Not Buying It- A Consumer Holiday 2016

yorpington

Right. Had to buy some stuff today. I'm on my last bottle of conditioner so needed to stock up. My preferred brand is on better than half price at S*drug right now, and with my points I managed to get four huge bottles for £2 total! :j

Then went to Homesense which is very dangerous for me!! But really pleased - bought nothing apart from two wedding presents for £24 total (a whopping 75% off the RRP) which I paid for with a leftover gift voucher from Christmas

Also posted off a camera I'd sold on fleabay, that's a few more pennies coming in.

Tonight is a big test - I'm driving my mother to Costco :eek: I do need to stock up on some things, but I've done so well today I'm absolutely determined to Not Buy anything that isn't on my list!!

Aril

Day 61/366 Weekly shop done. Invested in 4 glass stoppered jars of Douwe Egberts that had torn labels ys to £1.50. If I say there were on offer at £2.99 and are normally £5.99 you can see why I was chuffed and the jars will be brilliant for storage. Also picked up some cereal where the cardboard box was torn...so long as the contents aren't damaged frankly I don't give a stuff what the packaging looks like! Day off so walked into the town and got my hair cut. It's a place where you don't have to book and they always charge the same. Sometimes you have to wait a long time but the stylists are excellent and they only charge a tenner for a really good cut. They have a loyalty card so yo get a free cut after the 10th stamp. Beyond that I bought a handful of birthday cards from the CS- mindful of NBI these were ones that have been donated so haven't created a hole for a new one to be made and found a copy of the book about Daniel Suelo who lives without money in the library. I'm sure it will make an interesting read although not sure I'd want to be in the States without access to cash if I fell ill. No NHS available. My simple highlight was coming across a chicken automata that lays chocolate bars in our free town museum. It was built by the volunteers and is promoting a local chocolate. It just made me smile on what was a very wet and rather grey morning!
Arilx

mavvymoo

Morning Shipmates

I have had a considered spend on LCD lightbulbs not cheap at £85 but did search for the best deal and the best type for our house and as I got 10 not too bad. It says they last on average 25,000 hours and they will save us £120 a year. Which sounds great if its true so I will see.
I did put all the lights on and then watched for a very short time as the meter spun round rather too fast for my liking

If they make a difference I will invest in another 8 which will then be every ceiling light in the house.

DuranGirl Well done I am still on that challenge and am trying to have 25 weeks spend free on clothes etc.this year if not more as thats my weakness. But I do seem to be doing pretty well and have no urge to buy 'stuff' I dont really need.I did need bras but got my fab bargain so reckon I will be ok on that 'front':rotfl:for a few years.


Well done to all

Mav x

yorpington

Ahoy shipmates!

Costco was a success! I did get three things I wasn't planning on BUT they were on my list to get, just not from Costco IYSWIM. But they were much cheaper this way. I'm pleased because there were coupons on a lot of our regular items :T

I smugly stood by as my mother spent £115 and didn't get anything on her list :eek:

Should be a couple of NSDs now

Aril

Day 62/366 Am pleased to record it's been another NSD here at Gnat Bottomed Towers. My Co-op card has arrived so shall be able to start collecting points. Need to read the bumpf that came with it but looks like they are more ethical than the big four. Today's post also brought a voucher for a free drink and slice of cake at our local Waitrose cafe courtesy of the latest batch of John Lewis vouchers. I think this must be a record for us- compared to a few years ago I bought a very modest amount of goodies for Christmas and unbelievably for us we've still not finished them. Definitely a first and have barely bought any crisps or biscuits [save for pressies] this year- they were always a weekly purchase but I am trying to improve yet further on my rubbish reduction. I think we can easily get away with only putting our bin out every 3 weeks now and that's not even full then. There's 3 of us and probably the biggest generator is the teenogre. He has however, improved how his efforts by putting the recyclables in the appropriate bin not the landfill one after I finally lost the plot. Tonight's tea has featured a pack of ys sausages unearthed from the freezer along with 4 lurking mushrooms quartered all bunged together with a batter to make toad in the hole. Arilx

chirpycheap

I'm still plodding along trying to watch the pennies. It would have been a NSD but I had to pay someone at work £5 sponsorship money. So far this past month I have spent over £20 on various charitable causes.

