Rampant Consumerism

[fireflies]

See I had to go shopping for January birthday gifts. we have twins here who will expect gifts, feckers don’t understand it’s right after Christmas.

and the kids stuff is 50% off so I’m planning 4 weeks early and now it’s done
but that’s all I’ve bought or need.

LIE.... I bought Christmas cards for a quid, reduced from 8. who the duck spends 8 quid on Christmas cards that’s for next year if I’m still alive and kicking, if not, I’m sure someone will use them Or stick them on eBay

Lol I have a teen with a birthday in feb and already it's what am I having.
Usually it includes something Superdrug sale.
I can't believe people pay 8 quid for cards.
I did buy wrapping paper Sainsbury's as 50p a roll was 2 and 3 for 2 and will stick in loft next year.
I like sales shopping seasonal items or Xmas Halloween and Easter. it makes sense but everything else is just too much.
We have a big family every saving counts.
What we don't need is clothes.
We do need new carseat and hoover.
We try and buy loads 2nd hand and u defiantly spend less time in pound shops.

 

[Greed-Futures]

I’ve had my eye on their leather biker jackets for years, they are so nice I feel like I need to buy less, but better quality, staple items like this rather than buying more frequently, the cheaper ‘latest trend’ items.

FWIW I have a Michael Kors black leather biker jacket which I got on a deep discount back in 2008 which is still going strong. So long as you get a cut that's a bit classic and which flatters your body type, the jacket should last you a long time as a biker jacket never goes out of style. I consider something like this reasonable to splash out on for a xmas or birthday gift.

In fact, my biker jacket has been such a great investment for my wardrobe that I added another to my wardrobe last year for xmas in a different (but still classic) cut, but in a medium brown leather from an outlet store.

But it's my general principal to buy nicer outerwear, shoes, and bags as they all tend to take a beating, really need to last you, and you only really need a few key pieces of each.

 

[Sp20191]

The good thing about being skint is you can’t overspend on these things! We have to save for what we need let alone extras

 

[JNRS90]

I’m enjoying the jacket encouragement, maybe the really sensible thing would be to buy a Rick Owens one I’m not in a rush, I’m hoping to lose a bit more weight so might hang on for the next round of 20% off. I’ve stopped smoking and while I can’t afford to put that money in a jar, it does mean I can put a jacket on my CC and pay it off over three or four months.
Something else that’s making me nuts is packaging - there’s me and two kids and we usually fill both our bins (normal and recycling, collection once a fortnight), about 50% of the black bin is packaging we can’t recycle.

 

[Spider12]

FWIW I have a Michael Kors black leather biker jacket which I got on a deep discount back in 2008 which is still going strong. So long as you get a cut that's a bit classic and which flatters your body type, the jacket should last you a long time as a biker jacket never goes out of style. I consider something like this reasonable to splash out on for a xmas or birthday gift.

In fact, my biker jacket has been such a great investment for my wardrobe that I added another to my wardrobe last year for xmas in a different (but still classic) cut, but in a medium brown leather from an outlet store.

But it's my general principal to buy nicer outerwear, shoes, and bags as they all tend to take a beating, really need to last you, and you only really need a few key pieces of each.

Ooh I really want a leather biker jacket now, it’s on the list

 

[Kema]

I go a few days after Xmas, like today. I can't sit at home a day it drives me nuts and too cold for me to go outside!

Too cold? Just wrap up and go for a walk preferably in nature. You don’t need to go to shops to entertain you or when you’re bored as that’s when you spend money. Honestly get in the fresh air, read a book, go to a park etc all free stuff to do. I do this, haven’t been in a shop since before Christmas and don’t feel the need to spend

 

[Bubble10]

I’m feeling like this, we have so much STUFF. I’m trying to give up buying “cheap” things, encouraging my kids to really think about what they want and not feel like they have to spend money they’re given. I do really want an All Saints leather jacket though (in fairness to me I’ve wanted one for years) and am sorely tempted...

My husband bought me one for Christmas this year, I wouldn't normally ask for anything so expensive but managed to get it for £208 in the Black Friday sales and I made the purchase through Topcashback.co.uk and received £10.43 in my account. I'm roughly the same size as my youngest daughter so we plan on sharing the jacket and this should be a wardrobe staple for many years.

