NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

[Deleted User]

purpleshoes wrote: »

Im not saving, I dont earn enough at the moment to put more money away (I do have some savings plans, but Ive not started any more). I was never a massive spender, cutting down my food spends has been the biggest thing to come out of the thread, also making small overpayments to credit cards.

Thats a great achievement - :T. Were all doing "little things" to help ourselves.. And helping each other in this thread.

eandjsmum

hi all


I am enjoying this thread also . I too find that I am spending a lot, less. I am not sure how much I have saved this month as the car insurance was due but I didn't dip into savings for that. I will also have to buy a new freezer and stair carpet this year. My other big purchase will be a new desk but only if the style is right. Here we have several charity furniture shops, so I will buy that from one of them.


I also brought the Marie Kondo book . I haven't been able to get rid of all the clothes that I really hate because they happen to be my work clothes , but they are so funereal I hate them.


Emslovesmickey My last mountain warehouse coat also fell to bits in less than a year, hell will freeze over before I go back there for another one.

eandjsmum

PS I forgot to say I am another one who is not buying easter eggs this year> I will spend the same amount on chocolate instead. The Kids thought that this was a great idea as they only chuck the boxes away any way. So to whoever posted that a big thank-you.


Also Suki I don't know if you can get to a knit and natter club but my mum volunteers at one and she tells me that they get a lot of experienced knitters who are willing to teach inexperienced knitters.

Hoipolloi

eandjsmum wrote: »

PS I forgot to say I am another one who is not buying easter eggs this year> I will spend the same amount on chocolate instead. The Kids thought that this was a great idea as they only chuck the boxes away any way. So to whoever posted that a big thank-you.


Also Suki I don't know if you can get to a knit and natter club but my mum volunteers at one and she tells me that they get a lot of experienced knitters who are willing to teach inexperienced knitters.

I wont be buying Easter eggs this year either. Instead, will buy some sweets and choccies that we like and wouldn't ordinarily buy. I also have some egg moulds, so could make solid choc eggs too, if I want to be a bit traditional. But I think that's maybe overkill. :beer:

Hoipolloi

Tillytrotter1 wrote: »

What marvellous savings a lot of you have made, well done everyone.

Another long term reader here and will try to post more often. I find reading the posts so inspirational and really keep me from spending on things I don't need.

As I'm a SAHM with little personal money my main aim was to keep hold of what little I have and try to bring the grocery spends down a bit. Both of these I have managed, taking out the grocery money in cash has definitely helped therefore I have spent less on food, not had to dip into personal savings to top up and have managed to make an overpayment on the mortgage, only £50 but it's something. We also had to have our little cat put to sleep last week and were able to pay the vets bills for a cremation without worrying about the money which made things a bit better. I get a bit cross at myself when I realise where I have spent hard earned cash, how it has been wasted but at least things are going in the right direction now. I now find myself amazed at how much people seem to be spending in the supermarkets, vast amounts and I wonder how much of it is wasted.

Anyway I am so glad that Slowdown started this thread, things may get in the way at times but this is a good reminder to get us back on the straight and narrow.

Thanks friends

Sorry to read your cat had to be put to sleep

Bathory

Good evening everyone.

I'm still lurking around on the ship but have to confess that I fell overboard a couple of times recently. I slipped into an old habit of buying toiletries on offer then looking back thinking I need not have done. It is a weakness but I want to nip this habit in the bud and steer clear of certain aisles when shopping, otherwise I'll be walking the plank. When I lived out in the middle of nowhere years ago we stockpiled stuff like canned food, wood and coal but never hoarded toiletries (although mum insisted on always having soap in the house, Lux and Camay being favorites) so why now when I have shops close by.

I have been nurse for the past few days to Matilda, one of my cats, who is getting on for 14 years old but charges about still thinking that she is 4. She hurt one of her back legs but when we took her to the vets she made a miraculous recovery and rolled around on the examining table purring in glee. I felt a bit of a fool but the vet said that animals will sometimes pick up when visiting them due to excitement. She was very grumpy over weekend especially when she had to have medication but today seems to be eating lots and is in a much brighter mood.

I also visited a newly opened charity shop and got 2 pairs of unworn boots which came to £9 for both pairs. They are very much needed as my old magnums are now beyond repair and too expensive to replace. I am making a lot of soup as its still often icy at night here. I can't remember the last time I had tinned soup - still vividly remember the horrors of the 70's when the Heinz Cream of Celery terror in a tin would be dished up on what was far too many occasions !

