NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

DawnW

greenbee wrote: »

Give careful consideration to the kenwood (or similar). I've found the advantage is that instead of buying a whole 'gadget', I now just buy attachments to the kenwood (I got it on offer, I get the bits on offer). So I've added a juicer, liquidiser, spice grinders and a fruit press. All of which are considerably better value (and more eco-friendly) than buying individual items with motors. Because I then use it so much, it stays out on the surface, which then means I bother to use it... it's a virtuous circle, and the bits take up less storage space than lots of different gadgets.

My Kenwood was bought new, but was a discontinued model, so cost less than £100, about 4 years ago. I have found that it is easy to buy attachments s/h from ebay for a fraction of the new cost, and these are often hardly used. My best buy was from a car boot sale though, Kenwood pyrex and plastic mixing bowls for 20p each I didn't get on with the stainless steel one that it actually came with, so sold it on ebay for about £12. I also sold the liquidiser that had come with it, as it had been in the cupboard for ages, still boxed and never used. I prefer my hand blender for liquidising/ blending tasks. So if you have any spare Kenwood 'bits' that you don't get on with or won't use, they are easy to sell on, and make good prices

lessonlearned

I hadnt thought About the add on gadgets but what you say makes a lot of sense and has given me food for thought. I'll keep my eyes peeled for offers.

GreyQueen

tru, I'm another person who struggles to access some things as I don't have a car, and am slap-bang in the middle of the city, so it's about 5+ miles' bike ride to really get out of it, and nearer 10 to get into the farm belt. When I was well (pre-ME) I'd think nothing of biking 30 miles in an afternoon just for fun, but alas, not possible now. I would love to buy at the farm gate if I could get to a farm gate! And the farmers' market here is very small and full of stuff like artisanal jams and honey and £7 loaves of bread and fancypants soft drinks..........lovely stuff, if you want a few premium bits at premium deli prices, but not going to meet my needs, or very much of anybody else's.

I do get my flour (or it is got on my behalf) from another farmers' market one county away and it's from a windmill and is superb and is just over £1/ kilo for organic stoneground wholemeal, best stuff I ever tasted.

My folks had a local farmer who grew and delivered sacks of spuds to the town, door to door, for nearly 40 years. When he started, he had his little lad at his side, when it ended, his little lad was a grown man with his little lad at his side. He stopped coming of a sudden with no warning; he's still alive but maybe they gave up growing spuds, who knows? Folks now buy spuds at a farm gate they pass in 25 kg sacks.

The folks persisted with their milkman, even though it cost a lot more than the supermarkets. They persisted because they wanted the milk in re-usable glass bottles, wanted to support the local dairy and because it came to the door daily and you could adjust your order according to need.

The dairy (for what I am no doubt sure were necessary financial reasons) slowly stripped away their unique selling points. Firstly, the glass bottles went, and milk was packaged just the same as the supermarkets' milk. Then the 6-day a week delivery went, replaced by three days a week. Then they twice screwed up my mother's bill, accusing her of not paying when she had.

My family are scrupulous payers and this didn't go down at all well, particularly the second time. It ended up with the dairy charging nearly twice as much for plastic-bottled milk which was delivered only thrice a week and with a history of messing up the bills. So, after 40+ years, they cancelled, and buy 4-pinters from the supermarket, same as most people. Sad, but true.

Here in the city centre, it's virtually impossible to have doorstep milk. I know people who've tried and it gets swiped/ kicked over. Or the milk gets delivered at 11 am to a house where people have been out at work for several hours, and will be out for several more, so it's starting to rot by the time they get home. Sigh.

Primrose wrote: »

I was wondering about a slow cooker. Had one briefly but was very disappointed with the flavour of stuff cooked compared with an identical product cooked in the oven. Casseroles were more watery and less flavour intensive for some reason. Any hints for getting a better result if I try again as I'm sure slow cooker cooking is less fuel intensive than using an oven.

Y'know, can I just say that I'm glad you posted this. SCs are such a staple of the economy lifestyle that I got one and kept it for about a year. I used it for chilli, casserole and occasionally even roasted a chicken in it.

