What OS habits you can't stop once you are better off?

Soworried

kboss2010 wrote: »

£1,000 a month on food??:eek:

I know people who do this too but, honestly, I don't know how people spend the average amount most people earn in a month on food alone. They must either be drowning in food or living on champagne a caviar lol. Then again, my local artisan butcher charges £15 a kg for mince so I suppose it's easier done than I think!

My previous monthly food bill was £800 a month for 4 people without buying organic

Sally_A

Thankfully debt free here, and recently took on more hours at work, so find I have less time, yet more money.

I was brought up to be frugal, with both parents having gone through hunger and rationing.

Less time has been detrimental to growing my own veg and preparing every evening meal from scratch.

More money means I'm more likely to buy quick meals, I still try to get good nutritional value, but probably not as much as when I cooked from scratch.

I now have a routine every Friday, I buy basic pizzas for Friday night, and top them up with sad veg in the veg box from the week, eg mushrooms, peppers, onions, opened ham or salami. At the same time I'll peel all the potatoes and other root veg that are in the box and going a bit limp, mash and freeze them in aluminium trays for quickness in the future (25mins tops at 180).

Saturday, I get my shopping delivered in the morning, with a vague meal plan in my head for 4 days (I could probably be a bit more frugal, but now go for better cuts of meat, different cheeses, named brands that I prefer etc.)

Sorry, I'm rambling a bit. answer to your first question - yes, I still love a bargain and hate waste.

meritaten

VfM4meplse wrote: »

If you've never liked these pleasures, or will miss them - fine. Being well groomed is important to me, and a bit spent on hair and make-up is well worth the price. As for clothing, I'm more than happy to stick to the chaz these days, as I regularly find good quality nearly-new clothing there at rock bottom prices.

Nail on the head VfM! - I USED to visit the hairdresser regularly, did my nails every week and wouldn't appear in public without full slap on! a year of miners strike and it completely changed me.
I went from yummy mummy to 'Au Naturel' and never looked back! I don't miss it in the slightest. that's not to say that I don't appreciate other ladies don't feel the same. and isn't the point of MSE that it frees your finances so that you CAN prioritise your purchases? if you prefer to spend your 'happy money' on hair-dos and make-up - that's great. I prefer to spend mine on books and crafty stuff.

Ben84

At the moment I'm saving for several specific goals, and when they're done I'll probably find more things to save for. So I imagine I'll be saving for many years yet. However if the time comes that I don't want to save, I expect I'll still be quite OS. I'll still be interested in saving resources for environmental reasons, and not want to buy things I don't need as it just drives up the price for everyone. I don't expect to stop shopping in charity and second hand shops either, as I enjoy it and find unusual stuff there. What I probably won't worry about so much is shopping around for the lowest prices on everyday things like flour and milk as it costs time and I don't really enjoy it.

Pollycat

Soworried wrote: »

My previous monthly food bill was £800 a month for 4 people without buying organic

Really? £200 per person per month! :eek:
What sort of stuff did you used to buy and when did you have your lightbulb moment?

moneyistooshorttomention

Spendless wrote: »

Do your taste buds change as you age? I know they do from child to adult, as I can remember disliking things that I'll now enjoy, but beyond that? My 90yo Nan refuses to get a freezer as she wants to eat fresh food, despite that it would make her life so much easier now she has limited mobility. My Mum in her 70s herself had just put it down to her being stubborn, but reading your post, I'm not too sure.

I've been developing a suspicion over the last couple of years that my tastebuds have changed (ie early 60s). I think I'm going "stronger" on flavours (eg I used to drink strong instant coffee and then moved to real coffee and it now has to be strength 5 real coffee). I'm adding more flavour in various ways to food (eg salt - errr....whoops..:rotfl:). My tastebuds haven't been "confused" by the addition of lots of sugar to food (as I very rarely eat any readymade sweet food).

Then I read an article recently which was along the lines of people having lost quite a substantial percentage of their tastebuds by around my age:(

That's rather ironic - just when you get to the age where you can finally find the money to have "nice" food and be a bit "foodie" your own tastebuds let you down:(.

Hence - I've taken to experimenting with new foods at a very fast pace - so that I know what they are like now in case the tastebuds "go" later.

Soworried

Pollycat wrote: »

Really? £200 per person per month! :eek:
What sort of stuff did you used to buy and when did you have your lightbulb moment?

£4-5 per person ready meals, then add on a side ready meal around £2. KFC etc for lunch each day. £5 on take away coffee each day.

It really wasn't hard to spend

My LBM came when I took bad and couldn't work for almost a year. Our saving started to disappear at a rate of knots. Thankfully I found this site. Our bill is around £240 now for a month

Nargleblast

That is a brilliant bit of saving, Soworried, and I bet you eat better quality meals now!

janb5

JackieO wrote: »

I do get a new car every three years and that's because I lease my car rather than buy it That way I don't have to worry too much about servicing etc.

I thought this was a brilliant idea- I have hesitated about buying a car because of the costs of servicing etc and this seems to be the best method for those of us who arent able to service cars or anticipate high repair costs. Thank you Jackie.

Pollycat

Soworried wrote: »

£4-5 per person ready meals, then add on a side ready meal around £2. KFC etc for lunch each day. £5 on take away coffee each day.

It really wasn't hard to spend

My LBM came when I took bad and couldn't work for almost a year. Our saving started to disappear at a rate of knots. Thankfully I found this site. Our bill is around £240 now for a month

Well done you! That's an amazing reduction. :T

I bet you all feel healthier too now you're not eating so much processedtake-away food.