Is frugal the new normal?

thriftwizard

Commerce is always going to jump on bandwagons, and the thrifty-retro-shabby-chic thingy is bang on the money right now. Fashion will move on, and those who bought their frugal-looking lifestyle at full retail, rather than growing into it organically, will probably change to the next fad. Expect a rash of Kidsonesque housewares etc on the secondhand market in about 10 years.

Make that two years! As a "vintage" trader, I can tell you that the hipsters, and the big money, have well & truly moved on now. I love what I do (which doesn't involve painted furniture) and will continue to do it, but the days of any of us raking in £500 in a day are well & truly over now. (Some of us never did!) There will always be those who really do choose to live in the past - even if only at weekends - who are our bread & butter, and there'll always be mad dressing-up parties & festivals, which provide the icing on our cake, and people who don't want to follow the herd in matters of household decor, but the trend is dying now. Expect some other decorative fad to follow on soon - Japanese, perhaps?

However, I think there is a very real, if underlying, reason why people leapt on the "vintage" bandwagon. When I'm doing markets & talking to our customers (who tend to be the nicest, sanest people) face-to-face, there's a realisation that an economy built on credit without any solid foundations can't stay up there forever, whether at household or at national level, and they're investing in quality. They're buying old stuff (fabrics, lace, sewing machines, etc. in my case) because it's solid, well-made, often beautiful & has stood & will continue to stand the tests of time, where the same amount of money spent on something modern would only buy them something mediocre. There probably was a lot of cheap & nasty old stuff that hasn't lasted, but we don't see that because - well, it didn't last!

So yes, the vintage/thrifty thing is a bit of a fad, and it annoys us to see people ripping off old fabric patterns, for example, without giving any credit to the original designers, and sometimes it's hard even for us to tell whether something is truly vintage or just "in the style of"... in which case we'll usually label it "retro". But there's something real, if very nebulous, going on underneath; a longing for when things were simpler & more solid, perhaps? A desire to buy into a life where things don't have to be changed every year or two for fashion's sake, or fall apart in six months? A world where clothes could look stylish and still have pockets?

Enough wittering - time to go & make a last batch of strawberry jam! In my very old-fashioned kitchen, just because that's the way I like it...

missyrichards

GreyQueen wrote: »

I suppose it's only human to be competitive, even if it's in the form of one-downmanship.Like bragging that you can feed a family of ten on a mug of porridge and three elastic bands per week, or have lived for the summer in a tent fashioned from your great-grannie's winceyette bloomers, chewing grass and drinking rainwater.

:rotfl:

mardatha wrote: »

So.... I'm the only one on the thread who doesn't know what the utter hell a Radley bag is...

No, I had no idea either. I looked it up and it looks like any other type of bag to me. I don't wear leather so that would not appeal to me at all.:D

I do spend money on things I like though. I have spent a lot of money on books for my kindle this month and I bought a new laptop a while back. I will use the laptop everyday so it's worth spending money on IMO. I am frugal in that we save money every month and have a small house and mortgage.

elona

Caterina

I think it is only online and there is a clearance section and last chance to buy. If you register with your e mail address they will send you advance warning of offers etc.

A bit of compromise might be needed as not all colour choices are in all sizes etc. If you can get to the Leeds area there is a clearance shop at the outlet centre outside the city.

Caterina

Thank you Elona, I am on their mailing list but possibly put their latest sale catalogue in the recycling bin! Only now that winter is nearer I am thinking I could use a pair of ankle boots. Been on the clearance website and did not see anything that appeals, apart from a pair of men's boots size 7 which would be perfect under trousers for me, but at £59 it's still too much. I will make do with my old ones (from them) until the spring sales when they have a lot more variety of winter things.

Thank you for the tip about outlet near Leeds, will pop in on my next trip to DH's relatives. A bit of a detour from Donnie but also an excuse for a day out! :-)

DigForVictory

I'm all for unobtrusively thrifty. We get by pretty well on a single income, but we don't do foreign holidays nor do we make a big deal of taking the tent off into the wilds. It's our choice & the photos show happy folk in (rare) sunshine. The happy bit is what I work towards.

We try not to let money & possessions get in the way of having fun - which does mean we have some odd hobbies but also means we get to meet folks of all sorts & conditions in a range of environments & I can't help but think that's more interesting than shopping & dinner parties. When we eventually get to pension age, the little carefulnesses won't hurt us & in the meantime the lads are in the guinea seats for student loans, bursaries & any free money going towards education!

As for charity shops, we *love* them. Glorious finds for the effort of just regularly looking. Not sure I'd recognise a Radley bag, but I can spot certain vintage china (and then double check the basestamp) at about 20 yeards - hence my Great Wall of China, oops. It's a pension with a difference...
And books? Well, so long as the price is right, I struggle to walk away. Which is why I have a self imposed exclusion zone around the local Waterstones, or it would all go Horribly Wrong. Still does some months, but cars & washing machines do die. The replacements are all Much More Economic and very carefully chosen, just emptied the cache I had for the purpose. Starting refilling that again next month!

GreyQueen

Caterina wrote: »

Elona is the h*t*er sale on? Brilliant! Having said I don't need anything, my mistake, I need a pair of winter boots, and their sale is great, and their shoes last for ages! Off to look, thank you very much!

GQ I am interested about the mattress too, as our I k e @ one is coming up to 20 years and the time is coming up when we will have to change it. I have often wondered whether it is worth paying a good sum for a new mattress and I really trust your opinion.

I'm interested in the H0tter shoe information as my one pair of shoes is of that ilk and I will be looking for another when they come towards the end of their life.

