It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

meanmarie

Mardartha....of course you won't fit in if you are only second generation!! My in-laws (and OH) came from a different part of Ireland in 1953 and are just about accepted now....I go back to at least 1800 so am all right!

Marie

Penny-Pincher!!

OH went to Tesco yesterday and got a few yellow stickered items:

Half leg of fresh lamb (was £6.95) reduced to £2.95
4 x Ready to cook chicken breasts in sauce (were £4.00) reduced to £1.00
Organic Large Chicken (was £12.67) reduced to £4.00

So thats about 9 meals for the 3 of us £11.00

He also bought their 4 pint Pure milk which is like Cravendale and got 2 lots for £2.60....so I have cancelled the milk for the next 2 weeks. I normally pay 58p a pint and buy 4 a week to support the milkman, but he has been getting later and later...sometimes not till 5pm. I still get the Large FR eggs at £1.19 for 6 though.

He got some other bargains, but cant remember them all.

PP
xx

Patchwork_Quilt

There is often an informal bartering system on allotments. One member might be lucky with their beans and have too many etc. Last year, I had lots of beetroot and swapped beetroot for eggs and beetroot for the biggest cabbage I'd ever seen. Also, my MIL brings me all her empty jam jars and I give her chutney and marmalade in return.

The saddest thing that we've seen recently, however, is on all our visits to the tip. We're clearing up our house, as it was in such a state when we moved in, but people were taking antique chests of drawers and new blinds and pushchairs and just lobbing them in the skips. It was criminal.

In fact, we suspect that the people who work there fish the good things out and leave them on the side for an hour or so. There's always something left by the railings in case anyone wants to pick it up. I do understand that people want to get rid of things at once but why not drop them in the charity shop? Anyway, it might be a good source of foraging

Barneysmom

I saw a really beautiful old wardrobe being thrown in the skip at our dump. I was seconds too late to save it.

mama67

BUTTER SCOTCH TART

8" Pastry Case baked Blind allow to cool

4oz block marg
4oz demerara sugar
1oz plain flour
2 floz milk

Mix sugar & flour
Melt marg and milk, bring to boil.
add in flour & sugaer mix, stir until thickens
Cool slightly, then pour into cooled pastry case.
Leave to set

Serve with either custard or whipped cream

mama67

CHOCOLATE CONCRETE

150g margarine
200g flour
140g sugar
40g cocoa

Oven temp 325°F, 170°C or Gas No.3.
Melt margarine in saucepan. Add vanilla essence if you like, 1 tsp.
Mix all dry ingredients in mixer bowl, add margarine.
Mix well.
Pour into greased tin and spread evenly.
Make a pattern with a fork. Brush with water and sprinkle with extra sugar.
Bake in a slow oven for about 20 minutes.
Portion whilst warm and cool on a wire tray.

cw18

The workers at our local tip definitely fish stuff out -- but they try and grab before it's thrown in if possible.

Round here it's not there for general folks to take though - it's a perk of the job for them. They fix up/repair/salvage/sell it all themselves.

leed

.... In fact, we suspect that the people who work there fish the good things out and leave them on the side for an hour or so. There's always something left by the railings in case anyone wants to pick it up. I do understand that people want to get rid of things at once but why not drop them in the charity shop? Anyway, it might be a good source of foraging[/quote]

It is a pity more people don't make use of Freecycle when getting rid of stuff it is so satisfying to know it is going to a good home where it is needed. https://www.uk.freecycle.org/

ceridwen

tiff wrote: »

What is nonnymouse Ceridwen?

Now a certain person - stand up Mardatha - is being very modest here methinks (since it was her idea). Nonnymouse is an independent forum set up by people from M.S.E. - on a somewhat different basis - ie based on kindness, rather than money. Theres nearly 200 members currently. 'Tis a member only forum - but anyone can join who wishes to if they are in sympathy with the basic ethos
(does that sound about right to you Mardatha as a way to describe it?)

I give a link to a post about it that I made on my blog to read further:

http://chezceridwen.blogspot.com/search/label/Nonny%20Mouse

kidcat

leed wrote: »

.... In fact, we suspect that the people who work there fish the good things out and leave them on the side for an hour or so. There's always something left by the railings in case anyone wants to pick it up. I do understand that people want to get rid of things at once but why not drop them in the charity shop? Anyway, it might be a good source of foraging

It is a pity more people don't make use of Freecycle when getting rid of stuff it is so satisfying to know it is going to a good home where it is needed. www.uk.freecycle.org/[/quote]


It always saddebns me the waste of good items being taken to the tip, when they could be freecycled or given to the charity shops, at our tip there is a group of people who are allowed by the council to take whatever they like and sell it on, ordinary people are not allowed to take it and its considered theft if you take something.