Lol I have a teen with a birthday in feb and already it's what am I having.
Usually it includes something Superdrug sale.
I can't believe people pay 8 quid for cards.
I did buy wrapping paper Sainsbury's as 50p a roll was 2 and 3 for 2 and will stick in loft next year.
I like sales shopping seasonal items or Xmas Halloween and Easter. it makes sense but everything else is just too much.
We have a big family every saving counts.
What we don't need is clothes.
We do need new carseat and hoover.
We try and buy loads 2nd hand and u defiantly spend less time in pound shops.

I've stopped buying Christmas cards, we have some purchased a couple of years ago in the sale, but because less and less of our friends/neighbours send cards now I haven't replaced them, and once I've used them up I shall not be buying anymore. Also the the last couple of years I have wrapped the presents in brown paper with a nice ribbon, the paper can be recycled and the ribbon reused. With the exception of our grandsons, I do still wrap theirs in Christmas paper because they still like to see Santa on their presents. When our children were much younger I used to buy a lot of their presents in the January sales, and add to the bits throughout the year it was easier on the bank balance in December, with 4 children every small saving made a difference.

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

Too cold? Just wrap up and go for a walk preferably in nature. You don’t need to go to shops to entertain you or when you’re bored as that’s when you spend money. Honestly get in the fresh air, read a book, go to a park etc all free stuff to do. I do this, haven’t been in a shop since before Christmas and don’t feel the need to spend

I’ve lived here 15 years and still can’t cope with the cold You might say just wrap up, but I am the worlds biggest baby. It can never be too hot for me.

 

[Itsallaboutmememe]

I work in customer care so have a lot of contact with families all year round
from about June I see (mainly) mums starting to get stressed about how they are going to be able to afford the mound of presents for their kids
(been there over the years!)
the daft thing is they make themselves ill over it all-but on my first shift back I askEd the kids what they got
girl 1-a unicorn necklace
girl 2-a plastic ring from a cracker
boy 1-chocolate
boy 2-socks

like I say to the parents they could have spent a kings ransom but when the lady (who knows these kids!) asks them its the small bits they remember not the ‘sell your soul/body to pay for
one little girl wanted to tell me all about how she ate her body weight in carrots for her Christmas dinner and had watched her fave movie with her grandparents
she just wasn’t bothered about much else

to me that’s Christmas not this mental ‘spend spend spend’
and from what the kids where saying it’s the same to them too

if we look back on every xmas can we really remember every single toy we got?
i remember having my granddad round and just having fun knowing I was loved

I admit I’m a sucker for clothes
99% of my wardrobe is second hand *my stepdaughters think I’m mucky but new stuff just doesn’t sit well with me*
i buy stuff then wear/enjoy it and when I’m done it goes back to the charity shop
i don’t smoke drink do drugs and i work hard
at a push I do buy bits if we need them (first shop is a charity shop and 70% of the time I can find amazing bits for say our house or garden)
it’s just this mad spending for crap we don’t need don’t want and can’t afford that kills me

 

[chandlercheesecake]

The other day, I filled up 3 black bin bags full of clothes and accessories that I don't wear (or have never worn) before. Going to take them to the charity shop later this week.

One of my new year's resolutions is to not buy any clothes, bags and make up that I don't need... yes that purple glittery eyeshadow may look pretty, but I'll mot likely never wear it as I don't go on night's out or anything.

 

I remember watching a youtuber or something, honestly can’t remember who and they said they had stopped buying for their fantasy life and this has really stuck with me.

Before, if I seen something I liked, I would end up buying it because what if I needed it for future nights out or an as yet invited to wedding or event . Now I realise I have a quiet social life and we prefer nights in...I live in a work uniform, loungewear or jeans and trainers so I stopped buying stuff for my fantasy life.

 

[JNRS90]

I’m getting really fed up with packaging, just bought some cleanser that I thought was in a glass bottle but it’s plastic and a number I can’t recycle!
does anyone know of any reasonably priced brands that are a bit more ethical/sustainable than the big conglomerates?

 

[Apple In My Pie]

I feel like this too but I don’t know how to tackle it. I just have so much STUFF - either it was given to me over birthdays/christmas or ‘just because’. I’m conscious that I don’t really need as much so trying to sell things or donate them to charity shops. Christmas makes me so uncomfortable, the thought of getting more ‘stuff’. I hate the idea that it can’t be Christmas unless you’ve spent LOADS. For e.g.. this year I got some doc martens. Expensive yes but will last years and good for my feet. Also had a tracksuit which was £80(!) hoodie at £50
....and yet my mother apologised to me for not getting a gadget I mentioned - it was £500 I said no way, I never expected you to buy it in the first place!

