Oh gawd, here we go, more bumph landing on the doormat. Not general junk addressed to no one in particular, but personalised junk addressed to me. The first thing I do is to take a pair of scissors and cut off my name and address from the top of the letter. Then scour the whole thing for anything else which might identify me, before I bin it. If there is an application form it is usually pre printed and all you have to do is tick a few boxes. So more snipping to remove name and address from there. I suppose I could shred the whole thing and put it on the compost heap, but I like to put all unwanted paper into the blue box to be collected for recycling
So what's left, what are they trying to sell me. This made me laugh, it's from a Specsavers leaflet. I want to shout at them, I DON'T HAVE A CHUFFIN TV.
And on the next page, I DON'T HAVE A CHUFFIN FAVOURITE RESTAURANT, I CAN'T AFFORD TO EAT OUT, AND I CAN'T AFFORD TO BUY A CHUFFIN HEARING AID FROM YOU AT £495. For gawds sake, I got a free one from the National Health, and they give me free batteries.
Here we go, another card from the Vauxhall garage, another big event. WHAT AGAIN! This is an exclusive invitation to attend. If it was just down the road and they are serving free drinks and nibbles, I might go. But it's 30 miles away and no mention of food. The offers are all on new cars, 0% finance for five years. ME BUY A NEW CAR, ARE YOU SERIOUS! The chuffin thing would drop a couple of grand in value the minute I drive it off the forecourt, let some other silly begger chuck their money away. No ta, a decent second hand one will do for me, and I'm not ready for one yet.
What's this 'ere then, the RAC getting into selling boiler insurance. They're all at it now, insure this insure that, gawd! My boiler is two maybe three years old, it's in pretty good nick. It should last a long time, BECAUSE I HARDLY CHUFFIN USE IT. 26 baths a year, and only put the heating on when my nose is dripping and my fingers have gone numb. So, I'll take my chances and self insure. I will put a bit of dosh away in a safe place to build up a little stash, and if the boiler blows up I will call in my local friendly plumber who I know will do a good job.
More insurance bumph, this time for plumbing and drains. It says it's a small price to pay for peace of mind. Ha ha, I've just read the small print. The offer is for £12 for the first years cover, quite good, and then, hey listen to this. THE NEXT YEAR IT WILL COST EIGHTYFOUR CHUFFIN QUID. Gawd, talk about dangling a carrot to get you hooked in. Well sunshine my peace of mind comes with not having my bank balance wiped out by endless direct debits for this and that. My peace of mind comes with buying just what I need when I want it. I don't lose any sleep if something breaks, that's life. I keep a few bob put aside for such emergencies if and when they arise. For all I know I may never have an emergency, then it would be loads of money wasted. I've got the house insured, that's enough for me.
Four letters for the recycling bin. Aint life exciting.....Toodle pip.
Its starting all over again. The economy is supposedly picking up and the financial institutions are starting to lend money again. House prices are reckoned to be rising and soon everyone will be moving house and taking on a big mortgage but the low interest rate has only one way to go.
ReplyDeleteSo we've got to resist the temptation and (speaking for myself) carry on being frugal.
Dave
You could say you were talking rubbish!!
ReplyDeleteWe're shredding old bills and junk mail in order to make paper logs for our wood burning stove!!
ReplyDeleteAs far as I'm concerned, the only good thing about junk mail or flyers is if there is any paper with a blank side; I save these for lists and notes. If I am feeling extra industrious, I cut paper into various sizes, gluing one side with pva to make a pad, or little bits to go in a box that used to hold a block of paper. Or if all else fails, cut into roughly A5 size and shove in a bulldog clip. All my scrap paper gets used eventually.
ReplyDeleteA true recycler! Well done you!
DeleteI do exactly the same and also cut the large blank bits off envelopes. I keep one brochure to protect my work surface when I cut my dishwasher tablets in half.
DeleteHi Sarina! I'm Jan, the English one, and my friends are Jutta (she's German) and Annabeth (Swiss). With luck your next sale will be better and I hope to come along for a natter :o)
ReplyDeleteI think you have posted this in the wrong blog. I'll leave it here anyway, Sarina might call in and read it.
DeleteYes, the junk that seems to pour unabated through the letter-box, I think about 95% of everything comes through mine goes straight in the recycling bin.
ReplyDeleteAnd you don't seem able to stop it.
IN our house the application form ones get crossed through several times, a polite request to remove our names from the mailing list wirtten on and them, then all the stuff that came with the form rammed into the reply paid envelope and sent back to them. They will have to pay extra postage, but thats not my problem. We call it redirecting our Spam. :O)
ReplyDeleteGetting near Christmas now and every day my post box is stuffed with commercial junk. Have my recycling binby the woodshed and bung it all in there, except for the bits with my name. They end up in the fireplace. Pam
ReplyDeleteI now shred it and give to a friend for her duck house bedding, she then composts it so, it's double re-cycled!
ReplyDeleteA few years ago i picked up a load of junk mail from Milton Keynes and took it to their place in Manchester. I asked the man that unloaded it if he could take my name off the list. He didn't seem to see the funny side.
ReplyDeleteLast year i took a load of waste paper to the toilet roll factory in Ramsbottom. I was delighted to see that a lot of it was junk mail.
Now if only they made junk mail out of tissue paper........
Dave