NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

pm2326

Evening, hope you're all enjoying the lovely weather

I was woken at 4.30am by another thunder & lightening storm followed by torrential rain for an hour...needless to say I didn't get back to sleep so now I'm a bit pooped!

called into aldi this afternoon to buy some fresh items, 2 packs cherries, spring onions, courgettes, asparagus & sweet potatoes, also had to buy tissues as run out so spent £5.03... :mad: 3p over weekly budget!

Tonight's tea was HM corned beef pasty from freezer and baked beans from cupboard and now I'm attempting to reduce the stock of cider in the fridge

Lynplatinum

Ahoy all

PM2326 - I think serious attention should be given to the cider in the fridge clutter and hoarding - that stockpile needs dedication to reduce it ASAP LOL :beer:

So OK I ended up in T!scos tonight - decided to treat myself to hummus and theirs is the only one i like (it will go brill in pitta breads with the veg I roasted for tea tonight!) So, of course, I looked for YS items - in the veg isles I found quite a few. I very very rarely go pottering round supermarkets -dont usually get time! anyhooo bag of spinach - REDUCED was £1.15 - same thing in L!dil is £1 at full price! So I didnt get that. I was stunned, as for the first time, in - probably - a couple of years (broke leg last year so no potter shopping for me!) I actually looked at what was for sale. (Previously I I have done guerrilla shopping - in, grab what I need, quick shufti @ the YS and out!). Have folk REALLY got soooo lazy that cant make their own mash?? there were 4 varieties! Pre sliced, chilled carrots! little balls of butternut squash! Well -- great balls of fire - they were all on YS but even @ YS prices I could have made enough from the raw ingredients to feed a small army. It would seem that folks are so suckered in that they pay out that much. My NBI head nearly exploded!!

However, I found some blackberries for 5p and some rocket for 10p - so I bought those!! :T However, there were 16 blackberries - even for 5p - given that at the right time of year they are free - was, upon reflection expensive but have had no fresh fruit this week and I really missed it!

So thats my rant of the week over! NBI has changed my life! :rotfl::rotfl: Purse SHUT tomrrow sailin frugally forward chums!

[Deleted User]

Lynplatinum I agree I too cannot understand why anyone would buy food like thatI have even seen frozen omelletes for goodness sake how long does it take to whip up a couple of eggs.
I love foraging with my DGS for blackberries.I drop them in a bowl of salty water to kill off any creepy crawlies that may be lurking in there then once washed and patted dry they go into the freezer for crumble's or to be mixed with plain cheapo ice cream or value plain yoghurt .Who need Mu3ller corners when you can DIY
I like to see what's in the shops and figure out if I can make it myself cheaper 9 times out of 10 I can.
I have been carless for the past 5 weeks but DD is kindly letting me have my car back next weekend as the 6 weeks non-driving is up. Mind its helped me a lot as I have not been buying either diesel or been tempted in to the supermarket. so my purse is still full,I will have to shop tomorrow but it is only a very small shop definitely less than a tenner and the first shop this month :):)
The bottom drawer of the freezer has a little space now which is good and I have only 41 days to go until my holidays,so I shall be using up stuff as much as possible.Lots of salady stuff in the fridge at the moment and today I shall be using up the galia melon my neighbour gave me yesterday .She is off to Malta for a week.We do tend to donate stuff if we can't use if up when we go away I had some tomatos last week from a friend at quiz night.Far better than binning stuff.I do it myself what I don't take with me when we go, I let the neighbours have. I hate waste of any sort, especially food waste. I shall get some pitta bread tomorrow and use some of my Halloumi up with it. I did use some with chopped apples and dry fried in the pan and it was delicious.I want to do it in some pitta bread with salad and chili sauce for lunch tomorrow
Have a good and frugal day chums
JackieO xxx

WeeMidgie

Hello fellow shipmates! Returning on board, with more shore leave (expense) planned for later in the month.

I achieved my goal of saving enough to get the rear garden fully levelled, slabbed and a raised sleeper bed built. It is now full of salad veg, and so far I'm taking the tops off 2 types of kale, living salad, bok choi, rainbow chard and perpetual spinach.

I'm also picking snow peas, and have stopped buying bags of salad. Some wee tomatoes have set fruit but are still green, and I have quite a lot of strawberries. This has all given me enormous, pleasure, and no longer having to bend to ground level is great. I often take a cup of tea outside and sit on the edge of the raised bed, and enjoy the peace and the plants. And count my blessings.

I paid off the gardener, and the improvements will pay for themselves in 3 years. Today my nice neighbour said that he will take the very scruffy grass grass off our tiny open plan front gardens, and lay membrane and gravel. So that will be a bit more expense, but will look after itself, bar sweeping up autumn leaves when they fall. I'm probably looking at half share of approx £110 materials costs, and a gift to my neighbour who will do the hard work. He's a gem.

The great thing is that even with what I've paid out, my savings are increasing month by month. The only crack in my NBI 2015 for clothes was I bought a pair of push-on sandals, as I had lost the skin on one heel and couldn't manage to wear normal shoes. But they are good quality and were reduced, and for £20 they should last me a good few years.

Like others, I'm old enough to remember when pasta was considered exotic!!
And I remember the taste of my first nectarine, eaten in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh in the early 70's, bought from a specialist greengrocer in Princes Street. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. They are still my favourite fruit. A happy memory!

RicardaRacoon

Hello everyone

Just sent my post to nirvana or somewhere.... My laptop is behaving very oddly at the moment...

I'm very reluctant to spend money at the moment, hope I can keep that up for a while as it is only five weeks till my holidays and I know that I will spend money there... I buy most of my clothes and cosmetics when on holiday as I'm more relaxed and have more time then, so that will sum up a bit...

