NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

GreyQueen

Dammit Janet, I coulda bought you one at a bootsale this summer, it was quite cute.

Cute things tempt me but the kitchen is already extremely small, so ceramic egg-holding chickens will have to stay with other people for the foreseeable.

Would anyone like a neighbour for Xmas? I have some who I could offer to good homes. Their language is summat turrible and they're prone to random outbursts of violence, but I think they're housetrained. I'm earwigging on a lively incident outside my kitchen window right now. If we could wire and tape this block, it'd be the last word in reality shows.

Butterfly_Brain

We popped into Morrisons today and the woman on the till told me that they were opening at 6am on Christmas Eve and were told they all have to be in at that time, they have no choice :mad:.

Talk about staff exploitation :mad::mad:

Morrisons has now lost a regular customer and so will any supermarkup that exploits the staff so blatently

thriftwizard

Must admit I'd been feeling pretty much oh no, here we go again, about Christmas, which is terrible, because I do really love it & everything it stands for, until the girls & I went to see The Hobbit pt 3 yesterday afternoon, for £2.50 each, at a cinema in the town my mother lives in. Don't know whether it was just the effect of taking time out from the grind, but I woke up this morning feeling quite different, sort of up-and-at-'em, hahaha Christmas, watch out, here I come! Bizarre really, and probably more to do with the fact I seem to be winning now against the cold germs I've been battling for about a week, but a very welcome change of heart.

There's still lots to do - but what doesn't get done, doesn't get done & probably really doesn't matter. It'll be alright on the night!

lobbyludd

our local (city) farmer's market is lovely and incredibly expensive too. It comes once a week, and whilst the produce is not from new zealand, it's not from farmers down the road either. It's very aspirational and whilst the produce is lovely, shopping there is a treat and an experience in itself - and I'm trying to get away from consuming being that.

waiting for a quote from a chippie for my new (to me) front door to replace the UPVC one which I hate and doesn't hold the heat in because it's badly fitted and the frame is single thickness plastic in parts - I'll offer it on freecycle and hope someone will want it. The new (to me) door is 80 years old and has done service elsewhere. So whilst a major outlay (for me) I hope I'm doing it in a sensible way for good reasons rather than because I think a new door will make me richer/happier/more fulfilled.

- I do suffer from aspirational homewares purchases - oddly they aren't new/the latest trend/style: they tend to be second-hand or vintage or antique, like I'm trying to buy a frugal make do and mend lifestyle which is the COMPLETE opposite of that ethos. I really need to break this habit.

Roadside

Fairy3

I have been having a clear out in my kitchen, an awful lot has been either binned or on its way to a new home, my cupboards and drawers are looking much more organised.
My go too gadget has got to be my steel, I have pared down the amount of knives I have to three, they were the only three that I actually used and I do like to keep them very sharp, makes cutting and chopping quicker and safer. I have been toying with the idea of a new food processor, but when I really thought about it I never really used my old one, so why on earth would I need a new one. I suppose it could keep the juicer company, poor lonely thing has only been used twice, I've had it five months and it just sits and looks at me accusingly.

Slowdown

cheeseontoastwithham wrote: »

You may not agree with me but it seems slightly extreme to 'block me'. You may be wondering why I mentioned this but in fact the whole thread seems very political (or at least anti-corporation) - the first poster said 'I rally against rampant capitalism' so I feel needs some balance.!

Ok. I started this thread and have something to say about this.

Firstly, note the word rampant. Doesn't mean the basic principle like many have pointed out.

I began this thread as a diary to myself almost, and never imagined for one second that anyone would read it, let alone join me. I can't tell you how delighted I am that it has touched others. And everyday I have read every thread and tried to thank every person to show my gratitude for their involvement.

This is in fact a very personal journey and I'm sure that goes for many of us. Our political orientations are not at the hub of this and there is no balance to redress as you suggest above. I am a disliker of a society that takes me for granted, that treats me like a gullible fool, and yes, rampant capitalism is partly to blame.

I want this thread to be exactly what I intended, a discovery of personal values, of new ways to live, recycle, create and recreate.

Please treat this ship and it's crew withe respect it deserves. Or disembark!

Kind regards
Slowdown

purpleshoes_2

I posted earlier about the itison deal where people paid £5 to give a meal to a homeless person either on christmas eve or christmas day, well they've now smashed the 20000 mark and the company have said that's enough to help feed homeless people for 12 months.

