Not Buying It- A Consumer Holiday 2016

mirry

popping in to report my end of month efforts,

Still keeping my weekly shop under £50 for 4 people, 4 nights veggie, 1 chicken, 2 fish.

Had a big spend on my daughters 18th birthday going to the Harry Potter studios, it was a great day! expensive but worth it.

We are having a wall knocked down in two months time and making a bigger living area. I managed to find some lovely wall paper in b&m for £1 a roll .... It's in other shops for £11.99 a roll :j

Now I need some new make up but will not be buying the benefit eyebrow pencil anymore, I'm on the look out for a bargain this time

Happytravelling

Belated congratulations from me Lyn

Another tip for saving money on oil is to use vegetable or rapeseed oil when cooking, we only really use olive oil on salads and for dipping bread, that sort of thing. Much kinder on the purse!

The only chocolate eggs we'll be buying before Easter will be mini eggs... just a bag, possibly 2, I don't know what it is about the shell/ chocolate combination, but I love them.

Not a lot to report but not been doing much spending, so that's a good sign. Need to pick up some shower gel, if anyone has an opinion of the A1di mint showergel, shout up! I like the tingly clean feeling from our current brand, will I get it from A1di (31p per bottle cheaper, but only because my usual is on offer)...

Oh and by the way, I am no longer speaking to JackieO as I am jealous of her brie supplies

Shortypie

Aril wrote: »

Day 53/366 A NSD. I've brought home some remnants of leftover net from a new set of curtains my Mum has recently bought. I am hoping that I can make some bags for the sm to put my loose veg and fruit in as another measure for trying to reduce my use of plastic bags.
Arilx

Ooh, good idea, I so hate picking up those flimsy plastic bags, I hate the amount of rubbish we generate for our convenience (but am not great at not doing it). I'm pretty sure I have random bits of net curtain about (other than the bit my DD is using as a hammock for her toy bunny - ignoring all the expensive toys she has :rotfl: )

Had to buy DD some school shoes today - expensive but hoping they will last the 1.5 years her last ones did. I am annoyed that all the cute little ones don't come in her size as even though she is only 5, she has the feet of a 7 year old :rotfl:

I will be buying my kids a little choc easter bunny/chick to go on their beds from the easter bunny, and a cheapy egg each. May have to get eggs for other children depending on who we are visiting round Easter. But I know my kids usually end up with ridiculous amounts of chocolate so not going to get them much. I'm a sucker for a Cadburys egg I occasionally buy one of those individually wrapped hollow eggs just pour moi.

We also have a special breakfast on a Sunday, Nigella's "instant" pancakes and orange juice (basics)we only have juice on weekend mornings, tap water the rest of the time (milk if they ask for it or Sains basics hot choc, which I actually prefer to their normal one). I'm so glad I brought the kids up on water so they're not the kind of kids that will only drink water with squash in it, one less thing in my weekly shop.

Lynplatinum

Evening all

Aril - the reason that you didnt get the card sooner is because you didnt have a Round Tuit! Someone bought me one - as a plate - i used it as a cooking spoon rest for years until it got broken!! Love your idea re plastic bags - the supermarkets look at me as if Im weird when I put loose sweet potatoes or onions happily into my bag! some assistants even try to put them in plastic bags for me and I have to explain why I do not want them!

Primrose - thanks for the tip re olive oil

Well due to enforced expenditure recently - £24 in car park fees and an extra £40 petrol bill plus buying some foods out (one meal and several sandwiches and coffees) - not that I really mind as it is all due to the birth of granddaughter I need to recover about £100. Ergo I will be NBI ing more than before if its possible - going to keep to the £10 each week for food/cleaning stuff + £10 Happy Stash. Have also been neglecting my costs of £9 every 2 months for tablets and £10.50 for contact lens cleaning stuffs which I hope to get out of the 'Tilly Tidies' for each week i.e the few pounds or pence that might be left over each week.

I also need to make money from the stuff I need to get rid of before I move. I would like some recommendations which is better Flea Bay or Gumtree - my local FB page is moderated by someone who is not particularly helpful. Am gonna look on the selling pg of this site as well.

All of this should get me back on the straight and narrow! With your help fellow shipmates! :A
Nite all

[Deleted User]

patentgirl wrote: »

trying to walk for a mile to start with too think read that on Jackie0 post so done that but now back to figures try and shave a bit more off.

I do my 'morning mile' which I 'clocked' on my car to get it exactly right (OCD?) and found with cutting out bread and consequently butter and using crackers and 'philly type cheese' I lost around a stone and a half I have now not eaten bread for almost two years and honestly don't miss it.

