what luxuries have you cut

mojoman · 25 February 2011 at 5:54PM

No car.No magazines.No meals out (occasionally M&S or Sain--- deals ).Any reduced items because we can always think of some way to use them.No holidays.Less visits to the pub.Cheaper rum for OH.Roll up cigarettes for me.Misshape chocs from the market.Probably a few more but then we've always had to be careful so it's not too much different now.

youluckypanda · 25 February 2011 at 6:02PM

Stopped eating meat, stopped going on nights out - now only have a drink in the house once in a blue moon. Making so many more meals from scratch now.

[Deleted User] · 25 February 2011 at 6:18PM

I gave my car away, really good condition too. Gone to dd. We do have a car between us
No newspapers but we would have to travel a round trip of 10 miles so saving on fuel as well as papers
supermarket shopping, big saving as no impulse buys. I shop via local food delivery, a consortium and costs just £3 for delivery. Great selection
Don`t eat out except just once in a while at a garden centre or somesuch
no hols abroad. Don`t miss it at all as we live in beautiful part of uk
Don`t buy ready grown plants as am growing all my own from seed

ubamother · 25 February 2011 at 6:46PM

haircuts - bought some clippers years ago and trim my husband's diminishing locks myself (he quite likes the 'just joined the marines' style luckily). Like many other posters, magazines are gone - I think I grew out of them so it was as much that as money saving. My daughter and I always enjoy choosing a couple of christmas specials though - as our girly christmas treat.

Jammygal · 25 February 2011 at 7:03PM

1. Hair colour and frequent hair cuts. (Now dye my own and have it cut twice a year)
2. Bought a panny over three yrs ago and have never looked back....rarely buy bread/pizza now.
3.Bake more, buy less.

redlady_1 · 25 February 2011 at 7:17PM

Not shopping in Karen Millen!

silverchair · 25 February 2011 at 7:29PM

Didnt really buy mags that often, but will only buy a mag now if they are giving away free L'occtaine hand cream. Mags are just full of adverts anyway.

Hubby is now too knackered to go to the pub after work. Good thing as this pub is one of those over priced places.

Very lucky that I live in a place where I actually dont need to have a car, well connected with trains & buses. Walk for a short trip instead of paying for a bus (again able to as there are pavements rather than a country road)

My hair cuts are usually from the special deals from mycity deal or KGB. Have it cut & styled about once every 3-4 months.

We wait until films are on DVD so dont go to the movies, we'll have a day trip instead or do a walk in the country.

My major savings has been food. We were terrible with take aways & marks& spencers pre-prepared meals as we thought we didnt have time after work to cook & didnt have a decent size freezer.
I now make sure I go to the supermarket with a shopping list. Tear it in half & give my OH one half of it & me the other. Not money saving but time saving. We then meet up at the end.
Thanks to this forum I make meal plans for the week. It helps to stretch out the ingredients too. OH will usually cook on a saturday. Bulk cook & freeze.
I always make sure I cook a meal that we can have the next day to save on the cooking time.
Cook everything from scratch. Doesnt take as long as I thought (now Im better at it) & tastes so much better. I hate shop bought cakes now & prepared food.

Never buy clothes full priced. If theres an occassion then I'll look well ahead & buy something from ebay. It means no rushed over-priced purchase. I buy most of my clothes on ebay.

We havent cut back on holidays as my OH needs to see his family & friends so we go every other year & do a short 3day break in europe in between.

I've learnt loads from this forum, so thanks.

girlybags · 25 February 2011 at 8:04PM

My biggest luxury was the car which I got rid of last summer, mainly because we live near 2 town centres, a train station and have a good local bus service so didn't really need it. My son and I are much more active now and we're saving around £600 a year insurance/tax/mot plus at least a tenner a week in petrol, we spend less than half of that a week on buses as we walk most of the time

YORKSHIRELASS · 25 February 2011 at 8:14PM

I have cut out:

Wine (sob ..)
Bought cakes and biscuits, in fact anything ready made
Salon hair colours
New clothes (now charity shop/ebay)
New books (now charity shop/library)
Make-up (ask for it at Christmas)
Takeaways and night outs (but these were a very rare thing anyway)

What about things you have introduced instead? We started camping a few years ago and now have enough kit to get away very cheaply. There are a few nice camp sites locally for £10 to £15 a night and we cook our own food so can get occasional weekends away for under £30.

redlady_1 · 25 February 2011 at 8:18PM

Wine??? WINE???? Are you insane??! :eek::D

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