Getting to know you........

[missrlr]

Hello I have long been a MSE and used the site to great effect. Recently found the now combined household contains far too much debt and the prospect of redundancy so returning to my roots and cutting back the household bills. Just need DH to have his LMB and sort his debt out.
Scientist by training working daft hours, fundraiser for various charities need a work life balance, No time for TV but bit of an exercise /gym bunny.
Adore my animals but I am outliving them these days.
Hello all.

[fatnan]

Just noticed this thread and it makes fascinating reading, I'm just hanging on to my 60's - will be 70 next month. I was widowed almost 3 years ago and still miss my husband so much. I've always tried to be careful with money and always shop around. It makes my day if I can get a bargain. I have a rescue dog and help out at a local school one day a week (unpaid).

[bev62]

Hello, I have been a long time lurker, but recently decided I would start to post.

Me - 50, divorced, work FT, live with 22 yo daughter, and very spoilt dog and cat. I am always skint - but always have food in the cupboard. My mum taught me to always have at least a spare one of everything.

I have always cooked from scratch, baked, made jam & chutney and in recent years have discovered making liqueurs and other flavoured alcohol... hic. But recently found I cant be arsed - more and more... and waste money on buying quick junk food.So hoping to find my mojo again!

I have recently started knitting again after 22 years off. I actually wanted to learn to crochet - but couldn't get my head round it - so dusted off my knitting needles - and loving it again.
So looking forward to being inspired by all the great info on here - and contributing!

[Monsternextdoor]

Well hello there everyone !

I have been a lurker for a while and decided to join, I am a mum of one human and one furbaby, Im a 31, married and trying to start my own business.

I love to cook and will cook from scratch 9 times out of 10 !!, We move around alot due to hubbies job but thats the nature of the beast.

Errrm and thats all I can think of atm lol

[Kuuj]

I live in Northern Canada, near the Arctic. I run the produce department at a grocery store full-time and study business through online university courses. My fiancee and I have a 1 year old husky/lab dog named Tippy.

We live in a remote fly-in community. Our wages are high but so is the cost of living. Our rent and utilities are paid for and we pay a small fee for a large food allowance to help us buy food at the higher cost. We have no debt, never carry a balance on our credit cards, and save about 50% of all our income towards our yearly vacation and so we can buy a house with a large down payment in a few years. We would forgo the vacation but our employer flies us out of the community once a year for mental health reasons!

I just discovered this forum today and fell in love with it! I am seeking ways to save even more money towards our down payment. Because we have very few bills, we have a lot of disposable income. We do tend to buy whatever we want though - something we have to curb!

I'm looking forward to reading these forums daily to learn from experienced posters!

Cheers,

K

[*HalfBaked*]

So, not sure how to start my first post... Hello to anyone that's interested in what I am about to say! The name of the thread gives a little insight but let me start with some background; I have been reading these forums for the past few months and I've really enjoyed it. Old style is my favourite and although I had been trying to be frugal prior to discovering MSE, my eyes have been opened! Not in a bad way - I have learnt so many new tips, and generally enjoyed the friendly community feel on here.

I live with my partner, who I felt has never really embraced my money saving efforts until a few days ago! Basically the scenario was this, partner heads to the shop for a micromeal & shaving foam. We live near a T Metro store & the price is generally slightly higher than in the larger versions of the shop so he would normally have spent around £4 for shaving foam (the best a man can get!) and probably the same on his dinner, however what he returned with made me feel so proud!! Value shaving foam & a value meal! - he proudly tells me the shaving foam was 23p and his micromeal reduced to about 90p! I was so proud of him!

The reason my post is a thank you is because this forum is brilliant, I am happy it exists and I believe that my increased frugality(?!) finally encouraged my partner to look at how he spends his money! I have never ever tried to force it on him, I've talked everything through with him that was going to effect him (groceries!) so that he had no nasty shocks and explained I want to save money and I wasn't just being "tight" for no reason!

We both work full time so I could understand his resistance at first, but as he is the one in debt I think he is now starting to follow my example as we would love to get on the property market as soon as possible.

Ok my first post is done, thank you if anyone finishes reading this!

[Valli]

welcome to Old Style...

[Lilyplonk]

and Welcome to you, HalfBaked - and congratulations on your first post

You don't realise what you've done by that 'first post' - I'd like to bet there'll be no stopping you now .

I think that getting our OHs into the same frame of mind is one of the most difficult parts of becoming 'mse/oldstyle'. Once they realise that they're not being treated like a 'naughty little boys' and being deprived of their 'treats', they usually come around .................. especially when they also begin to realise that 'a bit of frugality' can mean the difference between living week-to-week with debts piling up OR keeping within your means, being able to still afford a holiday/occasional luxury AND being debt-free.

