Not Buying It- A Consumer Holiday 2016

[Deleted User]

Back from the shops and no more shopping required this month as I have topped up on everything I needed plus extra fruit and veg, so no crowded shops for me next weekend :):) Well within my food budget as well AND I bought 4 Cadburys chocolate eggs at Lidls for 99p each for my DGS so I am more than a happy bunny this afternoon :):)

Aril

Day 79/366 The spiced cauliflower I roasted along with the veg for another meal earlier this week [filling the oven] got turned into curry soup in the end. I looked at the recipe again and just couldn't bring myself to make it..it just didn't appeal. Oops. Today I have been flashing the cash...I met a friend I've made through the blogging world up in London and we went to the free Horniman museum. She and I met for the first time last year and really hit it off so thought why not do it again and yes we also availed ourselves of a pint of ale at the local hostelry but at £2.09 a pint who am I to complain! Another excellent experience notched up and no"things" bought. Arilx

chirpycheap

One of the biggest challenges for me in terms of being frugal is to not have a coffee when we are out and about. There have been some weekends when we've had coffee out every day. It really is a big expense and one which we need to cut down on.
We have managed to resist so far this weekend despite being out on Friday and Saturday at places that would tempt us to stop for a coffee.
Tomorrow however we are taking Dad out to a garden centre. He's been poorly and it will be his first trip out so I'm guessing it will require a tea stop.
We have decided to set ourselves a budget for our cafe spends and start to ask ourselves whether we really require a drink or whether we just require a sit down somewhere warm!

I was looking at some wooden planters in B&Q today and my husband has come home and made me exactly the same thing with some scrap wood from his shed.I am really impressed with what he managed to knock up in a couple of hours and he's really pleased to have saved us some cash. He will return to the shop on Wednesday to get the compost using his 10% off for being over sixty!
Enjoy a frugal weekend everyone!

[Deleted User]

aril I haven't been to Hornimanss for years I used to go with my late Mum and behind the museum at the back was the loveliest of gardens (reason mum went I think as she was a passionate gardener).Lovely museum though just outside Forest Hill.Its reminded me that I must take my DGS there in the holidays as I know they will enjoy it, plus of course its a good london 'freebie' :):)

Happytravelling

This weekend we've been to London for a family party, although stayed for 2 nights to give us a chance to relax and pay a visit to the National Gallery and the exhibition at the British library. In keeping with NBI, we both decided to travel light taking with us as little as possible. Normally, I trek about with a huge rucksack, but just took a hand bag with a carrier tucked inside (to carry bits like half drunk or eaten items that we wanted to finish later).

On the one hand, we found ourselves spending money on bottles of water. On the other hand, we had far fewer coffee breaks than usual as we weren't so weary from carrying everything, and as we didn't have a large bag to stuff with stuff, it put us off buying said stuff! All in all, a worthwhile trade off.

I've just calculated our spends and found we came in £37.44 below budget :T.

Aril

Day 80/366 Jackie O- The Horniman was fab. I particularly liked the merman. Small spend today on coffee and cake. We were cleaning my late FIL's flat before putting it on the market so think it was most definitely deserved. Day with lots of travelling so dug deep in the freezer and produced 3 YS pies and the cheesecake my friend gave me last week as a pressie. Too tired to cook.
Arilx

Aril

Oh dear it looks like I'm billy no mates today as I've posted consecutively! Aah well. Day 81/366 was a nsd and today 82/366 a small outlay on postage. I have at long last mushed up all the bits of leftover soap and formed new balls of soap from them [added a bit of lavender oil]. They are now drying in the airing cupboard so we shall see. Lots of ferreting about has produced a pile of paper for the recycling, more for the charity shop bag I'm currently filling and a secret stash of two lippies and several lipbalms that I had hidden away and forgotten about!
Arilx

blackcatsx2

Hi Aril, I'm sure you aren't Billy no mates, but it is quiet on here at the moment. I've got 2 lip balms that have gone AWOL, I wish I could find them.
we had a great YS dinner tonight - butternut-squash and feta filo pie, sweet potato chips and salad followed by salted caramel profiteroles for the grand total of £3.00. it was all Tosco Finest - and very tasty but I wouldn't have paid the full price for any of it.

milasavesmoney

Tomato seed starts planted today. And more seed planted to make starts. We have a new garden bed to sow, but haven't worked all the compost into it as it has been to windy.

We are planting a lot more vegetables this year to help cut down on our grocery bill and to have enough to freeze for the rest of the year. Well, hopefully...

We use toilet paper cardboard rolls that we cut in half and stand on end in a tray, like rows of soldiers. We stuff them with compost and plant our seeds. No need to take out of a pot, we just plant the entire thing when the plant is big enough. The cardboard rapidly rots in the ground with watering.

Lynplatinum

Hey there me hearties!

DS has been up helping me to mend my house - which was still cheaper than paying someone to do it but it cost a new drill, paint and set of chissels! But many good jobs are done and TBH it was good to have him around - I really enjoy his company - I am such a lucky person :A

Happytravelling - my DS1 is very tiny and often buys stuff from the children's section (he is 32 years old!) - the trousers in particular are v good value cos there's no VAT on children's clothes!! To explain he is about 5 ft 4ins and, at a party recently (where boys dressed as girls and vice versa) we had to try to find a size 8 lady to loan him stuff !!! :mad: cos Im a size 18 :eek:

In the spirit of NBI have finally got around to using the resolva tool to try to get some money out of E!rian. Must now cancel monthly DD!!!

Also in NBI spirit took my own lunch and snack today while out on the road and, as I had forgotten my bags for shopping - I used the recylable boxes which L!dil store after the tills on their packing shelf - good on them!!!

My L!dil spend = no more food spends for rest of month and hope to be NBI for rest of month too!
Nite all