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

Olliebeak

:hello: hello to all our new posters - really good to see you all.

Grab a :coffee: and comfy chair and be prepared for a good long read of the threads. You'll find your chair needs to be very comfy as this site is so addictive. I spend w-a-y too much time on here - often dipping in and out during the day when I should be doing other things :embarasse:

Ollie xx

frugalfoodie

Hello everyone,

I was lurking around posting under a different username, but it didn't suit me and so I have decided on a new one. The only person I recognise round these parts is lana22. Hope I will get to know some more of you (OH works some long hours so I could do with a distraction - and as we don't have a TV it's either this or twiddling my thumbs!)

Bit about me:
My partner and I are both 23, I work in publishing and he's a doctor and we're getting married next April - so a bit of OS won't go amiss in the planning! We've both recently moved to a new area of the country and are happy starting a proper little life together. We've been together for 4 years now, lived together for 2 1/2 but have always lived as students before now!

As we're both working in our first graduate jobs, we finally have some money but we sure as hell are not going to be squandering it! We have strict budgets and are ploughing lots of money into savings for the wedding and when we may come to buy a house in several years' time.

I am a passionate cook, and have kept a food blog for over a year now ( http://frolickingfoodie.blogspot.com/ if you're interested/if it's allowed!). Because I love to cook so much, a lot of our OS is about keeping a food budget which allows me to experiment and lets us eat well, but also stays reasonable. January was £110 (lots of xmas leftovers!) and Feb so far is £140. I'm totally obsessed with using every last thing and using the freezer for scraps to be pulled out and worked round or used to enhance something that's otherwise uninspiring.

The other downside to loving food and being content is becoming quite idle! Since December I've lost 2 stone though, and ideally want to lose another 2. OH has no problems, fast metabolism that he has.... grrr. OS is really useful as I'm eking everything out and reducing meat and portions in particular - but trying not to deprive OH!

I've started to bake my own bread, which is something I've not done before, so I'm trying most every recipe out there for it! So far I've got rye bread, white pizza, wholemeal pizza and naan bread recipes sorted but haven't found a favourite recipe for my rolls and normal loaves.

Anyway - hello to all, hope to learn lots from you. You seem a friendly bunch!

Purpleclutterbuck

Olliebeak wrote: »

:hello: hello to all our new posters - really good to see you all.

Grab a :coffee: and comfy chair and be prepared for a good long read of the threads. You'll find your chair needs to be very comfy as this site is so addictive. I spend w-a-y too much time on here - often dipping in and out during the day when I should be doing other things :embarasse:

Ollie xx

Well done Olliebeak! (what for you may ask?)
It was your little quip of the "declutter button" that finally made me take the plunge and begin on the great road of Old Style money saving - its a subject dear to my heart especially now that I've taken early retirement (due to dodgytickeritus.)
Keep up the good work everyone and smile!

lucy*locket

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd introduce myself, I've really enjoyed "getting to know" my fellow MSErs. I'm another newbie/lurker, I discovered MSE a few weeks ago and am hooked:j . What a fab site and so good to see how generous you all are with advice and support. There's a lot of negative media these days which would have us believe the country is going down the pan but I've always thought that most people are good, and certainly people in my world do the right thing by their families and friends and care about their neighborhoods.
I'm 48, married, two kids 20 and 16 still in full-time education. DH and I both work full time, 50+ hours a week, plus his second job delivering for Mr T at weekends, and yet still skint. £10,000 debt, been in debt since I was 18, I so want to break the cycle (in 4 years if all goes to plan). Should have learnt by now how to manage money but we've had some tough times over the years and keep getting knocked back down. Hopefully on the straight and narrow and have picked up so much good advice and inspiration here so a huge thankyou to you all:T

OS is second nature to me thank goodness, Mum brought 3 of us up in 60s and 70s on very basic income, no spare cash, she used to tell me "we might not have everything we want but we have everything we need" and how right she was. Taught me to cook/sew/garden/DIY and I'll be forever grateful to her. A trip to the jumble sale was a highlight for us and would explain my obsession with boot sales, I LOVE THEM. Dabble in Ebay selling stuff when I want to make a few extra pennies. Love cooking, picked up a brand new BM at a boot sale last year for £10, just treated myself to a SC, lots of other gadgets I'm tempted by after reading the threads here but I get along with what I have at the mo. Enjoy crafting when time allows, and thinking about an allotment (if I can get one)

Sorry rabbiting on a bit, I do that sometimes:o Looking forward to joining in a bit more when I've sussed it all out.

