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

Fruball

Darth_Saver wrote: »

Hello all. I've lurked a bit (don't be scared though, not in a creepy way) - but this is my first post. What a proud moment!

I understand that the Old Style board is where all the coolest kids hang out? My wife's on here all the time, picking up tips and sharing her ideas. So I've decided to try treading the fine line that sits between sharing in her interests and cramping her style. I suppose time will tell whether or not that's a good idea. But, for now, I plan to be mysteriously distant with my personal details - that way I can see if she guesses I'm on here before I confess!

arhhhhhh DarthSaver... someone mentioned on one of the threads that you might make an appearance but cannot remember who it was! Welcome

Cat_Addict

Hello Everyone!

I'm back, I was here last year and popped in in August as my partner was moving out and I got some great advice.

So with Christmas and a long winter approaching and now I am a single mum my thoughts are turning to money saving and I remembered the great tips and "company" on here. Can I come back hehe?

I'm Wendy, I'm 41 and live with my three kids 15,13 & 11 and three Devon Rex cats in Altrincham, Cheshire.

I work full time and get child benefit and child tax credit. I'm still getting to grips with running the show on my own and experimenting with the way I do things. My ex-partner controlled everything so we're all feeling very liberated still, but we do need a system.

LolaLemon

well, i decided its time to make myself known, as i have a funny feeling im goingto be here for the long haul.
I have depts, but they seem really small compaired to some i see on here, but then i dont add my mortgage as a debt although im now thinking that i should, as i am aiming to have that paid off as fast as i can.
I have a credit card that has nearly £3000 on it, around £2000 is interest!
My Mortgage was £64000, now £58000 after 3 years of living here, my aim was to renew my deal with any mortgage provider for another 3 years but bring down my loan time by 5 years , i.e mortgage m £58k for 15 years instead of 20, take the deal of say £300 a month for 3 years and then at the end of those 3 years get best deal for the next 3 years and have loan for 10 years etc etc BUT after i had my son, my work went funny on me, wouldnt help with family friendly shifts, blatant sexual discrimination (told me thier was no business need for me to be in on the shift i requested and told me thier was ONLY weekend and evenning work avialable, yet when a male in my team asked for weekend and evenings only, he got told no business need for him to be in those hours to just have office hours!!!) I fought them for a year and a half, off sick the whole time, severe depression hit, and im fighting with my insurance companies for both house and credit card, as they are saying i was able to work (erm yeah if a big company wasnt soo discriminatory). I also breastfed and was/is single, so childcare was left to me, i pointed out that i couldnt exactly leave my son on his own and their is no childminders who work nights and or weekends, my HR told me tough, if im not in they where sacking me, hence the sick line, (i was up till that point getting people to watch him and i would at least go into work to show that i still wanted to work for them!

anyways after i eventually left (witha small redundancy and comprimise package - not worth the paper its written on) i went back to college, done and access to university and social work course, i then applied for social sciences at uni as i can post grad into teaching or social work later. Im now finishing semester a of year 1 and loving it!
I hate the travelling, both the time (1 hour each way) and price (£160ish a month!)
i use the travelling time to either study or crochet - the looks i get for that! did i mention im only 27? so seeing a youngish person doing an 'old' persons thing, and out in the open? the looks are up their with people seeing a baby being breastfed, or worse, a toddler!

I first posted in the Crochet anyone? thread, and moved onto 'old style things that only you do' I try and be as chemically free as possible, which doesnt always mean its the cheapest, but im happy in knowing that our DNA is not slowly being altered due to the shampoo that we use or the food we eat.

I am a hoarder! always have been and i most likely always will be.
But i am making an effort to rid my house of all the unneeded stuff - by table top sales, gumtree and on occassions- ebay

Both my son and I are learning Scots Gaelic, him at nursery and me at an evening class, he is 3 nearly 4 and he is fantastic at it, me im struggling a good bit, but i blame that on uni, as im learning German just now too! (Glutten for punishment i think?)

We both have an allergy to cow milk, my sons makes him sick, spotty, rashes, high temp, cramps, diorreah, runny nose then dry horrible cough that can go into his lungs (all that is from eating a few quavors!) and the symptons from being sick till the end of the cough takes up to 6 weeks to go away! in me i get the runs itchy eyes with loads of stringy gunk (which is the eyeballs 'skin' coming off!) rashes spots high temp, cramps adn if its been 'pure' milk, my throat almost closes over! so we need to be verrrry carefull. we use goats milk and some alpro soya products, but cant eat the 'live' alpro yoghurts.

