NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

katkin

greenbee wrote: »

Love my mooncup .

This may be one of my new challenges. I've been sewing recyclable sanitary towels from old cottons etc which are very comfy (kind and don't chaff) but take some time to sanitise and wash. I need to make more to last through.. but maybe I should invest in a mooncup too?

I seem to be doing ok on the food, household and shopping front but my weakness is "women" products I'm still buying branded products in the following categories that I'd like to stop doing and "do" au natural / or in another consumer-free way.

• Face cream / body moisturiser (I have Olay / Palmers issues )
• Deodorant
• Talcum powder
• Depilatory products - hairy!!!
• Sanitary wear
• Hair styling products
• Shampoo - I'm already onto this with the No-Poo method previously posted! Thanks x :cool:

Any ideas for the above would be gratefully received. I get the idea that honey and coconut oil would be a solution for a some of the toiletries. Baking soda and cider vinegar seem to be the other things to invest in for this. (any links to buy this stuff cheaply?)

I've already made gloop for the washing machine and it turned out well, but the family were really weirded out by it. Also had a go at hand wash for the bathroom and kitchen but found it drying, even with glycerine.

I do vinegar (great price by the gallon from local Asian supermarket) and star drops for cleaning, but I do love my bleach - that has to stop That's going to be hard...

Hubby likes his Guinness, so I'm talking him round into making his own, and he seems keen - but that in its own will need investment. Though I am partial to a glass of wine So maybe that's going to be worth it long-term!

Lastly, I'm losing weight and my clothes aren’t fitting - but I have a sewing machine. So instead of buying new and charitying the old, I'm going to alter, restyle and refit. No new clothes unless its bras, because I wear them out every 6 months... As a 36G lady I need the structural engineering! :eek:

So, my challenge - promise to myself list in my household notebook has started. I'm now thinking of what I need to invest in for 2015 so I stop spending. It feels splendid :cool:

Go girls (and gents) go!:A

YORKSHIRELASS

Oh wow I need to be part of this. I really struggle with the need to have stuff. I have this deeply ingrained idea that having stuff will make me more attractive, more likeable and improve my life. Yes I know thats stupid but I have battled against it for years - and now I am in debt with the possibility of financial meltdown looming.

Food shopping I have cracked with mealplanning. Its everything else I find hard. I love the idea of starting afresh 1st January with a very strict approach to not buying.

Bring it on!

greenbee

If you're losing weight you may need to buy new clothes - partly because not buying new stuff may mean you expand back into the old stuff. But you can do this from charity shops etc, and then save up for something special when you hit your target and stabilise. I'm currently going through the same thing and ended up having to buy stuff a couple of months ago as I had nothing to wear that was fit to be seen in.

I use oil for cleansing (no moisturiser required) - I did buy a blend last time, but it lasts for ever. Before that I used up some out of date flaxseed oil (I think I probably smelled vaguely of cricket bats as flaxseed is linseed!), and I've also used olive oil. I've used coconut oil instead of body lotion before. It's fabulous for skin, but not great for the bedding...

Crystal deodorants seem to last for ever, and seem to be effective.

I don't use talc, so not sure what to replace it with (just don't use it?).

I pay for waxing, hair colour and haircuts, and eyelash dyeing and makeup, as I see these as part of the cost of working (along with suits).

However, I did find this: http://www.rapidhomeremedies.com/remedies-for-unwanted-hair-removal.html

PenguinOfDeath

Ooh enjoying catching up with this thread, where do I fit in?

Well..I'm not in or from Kent, but I do have a Femmecup! Love it, had it for about two years now and wouldn't go back to conventional products, its so convenient and saved me a heap of £££ and storage space too...they sell them half price around Women's Day which from memory is about March time so keep an eye out!

The NBI philosophy is sinking in here, I saw a T-shirt in a store yesterday that I liked the look of, it would suit me and it was Half Price, happy days. Then I thought about it, I don't need another top like it, I have many that I barely wear anyway and the original price was probably too high in the first place, the 'offer' price was about right. So I walked away feeling smug at resisting

A moment of NBI until the price is right happened too. I have been after a couple of small, non-essential but make life easier kitchen items for a while. Finally found both at a good price yesterday in the same store, I could have easily spent 5 times the amount on the same items but why when I was in no rush?

Next challenge? Rein OH i with his penchant for last minute Xmas food buying, I thought I was bad :eek:

katkin

YORKSHIRELASS I think its doable going for the natural look and using up whatever toiletries and cosmetic you may have in stock - but being frugal / using less for more iykwim. I bet most of us have plenty hidden away :cool: Though I appreciate cosmetic have a shelf life. My hubby thinks I look great without the full "slap" on that I used to wear to work

greenbee wrote: »

If you're losing weight you may need to buy new clothes - partly because not buying new stuff may mean you expand back into the old stuff. But you can do this from charity shops etc, and then save up for something special when you hit your target and stabilise. I'm currently going through the same thing and ended up having to buy stuff a couple of months ago as I had nothing to wear that was fit to be seen in.

