What's the best thing for OS living and where did you get it?

grannytwice

My breadmaker, bought from littlewoods catalogue with the starting voucher for £25 off price, only thing i've bought from them so far, and agree computer for giving access to this site is invaluable

LameWolf

My husband.

Seriously - he's my inspiration to keep going when I just want to give up when the pain gets really bad. He does the stuff I can't cope with, and makes rotten chores better, if not fun, because we do them together.

:A:A:A

Alison_Funnell

Definitely laptop, charity shops, jumbles and bootfairs. So I can research and then source items.

Individual items - fridge/freezers ( I have two). Without which the OS food ideas would be a lot harder to commit to.

Food processor and hand blender - makes bulk, soup and fine chopping a doddle.

jollymummy

slowcooker from Freecycle.
BERO book 99p from Morrisons
My laptop all the websites that inspire me.

morganlefay

Remoska because I almost never have to use my big oven any more, and new no-hiss pressure cooker, both from Lakeland. Not cheap but very much worth saving for because now I save money every day.

Butterfly_Brain

That's a hard one I am torn between my slow cooker and freezer

angeltreats

I can't choose only one so I'm having three!

Kenwood Chef with liquidiser attachment - make light work of cakes and soups and all sorts of stuff. I dread to think how much I'd spend on biscuits and cakes and other baked things if I didn't make them myself.

Sewing machine - inherited from my friend's mum, apart from making things from scratch it also mends so clothes last a lot longer. It's a 1961 Bernina that will probably outlive me.

My car - unfortunately I can't do without one as I work an hour's drive from home, but instead of buying an expensive new one I spent £650 on a ten year old Micra (private seller on Gumtree) that turned out to be the most reliable and economical car I've ever driven (hubby spent £2,500 on his car and is sick at how much he's had to spend on repairs/parts ever since). And hubby does all the servicing and minor repairs which saves on garage costs.

Breadmaker - I just wouldn't have the time to make it by hand very often but with this we can always have home made bread, and also saves money buying lunches because we try to always bring our own to work.

bellaquidsin

I agree with slow cookier, pressure cooker, remoska and Kenwood Chef, all great aids to OS living.

At the moment the triangular shawl I crocheted for my mum many year's ago (wool Lewis's sale in Birmingham) and have now as part of my inheritance, and the fleece blanket I have round my knees are rating pretty high as they are enabling me to sit here with no heat on.

Bella.

valk_scot

Allotment for me too. Closely followed by my ancient Kenwood Chef, which was inherited from my brother-in-law's great-aunt.

exlibris

My freezer! Bought last year for £350 instead of £700 from a shop selling brand new but shop soiled electrical goods. I use it to store bulk cooking. As there are only 2 of us I find it useful to cook things like chicken quarters in sauce in bulk so that there are some ready meals in the freezer and also use the excess sauce which would only be thrown away if I only cooked 2 at a time.

HTH