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

Souk08

My mum bought my loads of bras in the last M and S Clearance sale for £1 each, being me mum she went a bit mad and bought 9!!! My parents are also the reason I never make laundry gloop. I've got my Dad into MSE ways and their garage is full to bursting with Small and Mighty so they usually give me some when I'm home!

ceridwen

zarazara wrote: »

It is very tough,and I fear its only going to get worse.
I have begiun making jams and pickles and other preserves,which I love to do. I am growing fruit qnd veg and have big plans for next year with this. Meanwhile i have ordered seeds to sow this late summer/autumn,mainly chinese greens.
There is so much else to do. I want to make my own cleaning products,laundry gloop etc,does anyone kno where to find the recipe please? AND although I can knit i cant crochet or sew,could do with learning.

LAUNDRY GLOOP

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=2279&postcount=23

The essential oil isnt essential - its just if you want to add a bit of scent to it.

gailey_2

zarazara wrote: »

It is very tough,and I fear its only going to get worse.
I have begiun making jams and pickles and other preserves,which I love to do. I am growing fruit qnd veg and have big plans for next year with this. Meanwhile i have ordered seeds to sow this late summer/autumn,mainly chinese greens.
There is so much else to do. I want to make my own cleaning products,laundry gloop etc,does anyone kno where to find the recipe please? AND although I can knit i cant crochet or sew,could do with learning.

Blimey sounds hectic. I have sucessfullly made chutneys but want to do jams this year.
Plus doing more deserts, cakes and biscuits as love idea of being even more self sufficinet and money saving.

Think first few pages has recipie for homemade cleaning products.
One thing i been doing is getting cheap bottle of dettol small amount in spray bottle with water and using it top clean stuff.
I have another spray bottle with baby shampoo and water to hose down baby and highchair when shes very messy.
I can sew but not knit think I might try a quilt for the girls.

Daughter has another birthday party sat must be 15th 4th birthday in 6months costing me fortune in cards and pressies.:eek:
Feel sad shes leaving preschool this week but know she will enjoy school hoping it tires her out as shes still up now little tike wish I had her energy.

Think tommorow be shopping at lidls, more foraging and quite a bit of cooking/housework.

Hubbys late home tonight didnet ring so hes feeling guilty so might get lie in even.

Me and my mam very different and argue lots.shes always so critical and clean freak makes me feel rubbish.

Always disagreeing with way i do stuff feeding and cloth nappies.
I found 50 miles, river severn gives me enough distance plus she wont drive on motorway so fairly safe and mil a hermit lives 2miles away rarly see her.:D

We get on bit better but sisters very spoilt and still lives at home rent free and mum pays her car and shes 27.

Hubby wants an allotment but seems they hard to get yet passed local allotment today and couple of patches look abandoned.
overall pleased with veg patch in garden this year but wish he had grown more tomatoes maybe chillis.
definatly more herbs.

Christina_F

Another lurker coming out of lurkdom!!

Although me and OH have full time jobs at present, I am worried about mine and think I may be cut down to 3 days soon, so am busy trying to cut down our grocery budget.
Has anyone got any easy recipes for chutneys and jams? I fancy making some. What jars do you use - will I need to buy special ones or any other speciliast equipment?

narabanekeater

Hello to you all
Thought id introduce myself. Im a happily married mum to a 5 year old DD and 2 year old DS. I live with my DH and brother and have his 2 children at weekends
I had to give up my full time job when Ds was poorly so I am now a SAHM. Im currently retraining to teach.
DH grows a lot of veg and im slowley taking baby steps to be more old style. Im also trying to loose weight. I love baking but due to my diet dont really get to sample it. I hope to get to know you all on this thread
Axxx

gailey_2

Christina_F wrote: »

Another lurker coming out of lurkdom!!

Although me and OH have full time jobs at present, I am worried about mine and think I may be cut down to 3 days soon, so am busy trying to cut down our grocery budget.
Has anyone got any easy recipes for chutneys and jams? I fancy making some. What jars do you use - will I need to buy special ones or any other speciliast equipment?

I found good food website good for chutneys.
i saved old glass jars and sterilised.
find chutney easy and about to give jam a go.

I did chutney in large no stick saucepan with lid took 30mins had
apples, onions,tomatoes, spices, raisens , cider vinigar and brown sugar in.
I did delias xmas recipie.

C4 website got fairly simple tomato chutney.