 

[SisterBliss]

I feel like this too but I don’t know how to tackle it. I just have so much STUFF - either it was given to me over birthdays/christmas or ‘just because’. I’m conscious that I don’t really need as much so trying to sell things or donate them to charity shops. Christmas makes me so uncomfortable, the thought of getting more ‘stuff’. I hate the idea that it can’t be Christmas unless you’ve spent LOADS. For e.g.. this year I got some doc martens. Expensive yes but will last years and good for my feet. Also had a tracksuit which was £80(!) hoodie at £50
....and yet my mother apologised to me for not getting a gadget I mentioned - it was £500 I said no way, I never expected you to buy it in the first place!

My in-laws always have a ton of presents, they wrap them all up separately (small stuff). It’s a huge family so fairly early on I started doing one hamper per couple, usually all the same, it would typically have some treats I made (cookies, chilly jelly, jam), something we liked eating or using or watching that year (a bottle of liquer, a film, a book) and maybe a houseplant I propagated from one of my own during that year, all in a cheap tray basket from Amazon wrapped in cellophane, or paper gift bag. I don’t spend more than £20 per hamper (I do buy kids clothes whuch are more expensive but only in consultation with their mums) and there is not much stuff to lie around gathering dust, except the plant, but it cleanses the air at least. Everyone likes these presents, they look forward to them every year.
ps. And because I have allergies I told everyone to not buy me the typical shower gel from a pound shop x15 because I won’t be able to use it, so now I get a piece of pottery or a chutney, or an orchid from them and it’s a win-win.

 

[Mustard]

My in-laws always have a ton of presents, they wrap them all up separately (small stuff). It’s a huge family so fairly early on I started doing one hamper per couple, usually all the same, it would typically have some treats I made (cookies, chilly jelly, jam), something we liked eating or using or watching that year (a bottle of liquer, a film, a book) and maybe a houseplant I propagated from one of my own during that year, all in a cheap tray basket from Amazon wrapped in cellophane, or paper gift bag. I don’t spend more than £20 per hamper (I do buy kids clothes whuch are more expensive but only in consultation with their mums) and there is not much stuff to lie around gathering dust, except the plant, but it cleanses the air at least. Everyone likes these presents, they look forward to them every year.
ps. And because I have allergies I told everyone to not buy me the typical shower gel from a pound shop x15 because I won’t be able to use it, so now I get a piece of pottery or a chutney, or an orchid from them and it’s a win-win.

I love chilli jelly. Currently trying to find some in South London. There’s a cafe in Crouch End called Hot Pepper Jelly that makes and sells their own.

 

[SisterBliss]

I love chilli jelly. Currently trying to find some in South London. There’s a cafe in Crouch End called Hot Pepper Jelly that makes and sells their own.

If you fancy making your own it’s really easy, Nigella has a good recipe. It’s soooo good with egg on toast

 

[Mustard]

If you fancy making your own it’s really easy, Nigella has a good recipe. It’s soooo good with egg on toast

Where do you put it, on the egg? I like it with cottage cheese. That cafe I mentioned served it on top of plain cottage cheese on toast. I also put in cottage cheese in pita bread.

If you fancy making your own it’s really easy, Nigella has a good recipe. It’s soooo good with egg on toast

What kind of chillis do you use?

 

[SisterBliss]

Where do you put it, on the egg? I like it with cottage cheese. That cafe I mentioned served it on top of plain cottage cheese on toast. I also put in cottage cheese in pita bread.


What kind of chillis do you use?

I like it best smeared on lightly buttered toast and topped with poached egg, or if you fry an egg in a non-stick pan with a tiny bit of oil and once the white settles, add a couple of teaspoons of water and cover so it’s like lightly fried egg, or you can do egg in basket (hollow out a round from centre of bread slice and crack an egg into it, then drizzle chilli jam on top).

I’m allergic to birdseye chillies and don’t like mine super hot, so I use a combo of ordinary red chillies (with most of the seeds removed) and pointy red peppers, minced together in the food processor with some garlic and then cooked as per recipe with jam sugar and distilled vinegar.

It must be delicious with cottage cheese! I can’t have cow’s milk, but I’ll try it with goats cheese or even halloumi.