NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

agnesjr

Afternoon folks,

Barthory....you made me lol re photo booth. Accidentally took a photo of myself on OH's phone....weeks later looking at photos wondered who the old woman was. It was me! Know I am getting older, but have now got that distinctive menopausal look (?tmi). Between that and the meds....well......

At my sons graduation yesterday....lovely day all round. He went back to uni as a mature student and has had some hurdles along tne way. So pleased for him at his determination to do something different. Shopped my wardrobe as had 1 new jacket, 2 new dresses & 2 new skirts....never worn. Decided on new jacket with linen trousers as very warm here. Also, only own 2 pair of non flat shoes and couldn't get my feet into either.....weather and ailments. Day wasn't about me anyway, but wanted to look smart for son.

Have wandered off ship and as advised visited make do forum and marie kondo forum.....very good also. Have looked at Mr MM and will visit there again. Also particularly love Courtney Carvers 'Be More With Less'. In fact could do without books for a while if reading forums, web pages, links etc

Continue to purchase carefully..dog ins due for renewal...usually go with mar*sies....but have to play a game. Phone and cancel renewal in my name. Take out ins for dog in OH's name. Save about £80 as OH gets better deal as new customer. Next year do it the other way round. Bonkers. Even rang them to ask about cheaper amount as a returning custome. Nope, no can do.

Toddle pip NBI crew

Lynplatinum

Hiya all

Yes, I agree, Southern Girl - Jackie O is definitely an inspiration! :A

I keep on finding how much I dont need to buy!!! I have found LOADS of stuff in my cupboards! (both food and clothes wise!!) - am trying to use it all up/sell it / give it away to friends! For the past 6 weeks I have lived off £5 per week + veg box every fortnight (£10 = £5 per week) - if you told me that I could do that a few months ago then I would have said no! No way! :eek: How have I done it? Planning round what veg i get - eating up stuff like pearl barely (there is a wonderful Nigella recipe for turning it into a risotto) - learning to clean with minimal chemicals (and paying the right price for them - NOT what the adverts would have you pay - e.g. perfectly good bleach is 55p @ L!dils!) I use bicarbonate of soda to clean a lot of stuff! that and Stardr!ps for the greasy stuff!

Occasionally I buy in bulk e.g. bulk of loo rolls @ Cost! or buy two of things that I know I will use every week! I buy very few things @ 'normal' price - as this thread says 'Im Not Buying It'

im not having these big multi nationals gaining more of my money than I absolutely have to!! With support from on here it is possible to change your mind set. my next change is to make money by getting what I am owed - have already succeeded with one PPI but need to do another (should give me £1000 if I can get it out of them!) - have also swapped energy supplier again this summer - which will save me £288 per year - am gonna get rid of one bank account with a £15 per month charge (saving £180 per year). All this money I have let slip over the years!!

No more! cos Im sailing on the good ship NBI!!:j

suki1964

Lyn, sounds like you had a great weekend, full of fun

I always think JackieO is my darling great Aunt Pat ( no longer with us alas) She was so sprightly andthrifty. She lived in a house with an outside loo, no hot water and the bath was under the worktop in the kitchen. And no this wasnt a slum, it was in a very expensive part of London beside the Thames. It was just how she liked it. She was away up early in the morning getting the house spick and span, then a wander to the market to get the days veg and meat. Everything was scratched cooked and nothing wasted. It was she who taught me how to make rugs and to chrochet, as well as how to play rummy and cribbage. Dont know why but reading Jackies posts always remind me of her

So Im still off sick, but will be heading back to work Monday, see how I go. Managed to drive the car for the first time yesterday without too much pain - reverse gear is still a nightmare. But hey ho - cant sit around the house all my life

Our night away to the concert was just amazing. We havent had so much fun in so long. Completely stress free couple of days. Wasnt cheap, I went mad with excitement and bought merchendise, but in my defence it was my first ever concert and I was just totally giddy and didnt care. lol Will just have to pull the reins in a bit for the next few weeks