I always found the taste of the food had an unpleasant taint which I never adjusted to, and I realised that I was avoiding the SC and it took valuable space in a small home. So I free-cycled it and haven't missed it, but did sort of feel that I must be the only person in the world who didn't get on with them. But it isn't just me, what a relief, thank you.

Had an email from the kid bruv (usually very skint s/e type). He'd asked me weeks ago what I wanted for Xmas and I'd told him one of those sub-£1 bottles of bath foam and a secondhand book, if he could see something he thought I would like. He's got me one by an author I had on my wants list (he has a copy of the list) and just wanted to check I hadn't got it. So it's now crossed off and I can't wait to get my hot little hands on it. I hope the two items together are well under £2 because it's the thought not the pricetag which matters to me.

Roadside

Permission to come aboard.
I love this thread and have read it since it first went live. So much of it resonates with how I wish to live my life. Next year is going to be a massive year for us, loads of work to do on the house before it goes on the market, the money is already in place to do the work, so no worries there.
I am really in two minds about moving, I love my home and where I live, but, we can move out of this area and pay off the majority of our mortgage, if not all of it.
What I would like most is to free up more time, I love my job, I work fulltime in a charity shop, but it is quite intensive sometimes. I took on more hours to earn more money, but have now realised that I would prefer to have less money, wisely spent, and more time to persue more satisfying jobs at home.
My freezer is full, as are my larders, the first job is to actually use what I have before buying more food. Once Christmas is over I can concentrate sorting and using up what I have, and then shopping a little more wisely, I have a terrible habit of getting bored half way through shopping and going home without most of what I went for and then having to go again a few days later, ending up spending even more money.
Looking around my home, even though I have pared down a lot of stuff this year, there is still a way to go.
X

Butterfly_Brain

GQ we had an Italian market here last week and their prices were eye watering.

ivyleaf

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I had to go into town on the bus today as Lidlly didn't have a couple of things I've plumbed into the christmas meal plan and I needed to go to Alidees instead where thankfully they did have what I needed. The bus was packed with people muttering crossly about many different ills, the town was thronged with cross parents and unruly offspring all being cross, the checkout assistants were cross, the bus drivers were cross the charity muggers were out in force in the high street and the 'Christmas Market' was just cheap clothes and tat and I was fed up with the whole thing when I had a thought.......It might be Christmas but everyone is only going through the motions of what they expect to be the build up to Christmas Day, there is no emotion behind it other than spend because it's expected that you do so, spend because people expect a present and you try to buy something, anything as long as it's cheap, you go to the cheapest food shops and buy ready made 'party food' which tastes of nothing and puddings that are mostly air and fluff and the cheapest sweeties that come in the biggest packs, not because you like them but because you get lots. The feeling of Christmas is NOT THERE any longer and that make me so sad. I'm not religious but for me Christmas is about family and the love we have for each other and being together and laughing and walking the hound and talking and sharing time, caring, long loved stories and old corny jokes not the presents or alcohol or posh food. This is a day that has really been hijacked by commercialism and as a result the majority of the population are so lost in the getting and 'show' that the real message of christmas is lost. I'm reclaiming the love for us as a family, this year isn't about presents it's about watching the magic happen for our little grandson Ezra and seeing through his eyes that though it's all pretty and there are nice things to be had all that really matters is that you are loved and looked after by those who you love more than anything in this world. Merry Christmas everyone xxx.

Thank you Lyn; I wish I could thank this post at least 50 times!

I had to go to the post Office in WH Smith today and had dreaded it as I was expecting a queue stretching to the back of the shop, but to my surprise there was no one else waiting when i arrived, so only a minute's wait.

Then I walked home from the town centre. I felt full of happiness and thankfulness that I felt well enough to walk all the way, but most of the people I saw looked so stressed and fed-up.

GreyQueen

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

GQ we had an Italian market here last week and their prices were eye watering.

Tell me about it!

I know that things made in small outfits are going to cost more than mass-produced factory fodder, but when it is so incredibly more, I find it takes my breath away, I almost cannot bear to look at it. I feel such a grubby little pauper when I see things like that.

Hell, I bought a very nice chunky chain bracelet, 925 sterling silver, for £7 and they want that for a loaf of bread?! OK, the bracelet was secondhand and the bread was new, but still.........:rotfl:

I intend to take some time in the next few months to really go through my clothing and make sure that everything is needed on the journey, and to shed that which has gone past reasonable, or would be better suited to someone else's body (am not as slim as I was once, back in the day, I blame Mr Cadbury).

