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

Bitsy_Beans

gailey wrote: »

Odd ? but anyone know cheapest place for big bottle brandy?
need it for cooking.

Sainsbury's do a Basics Brandy for £7.82 for 700ml - will that do you?

jackieglasgow

Bitsy_Beans wrote: »

Sainsbury's do a Basics Brandy for £7.82 for 700ml - will that do you?

Might have known you'd have all the booze prices committed to memory

lovelife_3

Hippeechiq wrote: »

Well that impresses me well done you :T

If I could find a recipe giving exact quantities of a basic sauce that I could then turn into Chilli or whatever and precisely how much veg and how much oats and any other ingredients to add, I'd give something like that a go myself, but there aren't, I've looked, and I've never been a "chuck-it-in-and-see cook" so will just have to marvel at everyone elses abilities

http://frugal-cooking.co.uk/recipe/193/batch-bake-minced-beef-recipe This may be useful for you

ceridwen

northwest1965 wrote: »

I think thunderbolts are a bit over the top. If you make an extreme post, you have to expect people to react over it, it is a public forum after all. I think its really good to see all sides of an argument rather than we are all sheep. We are not going to all agree on any matter.:)

Ah well, the weekend is here again, what a good forecast for up North. The last of my winter woolies are hung on the line, everything feels and smells fresher now.
What ever your plans, enjoy.

Obviously we all have different opinions - its when people "attack personally" or call a perfectly ordinary viewpoint "extreme" that problems start. A viewpoint is not "extreme" because its a different one to ones own. Mine is a very common viewpoint - but one that isnt expressed so much because a lot of us with this viewpoint know there is a big taboo on about expressing it still currently.

I'd probably get an "easier ride" if I came on and advocated Black Magic or legalising hard drugs then people get for expressing concern about overpopulation:rotfl: (hastens to add that I'm against things like that..).

I'm just brave enough (foolhardy enough?) to express the "other" opinion - but I don't attack others personally - not even the modified form of attack that is calling their viewpoint "extreme".

Anyway - as you said - lets just enjoy any decent weather we get - and as another poster said "lets avoid this turning away from being a nice, friendly thread":)

EDIT: see current signature..

narabanekeater

you know if I was given the choice of my old job back on NMW cashier position id take the NMW
Ihated my job towards the end to the degree I had a coundown sheet with how many days to do written down at home. Low staff morale, high staff turnover everyone was glooy. I honestly told my boss I was expecting and got asked why I had gone and done that. I always said there were 3 people in my marriage myself DS and work. I also said try would take me out of there in an ambulance and they almost did on more than one occasison. After childcare I worked for just over a pound an hour.
Now I think 'bargain' 'recycle' 'do we need it' and im so much happier. DD activities are £25 a week and I really dont mind that. As long as shes taking is serously im happy to pay it.
Having DS ill and to a degree still is changed my life. Seeing families in hospital in the same situation or god forbid worse is something I will always remember. It makes me glad on what I have and in a way very proud. Were debt free, have 2 wonderful children and a wonderful DH. Money is just paper after all in some ways im a millionaire..
Wishing you all woderful weekend

penelopedee_2

narabanekeater wrote: »

you know if I was given the choice of my old job back on NMW cashier position id take the NMW
Ihated my job towards the end to the degree I had a coundown sheet with how many days to do written down at home. Low staff morale, high staff turnover everyone was glooy. I honestly told my boss I was expecting and got asked why I had gone and done that. I always said there were 3 people in my marriage myself DS and work. I also said try would take me out of there in an ambulance and they almost did on more than one occasison. After childcare I worked for just over a pound an hour.
Now I think 'bargain' 'recycle' 'do we need it' and im so much happier. DD activities are £25 a week and I really dont mind that. As long as shes taking is serously im happy to pay it.
Having DS ill and to a degree still is changed my life. Seeing families in hospital in the same situation or god forbid worse is something I will always remember. It makes me glad on what I have and in a way very proud. Were debt free, have 2 wonderful children and a wonderful DH. Money is just paper after all in some ways im a millionaire..
Wishing you all woderful weekend

