It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?

northwest1965

Gailey - I think the curry sauce has now gone up from 4p, I'm not sure. Have you thought about making some bread of your own? Have a look at this thread, I think Zippy's photos are still on there. She inspired me to give it a go.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/852769

AnnieG

Hello
Not been around for a while... the school holidays and occupying DS have taken all my attention, energy and most of my money!
I noticed that Mr S's recycled loo rolls have gone up from 1.82 to 1.90 which I thought was a massive hike.
I'm looking forward to a quiet and cheap weekend, and to a tax rebate that's coming in the post!!

Lindy_-_Loo

Back from Pontins and very pleased that we only needed to withdraw £20 more than we took with us (to get home!). Took plenty of food and drinks this time so we saved loads. It rained every day but the boys had fun, we all very tired though and if i have to play crazy golf again this year I will scream!!

Still lots of food in the cupboards which is good - hopefully a cheap shop next week as we are officially broke!
Rest of the school hols will be cheap, park, friends houses, visit family and museums.

Boys got two birthday parties next week so have taken advantage of ebay for the presents although my friend made me feel small when I said that I had bought a ben 10 gift still in box from ebay - She said "oh dont tell me youre going to give it as a present the box will be bent from being posted and someone else has handled it". I was chuffed I got it for less than £5 with post! So the packaging has a bent bit - its a 5 year old birthday, I dont expect him to even notice the package!

hope everyones ok xx

flipperOSN

Some depressing tales on here - people are so judgmental sometimes! Lindy-loo I am sure your son will love it! So what if it's been handled? It's been handled by someone in the factory and to put on the shelf etc. etc.

Icelandic Queen - you have my deepest sympathy. My Sister was left penniless by her ex going abroad and giving them no child maintenance at all. Still makes my blood boil to think about it. Your SiL tried to embarrass you so there's nothing wrong with you telling her what you thought!

mama67

JackieO wrote: »

lot.

What they don't know and we won't tell them is on the 13th August we have booked and paid for a house on the Isle of Wight for a fortnight .We keep it a suprise for them as they are such good lads and never ask for too much.My DD and I have been paying for it since last October every month and we save all of our Tesco vouchers to go towards the food bill We have about £180 odd in the kitty in vouchers which with about another £50.00 cash should cover our food bill as there are 7 of us going this year.All their ice cream cash is what I have saved from left over money from my food purse during the year so they won't go without the basic ice creams on the beach We have looked up all the different carnivals and festivals that we can take then to.Our annual holiday is very well organised between my DD and I .But it takes careful planning and downright deviousness at times so the boys don't get an inkling of whats going on.
O.K. so they won't get to disneyland or the
Med but they are just as happy, and happy kids are what family holidays are about.We shall go blackberrying whilst there and the kids love picking fruit for the crumble for dinner.If the weathers bad we can all play cards or board games .Jack (10) is writing his holiday diary everyday which I am pleased about as I said it will remind him of what he did with his time off He goes into year 6 when he goes back to school and has the dreaded 11+ in September so we try to keep him as less stressed as we can

Jackie when you go away make sure you both take ID for using the vouchers.

I saved mine up a few years back and took them to use for our food in Cornwall, was asked at the till for not only my Clubcard but also some formal ID; luckily had my driving licence on me; it might have changed since then but thought it worth a mention.

ShillyShally

northwest1965 wrote: »

Have you looked to see if you get more on TCB?
http://www.topcashback.co.uk/quidco

Excellent thought - I shall get checking, it may just break me out of short arms and long pockets syndrome

Thank you.

Spendless

Toilet rolls- I buy whatever is on offer. What I do get cross about is when other family members take a new roll out, place it on the side of the bath (next to loo) instead of putting it on holder, forgets about it, runs a bath and full roll gets knocked and ruined. :mad:It's only ever me that replaces the loo roll, I once wrote on the empty roll 'can you wipe your arris on this? No? Neither can I, please re-fill when empty'. Not that it made any difference!!

Two people have now told me that blackberries are ready. Very unusual here (Yorkshire) it's normal late August. I spotted a plum tree the other day to add to the cooking apple trees and crab apple tree I know of.

My in-tray at work.:eek::eek::eek: I was told my job and the hours were to develop over time, but I hadn't expected so much sio quickly. If I can't get thru it next week, I'm going to have to talk to the office manager about doing more hours, I was hoping to get till Sept (and kids back at school) before this happened ho hum..... However I have a cunning plan.;)

Going to try Lidl tomorrow. I take granny shopping on Fridays, and Lidl will hopefully fit the bill of me wanting to reuce groceries and having to take kids who hate supermarket shopping and only like 'smaller shops'

Prudent

Just a quick check in (although can never resist reading a few posts and then get engrossed! )

Is there still an OS diet thread? I can't seem to find it?

I went to doc today as I am having breathing probs. Mainly connected to an illness but he advised me that I really should lose 1 1/2 to 2 stone as I need to give my lungs optimum space. I have known for a long time my health is getting worse and really got into a cycle of not exercising as I felt ill and then comfort/ boredom eating because I missed getting out. This has really given me a kick up the behind! The local diet clubs are not at good times and a big expense. I do remember there used to be an OS diet thread. It would be really great to find a way that didn't need a fridge full of costly ingredients and ready meals.

jackieglasgow

Prudent a lot of the girls who post on the daily are doing low carb/no carb weight loss. Most of them, especially Butterfly Brain have lost a huge amount of weight in a relatively short period of time, (as she is also waiting for surgery), using this method. There is a low carb weight loss thread and the old one is Weight Loss the OS way, I will see if I can find either for you.

Prudent

icelandic_queen wrote: »

Can understand how you feel at your friend's comments Kezlou. My former SIL works in 1 of the big 4 supermarketsand knows that I clear their basic curry sauce out every couple of weeks. One day whilst in the middle of doing this she came along with a colleague and laughingly said "she's the reason we have to keep stocking the shelves with all the cheap stuff". I was totally mortified and then my temper overtook me and I loudly replied "if your brother would pay for his kids I wouldn't be buying the cheapest of the cheap"!! I walked out of the shop in tears. It was a really !!!!!y retort but I refuse to let people belittle me when I'm doing the best I can in the circumstances as we all are!!

Aww I just couldn't pass your post without comment. Been there and understand all the frustrations of dealing with an ex. Hang in there. My dd is 18 now and at times it has been a real struggle - but so much better than it would have been without MSE. Now I look back and feel quite proud (I don't mean that to sound smug). Managing on a tight budget is a real achievement and a great example to your children. It will stand them in good stead for the future.

Big hugs