The chooks are settling in. Four are now five It seems we have been sold a roo lol. Maybe two. Thats the trouble with young chicks, hard to sex them. So we will know for sure in the next month or so if they start crowing. Discussed what we would do for sure if they are roos, and have decided they are pets. I mean Ive named them and know them and theres no way is one of them taking the Turkeys place at the table ( me Aunt Pat wouldnt have such worries I know that much lol )

Having the bad arm, I got the old kenwood out. Now thats been stuck in a cupboard for years. Havent got rid as its mums and although she no longer bakes, she would go spare if I got shot of it. Anyways I wanted bread, got that out, and with a bit of trial and error, made some of the best bread Ive ever made - so its staying. Hubby got a pack up of lovely fresh rolls this morning with the left over kebabs we had for tea the other night

The veggie garden is going mad at last We havent had the good weather you have been enjoying in England, but we did hit the giddy heights of 24oC the other day. However cloud cover and strong winds kinda took the edge off. Still the veg is loving it. Spuds are going mad, we had a wee look to make sure they were growing and it appears we will be feeding half the county Broad beans are developing nicely, peas are flowering, lettuce forming, spring onions can be picked and the beets are showing their tops. Courgettes, im not sure whats going to happen, we had loads of flowers, then nothing, now they started again. Im just watering and feeding away hoping for the best. So any clues or advice peeps? I just cant wait to start eating for free

Actually been eating a lot of salady type meals this week or two. working out to be very ecconomical as so little when chopped up and bit of this and that added it goes so far plus left overs are great for the pack lunch the next day.Also gets to use up half jars of pickles and such like And OMG have I been eating since Ive been on the steroids Im hungry from the minute I wake up to the minute I go to bed:eek: Seems the weight Id lost since christmas has found its way back, hope it changes back when I finish the course

Anyway Im away to hang the wash out then head to the shop to get flour, Ive a notion to try a focaccia to go with the tea tonight, got 2 small slamon fillets which I shall flake into a salad to stretch them out to feed three.

Enjoy the weather xxx

nursemaggie

Glad you are getting better Suki. Some of the weight will come off when you finish the steroids.

I agree with your Aunt Pat I would not be worried about eating the roosters. If I had chickens now I would be wishing for my grandad who used to come and wring their necks for us when I was a child. Grandad died in 1960 well in his 80s. My dad did not know how to wring their necks so he cut off ones head with an axe and ended up chasing it round the garden. Grandad was away on holiday at the time.

[Deleted User]

nursemaggie My late Dad would always wring their neck very quickly and expertly.Mum would clean them out and my middle brother Davy and I would sit picking the feathers off which were saved in a bag and used to be remade into either a cushion for the wooden settle in the kitchen or a pillow.

Mum would go over the stalky bits left with a small lit candle to burn the bits off.
We were never allowed to 'name' the chickens as Dad said we would never want to eat them .Very true, we knew from an early age that chickens were grown for the eggs and then the table.

I have always been pretty good with cash and my expences at the end of the month goes like this

Food £60.00
Window Cleaner £6.00 (once a month)
Gardener £24.00 (twice a month March-Oct)
Pub Quiz £8.00 (£2.00 per week ) get a small meal with this
History club £20.00 (£5.00 weekly during term time)

Total £118.00

The food cash is just for food,etc.cleaning stuff is usually vinegar,soda bicarb etc.
I buy Aldiee soap liquid for the washing machine ,but only use half the makers recommended amount (my clothes dont get that mucky)
I spend around a third of my food budget on fruit and veg.
Breakfast is usually cereal or porridge
Lunches HM soup and crackers

I only have to cook four nights of the week as Sunday dinner is at my DDs with her boxing up any left over bits she can't use as she has a large family, and I take them home with me for Monday nights dinner

Tuesday night is quiz night (we get a meal thrown in with the quiz) so I only have to cook wed,Thurs,Fri & Satuday dinners.