I can relate to this. Last year I had to drop my hours in my main job by over a third due to family changes. It is a good job and was quite a loss of income but we are so much happier now. I was terrified at the time though, in the middle of a recession, DH's job looking shakey. In the end DH was made redundant but we've still managed. Sometimes I think being skint suits us as a family as its certainly pulled us together more. I now realise I spent so much time and energy worrying about work that we never did anything as a family. Now with a bit of clever planning and juggling, we get by fine. We haven't missed all the tat we used to blow our money on. We are lucky.

mardatha

Ten/eleven years ago, I had a good job nightshift & OH had a good job dayshift. I dont drive a car so he had to do a lot of miles a day, coming to pick me up/going to work himself then coming home at night then dropping me off at work. We earned a decent wage and life was ok.
Then we both got made redundant and decided to get a job that we could do together, sharing the car and the hours.. The one we picked was office cleaning ! In Edinburgh at that time, bank offices were popping up like mushrooms. Cleaners were in very short supply and wages were high. We both became building supervisors, and while sometimes hard work it was ok. On nights with no bosses to bother you & nice empty buildings, no mental stress whatsoever...(apart form the occasional ghost) !! just wandering around with a hoover, planning you xmas list or your next holiday. LOL ! Then I got ill and things started to change, I had to go back to nursing because I could do 3 then 2 nights instead of fulltime. Then I had to stop.
But what I'm trying to say (and taking a long time about it ) is that never be afraid to change. Don't look down on a certain job because it's not quite what you're used to. ignore the status thing and think about YOU. Life is too short to waste in work!! Or being too busy with work for youself.

ceridwen

Ooh...do tell us about ghost incidents Mardatha - err..please?:D

Think there might be summat about working in an old building at night on one's own - I remember a former neighbour telling me how she and her husband used to work alone cleaning an old building and sometimes encountered ghosts (she wasnt bothered about it personally - as "things could and did happen" to her in her own home...think she was a bit of a "human magnet" for them).

Gigervamp

We've had a rotten start to the day. The lady who owns horses in the next field to ours knocked to say she'd seen our lovely adopted stray cat Puss down the lanes. It looks like she was hit by a car.

She was such an independent cat that she didn't like coming indoors much unless the weather was really bad, but she did love her cuddles and tummy rubs. She'd been with us for a year and we're so lucky we found each other because although she was a good hunter, she was still very thin when we started feeding her. She certainly wouldn't have survived the winter that we had, so I'm trying to console myself (and the rest of the family) with the fact that she had a really good year with us which is more than she would have had if she'd not found us.

purpleheather2810

I think I forgot to say it in my last post, so..... CONGRATULATIONS GAILEY! That's lovely news, take good care of yourself won't you?!

I have a few friends who work in retail and it does seem to be a pretty thankless job - however, some companies seem better than others. Mr A for example, are very family friendly. They have allowed my friend to go to her child's first sports day, allowed special leave when child was sick, etc. Very flexible. Shares and stuff too. Still NMW though!!

I have been feeling a bit more positive about things the past couple of days. In particular about taking control of the household budget again - which has gone a bit haywire over the past 3 months.

I have just bought my first bag of soya mince. I was hoping I could just sprinkle a couple of tablespoons into my bolognaise (etc) rather than having to rehydrate it first? As long as the dish has plenty of water in it, does this work?

I have also made friends with my local butcher. I often drive past him and this week I saw on his blackboard 5lb of stewing steak for €10 - I compared that to the price in Mr A next time I was there and it was much cheaper. They also have free range eggs €2 per doz and a whole array of tasty looking sausages, pies etc.

AND I managed to get a giant box of Fairy non bio in Sainsbury's for €10 which is a great price. I think it's an 80 wash box but we know better than that!

Unfortunately though I had to shell out for new school shoes for dd1 and a few bits of uniform. Not too bad though, as some of her uniform from last year still fits. At the end of the Summer term, school had a 2nd hand uniform sale and I managed to pick up about 10 school jumpers, cardis and a fleece for a fiver They are in reasonable condition - the cardis have cheap buttons though, they tend to get discoloured and break easily. But that's ok because I can go to the haberdashery counter on the market and get a load of new buttons to replace them with dd1 is back at school on Tuesday and I still have this sewing to do, and name labels to iron on the new uniform, new trainers and jogging bottoms to buy (nobody seems to have any jogging bottoms left) :O