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

Lindy_-_Loo

Its pouring with rain here again, managed to go to the park at 9am so the boys have had some fresh air and a good run around.

Been into netto and farmfoods for the food thats cheaper than when I tried asda last night. Farmfoods are no longer offering sugar and fresh apple/orange juice on the any 2 for £1 offer. Will have to check carefully next time im in there as sent OH in for milk, bread, sugar and juice and when I saw receipt I went in to check for signs. i hope they dont change the bread offer.

Need to make some more cakes, bought lots of crisps and what we call fridge bics yesterday (kit kat etc) but these have to last the month. Used to buy more but have cut down due to the price.

DS2 has something on his hands and feet, sort of hard and rash like! going docs at 4.20pm, shud have gone yesterday as saw on his feet on wednesday but the 2 people I showed told me it was dry skin and not to be paranoid. These past few weeks hes been off food (altho better last 48 hrs) so wondering if it could be a virus

Lindy_-_Loo

culpepper wrote: »

Just a quick update...poor puss died during the night we are all very upset .
We would have given any amount of money for him to be alright but he was an old boy and had had enough stress.

so sorry to hear x

Thats_Me_3

I am about to be made redundant, Mr TM on a small pension, still have a bit of mortgage to pay off. But we have NO DEBT. We have never had a loan, a balance on the one credit card we have or an overdraft. We have always lived within our means, even though a number of years ago our means were very good, he had a high paying job but still we didn't take foreign holidays or have the 5 bed executive house. I find it very hard to feel sorry for anyone who has lived the millionaire lifestyle and has now fallen flat on their backsides. It is only caused through greed and stupidity.

Of course, many, many people are in dire straits but an awful lot of these people were living way beyond their means. How in the world can anyone think they can live a £50k lifestyle on a £10k wage packet?

As for everyone, including Government ministers and Chancellor of Exchequer, saying they didn't see it coming - I DID! I am not a financialist, I left school with one O level and it wasn't maths! We have lived through a time where the world and his wife seemed to think that money was free - well not anymore. And who is paying or all this? You and me, people who try their best to live quietly and sensibibly.

I am so cross as because of all this debt, I will lose my job (with the local council). I am disabled and partially sighted, who will employ me? All our years of living within our means has meant nothing, we are paying the price for someones plasma telly and fortnight in Thailand.

I'm sorry, I try so hard not to get angry. I just feel cheated and abandoned sometimes, like its my fault that we didn't get into debt. If we had, I would probably be better off now as at least I'd have a decent telly to look at and not one that is 12 years old with a dodgy volume control!

Anyway, I do apologise for going off on one, its just so hard to keep it all in sometimes.

Gigervamp

narabanekeater wrote: »

We now buy 12 loaves a week from Farmfoods

12 loaves a week! :eek: Are you feeding the 5000? :rotfl:

I bet there are wild foods growing near you. Try the local parks. You'll often find nut trees (sweet chestnut and beech) in parks and often there are brambles. Sometimes crab apples too.

I lived in London most of my life and there were loads of foraging places nearby.


With regards to how things are going, I've seen this coming for a few years now and have been badgering hubby about various things to help us become more self sufficient. It took 5 years to persuade him to let me get chickens, but he finally gave in and loves having them now.

I think we might also get the fireplace sorted this year (fingers crossed). At sometime in the past, it was made smaller. I've had a look up inside it and can see that there's a large inglenook behind the fake stone tiles and concrete. We also need to get the chimney relined, so we're going to get our local place that sell stoves to do a survey and tell us how much it's going to cost to get it all done. Might have to bite the bullet and get a loan to pay for it though so that we can get it done before the winter kicks in.

lilac_lady

Thats Me

"Anyway, I do apologise for going off on one, its just so hard to keep it all in sometimes."

Go off on as many as you like TM - that's what we're here for, to support and listen to each other. We don't all agree with each other's opinions here but we keep the support going and it helps us all at different times.

taplady

gailey wrote: »

Derspite all this we have good qualiry of life will never be as poor as africa, haite, pakistan or russia.
.