I handed my notice in last week and will retire in July so I think I will eventually need to set myself a budget on how much I spend per month on charitable donations.
How do other people manage charitable donations? Do you set yourself a monthly budget? Do you only donate to a particular charity of choice? Has anyone ever been brave enough to refuse to sponsor someone? Where I work there seems to be a constant stream of colleagues and their family members asking for sponsorship for something and I find it very difficult to say no. I'm one of the lower salaried people so when every pledge before you on the list is £5-£10 it's difficult to offer any less.

I think that when I retire there will be far fewer calls on my money (if it's not sponsoring, someone is asking for a donation for a wedding, new baby or a leaving gift). I'll then be able to choose to donate to my preferred charities and to decide what is a comfortable amount for me to donate.

I know that there won't be lots of money to spare when I retire as I am going a couple of years early so we'll be managing on DH smallish salary. Never mind I'll make some small savings on smart work clothes, evenings out, Friday afternoon sandwich shop run and headache remedies!!

Lynplatinum

Ahoy there

all of you are doing so well! DuranGirl - I remember you pledging not to buy more toiletries etc last year - it is fab that you are still going! Am now using up 2 half lots of baby shampoo as shower gel because I ran out of that but need to use an anti dandruff shampoo So am using up rather than giving away

Well done also yorpington on resisting Cos!co - my problem in there is the bakery - so yum!! I always check that their bargains realy are bargains - in my local one the puppy loo rolls actually work out cheaper than there own - last time I went. I drive my sons mad with the fact that I can work this out quicker than they can unlock their phones and find and use the calculator on them :rotfl:

Aril - I want a chicken that lays chocolate bars!!! Defo! - it might well save me a fortune :rotfl: Well done for retraining teenogre (love the nick name) I must start following your example and write down more of my NSDs again - it was such good discipline last year!

Did an NBI on Tues - despite not getting home till 11.30 I didnt go to one of the drive thro food places but used fsih shop chips I had frozen and YS frozen bread to make a chip butty (might not be good for the diet but it was good for the purse!!) :rotfl:

Now can you help me - as you know I am trying to minimise food stash preparatory to a house move but some kind soul gave me a big - and I mean big bag of quinoa which has just gone out of date! I have never used it before (despite being a cook by nature!) do you folks know of good recipes to use it up?
Ta for any help
Nite all
Sail on in frugality

yorpington

Lyn I always check too - DH is a whiz at working out cost per unit or use - sounds like you are too! I agree the bakery is very difficult to resist :eek:

Chirpy it sounds like you're very generous - bless you. I think once you retire you'll be able to plan your charitable giving more easily. The only weekly giving I do is my tithe at church...everything else is as and when. At Christmas we give to a bunch of charities, and then throughout the year I tend to respond to text appeals, etc. I don't have a budget category for it which I should, I suppose! I tend to use our slush fund money.

chirpycheap

yorpington wrote: »

Chirpy it sounds like you're very generous - bless you. I think once you retire you'll be able to plan your charitable giving more easily. The only weekly giving I do is my tithe at church...everything else is as and when. At Christmas we give to a bunch of charities, and then throughout the year I tend to respond to text appeals, etc. I don't have a budget category for it which I should, I suppose! I tend to use our slush fund money.

Thanks so much Yorpington. A slush fund may be just the perfect solution. I assume that the slush fund is just for any 'extras' that don't fit into your other budget categories?

I'm not sure if this article from the Guardian has already been posted in here. It is about the trend towards buying less. I must admit to being slightly irritated by the book Stuffocation by James Wallman that is also mentioned in the article. It seemed to have a bit of a middle class bias and it's suggestion that we replace spending on 'things' with spending on 'experiences' is not possible for many. Fortunately I am a child of thrifty parents so I know how to have fun for free or on the cheap. I could turn 'pottering' into an Olympic sport!

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/01/goodbye-curtains-clutter-learned-to-buy-less-stuff-shopping

Aril

On the topic of NBI and charity donations. We make some monthly donations to charities of our choice. I don't give into guilt trips by the chuggers who knock on the door- they are being paid by the charity on a commission basis. I click on a selection of daily sites at no cost to me, donate lots of suitable stuff to charity shops, buy from charity shops including cards, donate my time to a couple of causes- once a month for one, one when and as I can and others like the occasional marshalling at charity runs. I make a weekly donation to the foodbank. Regards sponsorship- I sponsor an individual once for a fiver unless it's a really close friend or family member. Once you're retired- if you want to give your time on a voluntary basis that's your choice- if you think how much it would cost the charity to employ you then you can see it as monetary donation if you prefer.
I've had to make choices. Sadly none of us can support everyone.