Not Buying It- A Consumer Holiday 2016

RicardaRacoon

Evening everyone

Tasks I've accomplished since I came home 2 1/2 hours ago; washed and hung two loads of laundry, dealt with the last messy part of my basement, cleaned kitchen, reloaded the dishwasher, diced 1 kg butter which I bought on offer before NY in 50g cubes and froze them, looked over shopping list and now have it down to 10 things and about 15£.

Dinner is hm bread with a strange smoked mozzarella I bought lately and didn't really like, so I just put so much pickles on top that I don't taste it anymore...

IrisViolet, as Lyn said all that can happen is that you go overboard but there is always someone on lifeboat duty so you will for sure be picked up and thrown back aboard quite quickly :-)

I read a funny quote lately: "Stop asking how stupid a person can be; there is always someone around who will feel challenged by this" and sometimes I think this is more than true... The shops are making good money with that...

Very interessting to read all the information about adds. Really makes you think but will also help to beat the system

GQ, the sofa-rehousing-project could happen in our family as well... There are some items that have literally gone round... For example a chair which came from my aunt, went to my sister, then to my parents and now stands in my living room...

Jackie, enjoy your half day with Ben! I'm sure he must be proud to have such a lovely grandmother who does so much for him and all the family!

I too think that NBI is quite liberating as I don't always have to think about shopping, run to the shops and so on. I can't think of anything that I need or want at the moment. With my food shop tomorrow I will have all I need until at least Thursday, so I don't think there is a reason to open my purse until then...

Will now retire to the sofa with my knitting as usual. Quiet, old fashioned pleasures... Knitting, tea and either a movie or the radio. I actually don't need fancy things to be happy.

Aril

Day 8/366 Weekly shop done and I've spent an additional £2.50 on a lovely kilner jar with handcare creams and soap for gardeners in which was reduced from £10. Was actually chuffed because it said it was reduced to a fiver on the label which still made it a good purchase. It's for a friend's birthday next week who has an allotment and is a very keen plantswoman.

No unnecessary spends. Walked to work and did a bit of a litter pick on the way home. The cans can go in the recycling and I've removed the ring pulls as they can be sent out to the Phillipines to help families who can make jewellery from them to sell. Otherwise they are forced to scavenge the landfill sites looking for anything they can sell on. It makes me appreciate just how good a life I have.
Arilx

Lynplatinum

Ahoy there!!

Today was a beautiful - if cold day and so managed to get a fleece blanket washed and out on the line!! FAB - it didnt get rained on!!! so went on radiator to air!! (I have a tumble dryer - bought when both boys and a dog moved back home one year - we just couldnt have damp washing drying on the radiators - it would have been all day everyday during the winter. Since they left - 3 years ago - it has only been on 4 times!! once for a friend who lives in a hmo and theirs had broken down!)

NBI today - the siren call of the chip shop!! And of the chazzer!! So today is the day I drive through Olney - you get a great class of stuff in the Chazzers there. Got to their early and was SO tempted to wander along the pretty high street and just go for a look. But I bravely drove on through and stopped where there is a lovely view over the fields and made a phone call to a friend for a chat instead (free!!) Then when I got home - 1/2 hr later than intended I was parking car in car park when a friend and her OH passed me on their way to our FAB local pub the Red L!on and asked if I fancied a pint!! So nice + I had the funds in 'Happy Stash' cash for this week so I went. We walked back home about 9 - they turned off down their road leaving a very hungry me to walk past 3 Indian; 2 Chinese and 2 fish and chip shops - now when Ive had a pint chips, crisps or Nachos are very desireable - but I remembered that I would have to come on here and fess up!! So I walked on by! Thanks shipmates for virtually tying me to the mast - like in the Greek legend where Odysseus was tied to the mast by his crew as they sailed past the sirens so that he was the only person to ever hear their song but not be destroyed by them ((his shipmates blocked up their ears) :A

So thank you for this thread and for all you folks!!!
Nite all

dND

I was planning on a NBI day yesterday but then realised I didn't have a small gift to take round to a friend who was hosting a New Year's apero's/drinks get-together. Usually we exchange home-made goodies but I've already given them something of everything in my store so I had to resort to buying.

Then comes the difficulty - it has to be something inexpensive but of worth! I thought about a bunch of flowers but they don't last that long at the moment. Indoor plants are out because here in France the windows open inwards so no windowsills and, the windows are generally small to keep out either the cold or the summer heat, so the rooms are dark.

Then a flash of an idea; they've just extended a patio area so I found a small heuchera plant and once I'd cleaned the pot and the label and put it in a pretty bag (recycled from something given to me), it look more than the 3€70 I'd spent Perfect for the occasion and for them as they love their garden and even if they don't like the plant, it can be put somewhere in the garden and they don't have to do anything with it - Result :rotfl:

GreyQueen

nursemaggie wrote: »

GQ the Cs may be a swear word in my birthplace to you but they are actually social classes things are aimed at. A upper management, B middle management, C supervisory, clerical, Junior management, this is the biggest class includes Ward Sisters, Police sergeants, foremen all sorts of jobs and these are the ones who have ambitions so most things are aimed at them.