this is just what I was saying to my DH just yesterday. The poorest of us will never starve and we should be grateful for what we have instead of wishing we had more.
I havent got the latest of anything - 2nd hand sofa, free tv(sister who had to buy the latest and was going to chuck her old one) lots of carboot stuff or 2nd hand but its a comfy home, we're well fed, well clothed, we have clean water and we have a car.
I like to think of it as a challenge trying to live on as little as possible and there is great satisfaction to be had from a home cooked meal, home baking or homegrown produce:)

mardatha

Gigervamp - what did eventually make the OH give in ? I too have tried for years and mine wont budge. We would only need two...:(

purpleheather2810

culpepper, sorry for your loss. Pets are part of the family aren't they? xx

that's me, I can understand your anger - I suppose a lot of us feel or have felt angry at some stage about the situation we're now in. xx

flipperOSN

Re: the price of bread. My sainsbury's does two fresh baked loaves for 1.50, so I'll buy one unsliced that does us for the weekend and a fresh sliced to freeze. I'll take out a third or half to defrost gradually during the week. It is very worrying - I must stock up on some flour. That does mean more storage though! I've just been for a massive shop - £118 :eek: however, I've stocked up on enough dried/store cupboard goods to last until the end of the month, and plenty of BOGOF/on offer meat for the the freezer. I reckon we'll only need a couple of small fruit, veg, milk and bread shops to get through the rest of the month. My cupboards and freezer are nearly bursting :rotfl:I was really pleased with myself though, thanks to the meal plan I suddenly realised just how far in advance I could organise for.

Thats Me - it's very hard not to get angry at times. I still can't quite believe not just the reckless spending but the bankers/lenders who knew the customers couldn't pay but they just didn't care.

Culpepper - I'm so sorry to hear about your cat, I hate losing a pet

gailey_2

kezlou wrote: »

i tend to make my own bread, which we all prefer anyway. I only really buy shop bought bread if its reduced 9p. Even my little ones go for the fresh bread in the supermarkets, both of them love tiger bread. My downfall, is i don't know how to make it. Anyone have a clue about how they make it?

The papers have got the price of bed completely wrong for a loaf i.e warbirtons its about £1.59 here.Absolutely shocking. Fresh bread tens to be cheaper.

Gailey been thinking about your baking which margarine/butter do you use? I tend to buy the cheapest one possible and use that. Its doesn't make any difference to the cakes that i've noticed. It helped me with cutting the costs of baking. Oh and instead of putting butter on bread for beans on toast, just omit the butter and shove the beans on top. I do this with soft cheese, jam, peanut butter basically any topping and its saved me a small fortune.

Bread is shocking price really.

warbertons my fave but mostly buy supermarket own brand.
Adore the seeded batch.

spar white farmouse large load bargain as 99p.

hubby worked in bread factory most of time its same bread different wrapper sometimes wegt cheapy value bread but I hate it hence why i make my own.

I get lidls farmhouse/ciabbata mixes easy just add water for 99p makes 2loafs or you could make rolls.
The bread mixes in tesco used to be 35p think they may have been hovis mixes alwasys have breadmixes in cupboard.

I want to start making from scratch with bread flour and yeast got breda cookbook from carboot will hubt out tiger recipie for you.

Other than that its reduced or on 2 for 1quid offer.

Been plum picking picked another 3-4bags full I reckon.

told hubby about farmfood he said will give a go but 20mins drive.

looked at meat machine todayn it seems cheap as 10-12quid for 2large joints pork/beef ect its there every fri 5mins from my house.

Will keep going to lidls might go one next to morrisions and do bioth same time.
Can easily walk to sainsburys/co-op as they my nearest and take bus to market.

Al in all its lot of shopping round but think it will bring food costs down.

I live outskirts of city and its surprising what you find.
blackberries are everywhere.
inner city park had chesnuts and hazlenuts
the parks in city tend to be huge.
our local has pears, cherries and blaclberries
cyclepath has tonnes,.
even on housing estates theres cherry and apple trees.

I feel bad as up until this year only foraged blackberries dident realise about cherries/plums or hazlenuts.

costed up xmas presents even making will cost significant amount of money.

Making chutneys and jams with foraged fruits and tomatoes from garden.


But hunting carboots for baskets and will need to buy some jars

Looked on c4website kirtsy homemade xmas for siap recipie looks good but quite scary as lots of chemicals but if I can replicate lush I be happy:D

Hubby wants a jml snuggie for his birthday also getting him pjs, slippers, dressing gown and hot water bottle as 2years until hes 40 and want to save money on heating.

Mardatha I was born in 1980 guess at that time with technology things sort of boomed lifestyle wise and jobs were easy to come by when I finished school.
My parents always done well think grandparents struggled at times but worked through it.

I know people think all the baby boomers are rich but not all are.
I think if you between 16-30 its not so easy.
30-45 may have been ok as brought ahouse when prices were low and it all went mad as gmatyes have morgaes of less than 300quid amonth, mates who brought during boom 700-800.

The change not sunk in yet.

if food, energy and petrol prices increase this winter.
jan-vat increase
april council tax, ni increase and maybe income tax, possibly removal of tax credits makes it harder still.

Least we not all ostriches we trying to prepare for whats to come.