Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

[Deleted User]

I used to love a diet cola but also found the cost outweighed the pleasure, especially as there are lots of downsides to drinking the stuff as you listed. Have you tried the caffeine-free version? I haven't so can't comment on the taste. I tried the supermarket's own versions of diet cola but to be honest I'd rather go without. I do treat myself to a pack of Diet Pepsi (which I prefer to Coke) occasionally if they are on a really good offer, otherwise I ignore the soft drinks aisle in the supermarket altogether. OH isn't a fizzy drink fan either, he just loves filtered tapwater that I keep really cold in the fridge. Our water supply is very hard here and tastes horrible unless filtered. That's another bugbear of mine, the cost of replacement filter cartridges. I buy generic ones to save money as Britta ones are ridiculously expensive:(. They still cost an arm and a leg, given the speed OH gets through a full jug of filtered water:eek:


I'm a big tea addict but as I drink coffee no more than about twice a year I don't worry about the caffeine intake from tea too much. I like tea fairly strong but with no sugar and only a splash of semi-skimmed milk so I don't consider it to be too much of a vice;)

elizabethhull

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

I've given up diet coke (again ). It will save me £6 a week and I'm going to put that amount in my Emergency Fund every week that I stay strong.
).

Good luck ! £6 a week certainly adds up.
I agree that perhaps diet cola is not the most healthy choice of fizzy, but I really like fruity fizzy drinks, and I have spent over 6 decades being extremely parsimonious with fizzy drinks, so I decided I could choose to treat myself to some. It works out about 3-4 per week, so not madly excessive.

Carbootcrazy - our water is very hard too, but I've got used to the flavour. But on the rare occasions when we go back to where I grew up (Bolton), the soft water is just heavenly. Have been known to sit down and just drink 3 glasses slowly for the intense pleasure.

HairyHandofDartmoor

carbootcrazy wrote: »

I used to love a diet cola but also found the cost outweighed the pleasure, especially as there are lots of downsides to drinking the stuff as you listed. Have you tried the caffeine-free version? I haven't so can't comment on the taste. I tried the supermarket's own versions of diet cola but to be honest I'd rather go without. I do treat myself to a pack of Diet Pepsi (which I prefer to Coke) occasionally if they are on a really good offer, otherwise I ignore the soft drinks aisle in the supermarket altogether. OH isn't a fizzy drink fan either, he just loves filtered tapwater that I keep really cold in the fridge. Our water supply is very hard here and tastes horrible unless filtered. That's another bugbear of mine, the cost of replacement filter cartridges. I buy generic ones to save money as Britta ones are ridiculously expensive:(. They still cost an arm and a leg, given the speed OH gets through a full jug of filtered water:eek:


I'm a big tea addict but as I drink coffee no more than about twice a year I don't worry about the caffeine intake from tea too much. I like tea fairly strong but with no sugar and only a splash of semi-skimmed milk so I don't consider it to be too much of a vice;)

It's the money as much as the caffeine Carboot so decaff wouldn't work as well as giving up. Let's hope I can stay motivated!

elizabethhull wrote: »

Good luck ! £6 a week certainly adds up.
I agree that perhaps diet cola is not the most healthy choice of fizzy, but I really like fruity fizzy drinks, and I have spent over 6 decades being extremely parsimonious with fizzy drinks, so I decided I could choose to treat myself to some. It works out about 3-4 per week, so not madly excessive.

Carbootcrazy - our water is very hard too, but I've got used to the flavour. But on the rare occasions when we go back to where I grew up (Bolton), the soft water is just heavenly. Have been known to sit down and just drink 3 glasses slowly for the intense pleasure.

I'll still have a nice cold diet coke or pepsi (they taste the same to me) as an occasional treat, but not everyday. Water filters are very expensive :eek:. We have soft tap water which doesn't taste too bad, but I do think a slice of lemon would improve it.

HairyHandofDartmoor

WannabeFree wrote: »

I do get hot HH and I do feel silly But I just can't wear short sleeves :rotfl: Or show my legs for that matter

Good luck with the diet coke! I couldn't do it! I'm awful

I'm sure you would look lovely in cooler clothes Wannabe but you need to wear what you feel comfortable in (psychologically).

I bet you don't look silly. In lots of hot countries people wear long sleeves and cover their legs to protect them from the sun. If you wore thin cotton or linen you would still be quite cool and would look perfectly fine .

It's people who wear parkas or leather jackets on a hot summer day who look odd to me .

[Deleted User]

elizabethhull wrote: »

Carbootcrazy - our water is very hard too, but I've got used to the flavour. But on the rare occasions when we go back to where I grew up (Bolton), the soft water is just heavenly. Have been known to sit down and just drink 3 glasses slowly for the intense pleasure.

I was brought up in a very soft water area and whenever I went 'home' to see my parents I was just like you, drinking gallons of it over the course of a few days. I also noticed how much lather I used to get from my shampoo and shower gel etc when I used their water.


I don't think it's the hardness itself here that causes the taste, it's sort of a chemically taste somehow:eek:.

badmemory

I prepare jugs of boiled water for my DS which I also drink from time to time. I am not too far from elizabethhull's home town so the water is acceptable. Unfortunately, I lived (not too far from where she is living now) down south & the water is somewhat less pleasant. After a drought not long before I moved back "home" which had things jumping about in the tap water, we just can't drink water straight from the tap.

For those using a water filter jug - think a 'jug' the size of a washing machine & a sack (think cement not rice) of the stuff that a water filter jug has. Then use a water filter jug, then scrub out your kettle weekly & hope it lasts 2 years. Yuk, we forget how lucky we are sometimes.

redofromstart

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

It's people who wear parkas or leather jackets on a hot summer day who look odd to me .

erm :rotfl:

I've been so cold today without my thermals. I don't usually take those off much before July.

beanielou

Pepsi max all the way :drool:

HairyHandofDartmoor

redofromstart wrote: »

erm :rotfl:

I've been so cold today without my thermals. I don't usually take those off much before July.

It's probably me who's the odd one because I get hot really easily and wear sandals from May until September usually :rotfl:. Mind you it's probably warmer in Devon than where you live as we benefit from the gulf stream.

[Deleted User]

Feeling really chipper at the moment because I had an email yesterday saying Morrisons supermarket is now delivering in my area:j. It's been a very long time coming, Asda, Sainsburys and Tesco have been delivering in our neck of the woods for years. I had some home deliveries from Sainsburys when the weather was bad, I couldn't face the drive:o. Morrisons is my favourite supermarket though and I kept wishing they'd get their act together as far as delivery goes.


Although I have a car it isn't always convenient getting to a Morrisons for my big monthly shop. Our local one (round trip of 15 miles) is pretty small (although it's a proper supermarket not one of the local or express type) and if I want to see the full range of what they sell, such as the household stuff and other non-food items, it means a round trip of about 32 miles to the nearest big one:(. The delivery is free until the end of June, no doubt to attract new customers, so I might as well take advantage of it. In fact, I've already done my first order to be delivered Thursday morning:j. The only downside is that I can't pick up any reduced/yellow-stickered items but when I go in they never seem to have any that I want anyway:(