If things get tougher?

mardatha

Oh ty LL, I just asked this in another thread, I wondered why everybody talks about paying for water and I dont seem to have to. Although paying for water seems a bit daft when you look out of the window and see gallons of the bloody stuff....

katieowl_2

katieowl wrote: »

Those of you looking for cheapie pressies for the kids for christmas have a look at this which I just got sent by Amazon (a one week kitchen sale!) Would make a great pressie - I know you'd have to bump up to £15 to get free P&P but it would be a very OS gift....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prestige-Kids-Baking-Gift-Set/dp/B000WBR00A/ref=pe_15861_12513081_as_img_5/

Regret I no longer have any small people to buy for....

Regards

Kate

Blimey I see Amazon have pulled the price off Since I posted this here!!!!

It was £2.95 and now says £22.91 Rip off!

Regards

Kate

Aril

Unixgirl- I think it's an excellent idea to use freecycle for part of your child's presents. I started doing something similar 3 years ago when my OH was made redundant and I bought some of the Christmas presents from the local charity shops. My son had a mixture of 2nd hand and some new and where you couldn't tell [eg books in perfect condition] I extended it to some family members. I was so embarrassed that I didn't tell them but on one item they liked whatever it was so much that I had to own up. From there my sister has now joined me in buying some charity shop bits as she too is on a limited budget.
We have a chap locally to us who has an arrangement with the local amenity tip- they give him all the dumped bikes that are still usable, he does them up and then sells them for £10-£15 to raise money for charity. We shall be checking out to see if he has anything suitable for the small person later on in the year for Christmas and then we'll spend the rest of our budget on new bits for him. I shall also shortly be checking out a local carboot just to see if there's anything suitable. Presents in my house generally are either 2nd hand, handmade or bought in the sales!
Aril

Uniscots97

23 quid is ridiculous

carriebradshaw

I think second hand pressies are great idea.My favourite Xmas pressie ever when I was a child was a second hand bike & I loved it. Better a second hand one,than none at all :T

maz1964

hello all and thanks for replying back mummysaver and charlies-mum - yes ive now managed to spot that site you have now told me about, thank you

i will certainly be looking at this now sounds from the reports ive now read everyone is so happy with it,

as we are only 3 of us but my dd always brings friends round so im thinking of buying the grande one instead of the standard, and even if i have lots of food left over i can always freeze it so i guess im steering towards the grande one.

i like casseroles and cooking a whole chicken is fab with a few potatoes so will hope to experiment lots with it,

anyway any other tips i will gladly accept from you all

have a fun evening ciao for now maz

ceridwen

Oh well...working on the principle of the longest journey starts with the smallest steps or summat....and preparing away bit by tiny bit for more moneysaving ideas because things will be tougher personally for me in between my retirement age and picking up all my retirement income (as I am insistent on keeping my retirement age at 60 - but the State/Serps bit of my pension wont be starting till later and my OAP level of Personal Tax Allowance till later than that :mad: - not pleased about having to wait for THREE bits of my retirement income until that whiles after retirement and won't have safely counted it all in till 65 - FIVE YEAR GAP!).

So - training myself up already for this temporary drop in income down to Job Pension level only for a bit. So - today is what has become my new norm:

- Use loo (not forgetting M.S.E. tip on using water to rinse off - rather than loopaper to dry off).

- Make porridge (the milk is diluted full-fat milk these days - rather than the skim milk I used to buy)

- Use blackberries I picked for free on that porridge.

- Then eat homemade bread with my coffee.

- There's only one light on - rather than ones throughout the house, as previously.

- Part of dinner tonight will consist of some peppers I picked up cheaply and then roasted in the oven at the same time as cooking my homemade bread (NB; cooker is now A-rated). I will be taking those peppers out in the first place from fridge-freezer (NB: new one I needed is A plus rated).

- I will be stewing up some cooking apples I got for free and storing them in the freezer (for future porridge toppings) - rather than using storebought frozen fruit I used to use.

- If I feel a bit chilly will wrap a fleece round myself and if still chilly will put on a halogen heater (rather than whack on the central heating and top up meanwhile with a fan heater).

Errr.....but have to confess that its just as well that not everyone lives so simply - as the Government would start looking at cutting the State/Serps pension even further than they already have:cool: (the bit they "whipped" already from me is viewed by me as "theft I couldnt ask my insurance company to compensate me for":mad: )

Gigervamp

It's another lovely summer day in Wales-not! The rain is peeing down and it's dark and cold. I've had to put the light on in the kitchen so I can see, and I'm wearing tights and a fleece as well as a long sleeve top. This weather's not very conducive to trying to save on the electricity and oil. I was seriously tempted to pop the heating on for a short while.

dubgirl

Hi, I have been following this thread from the start, but not posted, well cant remember that I have!! Ceridwen, I do admire what you are trying to do and I hope you succeed, god knows what it will be like when i come to retire in about 20 years time. I doubt my private pension will be anywhere near enough to live on. Also love the blog. I dont think that there is anything wrong with second hand pressies or second hand anything else for that matter. I think people make such a big deal about always having "new" things, yet most kids wouldnt know whether a present is new or not, certainly when they are young. Most of my DS toys and presents are second hand and he hasnt a clue.

retiredlady

maz1964 wrote: »

hello mummysaver

and everyone here,

just popped in and seen your post and am intrigued about the resmoska, is it the one that is sold cant remember the co name, im interested but am lurking about to see what others experience of it was first, ie what size have you bought, and if it does what it says it does, ie juicy chicken and crispy food etc

so will subscribe to this thread and have a read of your adventures with it if you would be kind enough to post - many thanks and also will read others posts on this - looks like a fun informative thread, gets me away from the debt thread for a while, lol but gaining more knowledge to still go back and reduce my debts,

well thats my method in my madness today - lol

have a fun day everyone wll be back as ARnie used to say

Ciao MAZ

I bought a Remoska last year from Lakeland (I think they are the only company that sells them) and I use it almost daily! I have rarely used my big oven since buying it. I got the standard size which is fine for my family of 4. Last night I did rack of lamb on top of sliced potatoes and sliced onions and carrots - took about 40 minutes and tasted delish! It saves loads of energy as it doesn't use much electric.

I see them on sale on Ebay once in a while and can never figure out why people pay more for them there plus pay delivery charges when they can buy them new from Lakeland with free delivery??!!:eek: Its a funny old world :rotfl:

Marion