What small, mundane things have you stopped buying because you just can't afford them anymore?

[LydiaDeets]

I was just reading threadbandbthinking about shower gel and bath soaks.

I used to buy a couple of shower gels a week, £2ish ones and now I just buy bars of soap and will occasionally buy aldis own.

I also used to buy the rigid toothpaste tubes that have the push down button so the DC had a one push portion.
I just get the normal squeeze tubes now.

I used to get midrange shampoos and conditioners. Now it's Alberto Balsalm apple shampoo.

I don't buy bubble bath at all

I just little things but I miss having a nice bubbly soak and using a nice shampoo.

I haven't bought any moisturiser in a while either. I still have some soap and glody ones left but after that I will probably go without.

It's just surprising how in such a short space of time I've gone from buying these things as standard, without a thought, to cutting back on them even though they're quite basic things. Not fancy at all. 😩

@topcat2014

You only need a teaspoon of washing powder per wash!!

I'm aware that the things I'm giving up are indulgent and luxurious but I'm giving up:

Kiehl's skincare. I'm using Nivea super soft and will maybe ask DP for a tub of Kiehl's at Christmas.

Benefit mascara. I'm going to save the half tube I have left for days I have plans that are more than the usual school run and housework. I'm getting a L'Oréal one for everyday.

New books. I will need to read the ones I have first before ordering more and even then, will get them second hand.

Gel nails. I had them done a week ago and already two are chipped and dented. Not technicians fault but I can't afford the £30 every two weeks.

Family sized frozen lasagnes. I normally keep one in the freezer as emergency food. But now when I do my online order I go through and try to remove the most expensive items if I can. It's always the lasagne. Well the kat food is more expensive but they might murder me if I don't buy that.

Laundry capsules. Back to cheap own brand washing powder. The really annoying thing is it only needs a small amount and our washing is definitely much cleaner and fresher. The washing machine no longer gets slimy smelly gunk round the door seals. I regret having fallen for the marketing hype of capsules.

I've been looking at the cost of cereals in Tesco. The difference between Tesco own and branded can be around £3. I was shocked. I've moved to Tesco own now and the children haven't even noticed there different once I've decanted them into the plastic boxes.

not if you live in a hard water area

Benefit mascara. I'm going to save the half tube I have left for days I have plans that are more than the usual school run and housework. I'm getting a L'Oréal one for everyday.

^* Aldi do an amazing lacura dupe for benefit. I stock pile when they're on special buy

I bought a laundry egg from wilkos - should get 70 washes out of it for £15, plus reduction in plastic.

No longer buy makeup / skincare etc. I'm using up what I have, and all my 'skincare' now consists of is slathering on jojoba oil. One bottle lasts for months and my skin looks fine nonetheless!

Haven't had my haircut since before lockdown, and have embraced the grey so no dyes / highlights anymore either.

No new clothes - have been darning old sweaters / socks etc in preparation for winter.

Bought boxes of bicarb of soda instead of expensive cleaners (also reduces plastic)

No longer visit our lovely local independent bakeries / cafes for coffee and cakes at the weekend.

Basically every time I think of buying something, I ask myself if I really, really NEED it, do I have something similar at home already, can I make do, etc? It's fucking dull but needs must. Tragic for small suppliers / makers though.

This! I changed back to boxed powder when someone on MN said gunk was an issue was an issue with capsules. I changed from Persil Non-Bio gel/ liquid to powder. I've now changed to Aldi Non-Bio and it's great. Lidl Formil also supposed to be v good.

Got rid of
Sky
Fortnightly Cleaner
Fresh flowers
Dry cleaning
Tumble drying

Definitely more aware of electricity, gas and water. I read on here about using a timer for showers. Only using lights if necessary. I have poor eyesight and see much better with lights on. When cooking using the oven or the hob not both.

In general trying to be less wasteful and portion control. So like small squirt or mayo and more when used rather than a large squirt to begin with. Curbing bad habits!

