Mr H and I have rather been forced into it after years of being not well off, but not broke either. Now we have two properties to run, plus paying for those student years of his where we didn't cut back as much as we should, so we're on a joint effort to not waste money.
Before Christmas I spent more than I wanted to on food etc. ready for having Mr H home - not that I went mad but I probably spent twice as much as normal. I probably spent 1/5 of what some others did! However since 23rd December I am proud to say we have spent precisely the following:
Fuel when we visited family £31.94
Hot sausage rolls from the petrol station to eat en route £2.98
Ibuprofen £1.20
Now I reckon that is pretty good. I really didn't think 6 bottles of wine would last 2 weeks, for a start! Now I am so buoyed up by this that I am thinking of doing the Store Cupboard Diet where you eat the stuff that is in the cupboard / fridge / freezer instead of ignoring it and buying something else. This might end up with some interesting mixtures but hey I can live with that.
Last night I had a sort out of clothes as my drawers were a mess, but was much more careful about how many I chucked in the charity shop bag. As this has been rather a 'non-typical' year I can't really use the 'I haven't worn it for a year' benchmark. I also put a few pieces on eBay, bearing in mind that it is only worth listing if it has a known brand/design name and is worth at least £5.00.
Today I mended two pairs of trousers that had been sitting on the floor in the bedroom for at least a year - one with a button off and one where the hem had come down. So that involved getting out my old sewing basket which I've had since I was a child and sorting out what was in it, which was rather therapeutic as was the actual mending.
Things have been chucked into the top of the basket over the years, so amongst the needles and thread I found loads of spare buttons (the ones that come with clothes when you buy them), some bootlaces, ribbon, lining cloth in a bag from a shop that closed down at least 20 years ago, some different coloured feathers and a repair kit for Mr H's Stihl chainsaw trousers.
I also have some socks to darn, but have no wool so that therapy will have to wait until another day.
Mending always makes me feel like a homemaking stud.
ReplyDeleteI can not believe that you've spent so little since the 23rd!!! That's crazy. And super impressive. Also I love the cupboard diet idea. We'd starve to death. But we'd die rich!
ReplyDeletei'm impressed too, i was not that disciplined i'm sad to say
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on this too, although I tried very hard to spend far less than usual on all the Christmas stuff....but I went really mad or crazy (both fit) for the Christmas Eve food shopping, which always comes with trying a new recipe, Figgy Pudding for the first time (YUMMY) glad it was a hit, but the bottle of Captain Morgan Spicy Rum was REAL spendy, but necessary...so you know how that goes....I believe the eating what's in the cupboard, frig and freezer thing will be sticking around like for life! ;)
ReplyDeleteThe Store Cupboard Diet? I wonder if I can get my wife to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteNow there's a brilliant idea.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I'll not convince himself to consume all that which contains flour (since that's disallowed in my diet).
Oh.....let's not even talk monetary issues--we've tossed more from the fridge than we've ate in the past two weeks, I swear.....
I can't believe you wasted all that money on some Ibuprofen!! :D
ReplyDeleteJoking!
We've done really well eating up the leftovers since the kids left and are still eating turkey curry and soup and have about six more meals in the freezer. Not finding anyone to give all the leftover cheese/butter to pissed me off but we are now back on the low cholesterol straight and (not so) narrow.
ReplyDelete