That thread has made me feel very empowered! Thanks Slubberdeguillon

Great thread.

I have decided that I will simply never return to any shops that give me shit service and to actively support shops where I get great service.

There is a bike shop in town that repaired (for free) on numerous occasions punctures in the wheels of the dd's pushchair.

This christmas the dds are getting bikes. Into the bike shop I went. They only sell ONE type of child's bike, so that is what I bought. Twice.

It was such a refreshing experience.

You're welcome.

Sorry it's not working well for you. Try it here raffa.grandmenage.info/

You have to scroll down a bit to get to the corecct video.

Beachcomber, that link is great so thanks a lot.
Only trouble is, it shuts down every time about 11 minutes in.My computer to blame think.I need to view it elsewhere.

Highly recommended.

Yes, if I go to a hypermarket or to the UK.

15 types of milk in Waitrose - I nearly cried.

Thanks for all the tips. I'm going to check out that book.

I think the problem for us is money, we don't have a lot so when we spend it I want to make sure I am getting the best think for the best value. We are also the types to spend weeks deliberating over online reviews of things.

I have such a want for Stuff that I make myself cross. I don't want to pass that onto DD. For Christmas this year we are making her a wooden kitchen, one that will look lovely and hopefully last. That will probably be all she gets from us but my mum who always say every year 'I don't feel like I've got you enough' will no doubt buy her a load of crap, including more dolls, which she buys her every time she takes her out despite me begging her not to.

artdeb I don't suppose you have a copy of the article do you? Maybe you could link to it so all fellow sufferers can read.

I can't even decide what I want to watch on tv. By the time I've sussed out what's on it's time for bed.

Don't know if it's been mentioned already but there's a good book called 'The Paradox of Choice' - there's a wikepedia entry on it here

He mentions 'voluntary simplicity' which is an ethos my DH and I have been following for a few years now. What makes people happy - it's prooved again and again - is space and time, meaningful relationships, a healthy sense of 'self', beliefs in somthing other or greater than ourselves (whether that's God, the 'common good', an ethical framework, whatever), meaningful work (in it's broadest sense) and a connection with nature in some way. None of these things can be bought. If you are very poor you might be denied access to some of these things, but being very rich does not mean you will have them - they are more about the way you approach the world than about how much money you have.

Holding on to the idea that these are what are important to us has helped make the decisions about which beans to buy a bit easier. And helped us have less stuff altogether. When owning or buying something would not help us live out this philiosophy we just skip it altogether. Hence no MP3 players, flat screen tellys, sky TV, or iphones here. Lots of home made bread.

Doesn't always work, but we're getting there.