The walking started as the result of signing up for the Race for
Life' this time last year which I will do this year as well, and once you get into the routine (I did it first thing in the morning before I even had breakfast ) it was a great way to start the day.

Watching people's gardens start to flourish in the spring and seeing 'regulars' every day dog walking their pooches meant you got to nod and say Good Morning to people as well so it a win-win socially as well.

If a mile seems a bit too much start with half a mile and work up to a mile.I have impaired mobility and can't walk very fast and have to use a stick but I found that regular stroll every day made me feel so much brighter, fresher and fuller of energy than I had before .

So anyone thinking about it have a go as its free and a darn sight cheaper than gym fees :):)

well chums its almost the end of another month ,where does the time fly to I wonder.I have a very small shop to do this morning (only third shop this month ) and the rest of my food budget cash will get stashed into my holiday account on Monday morning as the new month starts on Tuesday :):) very happy with february's spending and look forward to doing as well in March.
My brother who is over from France took me out to dinner last night bless him and we had a great long chat and a very nice meal. I do wish he didn't live so far away though, as we are both getting older and travelling so far gets harder.
Still its great when he comes home for a visit .

Tonight I shall be dropping DGS jack and his pals off at the cinema and he will text me for the pick up after they have seen the film and had their pizza's.:):):) Once a cab driver, always a cab driver :):) I don't mind really as the bus fares round where I live are extortionate and it is his 16th birthday night out with his school friends.He has just been offered a place at 6th form so I'm really pleased for him.
Right time to get a wriggle on as lots to do today
have a great weekend chums what ever you are doing and hang on to your h'pennies :):)

JackieO xxx

wildthing01

Hello All

not been on tinternet for a while, busy busy busy as usual. Congrats Lyn on your new grand-daughter.

Last week I had day off work (using up leave) and decided that rather than sit around the house I would go out and do something.

I have some vouchers for a certain high street fashion retail group (who own, it seems, most of the high street fashion retailers), earned from doing surveys. These vouchers have been in my purse for about 4 years as I rarely go clothes shopping any more, and certainly not to those shops, as it's a right faff to drive into town, pay to park, and then slog round the shopping centre with all the crowds, and going in and out of all the shops.

Anyway, I'm trying to minimise my purse's contents as it's permanently full of rubbish. So I had a bright idea: I'd go and spend the vouchers - I've discovered there's a retail park near where we live now, with free parking, not near a busy city centre and it has a branch of the retail group's overarching shop, with departments for each of the individual stores in one large semi-department store, with one set of changing rooms, so I'd get the variety without slogging in and out of different shops. I'd get a chance to get out to the shops and buy myself some nice clothes with none of the hassle, plus as spending vouchers, no actual expense.

Well, how disappointed was I? The current season seems to be all about sludgy dull colours, all black, grey, navy and khaki. Plus the clothes across the different concessions were pretty much identical - obviously they're all designed and manufactured by the same company, but you'd think they'd differentiate slightly for the different target markets. I found pretty much the same denim shirt dress in three different 'stores', but all at different prices, from £26 in one department, to £46 in the next. I didn't want any of it, even for free, and came away empty-handed, vouchers still not spent.

Not all was lost though - I did go next door to the DIY shop to get the paint to paint my new-to-me wooden kitchen stools to match the kitchen, so if I can muster the energy to do that this weekend, I will have gained something 'new'!

chirpycheap

Well it's been one of those weeks and there is apparently no way of 'not buying' stressful events! Thanks however to my free online Mindfulness course I am breathing deeply and trying to stay calm.

Our first supermarket shop in over a fortnight came to just over £50. £10 of that was spent on a few treats for mum and dad. They have just had to cancel their holiday abroad because my Dad is poorly so I bought mum some flowers and Dad some posh squash and some posh chocolate!

I bought a huge bag of funny shaped potatoes for £2 and I'm cooking some of them for dinner tonight. I found a recipe for a Leek, Potato and Tomato bake in an old recipe book. I like the older cook books as their recipes are far less fancy and seem to be designed for domestic cooks. A lot of modern recipe books seem to be produced solely to make coffee tables look attractive as half the recipes contain expensive or unobtainable ingredients. I'm hoping that the bake turns out okay but we're not fussy eaters anyway!

We're looking to redo our wills and trying to decide whether a free online will would be okay for our very simple wills or whether we just spend the £100 quid and get it done at a proper solicitors. Has anyone made wills using the Free Wills Month where you make a voluntary contribution to charity?