I dont go out - i see it as a waste of money, and really regret my younger, more affluent days where i would not think twice of spending over £100 on clothes to wear for a night out and spend over £100 on drink ( my bf would take £100 out aswell and we would put £10 away for taxi home-yeah us Scots can hold our drink! best is, a club we went to had £1 drinks till 10pm, and we would spend over £50 each on shots of tequela, sambuca,sourz etc!) Now if i have the money and someone invites me out, i generally decline as i cant justify spending £30 on a night for me when i could use that money on a day trip for me and my son or on shopping etc. Ive just spent £55 on a really good winter jacket (peterstorm trail jacket) this coat will last me at least 3 years so is a good investment, especially with our winters that are predicted to get worse. I have spent possibly £60 on clothes this past year, and i only buy when the ones im wearing are falling apart (my old winter coat is, but i am using the fleece for the new one, saved myself roughly £20-£30 for that!)

Christmas - I never borrow for christmas, ive never seen the point in it, if i dont have the money then i dont buy as much, although when younger i did 'go my dinger' on presents for my siblings and parents, not now tho, christmas is about spending time with my loved ones, hopefully without work taking anyone away. before i had a job, i always worked christmas, as it let others with children have the day off, although i was always finished for dinner. this year, more of my presents are homemade - crochet scarves and hats, and blankets too. i make a nice room freshner, bicarb soda mixed with food colouring (takes ages to mix) and an essential oil of my choice, put in a small kilner type jar, all they have to do is give it a shake and open to release the fragrance (u can also sprinkle on rugs and hoover off altho i havnt done with food colouring).

Anyways, i think ive rambled enough.... hoopefully get to know many of you as i integrate more on here

(im sorry i havnt read any of this post yet, as its taken me 2 nights to read another, but i will do at some point.)

p.s. Im dyslexic so please excuse any spelling/grammer mistakes.

Long_tall_sally

LolaLemon & Cat Addict -welcome. I'm sure you will find lots of good tips & support on here.

Cat Addict - I think I actually remember you when you posted in August!

Heamol

Hello, thought I'd better introduce myself as MSE has been amazing in helping me and the family and I'm on here almost every day looking for tips, bargains and ways to cut down bills!

I've just finished my MA and am now working hard at finding a job which will help to pay off my student loan (!) and for which I'll be able to use my subject (English). Easier said than done! I'm working part-time at the moment. I am living at home with my family and trying to help them out as much as I can financially (although sometimes they're helping me!). I am struggling with long-term illness but, thank God, it hasn't affected my being able to work

I have used MSE for getting almost all my Christmas presents, whether it be through discount codes, alerts for great offers or crafting ideas. I've also been using the "Old Style" book which has some fantastic tips and ideas about cooking, cleaning, etc and hope to find more on this forum

Sublime_2

:hello:Hi all,

Bye! :D

startagain_2

Hi everyone,

I have decided to stop lurking and join in with you all. I am a single 54 yr old woman living with my dog in North Yorks. I was made redundant in July from a job that I loved and am now surviving on 2 p/t jobs and a bit of housing benefit. It has been a really hard time over the last few years as I went through bankruptcy in early 2009 and it just seems to be one thing after another.
I enjoy reading everyones posts and have actually started cooking from scratch again thanks to the Board and having more free time.

SA

dotjc

Living in Fiji last couple of months.
Is back to basics here so better for health and reviving lost homemaking skills:j

mcculloch29

Hello everyone,

I've spent most of my life living on a really restricted income, married young instead of going to Uni, to a guy who was totally useless with money - I had to be good or we would have starved!

Over the past ten years I've combined work with part-time study, I couldn't do it when my children were younger as I had no family support in this area.
I now work as an adult education tutor - it's a job that I love. I have taught financial literacy in the past, this is an area that has expanded in recent years. Helping people gain even a basic awareness of how to manage their money is very rewarding.

My income has improved in recent years but I cannot shake off the need to watch pennies, my 'good' clothes are almost inevitably sales buys and for day to day wear it's Primark.

My bibles of thrift some twenty-five years ago were Shirley Goode's and Jocasta Innes' books. Shirley's books really are worth a reprint, wonderfully economical and TASTY recipes. Jocasta's The Paupers Cookbook has gone through several versions and is still in print - I have the original.

Thrift needs to be fashionable if the planet is to survive and all power to websites and fora like this that help to promote it.

I work from home mostly, as an e-tutor, so I am quite likely to post at really odd hours, after finishing work online and needing to switch off my brain before I go to bed.
When I worked as a registered childminder twenty years ago, 11.30 pm was a REALLY late night. That thought makes me smile now.

happy35

Hi, I have been reading the forum for a while and have decided to take the plunge and join the forum

I am 36 years old, live with my partner and our teenage son and we both work full time.

I am quite OS in that I cook most meals from scratch give or take the odd frozen fish fingers for a quick tea and the treat takeaway.