Not Buying It- A Consumer Holiday 2016

blackcatsx2

Interesting article Chirpycheap - thank you for sharing it.
I give a set amount each month to charity (not loads of money but feels right amount to me) I tend to vary which charity I give to. I like to chose a charity that means something to me - I don't like being approached in the street or on my doorstep or at the station but I can genuinely say to the collectors that I already give to my chosen charities.
I do wonder how much some of the big charities spend on their TV adverts, marketing and to their paid collectors. Rather than making me want to give to them it has the opposite effect.

Aril

Day 63/366 Small spend on milk. Have come back from my Mum's with a punnet of grapes which she won't be able to eat before she goes away and a squash.
Arilx

Shortypie

Mavvymoo - yes clothes are my weakness too That's why I asked my parents for vouchers this year, so I could splurge without feeling guilty I've got about £70 H&M and about £30 Accessorize/Monsoon. I was given £20 cash on my birthday which was the same weekend Sa!nsbury was doing it's 25% off clothing - I got a tea-dress for £15.60 and yellow handbag for £11.20 so didn't put *that* much towards it and with the £10.50 burgundy shoes I got on sale in Deb'hams in the same week, I got a full outfit for less than £20.. . .

I did "buy it" today - lunch from local independent coffee shop as I'd not got round to making lunch due to flaking out on the sofa.

Only need to buy enough food for 3 main meals and lunches when I do my Friday "big" shop tomorrow evening - I will be NBI and not buying extra stuff just because my "big" shop is not that big after all - I tend to have a bizarre tendency to look for extra things to put in when I've not bought much, instead of realising that it's because that's all I need!

Lynplatinum

RE charity giving
I DD £4 per month to a charity raffle but regard it as a donation
I sell raffle tickets for a different charity once a year (but regard those I buy as a donation)
Other than that I am v cautious as a local person once conned me (and others) by claiming that she was collecting for her niece to have specialist treatment and she wasnt!!!
Also take stuff to CS so that might help
When I ran a charity shop i had a little old lady who came in every week and put £1 in the gift box - always apologising for giving so little. As I said to her she was donating £50 per year which was the food for a doggie a week (this was about 15 years ago!) She smiled and siad she hadnt thought of that before!!
Nite all

[Deleted User]

Chirpy Cheap

an interesting article and I liked the phrase 'Recycle, Repair,Reuse' I think it probably sums up what a lot of us are doing now if we can.reading it about the 'coffee pods' that use 3gms of material (which are almost indestructible and non-biodegradable)to hold 6gms of coffee just shows how silly life has become, and what damage we are doing to the planet just for a cup of coffee !!

Perhaps our NBI mantra is catching on as it seems folk are far less inclined to splash the cash on things than they used to.
Although I don't think I could manage walking across the Andes as an 'experience' instead of spending cash My old joints couldn't take the pressure :):) But I do lots of experiences with my grandchildren and we get good use from my yearly English Heritage card.We do lots of 'free' stuff such as picnics and crabbing' on the beaches or just mooching around the local country park in the summer.
My TV is ,like me getting on a bit its around 16-17 years old (a virtual teenager )but it works and until it stops I shall use it ,despite my eldest DD saying Oh Mum why don't you get a new flat screen one with all the bells and whistles on it .The reason is my old one works and for the amount I watch tv its sufficient having a new one won't improve the programmes at all just means I can see the rubbish clearer :):)

Today is my forth non-spending food day of the month my purse if firmly shut as I need nothing as yet .I am going out to dinner tomorrow with my DGS Danny and his delightful g/f so I won't even be cooking tomorrow night, and Sunday I am out to dinner as well so tonight I shall dig something out from the freezer and it will be nuked in the microwave.

I am soup-making this morning with some exhausted looking veg from the fridge

Happy frugaling chums

JackieO xxx

yorpington

chirpycheap wrote: »

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?

That's right we keep a little money back each month for this. Not loads because I don't want £££ frittered away, but a small amount is useful.

butterfly2507

Ahoy shipmates :T

I'm still here and reading along! Nice to see you're doing so well

OH and I are currently looking at some apartments to buy / rent. Oh my, the prices are enormous :eek::eek::eek: We've actually visited one that wasn't even worth 100 €

Anyway we're already trying to cut our spendings a bit. We've been cooking every day and had no takeout in forever I also love my trips to the local farmers market. Everything is fresh and I know exactly where it comes from. (Found my love for fruits, I've eaten fruits I've never even heard of! :rotfl: )

I've also started to make my own lip balm. The first ones were kind of bad but I'm improving Might thinking about selling them to get a few bucks here and there

Aril

Whatever our reasons for NBI this little story sums it up for me. I am not a paragon...I fall off the wagon with thudding regularity but when I read this I am reminded that all the little steps I do take [hugely inspired by others on this thread] do make a difference
http://www.esc16.net/users/0020/FACES/Starfish%20Story.pdf
Arilx

chirpycheap

Well it's great to hear that not buying it doesn't for so many on here also mean not donating it to charity. There is a real difference between frugal and 'tight as a gnat's chuff' (as my dad would say). I think people can misunderstand the two. It seems that the world is changing and many people are beginning to question the pressure towards conspicuous consumption and are not simply being 'tight'.

Today was a spend £18 on a check up at the dentist but I don't begrudge that. DH and I went over to Hobbycraft and treated me to some paint with the tenner that he discovered in his old shorts that had fallen into the bottom of the wardrobe. I have really curtailed my craft spending but I find it hard to completely resist the lure of the craft shop.

Made a butternut squash and barley stew from the veggies at the bottom of the fridge and finished off some coconut milk with it. It actually tastes pretty yummy and will do us for several meals.

Aril

Day 64/366 Small spend on a couple of reduced bits in the Co_op so christened my new card as needed to be there to pick up the recycling for the green group which raises money for charity and was able to drop in on my way home from this morning's client. Walked up to this afternoon's job rather than taking the car. Tonight it's a cheat night with fishfinger sarnies and a glass of hm vino. In a bid to get on with some of the things I talk about doing I am "aiming" [famous last words"] to spend minimal time on the internet over the weekend. All blog posts and other online bits and bobs are already up to date.

Arilx