NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

GreyQueen

VJsMum, some of my pals have a shop which buys and sells a number of things, including jewellery. It's pretty common to find me hanging out in there with a cuppa whilst they chew the fat with others in the trade.

One day a couple of Polis, who were investigating a burglary which included some of the *dora products, came in and wanted to know if they'd been offered for sale. Pals will only buy from people who can prove their name and address with photo ID and pointed out that they wouldn't buy 'dora products anyway as they're worthless.

I've also heard jewellers haggling over diamonds below 0.5 ct. As in trying and failing to flog them to each other for £1-£5 each. You can't give small diamonds away these days, cubic zirconia has ruined the market.

Just been looking at the 'dora website and what a load of overpriced tatt. I feel sorry for those who've being badgered to buy this stuff as gifts. £55 for a sterling silver bead stuck with cubic zirconia, crystal and 'mixed stones' FGS. That must have cost all of £3 to manufacture.

nursemaggie

Would cost me more than £5 to get to a Chinese supermarket so cheap brown vinegar is fine for me. I tried it on black and navy clothes first. They on the whites and if anything they are whiter.

117pauline

It's a bit like the Emperor's New Clothes, this Pandora fad. The marketing guys though really have done a fantastic job on convincing young people that they are "of value".

I am not working at the moment so have plenty of time to check out prices and offers for various things. Shame I seem to be unable to hold the info for long!! Damned medication or condition, don't know which!

I think that if you have a frugal mindset, you have a particular value in mind for regular products you consume so you buy when they are good value. If however you are in full time rush mod, you simply don't have the time or inclination to do this.

Supermarkets have spent so much money persuading us we need to consume to be happy. Now thank goodness, people have become wiser and supermarkets are paying the price as the discounters really move on. I read somewhere that in holiday areas overseas, when Aldi and Lidl have opened, prices have drastically reduced which can only be good.

RicardaRacoon

Evening everyone

Forgive me for I have sinned... First day of the month saw me placing an Amaz0n order... A biography and a "Make do and mend" for a total of 4.01£ plus postage.... Well, so far for the ok-ish part of the order but then ordered another bookd for 35£... Insane, isn't it? But just so wanted to have it and been sneeking around it for a while and decided that it is my not-guilty treat of June...

I was taught at home that you have to live within your means so if you save on something you will be able to afford something else... You can't have all and if you want to spend money somewhere you have to "earn" it by economising somewhere else... After having a quite careless approach to money when I first moved out I quickly fell back into the habit of mindful spending.
A friend of mine earned far more but whenever an unexpected spending came she had to juggle with money while I made sure that some money went into savings each month. Well, she always made fun of me, why would I want to buy food on offer? Surely her powder/nail polish/face cream is 10 times better than mine as it costs ten times more... Why do I wash a dress myself when the tag says "dry cleaner only?" She never got my concept until her boyfriend lost his job and suddenly they had to economise... She was quite astonished to find that her 10£ tights weren't any better than 1.50£ ones...

I think it is very sad when people make fun of other peoples mindful spending. After all, it is everyones own business if you want to spend money on something or not and I don't see what is bad in getting clothes from a cs, especially since I don't want to know how many of the items there had only been worn once or twice before...

I also don't see the point in useless collecting stuff. Well, we can now discuss what is useless and what not, but some things surely are... I went to Disneyland with two friends some weeks ago and they spent ridiculous amounts of money on things they will never use... I got a key tag- my old one was falling appart - and Mickey Mouse kitchen towels but that was all and they were quite astonished why I didn't bought more... Well, what should I do with the things I buy and can't use???

So, I'm off to bed, hoping that I won't be so tired tomorrow... Just found out that only half of the ones who work full time (half of our team works part time and none of them works on Fridays) are either sick or taking the day off, so it will be me plus two colleagues to hold the forth...

Have a nice evening everyone!

Lynplatinum

Hiya All

Well, I ve been reading all your comments about this and I think it is really interesting if you look at the name. Pandora was the girl who was told to look after a box and, never to open it - not even a peek. When she did so she let out all the nasty sprites - such as envy; greed; spitefulness etc and she was frightened by them that she quickly sit the box - leaving only Hope left in the box to give to mankind.
So - out the manufacturers have let greed (I need more), envy (she's got more/better bangles than me); spitefulness ('she's only got the cheap ones!') out of the box - encouraging folks to collect them - making them seem more valuable or an inheritance to pass on (ta for info re diamonds GQ)! Neat money-making trick - like the recent bank robbers - one has to (begrudgingly) admire them! :mad::mad:

but we wont be so fooled on here!

