NOT BUYING IT! 2015 - A consumer holiday

dumpling

Hi there shipmates! I have been reading every post on this thread, cheering and commiserating as required. I am another one who has stopped dyeing my hair mostly because I have psoriasis on my scalp which gets sore and irritated but also because I don't mind the greys and getting older. I am grateful for every day I am alive and I don't worry about ageing. I never thought I would make old bones and although I am 'only' middle aged I am relieved and happy to still be here.

I am also someone who doesn't drive as I am terrified of the other cars on the road. I have had many many lessons when I was younger and I used to frighten the instructor because I used to take my hands off the steering wheel and cover my eyes when another car came towards me :eek::eek:. I am in awe of anyone who can drive, it's an amazing skill and I will heartily encourage my daughters to learn when they are old enough but it isn't for me.

I've just joined the grocery challenge for January with a budget of two thirds of my normal spends as I'm hoping to have a lot of Christmas food left over. I haven't been too excessive I feel, certainly not as much as past Christmas spends but I do have plenty of food in already. I won't be able to avoid supermarkets though as I am very reliant on home deliveries due to a fear of going out. Maybe that could be part of my challenge, actually going into town for fresh food...maybe.

CAFCGirl

VJsmum wrote: »

Hi, could you make something? Regift something?

How about a "promises" gift - car washing, hoovering, babysitting, cooking a dinner or two?

One of them wouldn't really 'appreciate' the 'promises' it in the sense that, she's very old fashioned and likes proper gifts, not that shes ungrateful..... I think I will have to try my hand at making something.... not sure what though......

As for the other, id bought something, only to discover 6 weeks later that she already has them (books), and I cant swap them with another persons gift as noone else would read them iyswim.... Although I could perhaps given person 2 book's to person 1 and that'll have to do..... :A

[Deleted User]

I was thinking that as well, a card with a 'Promisary' note inside for almost anything that you can do to help the other person.

grunnie

tru wrote: »

I've had lessons but never booked my test. I didn't enjoy it at all, other people have said they were nervous but excited about being able to drive but I didn't feel like that. Plus I'm not good at judging distances so really don't think I'd be safe, lol. I'm one of those people who stands on the side of the road while everyone is crossing, because I can't tell how fast the traffic is moving - I always wait for a huge gap to make sure I don't get run over

Same here - that could be me.
I was forced to take driving lessons when I was seventeen and hated every minute. I remember driving down Union Street in Aberdeen and looking to left and right at a junction and looking into the middle of the huge wheels of a double decker bus.

thriftwizard

Not fond of driving here, either; I find it a very stressy business & would be perfectly happy to hand in my keys & never drive again IF we had halfway decent & affordable public transport. We live in a county with no motorway but a big port, so our narrow, twisty roads are filled with foreign lorries hurtling round as if they were on the autobahn, often driving on the left for the first time & on tight schedules. There are certain tight bends where if one going North meets another coming South, the rest of us will have a 10 minute wait whilst they shout at each other and gesticulate a lot, then inch past each other, tyres up on the verge. Occasionally a BMW or Audi driver will get fed up with waiting and try & squeeze round both of them. Not good! No matter how deeply I breathe, I always want to hurl the car into the nearest hedge when I spot one of those behemoths hurtling towards me. But as I have elderly parents in another town, and young people needing ferrying around, as well as a small business to run, stopping driving isn't an option.

Onwards & upwards, shipmates! Not having pots of money to throw at the Christmas beast, I'm doing my best to make our home calm & welcoming for our live-away offspring to return home to. Thanks in part to my cluttering/hoarding tendencies, this is not easy... off now to paint a wall and sort out & dispose of some more excess bits & bobs that it would be much easier to live without.

vulpix

CAFCgirl,could you knock up a hamper type affair with stuff from your pantry and toiletries stock?Think those shoe boxes with tins of peaches we used to take to school for harvest festival?haha

Admitting to not having a telly is scandalous.I got rid of mine after 911 because I just couldn't cope with the hype (can't think of the word I want)

I began to listen to the radio where a news bulliten is 3 minutes.If I want to know more, the internet is my friend which I am in control of. I can research as much or little to satisfy my interest.

