NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

Ches

Liliyanna wrote: »

I'm going to make and freeze several portions of mashed potato when I batch cook at the end of this month but am not sure how to go about it. I'm thinking of making quite a dry mash and then once it's defrosted and reheated forking the butter/milk through it. I'm hoping making it quite dry will mean it's still quite firm when it's defrosted. Does anyone have any experience with this??

It sounds like a plan although I have always mashed mine first then using an ice cream scoop put little mounds onto lined baking sheet, open frozen and then knocked off into a freezer bag. Cook from frozen in a hot oven. Leftover potatoes can be added as and when.

Coulddobetter

Hi Shipmates


DD came back over the weekend and I got her to clear some of her clutter, 3 big bin bags due to go to the CS. Still eating Xmas goodies I wonder if they will last until Easter ........

Waiting for double glazing man to come to give us a price for 2 new windows and reglaze the door, part of this years plan.

DH had to have new brakes today so another £288 spent but much cheaper than a new car which is what he wanted:eek:

Does anyone have good advice about share buying? I keep reading american sites but they are of no use when trying to plan for retirement.

Could do better x

pollys

We too have moved money over to savings this month. No unnecessary spending has enabled to do this.

I'm finding having a meal plan has helped enormously. I go armed shopping with a list, but do buy any items which are on offer, but not on the list, if we use them on a regular basis, this month it has been washing powder.

We will need to restock the freezer soon. I usually spend a day making sausage casserole, pies, chilli etc for easy meals. If the snow has cleared by the weekend I'll make a trip to the farm shop.

Ds has outgrown his walking boots so those will be replaced along with a couple of school shirts both necessary spends.

We have received a letter from our energy supplier and our gas bill is being reduced by £20 a month. We had a new boiler fitted last year so pleased with the saving.

Hope everyone has kept safe and warm, we have had non stop snow all day.

Polly

Synonymous

Hi Everyone!
Have only posted on here once I think but have been reading every day, came up from below decks to share a few things that might help some people.

-If you overpay a Natwest mortgage by more than £1,000 in a single transaction they will recalculate and reduce your monthly payments for the rest of the term, thus ensuring that you continue to be in mortgage debt for as long as possible.

Thought I should mention this as I read someone planning to overpay by a similar amount (go you!) . Despite being with Natwest for over 4 years and being quite good at reading the T&Cs, I didn't know this and got stung at the end of the year. If you make a payment up to £999.99, or lots of payments adding up to £1,000 that's fine, but not a single payment over £1k. They reduced my monthly payment by £9.90 (not much, I hear you cry!) and I worked out that this would mean I would take 10 months longer to pay off my mortgage, and cost me an extra £1,400 in interest :eek:. I've set up a standing order for £10 to compensate. It makes me mad as many people, if they noticed at all, might say "oh good, an extra £10 to spend on x, y and z" (although not here on HMS No Buy!), not realising that they are being kept in mortgage debt despite their valiant efforts to overpay. I rang to ask why the amount had changed and they totally didn't get why it mattered "Just overpay the difference" they said :mad:

Well, now that rant is over...I started to use my free Lush Shampoo bar and it's going great so far. It does feel 'squeaky' clean before the conditioner but it comes out great. Started using it in the New Year so it will be easy to track how long it lasts. Thanks for the storage tips, it's resting on a makeshift soapdish outside the shower and is keeping well. Haven't bought any toiletries this year and will only need hair dye in Feb - I'm growing the red out so going to try a wash-in colour for the roots.

Amazon trade-in doesn't want any of my books, but as they are a very unethical company who don't pay their taxes and don't pay their staff a living wage, I'm trying to steer clear of them anyway. I know some people were wondering about this, and several are trying to shop more ethically - there's lots of info about Amazon's misdemeanours online and a growing campaign to boycott them.

I switched to Aldi for my food shopping and have spent less than £25 on food so far this month (and that is without much in the stores as I had to chuck loads out when weevils got into everything!). Have also batch cooked, meal planned, stuck to the shopping list and used up all fresh food and not thrown any away, so it's going really well on that front!