NBI today - swapped a lift for some rhubarb - crumble is on the way tomorrow - oh yes!!!!!!!!!!!! :cool:

MyHappinessProject

..And we are left with...HOPE. Hang in there everyone...It will be worth it, worth the effort. Go us!!

GreyQueen

Lynplatinum, folks bring diamond and other gemstone rings into the pals' shop all the time. They rarely buy them as rings (they're not trying to beat the seller down to buttons, they genuinely can't sell them on - there's next-to-no market). The value is in the gold/ platinum. If the sellers want to sell them for scrap value, they prise the stones out, hence having a supply of tiddly diamonds. Silver rings are worthless, they won't bother with them as it's pennies per gramme for silver and a silver ring probably weighs in at about £1.50's worth.

If you want to own jewellery as a store of value, go plain gold, the purer the better. London hallmarks are the best, and then Italian gold chains. Pro buyers will be a wary about middle eastern/ hong kong gold, as the purity isn't reliable. The indians have the right idea - 24 carat or nothing for them.

One of the jewellers is from Hatton Garden originally and has many a fascinating tale to tell. Jewellers send finished jewellery for assay and hallmarking and if it isn't of the purity its supposed to be, the assayists chop it up and send it back in pieces. You don't mess around with them! Which is why the London hallmarks (indeed, all Brit hallmarks) are worthwhile.

If anyone wants to buy rings with stones in, buy used. You get a lot of bang for your buck, and rings can mostly be re-sized and jewellery can be mended/ made over from something you don't wear into something you will. You can get something very nice, all pro polished and boxed, looking as good as new.

***********

I've had my eyes tested today (one on each side of my nose, sludgy green ) and really need new glasses. My optician tried to hand me off to a saleslady to choose there and then, but I don't dance like that.

I will take the information, consider which style, frames, best buys, extras required and shop around. I have several competing firms within a half-mile of the homestead and will get the best deal. All this takes a bit of time, but so does earning my money, and I like to hang onto it and spend what I do spend, wisely.

I'm wryly amused by those who don't see the point of prudence until they're right up against it. Waiting until the bailiff is at the door or you're down the dole office limits your ability to scrimp. There's a proverb to the effect that the time to economise is when the flour sack is full.

Weather's a bit pants here, raining and not allotment-friendly, so I was contemplating taking some of my unspent Xmas gift money to the flicks this aft to watch a disaster movie. I'm reluctant to open my wallet, but this was present money and I can justify the indulgence (I hope).

Lynplatinum

Hiya All

really useful info re gold GQ. I dont want to have anything valuable - cos then if I am ever burgled they will find nowt worth taking.

I ve just had a lovely day with my friend - who is very well off - on a pension which is in excess of the national average wage. He is the most humble of people and very MM&M and NBI - and his ex colleagues all wonder how he affords holidays to Australia etc (his big extravagance in life). Recently he was burgled - he had his brand new laptop well hidden and his computer is rebuilt inside a very old case and then inside an old cupboard. They found nothing to steal and just chucked his slides (old form of photos) all over the floor and spilt tea and sugar on the floor!! He doesnt want anything nicking either!! we had a fascinating conversation about how he cooks for himself and mends his clothes and has not bought new furniture for years etc.

wonderful day visiting pubs (I was driving) and he was so grateful to be driven because he is usually the one being kind and giving lifts to other people - he was very good to me when I broke my leg last year - its great to be able to repay favours! We visit pubs because we survey them to review them for CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) in this area (voluntarily).

Which is while my title of 'its about the lifestyle'
Gonna be v NBI tomorrow and tidy up my garden and preserve some of my herbs!!
Frugally sailing on folks!:A

GreyQueen

Your friend sounds like the kind of person whose company I'd enjoy. My desktop PC is 13 this October and I think I might look at a rebuild in the casing when the gubbins finally goes beyond all help - I'd ask my pooter wizard about that. Laughing at how your friend foiled the burglars.