I worked in homeless projects for a long time and it saddens me that in 2014 it's still an issue, but people's generosity is amazing and some people are also gifting the free coffee they got when they bought the meal back to the company.

purpleshoes_2

Well, things that have made me quite happy today

1 I see light at the end of the decluttering tunnel. Particularly with clothes. I think for a long time I held onto "stuff", because life was a bit rubbish at times and I was holding onto emotional stuff as well and it manifested itself in that way. Plus when you dont have tons of cash you find it hard to let go of things I think. Anyway as long as said stuff is on its way to a good home then Im fine with letting it go. The upside of having a lot of clothes was when I went on holiday last year, I didnt need to buy anything new:) Ive got rid of all my clothes that are too big for me now, no more will I hold onto clothes in sizes 12-18, Im going to try and have clothes that fit me and not keep the too small and too big.

2 I ate my parsnip curry didnt make me go wow but it was fine, healthy and cheap.

3 I found a spare set of lights for a christmas tree (both sets cost £1 at poundland), so I have some branches in my living room with lights and another set in my bedroom (not on at the same time obviously)

4 I shopped local even if just a token amount (inspired by this thread)

[Deleted User]

:oGood evening everyone well its been a busy day or so with me,:o I have to own up shipmates. I have spent a bit of a wodge on DGS Ben's present ,but it was so worth it to see his face when he tried his new hiking boots on,and I got him some thick socks to go with themhe is such a lovely young man that I love spoiling him as he never asks for anything, and lives (scrapes by) on his grant money
The last week at Uni he really was living on beans on toast and pasta bless him.

We went into the camping shop and a snooty young woman looked at me as though I was daft when I asked for an assistant .
Bearing in mind I was about to part with some serious dosh I said 'Yes please I would like an assistant to help my grandson sort out a proper pair of boots .They are after all going to carry him up various mountains ,so I want decent ones' .

After much huffing and puffing, and me giving her my late Mums steely glance another lady appeared and was really helpful in sorting him out.That done we retired to the local hostelry where we had a nice lunch and a good long natter about his past three months at Uni.

So thats it now my food purse is definitely closed tight as a drum:D and my other purse is also clamped shut.:rotfl::rotfl:

I have done a stock check on my food stocks and I think I am more or less sorted from now until at the very least the end of January.Freezer is bursting at the seems and also 5 food cupboards plus the larder
So onwards and upwards and the big four SM won't get a tanner from this old girl:j

Re hair colour I went through chemo around 6 years ago and when my hair came back (the only thing on my head was probably some Aqueous cream that my grandsons used to sit and rub into my shiny bonce once the hair fell out )instead of my normal blonde locks it gre in salt and pepper grey and brown, but the upside was it had a wee bit of a wave which I'd never had before it had always been board straight so good and bad .I've got used to it now and bearing in mind chemo drugs are pretty strong I figured that if it made me barnet fall out it was doing serious damage to any cancer cells

Got the all clear last year and I'm now in the middle of reconstruction (sound like a block of condemmed flats don't I ? )But I'm alive and kicking and thats what matters It's when you have the grim reaper banging on the door you get life into perspective and monetery things really take second place.I value my life and my family even more now so what if my hair is like a two tone rug its not important My grandsons and family mean more to me than anything you could buy in a shop.

Re Christmas I too am not fussed about a turkey I swop between my two DDs houses for Xmas and New Year then eventually get back to my own house and life resumes is normality again.

My late OH always preferred the time after Xmas when you could eat normal stuff and to him he would be happy with egg and chips and he was never bothered about the food fuss that went on.
He was happy with what ever I dished up and to him a nice shepards pie, or a decent roast beef with all the trimmings was much nicer than a huge great lump of a turkey that you ended up disliking with every passing day. Right now shipmates I'm off to me 'ammock for a read
Take care chums
JackieO xx

Ches

I havebeen following this thread with interest from the beginning. I have already planned to have a very frugal 2015 so I would love to join in please. Due to lots of house renovations, not least a new boiler I am approaching the new year with about 4k of credit card debt. As its all on 0% interest I am planning to pay this all off within the first 6 months of the year before the 0% expires rather than taking money from savings which are in a fixed term ISA at 4%. (I am also mortgage free). My aim for 2015 is to save 1k every month and use this to pay off the cc’s, pay for the big holiday booked for late next year and to finish this time next year with no debt and more in the bank than I have now.