Now i am married I grudgingly share my home with a mahoosive telly which my husband spends wads of cash on to receive programmes about stuff he is interested in.This is so he can come in from work and sleep in the chair until it's time to go to bed.

I must admit I watch the occasional Morse now but that's all.

The teens at home when I got rid of the telly got their fix of it on catch up on the internet.I would get rid of the telly today if I could.I hate the way you can't just switch it off like the old ones.

Today I will be cleaning and generally mucking out,then some cooking for the freezer,then going for a meal and off to a panto with the youngest.

It is my husbands birthday today and for it he has got a cold.

We get theatre tickets free through my husbands job,nice perk and broadens ones horizons.

Better stop talking about it and get on with it.

Vx

cydney65

Ahoy there,

I passed my driving test when I was 18 and promptly stopped driving until I was 40! I was a nervous driver and still am to an extent, I tend to overthink things, but I am a little better after 9 years now.

I stopped dying my hair blonde last year because I want to go grey. I love grey hair. Unfortunately it stubbornly remains mousey.

I am a bit excited today. I have had an email from Barnardo's asking me to come in for an interview. It's a volunteer post but they are very strict when it comes to volunteers, understandably. It would be working locally, so it ticks all my boxes and could be the step I need to get back into full-time work again.

Also I have been looking at postgraduate courses as I have recently gained a BSc in psychology. I want to 'do' something with my degree and I have been looking at Health Psychology. The real problem though is the amount of money needed to do this. I need to have a think about this.

Oh the salt dough experiment with GD was a dis-arh-star. I think I made the dough a bit wet and then ran out of salt! So yesterday I managed to get GD to scribble on some card and gave it to mummy and daddy for xmas. It went down well.

Have a good day everyone.

CydneyX

purpleshoes_2

I dont have a telly. Gave it up about 4 years ago, used to have cable tv then went back to ordinary and realised I hardly watched it so off it went. My mum then got rid of hers. I watch catch up on Iplayer if I want to watch something.

I don't drive either, my mum failed her test at 17 and never sat it again, my brother had a lot of lessons and was a good driver but failed his test and never sat it again (although Ive often thought he should), he walks to work and his gf drives so doesn't bother him I suppose.

I had ten lessons when I was 22 and came to the conclusion that it just wasnt for me. In short, I was rubbish. There are times I wish I could drive, I have a poor bus service and on days like today wet and windy you don't love standing at bus stops but I couldn't afford to pay and run a car anyway so it is the way it is.

purpleshoes_2

CAFCGirl wrote: »

One of them wouldn't really 'appreciate' the 'promises' it in the sense that, she's very old fashioned and likes proper gifts, not that shes ungrateful..... I think I will have to try my hand at making something.... not sure what though......

As for the other, id bought something, only to discover 6 weeks later that she already has them (books), and I cant swap them with another persons gift as noone else would read them iyswim.... Although I could perhaps given person 2 book's to person 1 and that'll have to do..... :A

Do you have a poundland or poundworld near you? If you can find a couple of spare pounds, they do stuff like candles, photo frames, bath bombs, chocolates, all for a quid each. I like poundworld, I always get my mum stuff for her christmas in there, they do some fantastic stuff.

Or any reasonable priced charity shops. I bought my mum a lovely dressing gown yesterday for 99p in Barnardos.

grandmasam

Hi Tru,

I miss that shop with the bins where I could scoop as little as I needed.Living alone means that bogoffs are a waste and even some of the ready packaged foodstuff is too much, so I buy the frozen veg, as a small handful is enough for me. Growing my own solves the problem as there is plenty of space for veggies,raspberry canes and fruit trees, and the original ancient Bramley apple tree.

Caz