Welcome all newcomers its such a nice thread as so many people in same situation.
I think keeping groxery costs low is hard and you have to shop around and cook more to do it.
I love cooking for others and eating and failing miserably at losing weight.
Might start a nettle soup diet least that be cheap and probably no more yucky than slimfast.
Borrowed mates weightwatchers cards but its so complicated.

kezlou

greengoblin wrote: »

Despite being only an A I also have a massive problem getting 38's. Unless you are at shops on the first few days of a new season there are never any in my size. I'm sure more people are this size than the retailers think . . . . .

yay i'm not the only one there !!!! I know i'm daft . Put it this way i to beat this other woman with a stick (i.e my crutch) to get these bras.

free physio , brilliant news spendless!

I just use ordinary jars for chutneys jam etc I just wash out thoroughly used mayonnaise jars and fill them up.

Oh and thanks everyone about the advice for bra's really appreciate it xx

crickett1234

Good grief... i step away from the computer for three days or so... and you all go wild!! It is so good to read the thread though, and there are some cracking tips here.

Hubby and I are off work this week, but instead of going abroad somewhere (which we can't really afford) we decided to stay home and get caught up on jobs. So, we painted the odd bits of plaster repair that we had done a couple of weeks ago and while hubby was wandering around the house armed with a paint pot and a roller (and definitely dangerous with it!!) I started clearing out the under sink "cleaning materials and what not" cupboard. Oh my good gravy. If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then it is lined with ranks of cleaning products...and all of them from my house. I have about 3 litres of washing up liquid, HUNDREDS of white muslin dish cloths...3 different sorts of oven cleaner, and tea towels. I have enough laundry detergent to last a nuclear winter, and toilet cleaners...I could clean a hotels loos!! Dear heavens. Tea towels for every day of the week. For the whole year (or at least a couple of months! ) On the upside, it does mean that I am going to have some seriously low spends on cleaning products.

Unfortunately, it appears our telly is on the out. Which sucks. Perhaps the cleaning product savings can offset a new TV. Lets hope hubby doesn't get gadget blind...and we end up with a TV of half a hectare on my living room wall!!

Off to bed now, and then its shopping tomorrow; I managed to write a menu for two weeks today (with hardly any repetitions either!) and the shopping list as well. We are trying to use our stuff from the freezer, so I might need to pop out for some fresh veg at some point, but most of the other stuff will be got in tomorrow. And then it is chill out time. Well, it will be... after we have traipsed around all of the electrical retailers in our area looking at tellys. Sigh!!

Night night all.

And Bras?! My saviour is a shop at a local outlet place where there is a lingerie shop called Camille there. They stock my size (44DD) in pretty designs. Thank goodness.

Wee_Jo

Wow! There have been so many posts even since this afternoon! I have got so many ideas from this thread so far - it's fab! Tonight I have mostly been using up leftovers to make meals - I made a pasta bake form the leftover meat from our roast chicken Sunday dinner, which will do me and hubby for lunch tomorrow as well. I also (for the first time) tackled the chicken carcass to see how much meat I could get off it - the answer was WOW - a lot!! I have to admit, I hung my head in shame when I realised how much meat I have been wasting up until now! (Head stayed hung only momentarily until the nice smug feeling descended again when I remembered how much I wasn't wasting this time!! :rotfl:) The carcass got bunged in a pot where it has happily (actually I didn't enquire after its wellbeing...) been blootling away for the past few hours. Very excited - have never made soup from the carcass before - I felt simultneously carnivorous and self righteous housewife-y whilst I tore the poor clucker to shreds /:) (delete as appropriate)

Okay, now that I have successfully alienated all Old Style Veggies (sorry I did used to be one believe it or not) I am heading to bed.

Sleep tight everyone!

Jo

Fighting_Back

Another lurker who would like to contribute to the positive and generous discussion going on here.

Underwear - I've recently bought lots of knickers at Lidl - Jolinesse brand - several different sorts over the last few months, excellent fit, very comfortable, wash well and keep their shape.

If you live in an area with a large ethnic population, then do try the Asian grocery shops. Excellent range of fruit and veg to choose from and you will soon realise that you are being over-charged in Tesco et al. Also spices in large packets that cost not much more than the tiny jars you get from the supermarkets. I have found the shop-keepers are extremely helpful in telling you how to cook the more unusual items.

Kindest wishes to everyone