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Original poster

What have you given up only to find you didn't need it anyway?

57 replies

IamMummyhearmeROAR · 23/07/2013 14:36

Spending a fiver every weekend on the newspapers. Not really missed any Big News and certainly don't miss the mess as my dh spreads them about the house

Glossy mags- full of ads and the same stories, most with little relevance to my life

Takeaways- cut down from once a month to a couple of times a year. My dh makes a mean curry and a great sweet and sour chicken

OP posts:
amigababy · 24/07/2013 18:52

the gym. I'm doing c25k. now for free ( except trainers) I might start swimming again but once a week won't equal what I paid in a monthly sub.

Pollydon · 24/07/2013 18:56

Another one who dropped Sky, same reason as other poster - do not miss it at all & better off ny £300 ish per year.

TheCrackFox · 24/07/2013 19:06

Completely agree about newspapers, magazines and books. The equivalent of children spending their pocket money on comics.

Expensive make up - cheap brands from Superdrug are just fine.

Coffee and cake at Starbucks. I make a much better cake and cup of coffee at home.

GW297 · 24/07/2013 19:40

Couldn't give up Sky, Liz Earle or gym membership though.

buildingmycorestrength · 24/07/2013 19:51

Love my Saturday paper and do not want to give it up.

redwellybluewelly · 24/07/2013 20:04

Tv licence - been gone a year and apart from the faff of having to boot the laptop its overall been a huge benefit. Use streaming media.

Don't do gym, magazines papers but we both take lunches and keep cup for coffee to cut costs - don't miss starbucks! Also its very very rare that we have a takeaway now.

Quenelle · 25/07/2013 13:49

Shop bought sandwiches and salads. They never taste as good as homemade ones anyway. Why do pasta salads always taste of vinegar?

Fridayschild · 04/08/2013 08:12

Gave up buying lunch at work. Packed lunches are much nicer.

Started cycling to work, gave up the gym and railcard. It took 3 months to pay off the cost of the bike and by then I was hooked.

mrstalbear · 04/08/2013 10:57

sky tv- bought a second hand pvr box from ebay that offers the same live pause/rewind/ff record options as sky+ all for the cost of 1 months sky. when I actually looked through my sky planner, we didn't record any sky programmes so I now record all the same from freeview for free!!

brands- love love love aldi!

shop bought lunch- takes 5 mins to throw a packed lunch together.

shop bought bottled water- 12x500ml water from aldi. refill bottles and keep in fridge. I also keep bottles in a cool bag (no ice pack, just keeps it from getting hot in this weather- cool not cold) in car so I don't get caught out when out and about.

take aways- used to have 3 a week Blush,now we have 1 a week with PIL on a Saturday night which they pay for so a real treat.

newspapers- don't miss it at all.

buying books new- I check ebay for bundles or use library

I have ebayed LOADS of crap stuff that had been lying about the house unused and if I want something I check ebay/ freecycle first- I have just got a breadmaker (good make and barely used) for 4.99- bargain!

fresh veg- frozen all the way! good for you and NO waste!

i'm sure there is more but I have rambled for too long!!

Passthecake30 · 04/08/2013 11:00

Bubble baths in about a million smells clogging up my bathroom cupboard. ..I now get into the kids used bath water. ..oilatum with aqueous floating on the top...does wonders for my scaly legs! :-)

mrstalbear · 04/08/2013 11:01

oh, I also now meal plan and am ashamed of the amount of food I used to throw away each week. now we have much lower food bills and no waste which means we don't fill our wheelie bin within a week and have to do trips to the tip (and this was pre-dd and her nappies!)

Cheeseatmidnight · 04/08/2013 11:07

Cheap clothes - I am big busted and short so was buying lots of cheapy stuff which almost fitted. Now I save for more expensive clothes but my god, they last longer and look better.

Books - I buy on kindle now and am trying to make more of an effort to read what I have before going out to buy new ones. I am literally surrounded by books and it started to get me down

ImNotBloody14 · 04/08/2013 11:15

long lie-ins.

I used to think It would kill me not to have a lie-in on sundays and that I was entitled to it after being up early all week. I would lie-in til after 11 then get up, grumpy because the dcs were making a racket and I knew I was coming down to a mess and I had over slept so I was feeling groggy and would take me ages to feel ok.

now I get up at 8 (still a bit of a lie-in compared to weekdays) and enjoy the feeling of knowing I have nowhere to be at 9am/10am whatever and that we can just go where we like or not if we don't feel like it. I don't even begrudge doing a bit of cleaning on sundays now as the days are so much longer (because i'm up earlier) I don't feel i'm wasting it all cleaning.

expatinscotland · 04/08/2013 11:17

Landline and broadband. We have mobile WiFi, no contract, £15/ month and the base for it was about £50 and we have PAYG mobiles with Viber for texts and calls.

expatinscotland · 04/08/2013 11:29

Shower gels. Oliva soap is £1.50 a bar, lasts ages and my skin is no longer dry.

ImNotBloody14 · 04/08/2013 11:34

expat what is viber and where can I get mobile wifi? i'd love to cancel the phone and broadband.

baggyb · 04/08/2013 11:40

Clinique...but I'd say my skin is even better now.
Shower gel. Use Dove beauty bar instead. We used to spend about £5 a week on shower gel. Now it's around £3 every 6 weeks, sometimes longer.
Brand-name shampoo. gone from £10 a month to £3 every 2 months (I buy HUGE bottles!).

expatinscotland · 04/08/2013 11:44

Viber is an app for the phone free to download. You can buy the Wi Fi gizmo on Amazon or used on Play.com. BT was charging us a bomb. Screw that.

ImNotBloody14 · 04/08/2013 11:45

thanks expat.

antimatter · 04/08/2013 12:00

gave up LoveFilm & downsized Virgin package to a minimum - we don't regret it at all

racingheart · 26/08/2013 20:47

Take away coffees. Don't even like the taste of them. Home made coffee from the cafetiere costs less than 20p a cup and is so much nicer.

Drinking in pubs. No longer have to pay £5 for a glass of very mediocre wine. Instead, I drink the occasional glass at home of really good wine for £1 a glass.

HorseyGirl1 · 12/09/2013 15:23

magazines.

DancingLady · 12/09/2013 16:31

Haven't bought a book this year I think, but have read about 25 so far - use the library LOADS, and get free ones from a friend who's a reviewer.

Only buy a paper on Saturday - that's a treat I don't want to give up.

Gave up LoveFilm as we'd had the same DVD for about 6 months... and were paying £5 a month to not watch it... Blush

We eat very little meat and try to use it as a flavouring rather than the bulk of a meal (well I do - DH would eat burgers and steaks 5 times a week...)

Still have a takeaway once every couple of weeks, don't buy as many mags as before DD, and try to declutter and sell on eBay.

Mum2Fergus · 12/09/2013 16:35

Mags and papers
Fabric softener
Fizzy drinks

AllTwerkNoPlay · 22/09/2013 16:21

Tea Smile