frugalfoodie

lucy*locket wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd introduce myself, I've really enjoyed "getting to know" my fellow MSErs. I'm another newbie/lurker, I discovered MSE a few weeks ago and am hooked:j . What a fab site and so good to see how generous you all are with advice and support. There's a lot of negative media these days which would have us believe the country is going down the pan but I've always thought that most people are good, and certainly people in my world do the right thing by their families and friends and care about their neighborhoods.
I'm 48, married, two kids 20 and 16 still in full-time education. DH and I both work full time, 50+ hours a week, plus his second job delivering for Mr T at weekends, and yet still skint. £10,000 debt, been in debt since I was 18, I so want to break the cycle (in 4 years if all goes to plan). Should have learnt by now how to manage money but we've had some tough times over the years and keep getting knocked back down. Hopefully on the straight and narrow and have picked up so much good advice and inspiration here so a huge thankyou to you all:T

OS is second nature to me thank goodness, Mum brought 3 of us up in 60s and 70s on very basic income, no spare cash, she used to tell me "we might not have everything we want but we have everything we need" and how right she was. Taught me to cook/sew/garden/DIY and I'll be forever grateful to her. A trip to the jumble sale was a highlight for us and would explain my obsession with boot sales, I LOVE THEM. Dabble in Ebay selling stuff when I want to make a few extra pennies. Love cooking, picked up a brand new BM at a boot sale last year for £10, just treated myself to a SC, lots of other gadgets I'm tempted by after reading the threads here but I get along with what I have at the mo. Enjoy crafting when time allows, and thinking about an allotment (if I can get one)

Sorry rabbiting on a bit, I do that sometimes:o Looking forward to joining in a bit more when I've sussed it all out.

Hello!

I share your boot sale hobby! Can't wait for the sun to come back and the boot sales to start up properly again. As miserable as it is, there are a lot of craft shops closing down at the moment, and a lot of stock to be bought up. That makes me feel bad, but I always scout the arty shops for sales and can never buy full price from them so I hope that doesn't sound as bad as it might!

(hello also to the MSE user who said hello to me on my blog - I don't know your username but thank you for popping by :hello:)

lucy*locket

frugalfoodie wrote: »

Hello!

I share your boot sale hobby! Can't wait for the sun to come back and the boot sales to start up properly again. As miserable as it is, there are a lot of craft shops closing down at the moment, and a lot of stock to be bought up. That makes me feel bad, but I always scout the arty shops for sales and can never buy full price from them so I hope that doesn't sound as bad as it might!

(hello also to the MSE user who said hello to me on my blog - I don't know your username but thank you for popping by :hello:)

Hi, thanks for your message! It was me who popped to your blog, it's fab, would recommend it to other MSE users. I share your love of crafty shops too, boot sales are a good source of arty materials as well, I like to make things using vintage fabrics and ephemera so look for old books, curtains etc. Can't wait for them to start up again, my local one opens at Easter so a month to go yet....

before_hollywood

:hello:
i've been lurking around these parts a bit so thought best to say hi

i'm 27 and male *shock*, i work for a well known technology on the tech support lines- and yes i have been asked virtually every question under the sun.

i'm also a fiction writer (more for fun than anything), pub quiz team captain (or at least i was till the brewery and the landlord fell out with eachother and the quizmaster went) and i occasionally kid myself into thinking i am a corporate promotions designer as well

the reason i am here is simple- i am trying to get my first house, the whole buying process is a rollercoaster and i am trying to put every penny towards it i can (even though work has no overtime at all and balance the bills in a half decent way when i get there

Beckiferanne

Hello I'm new here and thought I would introduce myself!

I'm 22 and live with my boyfriend. My mum pointed me to this thread because I cannot cook and spend silly amounts of money on ready meals and other things which obviously at the moment just wont do!

Hopefully I can learn some good money saving tips and maybe become as good a cook as my mother one day but as she is obviously the best there is I will be trying for many years

kymbo82

I thought I should properly introduce myself.

I'm Kym, 26 and mum to 3 children. 8,5 and nearly 2. I am a stay at home mum and my fiance is the only one bringing home the money..we are constantly skint atm-arrgghh!!! But we are one day hoping to have a nice big house in the country, with lots of dogs :-)

fabulous_girl

Hello I am 24 and live with my boyfriend in Sheffield, though we're originally from Kent. I graduated 2 years ago and have had a series of temp jobs since, with one unsuccessful attempt at a permanent one. I am currently looking for decent, well paid work so that I can afford to not work 3 jobs! Have applied for a job at the university so fingers crossed.

My dreams are to have my own shop and to go travelling, so i guess i better do the travelling bit first! Planning to go either around oz/asia or take a working holiday in oz in about 18 months, but my boyfriend keeps changing his mind. he wants to do it but it nervous about not having a job to come back to when he gets back.

When I am not working, I am at college, doing a part time course in textiles, which to be honest is rubbish, but i paid for it, so i'm damn well finishing it. I'm also generally messing around on the internet, trying to make money from nothing. I have a £2k overdraft to pay off before i can even start saving which is somewhat depressing. I also run a successful craft group in sheffield and we are having our first fair on the 28th so i spend a lot of time panicking about that!