What have you stopped buying?

[Rockthecasbah1]

Just like the title says. What have you stopped buying because it's become too expensive?
I'll go first.

Takeaways
Hair appointments
Lamb

Organic meat
My favourite perfume - doubled in price last year.
Weekly Ocado delivery. Switched to monthly.
Halved alcohol consumption.
High street and supermarket clothes.
Alka fucking Seltzer.

Like so many I have given up loads of things like olive oil, salmon, lamb, branded stuff. takeaways are rare and we never have fish and chips any more. I really thought that as by our mid 40s we would be much more comfortable than we actually are.

i have my hair cut professionally once a year and DH has a go at it inbetween. He does an ok job but I have wavy hair so don’t need a blunt line cutting and can get away with it being a bit wonky.

Currently 5 for £5 in Morrisons.

I haven’t managed it yet but I need to stop buying chocolate for my evening treat. The prices keep going up and the sizes keep getting smaller. Cadburys are getting my coins and I’m getting joke sized chocolate bars 😡

I only buy what’s on offer but it’s still just too much.

I don't think stopping buying something is always about not being able to afford. Not my motivation anyway, it's whether it feels acceptable value or perhaps the cost is high enough that you'd rather spend it on something else.

One of my favourite cafes and a really nice pizza restaurant where I live both sell frozen versions of some of their range. With a little bit of planning I can enjoy their food from my freezer without the delivery taxes 🕺 alongside one of a few sides made with a few minutes effort

cocaine-just made me talk fucking rubbish for hours.

…

new books
magazines
NT, V&A, Tate, memberships not renewed
Stamps, £1.35! cards

Lindt
Marmite
olive oil
Mutti

Sainsbury's own brand paracetamol or ibuprofen for kids are very cheap - £2.20. As Calpol at our local pharmacy (!) costs £4.59!

olive oil
hellmans
cider/wine

Heinz ketchup - the biggest bottle is for £4.89 at LIDL now
Iceland has some offers for Heinz soups.

I forgot to mention in my previous post:

• Books. I have a library card instead
• women's magazine. I got bored of wasted money on gossip or fashion magazines like Vogue. Too many adverts and frivolous, brainless stories
• newspapers
• My usual expensive perfume. Switched to a vegan body spray instead and then started making my own.

I think the cost of living crisis made me realise that I was buying a lot of stuff that I really did not need and that I was sick of excessive consumerism.

It made me develop some new skills (gardening, sewing, furniture up-cycling and vegan product making) and adopt a greener lifestyle.

I hope things will get better for us and the economy, but I know I won't be giving up my more sustainable lifestyle regardless.

very good point, need to go to the library
is there a library for kindles?

bit of googling tells me OverDrive service is available. what a fantastic idea

Honey, ground coffee, newspapers, premium petfood, pet insurance, premium channels on TV, heating insurance, no phone upgrade, Weetabix, bottled water, takeout lunches. Tbf the only really impactful things I miss are the security of the pet and heating insurance as I feel that little bit more vulnerable. Everything else is a bit meh!

@AnnieSnap & @KnitnNatterAuntie I have the Libby app from my local library which enables me to read magazines & newspapers for free.

Im going to take a guess…

It’s not the same people?
Some if us are struggling massively with the CoL, others have been pushed to reevaluate what’s really necessary (even if they can afford it) and others have been able to carry on more or less the same than before.

How is that coming as a surprise to you??

magazines are crazy, some of them £7.99 for the thinnest read now. may as well buy a book and keep the change.

Yep agree with magazines. They’re a rip off.

exactly, some people are better off than before because covid gave them a nice payout or they started their own business that's successful, or they downsized and have more disposable income.

or maybe they're wearing the £300 dress once and returning it.

newspapers, some years ago

Honeydew melon unless it's on offer. It used to be 95p at Tescos, now it's £1.89

Evenings out (we never did takeaways - live too far away)
Salmon
Lamb
Beef - except mince occasionally
Alcohol
Holidays

I've moved to buying all meat from a butcher - more expensive but better quality so it shrinks less. We eat more duck, pork, chicken, frozen fish.

Cook from scratch. Grow my own salad & veg. Eat more vegetarian when DS isn't around.

Cereal bars (which is causing a lot of anger around here😅), most yoghurts, fizzy drinks (good thing), branded cheddar, different shampoos in the same shopping expedition (depressing as two of my kids have different hair types but have even tried the pound shops and they’re nearly as expensive). Can only afford dishwasher tablets in Aldi or Lidl, even unbranded in other shops are too expensive, pizza (dh makes good pizza anyhoo but the cheapest shop one the other day was too expensive), Birds Eye waffles

greenpolarbear
magazines are my saddest thing funnily enough- my birthday was just before payday and we were doing a shopping and dh said I should throw in a magazine or two for a birthday treat but they were much more expensive than books even!!

Nowhere near as many meals out now
non-branded ketchup
non branded cereal (apart from Crunchy Nut!)
same with cheese, crisps and ‘Vanish’