May also put a ban on new clothes for a few months - I hate clothes shopping, but shopping the Next sale and their clearance section is my vice as their Tall range is one of the only places I can get things to fit. My order from the Xmas sale came and I realised I have a (tall) black vest addiction (BVA) - every sale they are reduced and every sale I buy one, because WHO KNOWS when they will be around again (um, in about four months' time in the next sale? ) Remembered I still have the last BVA spoils in the drawer with the tag on, so I declared "No! I'm not buying it!" and sent the damn thing back! In fact I sent all of it back apart from fleecy PJs and a wool jumper at 80% off that will both stop me putting the heating on.

Was wondering, does anyone buy bicarb of soda and/or white vinegar in bulk, and if so where from? I'm looking into these for cleaning and laundry but it's not worthwhile at supermarket prices.

Many thanks for all your comments, I don't post often but read everything and it's great to see everyone's progress.

Synonymous

Coulddobetter wrote: »

Does anyone have good advice about share buying? I keep reading american sites but they are of no use when trying to plan for retirement.

Could do better x

monevator.com is a blog from the UK and they are also investing for retirement. I think the general advice is to invest in index funds rather than shares as less risk but I'm no expert and just researching it all myself. He also recommends Tim Hale's book 'Smarter Investing' which again is from the UK.

greenbee

I buy bicarb, vinegar and epsom salts in bulk from summer naturals.

[Deleted User]

Hi all. I've been reading and lurking . I too would like to know where you can buy white vinegar and bicarb for washing cheap.
I've had a couple of spendy days. I've been decluttering thanks to the Marie Kondo thread. But as I've decluttered lots of unwanted stuff I've found a few things I do NEED.
Waterproof gloves for de icing the car is number 1 on my NEEDS list along with a couple of black long sleeved thermal t shirts. Will look in A**I and E*ay for those.
My shopping spends are going to plan and I've just topped up basics and bought a couple of treats which were only £1.98, so that won't break the bank. Basic shop was just over £7.
I'm going to look into my mortgage in the next month or so and my electric too. As well as find a better savings plan ie shares or isa or something with a bit more interest than my savings are making ATM.
I've had lots to do and lots more decluttering and E***ing to do which is keeping me out of the shops. I did venture into my local town but came home without spending a penny. Oh I had a good look around - picked clothes up etc then thought nah I don't need that and for the first time in years my wardrobe has space left..:T.

vulpix

Evenin

Mashed potato left over I freeze either as a meal or just potato in a sandwich bag.No problems with defrosting.

Plenty of snow still and more forecast for tomorrow.I have only been out of the house to the bin and feed my bird friends.

I am still painting the wardrobe,and am rewarding myself with a bit of patchwork.The patchwork will take forever too.Already 40 years!!!!!!!!
I am determined to finish it and will not cut it up like I have in the past.Does anyone patchwork?There is no way I can quilt all the little squares,thats another 40 years work and I doubt I have the time.I don't know how to back it.It is all hand sewn and I think I would like to finish it without a machine but I have no ideas.If I sew a sheet at the back it will just be a bag.Any ideas?

Grey Queen I tried archery and quite liked it but the woman who runs the club is just so unfriendly and miserable and really made it obvious that newcomers were not welcome.:( I gave up after a few times.

I have spent £45 on food so far this month,lots left in the galley too.

Laters Vx

emiai

Evening all, loving reading the posts here.

I had an odd day yesterday, after being inspired here I scoured the city charity shops looking for some dresses and leggings for my little one, as she is going through a fashion phase and loves getting changed.. a lot.. I was really disappointed that in most of the charity shops everything was really bad tat, stuff I wouldn't dream of donating. Even stuff for myself was stretched, stained, frayed and over priced. In reflection I am pleased that I still didn't spend anything, but my dreams of finding a bargain have been pushed back until car boot season at least.

I have also been writing a rough meal plan for the week, rough as in, that's what we're having, but what day were having it on can change. I also sourced many of our snacks from the pound shop, 75p cheaper than in Sainsburys for go ahead biscuits! My husband loves these so I was pleased to save a few pennies there.

Are over priced charity shops standard now, or did I just go into some bad ones? There are lots in our city centre so I will have to have a better look I guess.

nursemaggie

Thank you 7WW for the article on thrift it's very interesting. I don't think I would have read it all if I had known it was 42 pages long. It took all day but was worth it.

Better get back to catching up got another day to read.