I bake my own biscuits and cakes and I don't buy or eat bread so have no need for butter.I use cream cheese or pate on my crackers HM pate is delicious.
I only use cash and keep it seperate from my normal purse.I have just done a reconciliation of my accounts for Jan-June and out of the £360.00 (6 months at £60.00) I have spent £292.76 and saved £67.24 towards our holiday spends for the DGS ice creams etc.I try to eat veggie at least 1-2 times a week and have cut down on red meat.
I keep a 'float' of around £20- 25 in my ordianry purse for any treats etc but often most of its still there at the end of the month.I only shop when I have at least 7-10 things on my shopping list and like to streeetch things if I can with lentils or oats of its meat (mince etc)
The DGS and I go foraging in the autumn for apples and blackberries which get frozen for the cold winter months, puddings are usually rice or semolina with cinnamon natural yoghurt with chopped up fresh fruit.

I eat and live fairly well on what I have, and prefer to cook from scratch.tonights dinner is a pork chop that I bought YS and put in the freezer about a month ago.I shall dip it in egg and pat dry stuffing mix on it and cook in my remoska with it
I shall have some frozen cabbage and a couple of diced carrots also from my freezer and some new potatoes that I bought last week. I like to see what I can do to liven up my food so I do use a lot of herbs and spices

suki1964

To be fair now we were always only going to keep layers and then let them retire and have a happy life. I personally wanted to go the rescue route but hubby gets a notion and away he went and got the hens. I did try not to name them, honest, but I'm a sucker for animals and that lasted a whole week lol.

I'm really kind of mixed up when it comes to food. When living in a city earning good money it was so much easier to have morals and ethics, we could afford to pay for them. Now I live in a farming community and my notions are shifting around a bit. There's not a farmer I know who has a chicken house who will eat chicken because no matter what it says on the supermarket package, the chicks are all intensively reared and fed with growth hormones to get them table ready in 6 weeks. So now I'm happy enough going to the factory and paying as little as 25p a bird that's labelled for marks or waitrose

Took me a while to eat lamb again after moving here and that's another meat not eaten widely here. Yet thinking about it, lambs are the only animals that live as a natural life as they can in our food cycle.

Whilst I used to love my farmers market chickens I paid the premium for having someone else to wring it's neck. I've looked deep in myself and just know I can't do it myself.

So not money saving as such but I'm getting a lot of joy and pleasure from them and once they start laying I hope to be enjoying their eggs daily

Btw I decided the shop wasn't worth a run just for flour so raided the fridge. A bit of rubber cauli left over from Sunday and some cooked carrots and peas left over from mid week in a cheese sauce with a dish of gratin spuds made with the well rooted spuds sat in the cupboard the past two weeks. Roasted toms and the salmon. Scrummy

edwink

nursemaggie wrote: »

My dad did not know how to wring their necks so he cut off ones head with an axe and ended up chasing it round the garden. Grandad was away on holiday at the time.

Too much information in my opinion and down right cruel!!! If someone does not know how to slaughter any animal in a humane way they should not attempt it!!

I found this part of your post terribly upsetting!! I make no apology as it just had to be said!!!!!!

Edwink

nursemaggie

It isn't cruel Edwink they are not alive when they run away. They had a much better life than the chickens do these day.

This was in the 50s when food was scarce and you went hungry if you had such scruples. I am sorry if you want to be vegetarian fine but don't impose it on others. You are lucky to be able to afford to keep chickens as pets. I could not afford to keep even a small pet if was was allowed. Being in rented accommodation you are not allowed pets.

mumofthetwins

Hi
Never posted on here before but think its such a great idea !
I know its over half way through the year but is it ok if I jump on board too ?
I'm sort of trying to do this at the min in anyway as I have so much stuff from food to clothes and it would be great to clear out and save some cash, plus I think its a great way to live and hopefully teach my boys some good values along the way


Lisa x

Southern-Girl

Jackieo
Thank you so much for that post. It has certainly made me think. I'm really going to have a good shot at trying to cut down. Tonight I have almost filled a carrier bag with food that has gone off.
I always meal plan, but then unforseen things happen. This week I have only eaten from home twice as things have cropped up.
I've just thrown away mouldy strawberries, Brie that has gone off, a salad bag (the leaves are really yellow and slimy), two yoghurts that have gone off. The list is endless. And I feel so guilty.
I shop once a week as I'm out 7.30am - 5.30pm during the week.
I definitely need to have a total rethink and maybe go shopping daily but be really strict with only buying what I need.

Any tips most welcome :T