Not Buying It- A Consumer Holiday 2016

yorpington

Morning shipmates, and happy MDay to those celebrating. Planning a NBI-style celebration here, with token presents half off in the sale, and cards I got with an extra points voucher at Mr.S :rotfl: Also taking both Mums out for lunch. Just the local carvery; I thought about getting flowers and fizz too but then thought...no, a card and token gift and lunch out is plenty! It's the time spent together that really counts.

Yesterday was very interesting. Some of the areas we thought we'd like to buy in didn't seem so feasible once we were there - for commuting and visiting family and so forth. So we've drawn a new search area and will adjust our expectations accordingly in terms of how much house we can get for our money. Really glad we went on the scouting trip as it has narrowed down our search considerably.

RicardaRacoon

Evening everyone

Have been a bit lazy posting here, but I'm happy to report that while I was OWL I've still been on board and have done quite fine. Stayed almost in my food budget in February and all the other things have been quite well too. Will try to be good in March as well, although I set myself a bigger groceries budget as I will host an Easter Brunch, so will need a bit of extra money for some special treats.

Very strange weather around here today, sunny one minute and then the next one rain and snow as if the world was coming to an end, then sunny again...Don't think next week will be much of an improvement weatherwise...

I got a 20% voucher for an online clothes shop valid until end of month and thought for a few seconds if I need something... Nothing... Have all I need for spring and hope that I will have lost a few lbs until summer and will have a look around then, but at the moment I'm happy with what I have. Went out with a friend yesterday, a few years back I would have thought if I should go and buy something new for the occasion but now I have a lovely black lace dress which I can dress up or down to wear for nights out, office Christmas parties or just for a normal working day if I like.
But will have to sit down somewhen next week and mend some tights as a lot of them have holes, so it is either spending money on new ones or spending some time mending... I know which one I prefere, so mending it will be...

I've decided to knit myself a cardigan and did some research on yarn. Found a lovely one for 5£ a ball (will need 10 balls...) , until my mum suggested a cheaper but very lovely one for half that price. We will sit together next week to order it as she will buy yarn too so that we will get it free of postage. Can't wait to get it started!

Chirpycheap had a good laugh about your shopping story! All starts so well with calculator and so on, but then still isn't going to plan :-)

re donating I also have a few charities that get money each year and I also spend money on yarn for charity knitting. I think donating works very well with NBI, cause NBI makes me count my blessings more often, so I know how fortunate I am. Since I am in the position where I can help others in a way, I'm glad to do it. Noone can donate everywhere, but if one donates for an animal shelter and one donates for cancer research this is fare better than if we all just think that it makes no difference... Starfish story again...

Have a nice evening everyone!

Lynplatinum

Ahoy there!

Welcome back on board dND - the point is - did you enjoy it (sounds like a yes) did you have to get massively into debt to do it (sounds like a no) will you have free fab memories for ever (sounds like a yes) then dont feel guilty - we are defo allowed shore leave. :beer: So now welcome back on board and we 'll all encourage each other!

Well done resisting Ricarda!! I get drawn in by the offers too!!

Chirpy cheap - you are not the only one to drop everything when the kids ring - me too! But I am getting better at it! Including saying NO!

Well am sniveling merrily away and TBH there has not been much temptation in my way as am @ home with horrid cold! Am only sneezing every half hour now but have cancelled work tomorrow! As am self employed I wont earn but am too ill to be in the company of others and wouldnt want to give this cold to anyone! (Not even Mr T!ump!)

So between sneezes tomorrow I plan to do the other bit of NBI: Reclaiming! Am gonna to E!perian + Hospital car park (paid out £24 over week - turns out I could have had a ticket for £10 for the whole week but no one told me - I overheard this in canteen!!) + cancel 'friends and family' with BT and start to move all my important e-mails over to the free account so I can ditch BT in the near future!
As I type am dosing meself with Italian Brandy (any other spirit taken neat makes me gag - although it is expensive it knocks me out for the night and/or cures really painful bouts of arthritis enabling me to sleep. Although it costs a lot - I have had this bottle for over a year! And anyhooo - its medicinal! Honest! Hic! :rotfl:

No Ive only had a drop folks - dont worry!!
Nite all

chirpycheap

Welcome back on board dND. I'm intrigued as to what your crafting buys were. Did you find things were cheaper over there or was the thrill in finding stuff you cannot buy over here?