I use oil for cleansing (no moisturiser required) - I did buy a blend last time, but it lasts for ever. Before that I used up some out of date flaxseed oil (I think I probably smelled vaguely of cricket bats as flaxseed is linseed!), and I've also used olive oil. I've used coconut oil instead of body lotion before. It's fabulous for skin, but not great for the bedding...

Crystal deodorants seem to last for ever, and seem to be effective.

I don't use talc, so not sure what to replace it with (just don't use it?).

I pay for waxing, hair colour and haircuts, and eyelash dyeing and makeup, as I see these as part of the cost of working (along with suits).

However, I did find this: http://www.rapidhomeremedies.com/remedies-for-unwanted-hair-removal.html

Thank you for this post greenbee, I will research those links and appreciate your advice x

Aye, in my normal job I'm a "suit" and have to look profssional and groomed - but I'm changing and those other "power" women I'm workng with are growing grey and going for less of the lippy look quite elegantly I feel the tide is turning for us professional gals Why the hell should we looked like made up dolls when its all about our skills, experience and knowledge - what we look like is means nothing. !!!!!! !!!!!! the men. It just takes "balls" and attitude to for it :cool:

I'm still paying for hairdressing cuts and colours as I'm moving towards blending my grey (natural silver highlights ) in. My hairdresser told me it would take 2 more goes throughout 2015 before it went semi-natural / silver, and yep I'll probably go for that even if it means finding the cash by ebay sales or some other means.

Thank you so much for your advise - I'll decently look into it x Especially the deodorant!

You're right about the clothes probably, this will be trouble unless I can be canny and creative and scour the charity shops :A Thank goodness I have my sewing machine.

camelot1001

Morning Me Hearties, Got a mailing from Mr Ts yesterday with some vouchers in. £9 off a £60 shop and 2 X £6 off a £60 shop. The vouchers are to use one a week so that would mean buying supermarket goods to the value of £180 between now and 11 Jan.

I would previously have kept the vouchers and maybe used one but not now. I can't avoid using supermarkets, there are no 'proper' shops left around here but I shop carefully and cannot spend £180 in the next 3 weeks. The vouchers are in the bin!!

This is another way of the supermarkets making us feel that we are getting a bargain, beware!

maria3104

Loving reading the thread.

Menu planning is a big issue for me because I never know how many are eating from day to day. We sometimes get lots of extras. I always have a sack of spuds in store and many times they have saved the day.

I am hoping to use up clothes stash in 2015, although this amuses me as I wear my work shirt to meetings that I have recently realised is 15 years old and still looks like new! Amazing.Especially as it was bought for about £2 in M&S sale. Sadly not everything has done as well.

I really want to do this in 2015 as I am setting myself a dauntingly massive savings target.

It is hard for us as we have all been conditioned by marketers since babies. The on button has been on for 50 years in my case. Now for the off button.

nursemaggie

I was only away 19 hours and you guys can write four pages. Took me well over an hour to read it all.

Well I am not doing the no supermarket. As for local well about ten minutes away there used to be hundreds of local shops. There is a good butchers apparently he has only been there a couple of years and a greengrocers. There is also an independent pharmacy. The post office they mainly do the postal service and parcel force not much that is not to do with post.

That leaves Mr M, a tile shop, a fireplace shop, two bridal shops and about 100 takeaways.

If I go to town I have the market, open 4 days a week. I have a choice of about 8 greengrocers 6 butchers a game and poultry stall, three fishmongers, two delicatessen, frozen food stall, general grocery and cleaning materials, toilet rolls etc. I guess I could try giving up the supermarket. The stuff on the general grocery stall is all really cheap stuff I have never heard of . They have a very limited range of food so I think I will try once a month at Ald! and buy bread when I am in town, there are 4 bakery's.

I certainly can't shop in independent shops I don't think we have any only the equivalent of 99p shops. I'll stick to NOT Buying IT!

cydney65

OH was going on about a new vacuum cleaner last night. I'm the only one who uses it (it was an anniversary present 7 years ago lol) and as far as I'm concerned it works and does the job. It looks scruffy but then who really looks at a vacuum cleaner!

I am holding out.

CydneyX

GreyQueen

Morning all.

katkin, put these words into a search engine; 'talc' and 'cancer' and read what you'll find. I'd be very surprised if you'd want to use it afterwards.

A lot of beauty products and cosmetics have a very ugly history. Pre-internet, I did some research on the cosmetics industry for my dissertation. There are death certificates around attributing liver cancer deaths in women to prolonged use of hairdyes. It takes all of 17 seconds for dye applied to your head to soak through your whole body and even be detectable in your urine.

I'm fast turning into a snowy-top and will stick with it, with darkish brows and lashes and green eyes, I think I'll rock the silver fox look. And it's so deliciously low-maintenance, too.