You are class C but your income takes you out of it so nothing expensive is aimed at you only things like beans and washing powder.

Your 2 Cs in a K are two class C housewives. The last two classifications are D skilled manual workers though say a plumber or an electrician who works for himself and employs people is also class C. Class E unskilled worker and finally unclassified casual workers, pensioners on state pension only and those on benefits. Anyone in this category is not aimed at at all because they can't afford anything but the basics.

They know everything about you and how to manipulate you. Now you know why class Cs who lose their jobs get into massive debts.

The person reporting this via the article made it clear it was C as in See-U-Next-Tuesday, unfortunately, hence my blood boiling.

I still can't get over how people on very modest incomes like mine incessantly shop and discard perfectly good items. My own family background was to keep things until they broke, try to fix them yourself in the first instance, check out affordabilily/ possibility of paid-for repairs in the second instance, and only then, buy another. Preferably 2nd hand.

Mum is swithering about relacing her living-room radio atm. It sits on top of a 1970s hi-fi cabinet, which predates the CD era but which is used for its turntable and tape decks (its radio is defunct). The one which has just died is a CD/ radio ghetto-blaster thingy from a jumble sale, presumably discarded by the original owner because the CD player bit didn't work. Now the radio has gone and it will be reluctantly taken to the tip for electronics recycling and a another one sourced.

I shall remind her to check out their BHF which does small electricals, before she goes buying a new one.

Our family makes a joke of our thriftyness and if someone accidentally speaks about buying something new, as opposed to new-to-them, we tell them to go wash their mouth out with soap.

butterfly2507

I've never been more happy with amazon lately. I am trying to cut back on books as well (I mean I have my wishlist but I tend to buy books because a) they have a nice cover or a b) cheap) because I live by the philosophy "If you could only take 10 books with you, which ones would it be" meaning I only want to keep the books that I absolutely love.


Long story short: They have some free ebooks so I downloaded a few: Sherlock Holmes, one by Leo Tolstoi and one by Jules Verne. I always wanted to read them and now I can :j :T

Skint_yet_Again

Thank goodness its the weekend. This week has been really full on at work so have only been able to keep up with the basics of cooking and the dishwasher. Plastic stuff that cannot go in dishwasher is left on the side until the weekend when I can hand wash it all. Same with grill pan / metal trays. Some people may find this "skanky" but I don't care - I do what I can manage and sod the rest !


I want to have a go at dyeing some curtains today. I have swapped bedrooms with DS as he needed more room for his desk so he can study (online course as well as his full time job and volunteer job on days off) It was the least I could do to try and support him.


So I have already painted the walls with leftover paint from the living room and have a dylon chocolate brown dye which I bought last year to do some trousers which have faded. I am hoping to chuck the curtains in the machine with the trousers to save some money as theres nothing wrong with them apart from the colour. Will see what happens !


Have not done any unnecessary spending and have not had a takeaway or bought a lunch from work canteen this year so far. :j

eandjsmum

butterfly2507 wrote: »

I've never been more happy with amazon lately. I am trying to cut back on books as well (I mean I have my wishlist but I tend to buy books because a) they have a nice cover or a b) cheap) because I live by the philosophy "If you could only take 10 books with you, which ones would it be" meaning I only want to keep the books that I absolutely love.


Long story short: They have some free ebooks so I downloaded a few: Sherlock Holmes, one by Leo Tolstoi and one by Jules Verne. I always wanted to read them and now I can :j :T

I love my kindle . the reason is I can change the font size. This means that I have actually managed to read books that I couldn't borrow in large print and for free.Also I don't have to store a book that I might not read again.


DD has gone back to University. OH has taken her. DS is at work.

Spending today quietly cleaning and chucking out stuff . Hopefully a trip to the tip later.

Have a great weekend

tatabubbly

Hey everyone.

Had a spendy two days - but meaningful spends!

Yesterday I found two books that I have been searching for but couldn't find and there they were together in a bookshop! Delighted I was! I usually only buy books out of the charity shop but I've been looking for these for ages and I'm not likely to let them go!

Today we did our grocery shopping and I paid Internet/phone bills for month. Took list out with me and apart from 2 things that I forgot to include on our list anyways, we stuck to it! Delighted I am!

OH is off to the gym this afternoon so I plan on staying in and cooking dinner and sorting lunch out for tomorrow.

pm2326

Have been busy this morning sorting broadband out.

I don't have a phone line so normally buy a SIM card at £16 a month but I'm limited on data so have been considering broadband.

I've gone with BT but chose to pay annual line rental upfront at a discount so it's costing £250 upfront (includes hub & delivery of hub) and £10 a month thereafter.

But, I get a £100 prepaid MasterCard and I went through quidco so get £130 cashback..so really I'm only paying £11.66 a month over the year saving me about £5 a month for unlimited data :j:j