Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

Purps - I've just done the same thing! Received yet ANOTHER Black Friday 'deals' email from a retailer, which yes, I do like, & very occasionally use, as they are outside of my budget for regular purchases, but I simply don't need an email every single day. This is supposed to be a 'day' not a fortnight. And the deals don't look any different from offers they send me at other times in the year. So I've waved them 'goodbye' for clogging up my inbox. Agree it feels empowering x

DawnW

Absolutely agree Foxgloves. I will need a few grocery bits tomorrow, as I cba to get them while out today - it was so cold I wanted to scurry back indoors as fast as possible! That will be the limit of my Black Friday shopping.

joedenise

I absolutely agree too Foxgloves! I need a new combi microwave but as I'm hoping to get my kitchen done in the new year I'm going to do some research in the meantime and then get one once my kitchen is sorted. DH said this weekend would be a good time to get it! but I said No. Proud of myself for that as I usually go along with what he wants to do!

Denise

1LuckyLady

I'm with you on this too. Unfortunately I will be going shopping tomorrow as ds1 has an inset day and has suddenly had a growth spurt and needs new school trousers (they fitted fine last week too!) I will be treating him to lunch out then getting out of town as quickly as possible!

Onebrokelady

foxgloves wrote: »

OBL/Joedenise - Yes, OBL, that does sound a high monthly payment. I think I remember you saying that being very cold causes your fibro condition to flare up, so it's possible that you have your house warmer than us? And that's likely to be important if it helps keep you well over Winter. We live in a 1930s three bedroom semi. The heating badly needs an update - we have old storage heaters (which use most power overnight on the cheaper Economy 7 tariff) & our downstairs doesn't have sufficient heating for the winter months. Our lounge is heated with a living flames gas fireplace, which looks lovely but is not very heat-efficient. We are planning to have a new system installed hopefully next year, but we haven't yet, as I refuse to borrow the money to do it. I am hoping for new more energy-efficient modern storage heaters in all rooms except the lounge where I would like a log burner. Anyway, I can think about that when the time comes.
Is your monthly payment carrying any arrears, OBL? Energy companies are absolute b*ggers for not noticing that customers are falling into arrears then suddenly announcing it when it's built up into quite a large amount. The only other thing I can think of, is trying to minimise your energy use on stuff other than heating, if cutting that would affect your health. I'm just trying to think of ways to reduce that £134 a month, as that is a lot of money to find & I wouldn't be happy with it either.
F x

I was already paying off arrears at £116 a month when they put it up again,so maybe I'm just using more than they thought I would,Im going to start sending weekly meter reading ps I th8nk so they can keep track of my usage

Onebrokelady

I hate Black Friday and all it entails,it's just an excuse for people to spend money they don't have on things they don't need
I actually could do with a new telly because mine is on the blink but I'm not getting one because I cant afford it whether it's a Black Friday bargain or not,so I'm going to try and put some money aside and save up for one,the one I have is still working but cuts out every so often,I don't actually watch telly that much so I'm not bothered about waiting for one,I have another older one upstairs that I've lost the power cable to but I think the cab,e on the downstairs one might fit it so if it packs up completely I will use that one

Like you say Foxgloves there rare deals on all year round so I can bite my time and not have to join a rugby scrum to buy it

Thick_n_Thin

I couldn’t agree more in regards to Black Friday, there are deals to be had all year round, Black Friday wasn’t even a thing a few years ago, another example of how society is being brainwashed into buying more things we don’t need. I was listening to some colleagues yesterday discussing what they where buying their children for Christmas and the cost was eye watering and I just don’t understand it, I feel overloaded already with Christmas adverts, I’ve seen Christmas trees up in houses nearby and it just all feels way too much!

