NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

Islandmaid

Natnat - feel for you hun - I know you feel down now, but I remember what a very good male friend told me after a yo-yo boyfriend went off 'again....

Men are simple creatures and if he wanted to be with you, he,d be here and nothing would stop him.

Have a good cry, then nuts to him - do you really want to be with someone you,ve got to 'motivate' into committing?

Take care x

I_want_a_baby

Daughter had the last leftover roll for lunch and I had the last pitta. Finished with a slice of homemade banana cake.

I'm amazed by how before I would use the newer item (I.e slices from a fresh loaf) over the last bits of older packets. I must of wasted £s doing this! Now I use up the old stuff and the new stuff is much more of a reward.

I was very tempted by the pastries in waitrose today but resisted as I knew we had the banana cake and a little pack of biscuits to use up. However I have just had a brainwave that in the freezer I have puff pastry and stewed apple with sultanas, I would assume I could roll out the pastry sandwich a layer of apple mix between two pieces and bake and drizzle a bit of icing on once cool. I can make my own with ingredients I have already. I have spent many many pounds on pastries over the years and I cannot believe this has only just occurred to me!

IWAB x

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Islandmaid wrote: »

Natnat - feel for you hun - I know you feel down now, but I remember what a very good male friend told me after a yo-yo boyfriend went off 'again....

Men are simple creatures and if he wanted to be with you, he,d be here and nothing would stop him.

I agree with the above and just wanted to add - you need to close the door on that relationship in order to open the door to a better one.

My ex bf and I were together on and off for 7 years, he was never sure he wanted to get too serious. When we finally broke up I was devastated, partly because I loved him but also because I felt I'd just wasted 7 years.

A few weeks later I met my dh who did everything in his power to see me and spend time with me, including selling his house and following me to another country. We've now been married for nearly 22 years. I've never been happier and thank God for the day the ex left.

-- sending you a virtual hug--

natnat13

Thank you so much for your comments, I now have tears streaming down my face but only because I know you are right. I have done everything I can to show him I love him, I can't do anymore. It's been on and off for 2.5 years and I know what you mean about feeling like you've wasted the time, but then I was married for 10 years before that!! I'm not contacting him again and he'll have to bend over backwards to prove himself now. In the meantime I'm going to work hard, frugal hard, see friends and do some things for me. Sorry to clog up the thread with my love life!!


My business has definitely picked up since Christmas and I have some more shifts at my paid job. My boss is lovely and has juggled things around so I can work a bit more bless him. So I am panicking a bit less now.


There's a free zumba class in town tonight, I might go, was going to go running but its too cold. As you have all seen there are weather warnings tonight and tomorrow, I don't think it will come to much here in Cornwall but I am isolated so did go and buy milk and bread in case and a mars bar, I blame hormones and men for that one!

PenguinOfDeath

I fell off the NB ship a little yesterday, had to go to get some fruit and top ups, I was going to go to 2/3 stores then decided I could get everything from Morrisons so it would stop me from impulse 'oh while I'm here' buying in the other shops.

Well after visiting the bakery YS section and coming out with 3 items (only 1 needed, this needs to stop money and calorie wise! ) and stocking up on 4 bottles of soy sauce (20p each and will be used up though) I think I could do better, however I shouldn't need to shop again for a week, especially as we are out at least one evening this week.

Made my first lunch soup in a few months at the weekend to use up some of the fridge bottom veg, turned out essentially a carrot and coriander, we had ran out of bread but I found a pack of YS sandwich thins in the freezer so one of those went nicely with it, still two portions left, yum!

I'm another that loathes to replace unless needed, even to the point when you could have found me last Saturday with OH's Gillette in hand, shaving the bobbles off the sofa cover

Many things are two years old as we got them with the house, fingers crossed, touch wood etc most things have survived well, just a shame most of the stuff that came with the house won't!

bexster1975

Afternoon all

Just checking in to say sorry to hear about bf natnat. I'm afraid I agree, if he wanted to be there he would be. I also however agree that you need to close that door for a new one to open

Best of luck with the frugal focus to you!

N6CNH in answer to your interesting questions.

1) I'm not sure, but likely 300-400 per month
2) it's a bit hard to track for a couple of reasons. I am quite frugal anyway, and I think what I want to buy changes year on year so don't know if I can compare. I'm always on the look out for cheapest must spends ( gas, electric, telephone, BB, mobile) so not really great savings there.
3) why? Well, I was originally planning to be mortgage free this year, but now I hope to be mortgage neutral and can keep savings to help me set up on my own and leave my job. Who knows, if it's a success maybe I will still be mortgage free this year. I'm not too worried, hard work over past 9 years means whatever happens I am in a very god position compared to what I could be!

Hope the washing is now on GQ

Bexster

Bambywamby

I_want_a_baby wrote: »

Back from my first weekly shop:



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!



IWAB x

I have to agree. I get organic meat and other bits from Waitrose and because it is relatively expensive, I don't waste a thing. Not a chicken bone, not a carrot peeling. I used to predominantly shop at Arsda and MrT's but prefer Waitrose now with its better quality and more ethically sourced food. If I can buy from a smaller independent shop, I will too.

I_want_a_baby

I think I was misled in thinking along the lines of 'waitrose is double the cost of any other supermarket'. I checked online the other day and their essentials laundry liquid is the same price per litre as aldi, I still bought a branded brown loaf for £1 and their activia yoghurts on offer were 82p for 4 (sains had the same yoghurts on offer for £1).

It will be interesting as I shop there longer term and I may still buy cleaning products/loo rolls etc from aldi we shall see...

IWAB x

natnat13

Waitrose have codes on their website for £15, then £20, then three £10 off delivery BUT you have to spend £100. I am thinking about it as I do need to do a big shop in the next couple of weeks (my nearest store is 30 mins away)

Thistle-down

natnat13 wrote: »

I'm not contacting him again and he'll have to bend over backwards to prove himself now. In the meantime I'm going to work hard, frugal hard, see friends and do some things for me. Sorry to clog up the thread with my love life!!

Can I just say that it is very likely that he will come around and possibly behave better for a little while - but if my experiences are anything to go by, it doesn't last and my self respect was soon kicked in the dirt again. It wasn't until the break was permanent that I understood how one-sided the relationship was. 'He who was not ready for a relationship' married someone else. He was willing to step up for her, which only proved that we were not right for each other.

Concentrating on yourself is the best thing you can do. xx

As to the other question - I think we will save at least £100 a month. We are pretty frugal anyway, but being very mindful about every penny sure makes a difference. I've already been able to make an extra £50 credit card payment with what I haven't spent this month. :T