My own jewellery would sadden any burglar; 3 strings of faux pearls and one wire-and-irridescent bead necklace. Plus other valuables on the premises include such deathless treasures as an 18 y.o. ghetto-blaster (it has cassettes as well as cd player!) and a film camera so cheap and plasticy that it appears to have fallen out of a cracker. And the cheapest N0kia money can buy you...........:rotfl:

There's a very funny article somewhere on Miss Minimalist's website about a burglary at her apartment where they got an old handbag, a half-used lipstick, portable CD player and about $3 in canadian coins and that was IT! The police officer attending thought they'd cleaned the place out because she and her hubby owned such a small amount of Stuff, and was astonished that this was the normal state of affairs and that she was so easily able to list what had been taken.

[Deleted User]

Hi Ya Chums I am back online again,albeit taking things slowly and giving my old body time to recover.I seemed to have lots of cash at the moment £13.06 left over from May's food budget plus the whole of Junes £60.00 intact.But lots of food in the cupboards and freezer and no way am I wandering around the shops at the moment My walking pace has slowed down a bit since my op. and I'm not that mobile I will have a slow shuffle round to the library later to return some books ,but they will go into my shopping trolley as I can't carry anything heavy at all.I am hoping next week when the stitches are removed I will feel better ,but not too bad at the moment just rather slow :):) Nothing to buy and absolutely no inclination to go near a shop which is good.

Sun is shining and my chair in the conservatory is looking pretty good with a library book and a pot of coffee that will be my day planned more or less.I spent several days at DDs being fussed over by my DGS and her which was lovely, but I hate fussing, so I came home last night.So today is a pottering around day with no housework to be done (can't bend anyway) and no cooking (its all in the freezer from last week) and DD stopped and got me some fruit and fresh salad stuff last night on the way home so I'm all sorted for the next few days .

Re frugality ,I too cannot understand why folk who splash the cash recklessly then complain about being broke yet cannot see how easy it is to just rein in the spending a bit.

I have always been frugal and sensible with my funds and live well within my means.I enjoy spending on my family and 10 weeks today we are off to the Isle of Wight for our annual holidays.I go every year with my DD and family plus two dogs and even the hamster comes on holiday with us
DD and I save all of our vouchers from tesco/morrisons/sainsbugs etc plus we take a crate of staples stuff with us that we collect from June onwards .We rent a property and self-cater.On the last night we will have a meal out as by then we will have used all of our stores up.

Last year at the holiday house, twice my DD went out sea fishing with her sons, and caught dinner for us, plus in the garden were two apple trees that made us a couple of apple pies and several crumbles whilst we were there.

I love to hunt around the CS on the island for odds and ends and got a great bag to hold my knitting in from Freshwater for 50p and its lasted me well.

I treat my running costs of my house the same way I would run a business and budget for things I need (not want ) and every month I have a separate food purse with my £60.00 food only budget cash in.

Once its gone thats it until the following 1st of the month.My cupboards are full and I make all my own cakes/biscuits and cook from scratch.to me HM soup is far nicer tasting and uses up past their best veg beautifully and costs pennies to make. As yet this year I have had money left over at the end of each month and it all goes into the 'holiday pot' for treats for my DGS on the beach.
I have very little jewellery apart from stuff my late OH bought me ,most of that is gold and sits in my eldest DDs safe at her house and will come out for high days and holidays.

I never wear any of my watches as when I retired in 1995 I took my watch off and never wore one again.I suppose I would spend extra cash on decent shoes as I have to have happy feet, when you walk with a stick and have joint problems as I do happy feet are essential. I use the library all the time although I do have a soft spot for books they are usually from a CS and rarely bought new. I enjoy spending any spare cash on my grandchildren although I don't spoil them , but if there is something really big they need I will help DD out by paying at least half as she is very good to me and I'd rather the boys had it while I'm around to see their pleasure than after I've popped my clogs

I am happy with what I have, and have a roof over my head,food in the cupboard and a loving family around me so I really want for nothing.I have never been a 'things' sort of person anyway I get more fun out of people than I do out of things.

Shops and advertising just don't grab me at all. I see things in the stores and think I do make/cook/ repair from what I have indoors better than what they ask the price for . Where I live there has opened a small 'vintage shop' its full of recycled junk.I recycle lots of stuff myself, and to me bringing an old chair or piece of furniture back to life with a bit of sanding and undercoating and top-coating is great fun.last week I saw they had an old pair of step ladders in the window repainted a very pale shade of blue the asking price was £85.00 !!! is an old pair of steps probably worth about a fiver at most but I'm sure someone will come along and buy them and think they have a bargain.Fools and their money are easily parted. I haunt boot sales for old bits and bobs and its suprising what you can find I take around a fiver in small change with me and thats the max I will spend and love to bargain a little .