Bought food, a take away, tights and two presents so far in July. Will try to get to mid month with only food, a meal out next Friday and a small shop around the drugstore for deodorant and soap. I try to buy cruelty free cosmetics, so can't just get it from the supermarket, though I think I'm not paying more for it in the end as I found out that a lot of the less expensive brands are cruelty free...

re vegetarians/vegans during the war. The vegan society was founded in 1942 or 1943! I really wonder how they survived and what they ate without all the dairy substitutes like soy milk available today...

I too think Jackie is quite an inspiration!

Suki, glad you're a bit better!

Will spend the rest of the day dealing with two cross stitched birthday cards. Am running a bit late and will have to get them done... So that will be two cards for the money of some cross stitch fabric and an empty card... Most of the treads are left overs from bigger projects anyway which I keep for cardmaking.

Have a nice Sunday everyone!

pm2326

Evening everyone, another stormy night here again, however this afternoon was lovely sunny & warm...nearly fell asleep in my deck chair!

Seems I'm in a spendy mood today, went to shops to buy a birthday present for colleague at work, I'll get money back tomorrow, however, I also bought a new top and a pair of cropped pants from Asda

Thing is pants are too big so will have to return them this week..do I have to take them back to the store I bought them from or can I take them to one near work??

Oh yeah and I ordered 2 new loungers for the garden...I have a deck chair but it's getting dangerous to sit on, I'm waiting for the inevitable fall through the seat moment :rotfl:

I'm hoping that's it on the spending front, I'm getting sick of spending

Food challenge is still slow, today I used half a chorizo that's been in fridge for weeks, I roasted some sweet potatoes, chorizo and asparagus, was blooming lovely! Need to think of something else for the remaining piece chorizo.

Work lunches sorted for next 2 days, made up some cheese savoury using grated cheese, spring onions, mayonnaise and cayenne will use wraps from freezer.

[Deleted User]

Ah bless you I'm a lot of things but I have never thought of myself as an inspirational sort of person,just very ordinary, but thanks to my smashing late little fiesty scots Mum I too can streeetch a ten bob note until it twangs :):)
Now she really was an inspirational person.I never saw her at a loss for a 'brainwave as she called them She would say to my Dad
'I've been thinking ' and he would just sigh and look at her and say 'Go one then what about'

She was a great one for having her 'brainwaves ' and could conjour a meal up almost out of thin air bless her. During rationing and the post-war austerity it was a case of having to as so many things were restricted.

She would never hear of buying 'blackmarket stuff' she said if we were all in the same boat then it was up to us all to make sure it floated :):) Great little lady who would have loved this forum.My only regret is I never wrote down all the things her brainwaves came up with.Most of what I do is done because its how she did it and I am my late Mum to a tee :):)

Well time to toddle as I want to have a read before lights out
cheers chums keep the HMS NBI going we are all benefitting from it
JackieO xxx

Lynplatinum

Ahoy there

Well im back ship shape and Bristol fashion - nothing spent today and a lovely long walk with my friend Adam. Put the world to rights - therefore generating a load of hot air!! Did not buy unnecessary fuel today as I dried washing outside!

Got quote for fuel today (i.e. the monthly DD) now, this past year with Scottish P its been £96 per month - I ve just opted to move to First Ut!lity with MSEs Energy Club which bought it down to £84 per month but when putting in my final figures for Scottish P they had reduced my payments to £48 per month??????????????? Anyone guess an explanation??? (I was away last year for 6 weeks because I broke my leg but that was in the summer!!)

Have decided to go with the First Ut!lity one because I dont trust that the Scot P one is correct! And Im not ringing them up - takes ages to get thro and then they dont know anything/the system is down/they will call me back (and dont) thats why i wanted to change.

What do folks think has happened?? Anyone else had that experience?

GreyQueen

I get so p'd off with the whole monthly DD thing that I don't do it any more. I'm old school - I use 3 months' worth of gas and electricity, put the meter readings into their website, they tell me what I owe and I pay it there and then with my debit card. Simples.

Am on the Ebico deal, which in a non-for-profit company supplying fuel with no standing charges and no price premium for pre-payment meter customers. I don't have a PP meter but I am a light user and the big companies always want to overcharge me summat chronic for my DDs, even when I've given them my annual consumption in KwHs. In this part of England, it's Ebico-Southern Electric. Am 18 months into this arrangement and very satisfied.

Could have gone to a carboot sale yesterday, as was with family and there were two cars to choose from and am insured to drive both. Decided there was nothing I wanted so we stayed home and had some quiet family time, did some chores and some crafts, ate a nice roast dinner and just contented ourselves at home. Very relaxing.

Back at work this week, will be gardening in time fragments. Planned expenditures on the horizon are a nothing worse than a 4-pinter of milk. And I get my new glasses fitted on Weds and pay the outstanding balance, then, apart from food, the wallet she is closing.

Shopping? I am so over it.:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

GQ isn't it great how just stopping and thinking really does save you cash:)I bet a boot sale would have prised some cash from you at some point so well done on resisting it.
I have a very small shop to do this morning and I'm hoping it will come to under a tenner.first shop of July which isn't too bad,only 40 days until our holidays so only buying the bare essentials this morning. Then to the libray to return DGS books he had forgotten on Saturday and probably a stroll around the adjacent park as its such a nice day.I'll take a bottle of juice with me in my trusty shopping trolley so I can sit and watch the wildlife in the sun for awhile.
Home to lunch of Halloumi and pitta bread with sald then feet up and knitting and tennis is on the menu this afternoon I think
Have a good and frugal day chums
JackieO xxx