NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

Caterina

Not a regular poster but I read this thread regularly, did not just want to read and run without offering my heartfelt condolences to Bathory I am so sorry for your loss xx

Primrose

[QUOTE=JackieO;

I did make a big soap bar from the odds and ends of soap that were in a jam jar in my cupboard, and it has hardened off nicely in the airing cupboard As I use the same soap I now have two square blocks of Dove soap made from the scrappy bits left at the end of a bar.I hate to waste anything if I can so I now have two 'free' bars of soap :):)Just broke the slivers up into small bits put them in a jam jar with a tiny bit of water zapped it in the microwave and poured the mush into an old soap container lid I had in the cupboard You know the sort you put your soap in your wash bag when you go away.result one oblong shaped soap bar that I cut in half and am using in the downstairs loo :):)[/QUOTE]

This bought back very nostalgic memories of my mother doing this with tiny soap slithers during the war when I was a small child and soap like everything else, was severely rationed. No microwaves then of course, just a drop of boiling water and it was all mashed down and allowed to set in little containers

Does anybody remember those soap"swizzle sticks" which looked like slim cans with holes in them on a stalk where you would put in the soap bits it and swish it around in a bowl of hot water to handwash clothes?

Incidentally liquid hand wash is far more expensive than using solid bars of soap which last about three times as long

VJsmum

I put the ends of soaps straight onto the new soap, they usually stick ok.... OH has a thing for ahem, acquiring hotel soaps. We probably have enough to see us out.:o

chirpycheap

I found this thread a few months ago and I am still reading through (will I ever get to the end?)
Hoping to retire next year but it will have to be a financially frugal retirement!
Today I said goodbye to a long tradition of buying a Radio Times for Christmas. I nearly wavered but decided that £4 for a TV magazine was unnecessary particularly when there was a perfectly acceptable alternative for £1. To be honest in recent years the Christmas TV magazine has remained largely unread as we tend to look at the on screen TV guide or look online.
I made a bit of a fool of myself today when I phoned Tesco as there was an item that I was unable to recognise on my till receipt. I couldn't recall buying two lots of 'Olea regular 280g' and couldn't figure out what the heck it was.
Well the lady on the phone was really polite and helpful and tried to search out the mystery item.It was halfway through the conversation that I realised that the receipt hadn't been correctly printed on the first letter of each item. Olea turned out to be Dlea and I instantly remembered the Dairylea I had bought.
Ooops! The lady was very understanding about it all but I always check my receipts and mistakes do occur!

Lynplatinum

Evening all

Bathory - sorry to hear your news. Your Mum's love and wisdom will always be with you and I am sure she knew what a loving daughter she had in you. May you get used to the space in your life with as little apin as possible and fill it with joyfull memories.
Take care
XXX

Lynplatinum

Primrose - love the idea of the most daft pressy photos - along with a £1 lottery scratch card I will now do that for my best mate who says she wants nowt for Christmas as she cant afford to buy anyone anything and it would be embarrassing! So the joke will make her laugh. Thank you !

eand jsmum - it is a real drag having to find work but look at it this way - you have so many skills and experience it would be daft for employers to just throw all that away - and when you retire it will be all the sweeter! (yep you can throw that plate at me now - (DUCKS)
Welcome Chirpycheep! Many of us are retired or like me trying to part time retire and can only manage by being frugal - the help and support on here has helped me over a very difficult financial year - hopefully you will find this too! I am sure you will have tips to contribute as well!
Off on a pre paid brewery tour tomorrow so its unlikely I ll b on tomorrow night!!! :-) - been v busy house renovating and feeding an army/my son!! Getting back to cooking all the time is not easy - I forget how much he eats but the £23 purchases on last Friday (I put Mon on MM&M - gone nuts!) are still feeding us! So NBI as in - Im not over buying food like I used to!
Nite all

eandjsmum

Lynplatignum I'm not throwing plates at anyone.
Preparing for a day doing housework and cooking perhaps a stroll later.
Have a great weekend.

[Deleted User]

Morning all ,bit grey and misty,but I'm not going out anywhere at all today.Very happy with my big shop that's all tucked away in the cupboards and no plans at all to go near a shop this side of Christmas thank goodness.

I have £30.20p left in my little brown food purse and the clasp clanged shut and hopefully it will stay shut until the end of the month, then the cash will be transferred to my holiday account :):)

This morning I am decluttering another kitchen drawer.
DGS Ben comes home from Uni tomorrow for a month so I think I will bake a big sponge cake for him as he looked very skinny last time I saw him so he need 'fattening' up :):)
Have a good and frugal day chums
JackieO xxx

eandjsmum

morning all.
Just done a job search- came up with not much.
A few jobs that I could apply for if nothing else.
Anyway in the last few years I have always treated my self to the Soap and Glory box set that comes out at Christmas. Not this year- so £30 not spent.

DuranGirl

Apart from food shopping and gifts, I haven't bought anything at all for nearly three months now. I don't browse round the shops (haven't enjoyed that for quite some time). I've now noticed that my taste in activities has changed too. I'm logged out of facebonk and sometimes don't look at it for a couple of days at a time, and then only for a few minutes. I am not missing seeing people's photos of the piles and piles of Christmas presents they're building up, or their moaning about the hours they "have" to spend in the shops (I've bought almost everything online this year and it's been fantastic). I'm spending more time reading and crafting, seeing friends at home and using my Cineworld Unlimited card a lot more (two films a month and it's paid for itself, and I'm seeing a LOT more than that!). Has anyone else noticed positive knock-on effects from Not Buying It? The improved bank balance goes without saying...:)