For those of you who have switched to soap can you recommend a nice bar soap?

And to the poster who said about Nivea soft, I totally agree. DH bought a tube when away for a weekend as had dry skin. I used it when he came back and it's brilliant.

I need to reduce our meat consumption but finding it hard to get used to or not seeing it as a full meal without it.

Other things that went before now
Highlights
Manicures
Expensive skincare

Only using lights if necessary. I have poor eyesight and see much better with lights on.

lights being on are small fry when it comes to things that really use up energy. Definitely not worth risking eye strain over.

Spotify
Weekly yoga class
Library instead of charity bookshop
Packed lunch to work

@GlitteryGreen do you mind sharing where you get your shower gel from?

@blumes - nice soap - there are lots of soaps that go squishy or don't dry out properly between uses, so you end up using about 5 times as much. I've found any triple milled soap much better in that regard - they stay firm, and don't all disappear into the soap dish. I love the Aromas artesenales de Antigua ones - gorgeous smells. Someone gave me a lily of the valley one when I had ds1 - it lasted me about a year, despite all the extra hand washing.

Packed lunches, take away coffees and cakes. I now make my own and take it with me save rare exceptions.
I use soap too, I have for a good while now.
Perfume. I have not bought a new one when mine ran out.
Night face cream. I only use day one now.
Snacks or desserts that are a bit more expensive, like Grace ones or melt in the middle pots.
We go out once a month or so, instead to our usual lunch in the pub once per week. We may give up that too.
No fabric conditioner but I use the scented pearls instead.

I know it's not the point of this thread snd it's sad that we are all having to think like this, but it's nice to know that the cheaper replacements are often just as good and sometimes better than the spendy stuff.

For me, I'm on economy 7 so have a night rate for electricity. I've been turning the hot water tank off every other night since a tank lasts for 2 days of washing up if we have showers and not baths.
Also been setting the timer on the washing machine for cheap rate.

I am shocking for coffees out, so that needs to go, along with shop sandwiches etc - they are usually not that nice anyway!

Exactly! My lunch is much better now!
And the take away coffees are just too much (I commute by train, so the prices are shocking!)

Masses of seasonal bedding plants, bulbs, compost and decorative mulch from the garden centre. I can't imagine not buying any, but the display will be reduced this coming winter and spring.

Honestly I don’t think turning your lights off will impact your useage too much not enough to justify you being unable to see. If you have energy saving bulbs. According to this website it costs about £0.004p an hour over a year leaving it on 24/7 about £35 (which I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be doing)

www.confusedaboutenergy.co.uk/household-energy-costs/buying-household-appliances/how-much-does-it-cost-to-run-a-light-bulb.php

However not sure if this is based on new pricing but gives you an idea

I buy shower gel in 5l bottles from Amazon.

Inspired by this thread, just gone through my internet delivery dispute tomorrow, and removed £6 worth of food we don’t really need.

Restaurants and pubs Our local Wetherspoons is OK and a lot cheaper. I've also started giving the dogs supermarket own brand tinned food.

We rarely go out to eat, its a real treat for us. I used to get deals for prezzo and zizzi on buyagift, but thats ling gone. Shame. It was a really nice treat.

So far in the past few months:

-Gel nails
-Weekly Friday night takeaway
-Field and Flower box
-Abel and Cole box
-Soda stream gas plan
-Monthly ocado delivery
-Coffee and cake a couple of times a week on the way home from school
-nightly bubble baths
-audible subscription

We've also cut down on hosting friends for dinner, and we are shopping in Lidl and Iceland almost exclusively now. I know we are in a fortunate position to be able to cut out a lot of things so we can still keep stuff like our cleaner and all of DS's extra curricular activities. I do feel bad that we can no longer spend at local businesses like nail salons and takeaways as the more people who have to do that the more that prices will rise and eventually no-one will be able to afford them and they will shut.