It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

Primrose

Meanmarie - I'm not familiar with how wood burning stoves work for cooking stews & caseroles, etc. but if you can't put a glass caserole container directly on top of the surface, you might find an alternative is to buy an Aris Simmer Mat (available from Lakeland, around £10.). It's a square cast iron mat with little raised bumps on it. You put it directly over a gas or electric hob and you then put your heatproof container on it and the heat conducts itself to the container and creates a gentle simmer. It also means that food cannot stick and burn on the bottom of the caserole dish, which can sometimes happen when it's in direct contact with a flame or electric ring.

cw18

mummysaver - Sounds like you're really getting the family on board with the money saving :T

kidcat

Today I have put my newest money saving exercise into action, have bought a slow cooker finally and chucked a load of stuff in for chilli. DH describes it as a new toy, not realising that he is the envy of his friends at work They cant understand why he complains that I cook meals and desserts, when their wives give them a ready meal or takeaway.
Finally got three kids at school (had one off sick for over a week) which leaves me and the youngest at home alone. Have switched off heating and just left fire in living room on and we are staying in there playing rather than heating the whole house.
Just checked gas and electric readings again and we are on target to have a bill of only £800, this is a relief as a few weeks ago it was looking like it would hit £1000. It will still leave a £400 debit though so I am expecting an increase in the direct debit. :-(

mummysaver

Kidcat - oh it's lovely when they're all at school isn't it! Throws out all your usual routines otherwise - well it does for me! Enjoy your slow cooker, I lurve mine with a passion! I've just filled it up with stuff for cottage pie for tonight, just realised that I'll end up with enough for 3 of them, so will somehow need to find freezer space! The kids had a very meaty cottage pie at a friends a while ago and weren't keen on it, they said the texture was too "same-y"! LOL! Mine has 500g mince (on offer at Asda, now there's a surprise, me buying something on offer!), couple of handfuls of mince, handful of lentils, handful of split yellow peas, 5 grated carrots, 3 handfuls of peas, couple of chopped onions, couple of handfuls of oats, 3 stock cubes, couple of chopped garlic cloves, water and the remains of yesterdays savoy cabbage finely chopped - smells lovely at the mo.

Someone else here had the same prob with their husband moaning, so they offered him a ready meal and the rest of the family sat down to a proper meal, soon changed his mind! Especially when his had gone in a couple of mouthfuls and they were about to tuck into pudding! Try doing a costing for him - sometimes the cold hard facts work.

Well done with your heating bill though, fingers crossed for better weather so we can all turn it off soon!

Cheryl - it's great to have the kids support, think they can see that there are definite savings, and it means that we can use the money on treats, well some of it, and only if I've found a bargain or voucher lol! No I'm not quite that rotten to them!

elizabunny

Hello everyone!

mummysaver -I've got my slo-cooker on today as well, making a stre....t....ched beef curry in it. I had forgotten how much I loved mine and only dragged it from the back of the cupboard last week:o But since then I've had it on loads. I like the way you can throw everything in and forget it.

I think all this money saving is really great but I just don't have enough hours in my day -I've never been so busy, making bread, cooking all meals from scratch, batch cooking, growing crops, knitting woolly hats, shopping for bargains. I think all us OS should be paid :rotfl: for our endurance, great ideas and stamina. Never mind the fact there's still the kids to be looked after, the house to be kept clean and tidy, the washing and ironing to be done, the dogs to be walked, jobs to be held down, hobbies etc. etc. and on and on.................... Yep -talk about multi-tasking......what would they all do without us.

Catwoman_Kent

I've been keeping the heating off during the day when I'm at home. Been burning newspaper fire logs whcih I've made from the free papers given out to commuters. Baking own bread, using up stuff in the freezer and planning meals around leftovers.

My Indian friend at work has just brought me in veggie curry and rice, enough for two meals. She'd cooked too much and knows how I love it.

£56 credit with Southern Water so I've just rung them and asked for a cheque which they have agreed to.

Rang around on Saturday and managed to get my hair done (hadn't been cut since last March!) for £10, bargain I think, and she did a great job.

Loads of seeds bought in sale ready for planting out in a couple of months and knitting for friends to raise a few extra pennies.

diamondgirl78

Catwoman_Kent wrote: »

Rang around on Saturday and managed to get my hair done (hadn't been cut since last March!) for £10, bargain I think, and she did a great job.

My hubby & I get our (qualified) next door neighbour to do both our haircuts together for £10, so £5 each She's been doing this for years now, so I hope she doesn't put her prices up anytime soon! Perhaps I could bribe her with some homemade jam

mummysaver

Eliza - I have the extra portions of beef stew ready to be stretched, as per the Asda mag, into stroganoff and moroccan stew!

Catwoman - sounds like you're making great strides in money saving and cutting back on things, well done you, I'm impressed with the bargain haircut too, and yours as well Diamondgirl - mine's being done Thursday, and it's not cheap! Want to dye it, but going to do that myself, haven't dyed my hair for years so should be fun!

[Deleted User]

I`ll read all the new posts later but now I am writing with my old hat on. I have set up my trading screen again and am being more (stocks) active in a bid to maintain my dh`s pension pot. I heard today that the uk is finished, according to a so called guru called rogers.

This whole situation is so frightening and it is making me quite scared now, whereas before I was calm and accepting that we will get through it. I am deliberately facing the fact head on because burying my head in the sand will fool no-one

I am going to absolutely maintain my stockcupboard because that is a good way to save/spend money. I had started running it down but now I will replace goods as well, not for a disaster scenario but in order to preserve our savings

There `might` be signs ahead ( 3 weeks or so) that things will improve but we`ll see

I am still upbeat re day to day life, we have a nice warm home and a good bed and all we need and spirits are high in other ways but I want to hit this current ukwide situation head on and hunker down some more. When will it end? I don`t know

ceridwen

It is worrying kittie - I was reading comment in yesterday's paper speculating that Britain is heading for bankruptcy as a nation - and yet still money is being given to the banks hand over fist:mad: . If any "bright spark" decides to spend yet more of our money on another darn War - I swear I'll go and strangle them myself personally (pacifist or no!). I am certainly aware right now that the British currency is rather weaker than we have been used to - and, presumably, if we go bankrupt will get a lot weaker yet (ie goods from abroad will be a lot dearer for us - like food for instance). Definitely worrying - I'm just thanking heaven I've been preparing for this sort of scenario for years - but am still worried.

One of my pet bugbears right now is the way that so many employers are cutting the wages of their staff - am trying to find the legal position on this and it is the case that staff can refuse to have a paycut (that still seems to be the case even if they are part of a large group of staff represented by a Union and that Union has agreed the paycuts?). One then obviously faces the risk that the employer will make you redundant or even sack you - and it must be a fine calculation as to how likely that is to happen if you do stand on your rights and refuse. I would refuse to take a paycut myself - even of a temporary nature - and cross my fingers the employer didnt "go for me" as a result of this. To me - it would be a toss-up between waiting to see if I got unfairly dismissed (and then taking the employer to Tribunal for this) or resigning and claiming constructive dismissal. Bit difficult to know what to do. Think I would just refuse/cross fingers and "cross the take them to Tribunal" bridge if it came to it.

I cant understand the fact that the law makes employers give a certain amount of notice (based on one's length of service - and could be up to 12 weeks for those with many years service) if they intend to sack them or make them redundant - but there doesnt seem to be a legal requirement to give that same notice (or indeed any notice at all) of a paycut. This doesnt make sense - as a dismissal or redundancy means one has lost the whole job. However, a paycut means one has lost PART of the job - so the same principle should apply (ie notice period).