Lynplatinum

Evening all!
tillytrotter - sorry to hear re your cat - so sad when an animal passes.

Urrrugh - is cream of CELERY really an existing soup?????????????? For real? YUUUUKK - I hate celery and in a cream version!! (doing a Churchill dog impression!)

I ll tell you what Slowdown has taught me - that being frugal and careful is something to be proud of! Not being a sheep and giving in to the power of advertising and suggestion. Seeing it as a challenge. Seeing it as being part of the movement to save the planet. Seeing it as healthy eating. Seeing it as bizzare the way people waste money - the way I used to spend money!

So, in practical terms - I often work late hours and I would feel tired, cold and hungry on the way home and so be tempted by a Burg!r K!ng on my way home. Now I have HM burgers in the freezer and YS buns! 5 mins while the kettle boils for coffee and burgers are ready - AND i m in me slippers (so comfy SO cheaper, healthier, quicker!!

Thank you for starting this Slowdown :A I now tell people I am thrifty with my head held high!

purpleshoes_2

I hate celery too, really cannot bear it. Over the last year Ive been doing a Paleo style diet and Ive eaten loads of food that I wouldnt have eaten before, but I cant eat celery. I also dont like tomatoes much, can eat them more cooked than raw, in fact I only started eating them about 5 years ago (can do sauces, just didnt like them as they were).

But celery makes me sick, even if its in a stock cube I struggle and I bought a packet of quinoa that had celery added and I didnt look to see first, opened the microwave door and the whiff of celery almost knocked me over, I had to shove a load of soy sauce on it (which isnt Paleo but hey ho), because otherwise I couldn't have eaten it.

My mum loves celery.

One thing I don't do and haven't for a long time, is get taxis. I think Ive been in a taxi once in 2 years. I stay at my mums at xmas and new year and this year I walked from hers to mine and back up again (popped in to see the mogs who would have been fine for another day but just wanted to see them).

Ive been on a reduced income for a few years now, but in the beginning of me teaching classes, I worked for a gym and had a bit more money, even though I had to teach a ton of classes for a pittance to get it, I hate to think what I spent that first year (some folks I know could and have spent it in a day but that's not the point).

I made the decision when I stopped teaching dance fitness that I was going to get off the merry go round of having to buy loads of stuff to try and grow the business. I have a sound system that I bought 2 years ago that's doing fine. I get my workout wear from barnardos, apart from my studio and hall hire and a few leaflets and banners Ive spent very little in the past couple of years.

Its so easy to buy stuff to cover up for something that's missing in your life and while Ive never been someone who had to have x, y or z, Im sure Ive spent money because I was miserable, even if it was just a small amount at a time.

I don't spend much time in shops anymore, I hardly ever online shop and I don't collect stuff either. I walk around 5 miles a day even though I have a bus ticket (which I need).

I dont have a TV so am not bombarded with adverts and Im really happy that I'm out of the loop on that score.

Bathory

Yes the cream of celery soup of satan did exist although I think its now been discontinued. If memory serves me right it was pale green with stringy bits and smelt plain weird. My mum loved it though and that's why there was so many cans of it I had to suffer through.

Just catching up with the thread as I've not been on for a bit. Sorry to hear about your cat tillytrotter

Slowdown

I cannot express how delighted I am that we are all bobbing along so well on our magnificent craft. Though I have to say,that even if our boat was magically spirited from underneath us, not a single soul would be lost. It seems to me that we are keeping each other afloat with tips and tricks, sympathy and support, understanding and understated enjoyment. Hooray, I say! (In a throw your hat in the air kind of way.) Thank you to everyone for sailing with me.

eandjsmum wrote: »

Also Suki I don't know if you can get to a knit and natter club but my mum volunteers at one and she tells me that they get a lot of experienced knitters who are willing to teach inexperienced knitters.

I love the sound of this! Anyone know how to search one out? I have taught myself to knit recently and can now cable stitch and knit a twisted rib stitch! I am very pleased with myself but would love to be upskilled by advice from more experienced knitters. Very underestimated pastime if you ask me. Not boring at all. Slightly meditative in fact.

Anyway, time to haul these bones from their bed and get a wiggle on for the day. Big meeting this morning but it should go well. I shall wear my new charity shop blouse and a big smile. That should do the trick! (Obviously that's not all but you get the idea!)

Kind regards
Slowdown