When I bought my first bed, I planned long term, by purchasing a pine bedstead (Drucker - not all pine bedsteads are created equally) for £149 from an independant firm in the hometown. I also purchased a pocketed spring mattess from the same place for £300, which was about the lowest price for a reasonable example of the type. It was a brand called T0wer and warrantied for 10 years.

I kept that mattress for 14 years, but for the last couple it wasn't giving me the most restful sleep. I do turn mattresses regularly as per the manufacturers instructions. I also have sheet hardboard over the pine bed slats, which is essential if you want to have a sprung mattress on slats rather than a divan base, as otherwise some springs are only partially on slats, which causes them to twist and wear out - this was a tip from the independant traders.

My reasoning for this set up is that I would replace the mattress over time, but not the bedstead. When I was ready to purchase the new mattress, I visited an unpretentious retailer of multiple brands and tested a few out. I went for a Hypn0s mattress - if the Queen can have them they should be good enough for a GQ.:rotfl:

I'd say visit plenty of mattresses and make your decision. Mentally lop the VAT off the price and have a good hard think about how much of what's left was the price of the makings and decide whether that's plausibly compatible with a quality prodcut.

The T0wer mattress, although too soft for me, had been carefully covered and was spotless and still had life in it. I freegled it to a young feller who was setting up home, and am pleased that it will have done someone a good turn.

Kid bruv has the identical T0wer mattress from the same store at about the same time. Still doing well. My parents have a Relyon divan bed, pushing 30 years old, divan and mattress still going strong. Their mattress is so good that you can still lie on the very edge of it without having it sag, and the divan drawers are good quality and run smoothly; Mum has mended many a divan drawer for the extended family with her sash clamps.

So, my personal take on life is that I will spend good money on things like mattresses, WM, fridges and freezers and shoes. Other things I will cheap out on; my lux mattress has a sides-to-middled bedsheet on it, over a M&S seconds mattress protector, and the duvet and pillowslips are secondhand, covering duck down and feather pillow and quilt.

An interesting mix of money-saving and luxury, reflecting my prioriteis.

Oh, and I timed my mattress buying with a Bank Holiday to get a bit of money off and also did a bit of haggling to shave a few tens off the asking price; figured they'd probably put it up a bit so they could do a BH reduction, therefore I could see if I could amiably get a bit more off.

Remember, if you don't ask, you don't get. My usual strategy is to make a fast decision with a poker face and then appear to dither, saying something like I really like this one but it's a bit more than I was intending to spend, could you.................?

Leave the ball in their court. With a smaller outfit, you're more likely to be dealing with the gaffer with the power to negotiate, rather than an assistant. Dress 'umble and carry a wad of banknotes. The prospect of a wad of notes in their till within minutes is an incentive to a small retailer.

PasturesNew

I've always been frugal as I've never had much of an income... but the new middle-class users of the word frugal tend to be more about how to shop at posh shops with a few vouchers they got from spending lots of money in Waitrose.... it's really not the same thing. More smugal than frugal.

Goldiegirl

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've always been frugal as I've never had much of an income... but the new middle-class users of the word frugal tend to be more about how to shop at posh shops with a few vouchers they got from spending lots of money in Waitrose.... it's really not the same thing. More smugal than frugal.

This kind of illustrates what I've been trying to say.

It's the vaguely disapproving vibe that Waitrose and posh shops sometimes generate on this board.

Does it really matter what other people are doing with their money?

fuddle

My goodness gracious me. Shoot me now. I shop in Waitrose! Ok, so not for my weekly shop but I bet I'm in there 3, 4 times a week getting basics.

I don't get the hype about it and certainly don't see it as a posh shop. Some of the food they sell is the next notch up, granted, but I'm served by working class people all the same. There's no fancy fittings and our Waitrose is relatively new. Yes there's a mark up but it's local, I no longer have a car and if I need something I'll take my Northern accent right to the Dorset store and shop there comfortably without feeling judged.

Their essentials range is in abundance in the store and actually really quite good. Thy have reduced items just as the next store, the carrier bags are free and will be 5p like everyone else. They have a charitable scheme like many others, they have Offers and rewards based on being a member. Their point of sale stuff is there like all the others too.

I just don't get it.

I just think the general feeling on this thread, and super discussion, is that judging is dangerous. Casting aspersions without knowing the facts gets no one anywhere. How we spend our money is telling... but how others perceive how people are spending their money is quite a strange one. Seems we just can't put people in boxes on this one eh?

ivyleaf

GreyQueen wrote: »

Paradoxically, buying good quality items, which are usually more expensive than poor quality ones, is a thrifty practise. Because they last longer and give more satisfaction, and therefore you are less likely to want to replace them prematurely, like FPK valuing her work bag.

I remember my mother saying to me "Always buy the best you can afford - it will save you money in the long run."

She died in 1979 and I'm still using some of her towels!

About mattresses, ours is a Dunlopillo bed bought at the late lamented Allders, must have been nearly 20 years ago. The mattress needs replacing now (there's a large dip in it on DH's side ) but a new Dunlopillo one is over £1100 :eek:

But last winter, we had a gas leak at home and found ourselves spending 2 nights at the local Premier inn, which had only just opened. The bed was bliss. I wanted to take it home with us, but I thought they might notice us carrying it through reception....

Anyway, there was a leaflet in the hotel room headed "Buy Our Bed"; you can buy the same beds and mattresses from hypn0s! So we've ordered a mattress, which should be here in 3 weeks; there was a 10-week wait, but it was very good value and will be sooo comfy.....