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

ceridwen

mardatha wrote: »

This thread is for anybody who wants or needs to cut down spending. It's not for any one age or type .. please never feel intimidated anybody who reads this. We dont want to be a wee clique - we want all different people because that keeps the mix alive & vibrant and the new ideas coming

...and I was thinking - in response to a couple of the most recent posts - "Well - that makes me a hippy-ish 'tatty 'erb' I suppose":rotfl::rotfl:

flipperOSN

smileyt goodnes, you are an inspiration to always look on the bright side of life!
kezlou - that's incredible, I am absolutely shocked at that behaviour.

My parents have always been fairly well off whilst I was growing up, but they were born in 1939 and ration and war time habits have always stayed with them. They grow their own veg, throw as little as possible away and are very happy to get yellow label food (what we've always called it) or shop at lidl. They live in the middle of nowhere in lincolnshire so you'd think they'd have limited options. However they have a fantastic meat farm shop nearby that I always pop to when I visit to fill the freezer. Great quality food, but they sell a lot to caterers so it's decent value. Wish I had that in the city! One thing I never understand when you see these programs about people chucking half their weekly shop away - why don't they use the freezer??

lilac_lady

When out walking I've been making amental note of where all the bramble bushes are and intend to raid them when they ripen. Have you seen the price of them in the supermarkets!!!!?

I spent a bit to stockpile last week so hope that £5 will see me through the week for essential spending.

Ps - why are blueberries always offered at half price @ £2 for a small (tiny) punnet? Is it because no-one will be daft enough to pay £4 for them? I'm not daft enough to pay £2 either!

mardatha

I've been looking hard LL, but I dont see any at all near me. One place has tayberries but its a private estate and they have a lot of gamekeepers... am too old for that lark LOL!

seabright

An idea that I used last year for my daughter (she was about 9 months old then) was to use lots of wild fruit & berries to make desserts for her.

I collected windfalls, blackberries, wild plums - anything really, and put them all into the slow cooker with a handful of dried fruit and some cinnamon. Left it overnight to turn to mush and then froze it in small batches (I used silicon ice cube trays). It is really delicious and I am really quite pleased when she doesn't want to eat it all! To ring the changes I mix up a paket of Basics Custard Powder (7p!!!) and do a half and half mix with the fruit.

alec_eiffel

Souk08 wrote: »

Morning all, Alex I'm 31 and have a slightly Jekyll and Hyde personality I guess. On the one hand I love my OS ways, cleaning my flat and a bit of radio 2 and on the other I loved to get glammed up and love socialising and spend a fair bit on that. I'm also single and fabulous and don't have/want kids. Oh and I would NEVER want to move to the country and live the self sufficient life. Told you I didn't fit in! Have to say that I sometimes read other threads and feel like the OS police are coming for me if I don't manage to get all my fruit and veg in or keep my own chickens but this thread is a supportive and friendly one and if it works for me then that's that!

You're not alone so don't worry. If you walked into my house or saw me you wouldn't know I was frugal either! Frugality is all about saving on what doesn't matter so you can spend on what does. I love Scandi style and mid 20th century design so I have plenty of Eames designed furniture and all that - it's not cheap but it's what we like. But there's loads of other stuff I don't spend money on so it's all fine. OS is for everyone :money:

TudorRose

Been catching up with all the postings since last night.

Been in work since 9am & not a customer through the door yet.
Felt really dsiheartened on Saturday as only made one sale all week. That was on Monday and only for £20.00

Trying to feel positive but finding it really hard. Said to myself that today is a new week & things will get better but in my heart I don't think it will.

Have a good day everyone.



a

mardatha

TR, I really feel for you. There's nothing worse than trying to start a business. Chill and send out nice positive vibes to the universe lol you never know, it might help. And it will help you feel better.

Larumbelle

Souk08 wrote: »

Morning all, Alex I'm 31 and have a slightly Jekyll and Hyde personality I guess. On the one hand I love my OS ways, cleaning my flat and a bit of radio 2 and on the other I loved to get glammed up and love socialising and spend a fair bit on that. I'm also single and fabulous and don't have/want kids. Oh and I would NEVER want to move to the country and live the self sufficient life. Told you I didn't fit in! Have to say that I sometimes read other threads and feel like the OS police are coming for me if I don't manage to get all my fruit and veg in or keep my own chickens but this thread is a supportive and friendly one and if it works for me then that's that!

Morning all, and hi all the de-lurkers, it's lovely to meet you all! :hello: Well, Alex, I've no intention of starting a family either... never say never, but you know what I mean! There's nothing wrong with not being 100% old style, 100% of the time! As long as you can afford something, and it'll make you happy, I say go for it. I know what you mean about the OS police, some people are very 'my way is the only way' but you just have to filter that out along with all the other stuff that doesn't apply to you. It does make me chuckle because some OS'ers are the most gadget-happy people I have ever met, a lot of them spend a fortune on these machines, use them frantically for a few weeks, then leave them to gather dust and move on to something else. Not very MSE eh?! The longer you are around here the more you recognise that OS has fashions and movements and agendas just as much as the real world! Just tune out whatever isn't useful to you.

mardatha wrote: »

This thread is for anybody who wants or needs to cut down spending. It's not for any one age or type .. please never feel intimidated anybody who reads this. We dont want to be a wee clique - we want all different people because that keeps the mix alive & vibrant and the new ideas coming

Perfectly put Mardatha! Actually, I think there is a real mix of people on here, though it's easy to build up an image of someone that turns out to be completely wrong :rotfl: For the record my name's Kerry aka Rosie, and I'm 29.

BTW alec eiffel, I'm presuming you're a Pixies fan :j

TudorRose :grouphug:

katiegizmo

Hi,

I've been reading this thread since the start and wanted to thank everyone on here for making me feel sane! I usually only posted on the MFW board but as of a couple of weeks ago OS has become my lifelineso I've decided to stop lurking!

Been feeling absolutely wrecked as a couple of weeks ago DH lost his job. As he was on probation only a weeks notice, and no redundancy etc. the same day I had MOMENTS before paid the deposit on a new car for us which drastically depleted our savings. We had to get a car as the old one kept dying and we were spending a fortune on getting it fised plus DH sometimes needed it for work so we couldnt be without. I was expecting some tough times while we paid off the balance but didnt expect to be doing it on one salary!!!!

Its been so hard to keep positive - as I've seen others mention, we barely spent on luxouries so cuts aren't easy and we feel them. We can just about make the mortgage and bills and car payments on my salary but anything else..? I just dont know how we can pay for anything, including travel for DH to get to interviews. But through reading this I haven't felt we are so alone - among our friends we seem to be the only ones with any troubles (I know you never know what troubles people have behind closed doors) and there isnt much understanding and soooo many invites to get out of! Family have been amazing but I dont want to keep taking from them as I feel guilty about it and don't want to feel overly indebted to anyone.

Been scouring the recipes etc to make things last longer, but it's a bit daunting as I work long hours and there seems to be a lot of planning and time involved - I already make things to freeze, i need to start working on my baking skills - though knowing our luck this year I'll probably explode the oven....!!!