foxgloves

Agree with all of you, so much! I've unsubscribed from another retailer's mailing list because I don't need a Black Friday deals email every day for days on end. It's not a 'day' any more, it's about two weeks & it will be getting people into more CC debt for sure. Although I should probably day 'people will be getting themselves into debt', really, as CCs don't jump out of purses & wallets themselves. There does need to be personal responsibility too. I don't say this in judgement, as I've been very open about what a silly spender I used to be, but as a fact. If we have to use somebody else's money to pay for an item, then we can't afford it, it's as simple as that. We might not like it, but that's how it is.
OBL - my husband would dearly love a new TV & has been angling for one for absolutely months, but he has changed now, as well as me, & when I said that our current TV is still working, but that we would look at starting a 'tech replacement savings piggy' in the new year, he was fine with that & actually thought it was a good idea. The only 'issues' with our current TV is that it does odd things sometimes because it is too old now to be compatible with the various other gizmos it needs to link up with. I've told him that if it just goes completely kaput one night in a puff of smoke, then we will replace it, but that if he waits until we have built up a tech replacement fund, then he is more likely to be able to spend a little more on something better, but there will be a budget above which we won't go. There is no need whatsoever in my mind to be spending out the best part of £1k (& more!!) on a TV. Wanting to is one thing, needing to is quite another thing.
So, here I am on Black Friday. Mr f has an early finish at work today & has volunteered to pick up the last grocery shopping of this month's budget. We are also posting 1 ebay parcel. Nothing else will be bought. I am going to do some festive prep today & that is only going to involve shopping from home. I might have to get a bit creative for a bit of it, but I'm not intending to go out spending anything today.
So, be strong in the face of all those emails. Nothing wrong with using Black Friday to buy something we need, can afford, etc, IF it is genuinely a better deal than previously seen, but some of these 'deals' are really being exposed now for what they are - just hype - with similar & lower prices available at other times of the year or from other retailers.
I was only saying to mr f this morning that we'd probably have been off to MeadowHell with the plastic back in the day if Black Friday had been 'a thing' while we were Spendy. Shudders - couldn't do it now!
Might pop back later with any 'shopping from home' wins.
Take care,
F xx

Onebrokelady

joedenise wrote: »

Do you live in a mansion:rotfl:. I live in a 3/4 bed bungalow which isn't insulated particularly well and pay about half that - £68 a month and my latest bill showed that I'm still on track!

Denise

:rotfl:nope I live in a three bedroom terrace,it's not very well insulated but does have double glazing

Onebrokelady

foxgloves wrote: »

Agree with all of you, so much! I've unsubscribed from another retailer's mailing list because I don't need a Black Friday deals email every day for days on end. It's not a 'day' any more, it's about two weeks & it will be getting people into more CC debt for sure. Although I should probably day 'people will be getting themselves into debt', really, as CCs don't jump out of purses & wallets themselves. There does need to be personal responsibility too. I don't say this in judgement, as I've been very open about what a silly spender I used to be, but as a fact. If we have to use somebody else's money to pay for an item, then we can't afford it, it's as simple as that. We might not like it, but that's how it is.
OBL - my husband would dearly love a new TV & has been angling for one for absolutely months, but he has changed now, as well as me, & when I said that our current TV is still working, but that we would look at starting a 'tech replacement savings piggy' in the new year, he was fine with that & actually thought it was a good idea. The only 'issues' with our current TV is that it does odd things sometimes because it is too old now to be compatible with the various other gizmos it needs to link up with. I've told him that if it just goes completely kaput one night in a puff of smoke, then we will replace it, but that if he waits until we have built up a tech replacement fund, then he is more likely to be able to spend a little more on something better, but there will be a budget above which we won't go. There is no need whatsoever in my mind to be spending out the best part of £1k (& more!!) on a TV. Wanting to is one thing, needing to is quite another thing.
So, here I am on Black Friday. Mr f has an early finish at work today & has volunteered to pick up the last grocery shopping of this month's budget. We are also posting 1 ebay parcel. Nothing else will be bought. I am going to do some festive prep today & that is only going to involve shopping from home. I might have to get a bit creative for a bit of it, but I'm not intending to go out spending anything today.
So, be strong in the face of all those emails. Nothing wrong with using Black Friday to buy something we need, can afford, etc, IF it is genuinely a better deal than previously seen, but some of these 'deals' are really being exposed now for what they are - just hype - with similar & lower prices available at other times of the year or from other retailers.
I was only saying to mr f this morning that we'd probably have been off to MeadowHell with the plastic back in the day if Black Friday had been 'a thing' while we were Spendy. Shudders - couldn't do it now!
Might pop back later with any 'shopping from home' wins.
Take care,
F xx

Wise words as usual Foxgloves,I'm feeling so relaxed about Christmas this year because I took steps to take the pressure off last March,I started my Xmas saving plan then and decided to reduce my budget,i let my girls know that I would be scaling back this year so they would be ready for it,DD1 had a gentle reminder last week and now I am nearly done and haven't blown my budget and I'm quite excited to know I will be going into January without increasing my debt
Last year I spent £200 each on my DDs and I bet they cant even remember what I bought them,I know I can't ......never again :A