Aril

Day 54/366 A NSD. Too busy working and then weary after a long day. Day 55/366. Another working day today helping Mr GBT out at a show related to his business. We took our own lunch and snacks and availed ourselves of the free coffee before the show opened. Did buy a few small bits as presents which I had already decided to before going but got a discount as we're fellow traders. I am delighted to say that the show is all about raising money for the Breast Cancer charity and we won a lush box of chocolate biscuits in the raffle. After leaving the house at 6am this morning and getting home just recently it felt good to bung some baked potatoes into the microwave and then finish them off under the grill to crispen them up a tad so we have been able to eat a proper meal. I cooked them earlier in the week when I had the oven on for our main meal and potentially a spare shelf...I am quite obsessive about filling the oven properly these days. Arilx

Shortypie

Hi all,

Actually managed a NSD yesterday; DH took the boys to their sports club as he was off, then took DS2 to his play therapy (OK, so that cost me £45 for the session BUT I class it as a bill and it comes out of his DLA anyway). When DH is at work, I end up sitting in the caf! with DD while the boys are at their sports club (and buying a muffin for DD and a tea and KitKat for myself ) then when we are waiting for DS2 to do his play therapy, I take the other 2 into a caf! for a drink and bring colouring/lego so they are occupied and don't pester for cake :rotfl: in the summer I would take them to the park though, and I'm thinking of stopping both the sports club and play therapy soon.

Sports club is paid until Easter, but it's 9.30 on a Saturday morning, a half hour drive away (it's a special needs one - the boys are ASD/ADHD). We always struggle to get there on time, and although the boys enjoy it when they're there, acutally getting them up early, dressed etc when they've been at school all week and just want to stay home and play with Lego, well I've been weighing up the pro's and cons!) Once that's dropped, it makes sense to stop the play therapy as we could then have a whole day off for the kids to just play, we rush around all week with clubs, after school club etc. I got quite a lot done not leaving the house yesterday, 2 full washes done and dried by this morning, and actually mostly put away :T sorted out the kids' wardrobe and have bagged up more stuff to do a boot sale end of April.

Somehow the house is still a wreck though!

Spent the afternoon at BILs for MILs birthday lunch, which was nice. Had to buy petrol on the way home though. Picked up a pack of Mini Eggs while I was there as going to a kids' birthday party tomorrow (Inset day) and mum wants vouchers for him, but I thought it just looked a bit mean, a card on it's own, for a 7 year old.

Have to go out before the party and get the card and voucher though! And the mum has organised for bowling and McD's but I'm wondering if she's paying for the McD's or if we are . . .

Need to have a scout for some sparkly red shoes, or shoes I can put red glitter on for DDs World Book Day costume. DS 2 going in his Harry Potter costume from Hallowe'en. DS1 wants to go as a character from Jurrassic World, which technically is a film, but I don't think I can be bothered to fight about it, esp if I can put together a costume from stuff we already have.

I hate World Book Day with a passion :mad: (well, the dressing up bit).

With March starting Tuesday, I'm going to aim for 3 NSDs a week NOT including subs for Rainbows/Boys Brigades (I will withdraw £20 for that tomorrow) and the weekly food shop (which I've got cash in an envelope for) nor DS2's weekly play therapy.

I've got carrot and coconut soup in the fridge for my Tuesday work lunch as DS1 didn't like it. I also keep a stash microwave golden syrup porridge in my desk (L!dl so about 1/3 price of branded and actually nicer) and KitKats in my desk so as long as I'm organised, no lunch-buying will happen.

Lynplatinum

Evening all

On Sat went out with my CAMRA friends and some of the pubs were WSp!!ns - as members we get vouchers with 50p off a pint so I used those to good effect and was even able to give a few away as I can never use em all myself and dont like to think of all those wasted 50ps that we could be getting off WSp!!ns

While I was up MK city centre I reverted to old habits and went on a 'Freebie' round - a choccy in H!tel Choco!te + a squirt of perfume in B!!ts - Carlluc!os didn't have any tasters going - shame W!itrose moved out as they were always handy on Saturdays - the pretzel stall had some tho! I used to do this when on benefits for a taste of the luxury stuff!

Today opened post from most of last week and found, to my surprise, that the GWR railway had given me £50 worth of train travel vouchers!!! Since the delay was due to a tree on the line - they did not have to give me anything but gave me vouchers( not cash) as a nice gesture - I can use them for up to a year!! So yea for complaining - it took me about 20mins to find info on this site (under travel section) 5 mins to fill in form + a 2nd class stamp!! RESULT :j :j COMPLAIN folks! Its often worth it!

Will be NBI tomorrow as shall make - not buy cake for the week and also a soup from brocoli that is heading over the hill and a crumble with apples and pears in a similar condition (the kids call it 'Stairs crumble' as in the cockney rhyming slang :A

Frugaling on folks!