose:
Large box crunchy nut cornflakes, box Cheerios, bag self raising flour, 4pk evian 750ml water, 2 x chilled orange juice, dishwasher salt, 4 activia yoghurts, 1 large tub yeo valley yoghurt, 1kg caster sugar, 4 x Aberdeen Angus burgers, 4 x giant baps, iceberg lettuce, 900g bananas, 8 pk crumpets, whole meal loaf, 6pk crisps £20.73.

Waitrose was no where near as expensive as I thought it would be! I actually think if you mealplan around the offers it is truely affordable quality food.

My husband apparently keeps wanting a takeaway burger hence the three suggestions for one so far this year!
4 x mouthwatering Aberdeen Angus burgers are £2.19 on offer in waitrose, the big baps were 90p, I have salad in fridge and chips in freezer and will make some homemade coleslaw. It has got to taste a whole lot better than a takeaway and at 1/4 of the price!

I think I am going to try a rough meal plan with a 'treat' meal once a week, 2 veggie meals and 4 normal meals. Hopefully this will help the budget whilst still being quality good food.

I definitely think shopping in waitrose will actually make for more mindful shopping, you are going to want to use it all up if it's not 'cheap' to get more, you are going to want to stretch out meals with extra veg if it's not 'cheap' to buy and another example is I was going to buy sandwich bags but they were £1.80 for 60 which made me think I could 'make do' without or use cling film if necessary. If they were a £1 I would have bought them but just the price made me realise I don't actually need them at all!

Weather looking pretty miserable here, off to unpack the shopping :-)

IWAB x

[Deleted User]

I can`t believe it, I found another 9 jars, all nice bottling sizes, so contents disposed off and all rubber rings are sterilising and metal bits and metal rings are drying in the sun. Dishwasher on, containing 27 kilner jars. How on earth did I ever think I would use so much? It was the old mentality from the old days, the old storing stuff mentality, just in case. Never again, the older I get the more I learn and I am starting by only growing what we can actually eat

That is it for today, I can feel my shoulder getting sore again. My mil used to say `that old age never comes on its own` she was referring to aches and pains and boy was she right

mothernerd

Happy New Washer Day Greyqueen

purpleshoes_2

I don't replace stuff until it stops working either. I've had my cooker 20 years, am on my second washing machine, third fridge, for some reason not been so lucky with fridges, second toaster and I still have the same kettle I bought just after I moved in.

I've had previous computers repaired, my brother repaired a previous one a few times until it gave up the ghost. I have a monitor that might be repairable if someone can replace a button, but I'm going to freecycle it, I bought a cheap refurbished one to replace it.

My mums washing machine has died on her several times and she's had it repaired every time but she might need to get a new one.

Im on my second microwave in 20 years. I think having not a lot spare means that its easier to use what you have rather than buying new every few years.

Bobarella

I_want_a_baby wrote: »

I was going to buy sandwich bags but they were £1.80 for 60 which made me think I could 'make do' without or use cling film if necessary. If they were a £1 I would have bought them but just the price made me realise I don't actually need them at all!
IWAB x

See I am a liker of sandwich bags, or whatever reusable plastic bags are on hand. I wash them out over and over until they cant be used any more, unless they have had raw meat in them. I have some that are ancient. Cant remember the last time I bought any certainly. With cling film it is useful once maybe twice before it has to go into landfill. So the price point thing can be misleading at times.

Islandmaid

Hi all,

I,m still in bed - rough night with cold/flu - but at least I havn't spent anything

From the sound of it its very windy and raining hard, but not cold - really feel for those of you that have got it worse - our main problem is when they cancel the ferries - the shops can look a bit sparse if it goes on for more than a day or so - good job we have the dooms day cupboard....

Dishwasher hasn,t been emptied - DS and DH have been in and out this morning, and there is quiet a collection of mugs and bowls around the kitchen - I,m not emptying it - I feel pants - and ran around for them like a mad thing when they had the lurgy - its a dishwasher stand off.........

LO pork and mash in a cider sauce tonight - if I can get up

GQ - hope your new washer is living upto expectations

Lavender_Cosmos

Have bought a few things this year so far that perhaps weren't planned. My son was a bit sad when I took down the xmas fairy lights in his bedroom. So I bought him some little led footballs lights which he loves (£7 so not very expensive). He also wanted some boxers as all the other boys wear them apparently (£7).

One planned purchase was a shoe cupboard for the hall. I am fed up of tripping over piles of muddy shoes!! After looking at several I went for a cheap argos one at £30.

The meal planning is going well and most meals have been made from scratch. Today I've made a turkey mince and onion suet roll and with the leftover mince I added tinned tomatoes and that will make a lasagna for later in the week. So at least 2 meals made from a £1.75 pack of turkey mince:j

mirry

I'm another one who will not replace stuff until i get every last penny out of it. Our sofa is looking a little tatty lately but it's so comfortable & in good shape why buy another?

We also have a miss match of kichen ware, a red kettle from next I picked up from the charity shop (still in its box for £5) and a kettle someone was throwing away because it's old :eek: Only last week my SIL showed me her new expensive kettle & matching toaster, to which I asked....did they both break down? :rotfl:

Today is a no spend day, even though I got a fat face book in the post trying to temp me. Also got a an email from tesco offering me to do 3 shops with them and they will give me £20 off my 4th shop. I used to take up these offers but end up spending more than I need. Why not just offer £5 off each shop in the first place? No they want you to keep coming back:mad: Not buying it:T

117pauline

It has just started to snow here after the most beautiful bright start to the day. I managed half an hour in the garden after going to the doctors.

Purchases are still under control and the declutter continues, both in physical and mental terms. I have great difficulty focusing on one thing at a time and then forget what I was trying to achieve. So I have come up with a system to keep focus on those important parts of my life. Less trying to, and more doing thoughtfully.

Still enjoying the voyage as it sounds everyone else is

natnat13

islandmaid, hope you feel better soon, there seems to be a lot of illness around


N6CNH - I think I will save between £100 - £200 a month by not buying it. I am pretty frugal anyway but not buying takeaways, magazines, limiting going out, clothes etc, etc. I am going to save the money, build up my savings account. I want to buy a house maybe next year.


GreyQueen - glad you have your washing machine at last!


I try and mend things rather than just throwing them out. I think my dyson hoover has had most parts replaced. My FF is hotpoint just because it was what was available that fitted, its 18 months old and does make some funny noises! My house is open plan so it maybe that I just notice it more I'm not sure.


Haven't heard from bf and I'm not ringing him, he said he wanted some space. I think it's over which makes me very sad but the phrase "flogging a dead horse" also comes to mind :-(