I love the idea of the carefully curated professional wardrobe from mixed sources, with any additonal/ replacement purchases to be considered and shopped-for wisely. It's the exact opposite of rampant grabby consumerism. I don't need to be finely-dressed for my work, indeed, it would be overdone for my level and could alienate colleagues, but that would be what I would do, if I was in such lines of work.

*************
I'm in a slight grump this afternoon with Hoxfam. I'm registered for gift aid there and drop off donation bags most weeks, sometimes more than one. I get the letters twice a year or so feeding back what my items sold for and what the gift aid top up was, so I know that they are managing to get the gift-aid stickers onto some of the stuff.

But I have seen 'my' items out on the shop floor before without the gift aid sticker on them, and after the twentieth time or so, asked to speak to the manager. They reassured me that this wasn't happening, couldn't be happening, the giftaided stuff was processed in such a way as to be separate from the non-gift-aided etc etc etc.

I showed them an item which I had donated, a unique item, and it had no sticker on, so the manager took it away and it was later out with the proper sticker on. But it has started happening again and I saw several of them today.

I briefly contemplated asking to speak to the manager again and then I thought, no, I'm tired, I'm in a hurry and I've had enough. I shall use another charity for my donations in the future, and get the gift aid set up there, and Hoxfam can be for shopping rather than donations.

I was thinking of an artritis charity, I know several people, including SuperGran, who struggle with this, and I think it would be a good cause.

thriftwizard

Slinks in, hiding head in shame...

Oh dear - that didn't quite go according to plan. They didn't have the item we went for... though when I checked last night, there was one in stock, so someone just got in before us although we got there 20 minutes after opening time. They won't be getting any more in until January at the earliest. So we bought something cheaper that we thought would do the job instead. And because we'd saved so much, I cracked & bought a new (fake) Christmas tree; ours really had had it, it'd gone bald halfway up. Sadly I come out in a rash when I handle real ones, plus I come out in a rash when I think about paying £30-odd for one! I'd tried to get one via Freecycle etc. but just hadn't been quick enough off the mark.

Well, the tree looks lovely - like a real spruce, not too thick or glittery - and was very reasonably priced, and should give many years service, but the "replacement" furniture item didn't in fact fit in the recess. Inexperienced teenager hadn't allowed for the protruding windowsill in her measurements...

So now we're debating whether it goes back - it's still in its packaging, but I don't have time to drive back over there until Saturday, en route to somewhere else, at the earliest - or whether we have to relocate (if possible) or dispose of a piece of furniture that's been in my family for over a hundred years, to accommodate it anyway...

The good news was that I was so exhausted after shovelling bits of furniture around that I managed not to go to the supermarket & knocked together a pretty good curry out of leftovers!

vulpix

I also saw my donated goods in Oxfam under the same circumstances.I assumed the elderly ladies were bemused by the process.I now donate to Salvation Army with the added bonus of £2 credit for every bag of goods donated.

I went to my nearest town today(10 miles away) with middle daughter 21. It was mad,parking was very difficult.She bought 2 Christmas presents and I bought a jar of lemon curd and some grapes which we ate on the way home.

Although I am 55 I am not grey,just mousey.My Mum isn't grey either even at 81.I would like grey/white hair, I think it is very sophisticated.

I prefer the homely vibe in the thread.It's nice to be amongst like minded folk who just want to do their best,whatever that may be.

Vx

GreyQueen

vulpix wrote: »

I also saw my donated goods in Oxfam under the same circumstances.I assumed the elderly ladies were bemused by the process.I now donate to Salvation Army with the added bonus of £2 credit for every bag of goods donated.

The backroom staff don't fall into that demographic, nor does the manager, so I just have to assume that they just don't care enough to get it right.

Trouble is, they've robbed themselves of what is probably a few tens of pounds in tax refunds from me by now, and I can't be the only one, so they've obviously got money to burn. They'll just have to get on with it. I did buy a small utensil there this afternoon for 29p, so will still continue to shop there/ buy their diaries, but there are plenty of worthy causes who have charity shops no further afield from home than theirs.