Just beware of how many times you quote Martin at him - my OH began to get a bit paranoid that 'something was going on' . Now he just rolls his eyes and shouts out 'YOUR fella is on telly again!' .

[Fruball]

Hello and welcome to OS!

It's fantastic that your partner is now on board with your new MSE ways and believe me, that will make life so much easier

[vanoonoo]

woop! welcome

[Butterfly Brain]

Welcome to OS, it is so much easier when the OH is on side, he will probably overtake you in searching for bargains now that he has the OS bug

[meritaten]

HI half-baked and welcome to OS!

My OH now fully embraces 'frugality', and has been known to embarass me in Trescos when we are doing our 'top up shop', by picking things up and loudly telling other customers (and staff) that its cheaper in Aldi! lol

Bless him, after nearly Thirty six years of marraige I now trust him to do the weekly shop and come back with the items I want and 'change'! instead of bags full of 'junk' and 'You owe me £15'!

Good on you half-baked - being OS is better for your purse, your health and the planet! a Triple Whammy!

[Valli]

Originally Posted by Lilyplonk

Just beware of how many times you quote Martin at him - my OH began to get a bit paranoid that 'something was going on' . Now he just rolls his eyes and shouts out 'YOUR fella is on telly again!' .

LOL

one of my fellow Flyladies told us her son shouted his mum (would have been a Friday lunchtime, when Jeremy Vine's on) and told her her boss was on the radio!

[louby40]

I too am new to all this!

But what an eye opener it is! Shopped in T for years spending a LOT of money. OH lost his job so we decided to head to Lidl! WOW! £60 for a weeks shopping!

Lou

[rosie383]

Welcome Halfbaked. Be warned though.......... OS forum is extremely addictive!

[JackieRHE]

Hello and welcome.

You will pick up so many great ideas on this forum - I've been watching and "listening" for a while but rarely post - even so, the atmosphere is so friendly.

Jackie

[*HalfBaked*]

@ Valli – Thanks!

@ Lilyplonk – Thank you for the warm welcome! You hit the nail on the head with the “naughty little boy” comment! I cannot wait for him to clear his debts, so the main focus financially can be on saving for a holiday abroad. So funny your OH alerts you to Martin on TV! Hopefully mine will start alerting me too as I am usually in the kitchen!!

@ Fruball – Thank you for your welcome & loving your username!!

@ vanoonoo – Thanks!

@ Butterfly Brain – Thank you and yes hoping he will overtake me with bargains!

@ meritaten – Thanks and your OH sounds funny! The fact you trust him now with the weekly shop must be a great weight off your shoulders & I am hoping I do not have to wait 36 years to be able to trust mine to do it!!
!
@ louby40 – Hi & welcome to you too! Sorry to hear about your OH but glad you have already found 1 way to reduce on your food shopping! If you haven’t already seen them, there are some great threads on meal planning/batch cooking/meals on a budget in this forum, lots of ideas for eating well for less money.

[Goldiegirl]

I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce myself

I've been lurking on the MSE forums for a while, but have just registered, and hope to contribute a little.

I'm 52, married no children. I worked full time until a couple of years ago, when I was made redundant after 28 years in the same job.

I was very lucky in that I took a pension as part of my redundancy settlement, which meant I could work part time. I now work on Thursdays and Fridays, so the rest of the time is for my own interests.

I've become a keen eBayer, which originally brought me to the MSE forums, but I love reading and family history too, so spend time on those activities.

My travel passion is cruise holidays, which aren't cheap, so I'm interested in ways to keep costs down throughout the year, to help pay for the cruises.

I'm already picking up lots of tips so it's all good.

Although I love travel, I love my home too, so I've found OS a really interesting and helpful place.

[Lucyadams184]

Hi, I work part time and spend the rest of the time with my children who are 4 and 5.

I've been married for 12 years. I would love to start travelling now the kids are getting older as it's one of my regrets having not done any whilst I was younger.

I enjoy watching speedway and having family days out.

[muddyflumplepants]

Originally Posted by bev62

I am always skint - but always have food in the cupboard.

That about sums us up too, no money, but no one in this house ever goes hungry!

I'm a full time mum to a beautiful 18 month old girl, and part time newsagent (mother in law does the childcare in exchange for red wine). Bloke works full time in the city - he cycles in, almost 13 miles each way every day.

We are constantly thinking of ways to improve our heating efficiency, buy less in the weekly shop, shop around for best deals and entertain the baby for nothing. Having been an avid lurker and email recipient for a while, thought I'd jump in and check out more of the site.

Hello!