NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

Primrose

Bobarella wrote: »

Hi All
. I am now sitting in John lewis using my free coffee and cake voucher and just feeling so overwhelmed by the crazy amounts of things around me. I can't believe I ever shopped for pleasure now. In their cafe one smallish sandwich with no accompaniments such as side salad, crisps etc was £5.50!!

We have a jocular saying in our household "HOW MUCH??.
Price inflation seems to grow worse as we age. i recall years ago driving my elderly dad to a specific hardware store for some specialist screws he needed . He was appalled by the high price and exclaimed to the shopkeeper. "HOW MUCH? I could buy these for one shilling and tuppence before the war". "Yes Sir, replied the shopkeeper "But that was the Boer War! ,". :eek: my dad was mortally offended but I doubled up with laughter and now years later I find myself expressing exactly the same indignation :rotfl:

carolbee

CAFCGirl wrote: »

OOOh another Kentish MSE-er

A meet up could be on the cards for us Kent folk?

Gigervamp

Price inflation. That reminds me of a time when I was about 9 or 10. I was round my friends house and her dad, who was quite old, gave her a 2p coin.
"Go and get yourselves a couple of penny bags of chips." he said.
"But Dad," my friend replied "chips are 7p a bag now." :rotfl:

AnimalTribe

Minimalist wrote: »

. I’m reevaluating things, with a view to downshifting to fewer hours and maybe different work entirely in the long run - so any ideas / advice very welcome!

It took some major manoeuvring to make leaving work possible but knowing I was working towards it made working life more bearable. I tried very hard to just do my own job. When people came asking for advice I'd freely give it, but I told them who to contact to resolve the matter themselves. Often they'd say stuff like "you've worked with that person before so you'll get farther", or "could you draft a letter for me as you know how to phrase things" - I said no (very politely, but very firmly), and kept saying no. In the end I got fewer requests, and made myself less indispensable. At the same time I let go outside work commitments that were sapping my energy and some people that weren't really friends.

Like you I started to reduce my debts/spending and started stuffing away as much cash as I could.

I felt a bit odd about this one - but while I was working my way towards leaving (which took 18 months) I availed myself of stuff the company offered (which I hadn't before) eg free eye tests and help with glasses. I still feel a little guilty but those things were for the benefit of staff and I was still working there. It saved me money when I left.

My family now survives on my husband's income (I did feel guilty leaving all the paid work to him), but he likes his job and I finally came to realise that I work equally hard at home keeping the household going, and we are all much happier.

I hope you manage to downshift. This is exactly the right thread for helping with that.

I only look in every couple of days as otherwise I don't think I'd leave the PC. However, I need the inspiration this thread provides at the moment as I've slipped into very bad habits - buying stuff that I don't need.

AnimalTribe

katkin wrote: »

I'm just catching up with the posts above and these echo with me so much too.

Burnt out from my job, treated poorly by management and now ill due to the stress of it all. I'm hoping of an offer of redundancy to get off the rat-wheel and try and start again doing something healthy and worthwhile that provides enough for a frugal and minimalist lifestyle.

Love the cat picture. I'm cat mad and over the years have taken so many rescues off peoples hands, it's the one thing I can't say no to.


Where I worked there was a redundancy offer but not in my department. I guessed HR wouldn't have the take up they needed so I wrote to them to volunteer and copied my boss into the e-mail. I think I just wrote a couple of sentences along the lines of although I enjoyed my job (fib but ego stroking) I had a couple of ill relatives (sadly true) and given my personal circumstances wouldn't mind the opportunity to take redundancy if they didn't have sufficient takers elsewhere. I was waving goodbye a couple of weeks later but remained on good terms with my boss.

Bobarella

Primrose wrote: »

We have a jocular saying in our household "HOW MUCH??.
Price inflation seems to grow worse as we age. i recall years ago driving my elderly dad to a specific hardware store for some specialist screws he needed . He was appalled by the high price and exclaimed to the shopkeeper. "HOW MUCH? I could buy these for one shilling and tuppence before the war". "Yes Sir, replied the shopkeeper "But that was the Boer War! ,". :eek: my dad was mortally offended but I doubled up with laughter and now years later I find myself expressing exactly the same indignation :rotfl:

ha ha brilliant ):rotfl:

tatabubbly

Would love to join in this!!

I'm based abroad but it is very much all spend spend spend.. I know expats get a good deal but I would like me and the OH to have something to show for it!! We are saving for the wedding in September and then it's operation get a house!!
Hoping to buy a few acres somewhere in Ireland where we are from!

This thread will be a great help!!

lessonlearned

Ahoy There Shipmates.

I have to say I hate supermarkets, chain stores and the big coffee shop chains with a passion.

They have ruined our high streets and done nothing to make shopping even remotely pleasurable. All the shops are the same and they all sell the same expensive overpriced tat, ripping off the consumer, driving down wages for their staff and exploiting the third world.

I much prefer the little independent shops, markets, farm shops, craft fairs. Often the goods and services on offer are far more superior and more often that not, no more expensive..

Supermarkets are not cheap, far from it.

I did, at one point, avoid all supermarkets but I'm afraid I did slip back into my old habits but I'm resolved from now I intend to shop small and shop local, supporting local businesses.

It's very interesting to read how many people want to get off that hamster wheel or at least slow it down. It seems that there are a lot of unhappy, stressed people out there.

Hopefully this thread and others like will help you to achieve your goals. I no longer do any paid work although I like to dabble a bit earning extra money as and when.

I found that once I got into the mindset of wanting less, spending wisely, reducing waste etc then I was surprised to see just how little I can live on.

Also remember it can actually cost money to go to work, ie travel, work clothes, regular hair appts and generally having to be really well groomed, lunches,snacks, collections and gifts etc. then of course there is the lack of time so shopping wisely and careful budgeting is much harder and that's not taking into account any child related expenditure. And of course the real benefits are less stress, better health and more often than not happier relationships.

This weekend I have been Decluttering my wardrobe, some will go to the charity shop and a lot of my clothes are really rather worn out. So, I'm being very good and repurposing the worst of the garments, I'm making draft excluders and then cutting up old t shirts to make cleaning cloths

Very MSE:D



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CAFCGirl

carolbee wrote: »

A meet up could be on the cards for us Kent folk?

OOOh i'd most definitely be up for that.... you wouldn't want to visit this part though

AnimalTribe

cydney65 wrote: »

Me again...

I need to make a star for my xmas tree so I was browsing the web and landed on some salt dough recipes. I'm all excited because I've been looking for a little pressie for DD and SIL...I'm thinking of making up some dough and making an imprint of GD's hand when she comes over next week.

Does this sound okay? Haven't used salt dough for 30 years!

Another one urging Camelot to stay strong-I so love Ikea!

CydneyX

I can't think of a better present to give any parent, just remember to poke a hole through the top with a straw so they can hang it up somewhere.