Yorpington-I am impressed with your systematic house hunting. We've only ever moved when it's been a seller's market and bought in a bit of a rush.

Ricarda -I really like your idea of charity knitting. Do you donate your items to a charity shop or a particular charity. What sort of things do you knit?

Lyn- I hope your 'special' medicine works. I might need some practice with the word 'no'. I think the baby boomer generation are a lot more hands on in their parenting style than my parent's wartime generation. At primary school age I would have been out and about all day taking trips on the bus and jumping on lorries to go potato picking. How times have changed. I worry about my adult son coming home on the late night bus!

I had a houseful for Mother's Day as we were jointly celebrating my son's birthday.I managed to cater for ten people for less that £20 which might not seem particularly impressive to some of the advanced thrifties on here but was a real achievement for me. All the dishes were empty after lunch so I worried that I hadn't done enough food but my kind son said don't worry it was because it was all so delicious. I made three trays of roast vegetables and they went down an absolute storm as did the pasta dish and the home made pizzas.
Today I will be at home sorting out the chaos that having visitors bring. I am a very tidy person and would always as a guest find a bin to put rubbish in and a sink to put a cup in. I know I'll be finding sweet wrappers and glasses in strange places for the next couple of days! Mum is very old fashioned and believes that we (mum, myself and my sister) should 'wait' on the menfolk. There are twelve in the family so that's a lot of men. I have a fearsome reputation as a bossy boots but I always felt that it was unfair to have to do everything while the men sit around. It still annoys me and I will nag the men to get up and do the washing up and help tidy. My mum is wonderful but comes from a different generation and she gets a great deal of pleasure from fussing around her grandsons, great grandsons and sons -in -laws and boy do they lap it up and adore their doting granny. As I've got older I've given up fighting it but I've told my mum there's probably a good reason that our family doesn't seem to be able to produce girls any more!

Have a happy and thrifty week everyone!

Aril

Hello- it's been a hectic and difficult few days so my mind has been elsewhere. Anyhow we enjoyed a planned spend on a Chinese takeaway with chums on Saturday night and necessarily expensive spends on carparking at Gatwick to see off our son on a Geography field trip. However, we did fit in a trip to a nearby Saxon church while we were up that way and much as I enjoyed mooching around an antiques market and various independent shops with another friend on Saturday I bought nothing home despite temptation being all around!
Arilx

Lynplatinum

Ahoy there y'all

Well done for resisting temptation Aril :j

If the plates were cleared Chirpy - dont worry - it just means they have all been gannets because it was so tasty! Stop worrying and pat yourself on the back!! I remember the era when women were supposed to serve the men - my mum was an ardent feminist - and vastly disapproved of the practice but (much to her own annoyance) would find herself doing it!! If I wanted to tease her I would whisper in her ear that I was gonna buy her a mob cap and a frilly pinny :rotfl:

Two phases she learnt from me:
1) Just like me you ve got 2 arms; 2 legs and an a**hole so you can do it just as well as me! (What I used to say to my boys)
2) 'Slave, servant and stupid are not my middle names!' (also frequently said to my boys!)

Both of my son's partners thank me for having bought them up to be domesticated and not expect a woman to do stuff for them. I was a full time working single mum - I couldnt do anything and my ex husband just made work not helped and created less!

An NSD today as still feel weak from the cold but need to go out to put monies in bank and get a prescription tomorrow.
Have started Experien thingy but need to buy more printing paper!! (just call me neurotic but I keep a hard copy as well as electronic copy of any important docs!)
Nite All

Siebrie

My mum and dad lived on their own before they got married, and have always done the housework together. Mum started cooking lessons when we were 8, and took the weekend off cooking when we were 12. Sis and I had to cook and do dishes on the weekend, and just the dishes during the week. That was my example, and it has helped me a lot with my African husband, who comes from a traditional African background. From the beginning I insisted we do the housework together, and now he actually enjoys cleaning and cooking (dishes not so much ) Dds are 4 and 7, and already have chores.


