I Must Buy My Needs Not My Wants

OrkneyStar

[Deleted User] said:

I agree, being tightly disciplined isn't for everybody, for me it's something i've learned and now enjoy, especially as i see the bank account stay at a certain level without dipping all week/month long.


One point re: grocery shopping .......
Never, ever, go food shopping hungry - always go food shopping on a full stomach.

I am fairly tightly disciplined, in that a small treat budget is built into the overall budget, thus I can dip into this every now and then (some months I don't spend much at all, other months I will spend a bit more, although when I say more I don't mean very much - more in the single digits/tens than hundreds!).

pumpkin89

[Deleted User] said:

One point re: grocery shopping .......
Never, ever, go food shopping hungry - always go food shopping on a full stomach.

I've heard so many people say this that it must be true for most!  But personally, I shop better when I'm hungry.  It focuses my mind on actual food, i.e. proper meals, and I want to get out quickly so I can eat 

If I go when I'm full, I spend more time browsing (hence more impulse buys) and find it harder to decide what I will want to eat later (so spend more buying different options, or end up having to go shopping again).

Bluegreen143

I find it works better to do online shopping as I can remove stuff from the basket when I see the total 😆 but I do alternate with Lidl shops from time to time. That said I’ve been spending a lot on groceries so maybe I need some new tactics… 

Rosa_Damascena

pumpkin89 said:

[Deleted User] said:

One point re: grocery shopping .......
Never, ever, go food shopping hungry - always go food shopping on a full stomach.

I've heard so many people say this that it must be true for most!  But personally, I shop better when I'm hungry.  It focuses my mind on actual food, i.e. proper meals, and I want to get out quickly so I can eat 

If I go when I'm full, I spend more time browsing (hence more impulse buys) and find it harder to decide what I will want to eat later (so spend more buying different options, or end up having to go shopping again).

I don't plan to be hungry when I shop, but by 8pm when I shop its almost inevitable that I will be. At that time I can be lucky in the YS department.

I_Love_comps

Today we bought all yellow stickered food.  4 meals, some fruit and a loaf of bread

elsien

My wants are not grocery shopping related as a general rule.

I’ve developed a bit of a charity shop habit and the one in one out rule has gone for a burton.
Socialising and theatre tickets are generally budgeted for, but a few  Groupon meals out have snuck in of late.
Then things that I’ve probably need to replace at some point and want to do it properly, so I’m fed up of tatty old handbags from the charity shop and would quite like to buy a proper leather one that’s going to last me.

My problem I think, as a rule,  is if “it’s a bargain. “Because I find resisting a bargain quite difficult even if it’s only a bargain if it’s something that you really need or were going to get anyway. 

I think for me it’s just life getting back to normal and all the things that we haven’t been able to do, wanting to start do them again. I just want to  start living life properly again. Unfortunately in the meantime the economy has nosedived and my income hasn’t increased proportionately. Therein lies the dilemma.

I_Love_comps

When I need clothes, I buy from charity shops. I also buy and sell on Vinted

Rosa_Damascena

I_Love_comps said:

When I need clothes, I buy from charity shops. I also buy and sell on Vinted

I've not had a great deal of success selling on Vinted so have ended up donating to the chaz instead.

pamsdish

Rosa_Damascena said:

I_Love_comps said:

When I need clothes, I buy from charity shops. I also buy and sell on Vinted

I've not had a great deal of success selling on Vinted so have ended up donating to the chaz instead.

I too have had little success selling on Vinted, postage is more reasonable than ebay, but as the price is set, no chance of a bargain,

I_Love_comps

We needed more passata this week. It has gone up in L,A & T's supermarkets.  We will buy from T's as it means we get points.  The vouchers I save up all year round to use on our Christmas shop.