Things you used to buy but now you don't need to

[booksandnooks]

I used to buy coloured card for my children to draw on and make things with, now I just use the card in cereal boxes.
-paper- i just save letters for them to use the other side!
We were about to spend god knows how much on more module pots for seedlings, until I saw a video on YouTube where someone uses toilet paper tubes! Genius!
I used to buy lettuce bags and spinach bags for salads. Now I have a long plant pot on the windowsill and I havent needed to buy any for 2 years. So easy and grows all year round, same with spring onions!

Things I never missed once I stopped buying it
-foil
-cling film
-baking paper
-kitchen paper
-craft items from hobbycraft or poundland. I save so much money from making things with the kids instead of buying it all. I would never do that now! And the craft time we spend making the craft supplies is so much more fun than the actual activity we end up doing

has anyone got any more?

All wipes and also cotton wool
plastic bags (use boxes and fabric ones and a few reusables now)
most cleaning products-I use washing up liquid or detail spray, used to use furniture polish and window cleaner
kitchen towel-just rewash clothes
cling film-use lunch boxes/tupperware
newspapers and magazine-though had a type of flood recently and wished I'd kept some and bought some soon after, newspapers are also brilliant for washing windows!
Bottled water (used to have horrific water so needed it, now isn't great but better. I miss enjoying water and gulp it down when I'm in my Mums-also a long time ago now!)
bags of salad
Fabric softener
liquid soap (although I miss it sometimes and there's times it's needed eg you've had your hand down a drain or something equally icky!)

On the tin foil thing I don't see how for example lasagne doesn't get burnt on top when you're cooking it through? (If anyone has suggestions I'll gladly take them!
Also if people have a suggestion for a soap for body that is good for people with really dry skin (like sensitive sensitive prone to excess) I'd love it!
Great thread OP!

@Temp023

Microfibres clothes last forever. Actually I suspect most fleece material lasts forever too, they get a bit tired looking but I have never heard of a fleece garment actually wearing out!

They’re so good aren’t they? Years I have had mine, and they feel and look as good as day I bought them despite extensive and heavy daily usage!

Baby wipes
Baby formula
Anything baby related (nappy rash creme, gripe water, teething gel, baby grows etc)

@ThistlyPerf
@quizqueen
tinned salmon
lamb
joints ( meat that is)
bar soap
shower wash- just let shampoo wash over me
What do you wash your hands with? 🤔

Um. Liquid soup

@Temp023

Microfibres clothes last forever. Actually I suspect most fleece material lasts forever too, they get a bit tired looking but I have never heard of a fleece garment actually wearing out!

Sadly that's because they are basically plastic. They will be around kinger than us!

*longer

Shower gel - I use bar soap
Sanpro - reusable pads
Cling film, ziplock bags - Tupperware
Makeup - I just don’t bother any more as DP prefers it and less effort!
Face cleanser - just use water
Specialised cleaning products (like bathroom cleaner, kitchen cleaner, shower spray etc) - vinegar or bicarb for everything!
Paper cake cases - I have reusable silicone ones from Lidl that go in the dishwasher, they’re amazing
Kitchen roll & paper napkins - have cloths and cloth napkins
A lot of veg during the summer now we have an allotment! I’ve not been very successful at the winter stuff though because I don’t like turnip, swede, parsnip, celeriac etc and there’s only so many cabbages you want to eat 😬

We have a roll of foil in the kitchen but barely use it, can’t even remember the last time we did!

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz I do this too. The easiest way to get the end bits out is to pour boiling water into the candle. The wax just floats to the top

@SnugglySnerd

*longer

I bought 3, maybe 6 years ago.

Still going strong.

Used daily.

I think that’s great for the environment

Sanpro
Condoms
Nappies
Those £££ organic toddler snacks
Cute / funky kids outfits and dresses - my DC asserted their own tastes by the age of about 3 :(
Cleaning wipes - switched to old fashioned cloth ones kindly left by previous flat owner
Lego - sad about that one, I used to love buying Lego and helping them make it (yes I know I still could but can’t really justify the time!)
Expensive face stuff and foundation - Superdrug own brand ones are great
Jumper dresses, I realised they look shit on me and are not the ultimate winter dressing solution
Cous cous, no one else likes it but me

I also heard mr laundry guru on the radio and switched to his ways - fantastic! I bet he’s popular with Unilever :)

Oh god children’s magazines! That was a spectacular waste of money and generator of plastic tat. But the kids would get so excited about them I couldn’t resist. They always wanted the cheesiest ones like Ben 10 and Cute Pets or whatever, not national geographic kids or anything educational. My kids are philistines. To be fair some of the free toys were beloved and used for a long time.

(So not always a waste of money... but still not buying them is great. Prob just have a year or two before DD gets into some crapola teen magazine )

Tbh I don't think it's a waste to spend money on items your children are excited to receive.

Mine always loved the magazines too and all the wee toys.

Stopped using cotton pads, had a load of little soft baby facecloths that I now use instead. Softer than normal face cloths.

I've not bought any little bottles of juice since lockdown last year. Used to buy one or two a week for drinking on the train but haven't commuted for 13 months now!

@Temp023

Microfibres clothes last forever. Actually I suspect most fleece material lasts forever too, they get a bit tired looking but I have never heard of a fleece garment actually wearing out!

I use microfibre dusters and also have travel towels made of it, but it's not good for the environment because little bits end up in the oceans.

SuziQuatrosFatNan you're right really it's just that they're expensive for what they are. But I love trashy magazines myself too

Washing powder for laundry. We use the Indian washing nuts instead. ( yes, they do work. People who claim they don't all have one thing in common: They want their clothes to smell of perfume and therefore add essential oils to the laundry. Funnily enough your laundry doesn't get clean if you add oil). We don't buy plastic bags or plastic toothbrushes. I will not buy new make up until I find a company that doesn't use plastic.

@Fimofriend

Washing powder for laundry. We use the Indian washing nuts instead. ( yes, they do work. People who claim they don't all have one thing in common: They want their clothes to smell of perfume and therefore add essential oils to the laundry. Funnily enough your laundry doesn't get clean if you add oil). We don't buy plastic bags or plastic toothbrushes. I will not buy new make up until I find a company that doesn't use plastic.

The moral fibres blog has a lot of ideas for plastic-free/more ethical products. I'm not sure about make up but she has certainly covered things like toothpaste, sun cream and moisturiser.

Taswama - no, I’ve never found the almond oil stings. But I didn’t find lube stung either. Could you be extra sensitive, or possibly something else irritating your vagina or causing abrasions?

@Blue5238

Intrigued to know what you use instead of baking paper... I use it to stop bread sticking to the pot I cooked it in. I reuse 10-15 times per piece but can't imagine doing without. Likewise foil for over roasts like slow cooked lamb? We only do a few times a year but what do you use instead?

I've got non-stick tray liners. They just need a wash after use. My slow-cooked lamb is a 7 hour recipe, which I do in a lidded casserole.

Another OST hysterectomy who no longer needs sanitary products.

I still but it occasionally but to donate to a foodbank.

Post, not OST, whatever that is.

Edit function MN!

Thanks thinking . I had assumed it was the alcohol evaporating and never thought it might just be me. Definitely going to try almond oil. Where do you buy it from?

I dont miss:

Shower gel, I much prefer soap
Body cream, I use coconut oil
Sanitary towels, im on the pill

Squash for the children. Just stopped buying it and switched to water or milk only.