How does this tie in to the NBI thread? Well, if you regularly take care of what you own, you know what you have, and what state it is in, and are less tempted to buy something because you cannot find it, or have forgotten that you already own it.

dND

chirpycheap wrote: »

Welcome back on board dND. I'm intrigued as to what your crafting buys were. Did you find things were cheaper over there or was the thrill in finding stuff you cannot buy over here?

Hi chirpycheap. I spent a lot of time (timewasting!) on the various hobby sites gleaned from my Fb crochet group. In general I would say that prices were in dollars what you would pay in pounds but much cheaper than I would pay here in France especially with delivery.

However (and there is always something ) the prices quoted don't include the local tax (think purchase tax for those of us old enough to remember) so you pay more than you think or is printed on the item.

I was a bit overwhelmed with the craft stores at first as I have lived in rural France for nearly 10 years and choice is really limited but when I tried to get the specific things I wanted, they were surprisingly hard to find. They tended to be Internet purchase only. For example, I wanted the Clover Amour steel set of crochet hooks and while 3 stores websites showed them, none of their stores that I visited actually had them on sale. In the end I was lucky to be able to use my son's Am0zon Prime account to get them. Same story with the yarn I was thinking about getting and the crochet books. I did however pick up a few odds and ends especially Clover brand, and a lucet which I've not seen on general sale here.

I also went looking for craft magazines and didn't find any on sale. That said, I didn't find any large bookstores due to lack of time (I drove about 2000 miles in the 11 days I was there :eek:) I'm guessing that most get theirs by Internet subscription.

It's been an interesting shopping experience - I've just bought a crochet case for about the same as I paid for the identical in the USA, through Am0zon France at less than I would have paid through the UK site. Does this count as being an International Trader :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Bottom line is the mantra for this site, do your homework first but if it is American items you are after there are bargains. What was good for me was to be able to touch the yarns that I see come up on my timeline. Overall I think we have nicer yarns on general sale here but it did make me realise why when I see all the 'one skein' yarn patterns I never have enough wool. The skeins are usually 4oz and frequently 1lb in size!

Now clothing, that's another matter. When I go back, I hopefully will have lost the weight I want and I'm planning on going out with 1 suitcase and coming back with 2. I loved the styles and the quality at really good prices. This time I limited myself to just trainers for the trip ($20 for leather and mesh with supported insoles). :beer:

117pauline

Please can I be let back on board again?

I have been off colour for about six weeks which ended up with me at the local Walk In Centre and on an ECG machine!! Thankfully not a heart attack but frightening all the same.

I mentioned doing the low FODMAP diet last year and I had been doing really well with it but now seem to have gone back to the awful IBS symptoms of before. I think I have just discovered that there is no one thing causing it, just the cumulative effect of all the different foods. I am hoping my friendly dietetian will have an answer on Thursday. It has made me really focus on additives we have in our food which is good for all of us.

Charity Donations - I have become really disillusioned with the big charities. I was surprised to see that Help For Heroes is another charity which is being investigated by the Charitities Commission for inappropriate use of funds. I have also stopped supporting any charity that has high street stores that require their shops to keep their doors fully open even in winter. This seems madness.

I prefer to donate time to a food bank and the British Legion as I feel more involved but I know this isn't possible for many people.

So my freezer and cupboards are still nowhere near empty so am slowly working my way through whilst trying to ignore bargains. I have chilli, chicken casserole and pasta bake cooking away - I must be feeling better!

Our (previously owned) dishwasher failed and I did a bit of investigation and found one with good reviews at John Lewis. I was just about to buy it when I decided one last check and used the MegaShopBot, found identical at B&Q at £60 less!! My partner was amazed and impressed - he rarely sees the savings in the flesh as it were!

So sorry for the essay but this is the first day I have felt like taking part. It's amazing how much we can all learn from each other as well as the encouragement we feel in our own little BNI bubble

HOWMUCH

I had a MrM's voucher £4 off a £30 spend which expired on Sunday I resisted using it. I really don't need anything not even pantry shelf stuff so it went unused I wasn't going in that area and the petrol would have been about £1.50. I may have been tempted to use it if it'd had today's date on coz I'm going that way tonight. Lol x