You helped me...chatty thread

thriftmonster

Like minded people who don't think I'm weird for cooking everything from scratch

The More with Less cookbook and the TWG

A tidier house - dh would also say thanks for that one!!:D

frugalfairy_3

I have so much to thank the OS board for, but most of all I think it's because I have reduced our weekly shopping bill by about half, which is a minor miracle in my eyes. I'm not even sure how I've done it! Except that I now have a detailed freezer inventory and I USE THINGS UP rather than bung them into the big white box and promptly forget them.

I've had a slow cooker for years but have never used it as much as I have recently - I try and use it at least twice a week and I love the time it saves in the evening - the Panasonic BM is new and already a big part of the family, I clean and dust with vinegar and MF cloths, the list goes on. Oh and definitely one of the best moneysaving tips I've picked up from here is the one where you use half the washing powder and half soda crystals - I've only bought one box of washing tablets all year. So a Huge and HEARTFELT THANK YOU to all you OSers! May the board continue for ever!!! FF xxxx

apprentice_tycoon

Nice thread MATH

I think that I can demonstrate my changed ways by taking you on a trip around the supermarket to show you what I don't buy any more. I can scoot around in amazing speed because I miss some aisles out totally

I don't buy soft fruit, salad and herbs - I grow them
I don't buy cakes and biscuits - I bake on Sundays
I don't buy cleaning stuff - I have my Stardrops of course!
I don't buy j cloths - I have old style dish cloths
I don't buy sausages - all HM
I don't buy cereal - we have porrige most days
I don't buy tinned/ packet soups - all HM
I don't buy ready meals - all HM
I don't buy ready made sauces - all HM
I don't buy ice lollies - I make sorbet which is great on a hot day
I don't buy milk - we have a cow in the back garden
I don't buy Philly cheese - I make it with strained yogurt
I don't buy fizzy pop - I have frozen HM elderflower cordial in the freezer to dilute with fizzy water
I don't buy yogurt and bought desserts - I make yogurt and serve it with, amongst other things HM jam, apple sauce, lemon curd or passion fruit curd
I don't buy cold meat for sandwiches - I bake ham and slice it on my electric slicer or make potted beef or pork rillettes in the slow cooker.
I don't buy bread - I make seeded rolls, loaves & white bread, sliced with my slicer

Generally I feel that I'm not alone with my creative scrimping and feel proud to be an Old Styler - I lied about the cow BTW but milk would be very useful to have on tap.

I also met a great gang of Old Stylers in Blackpool :T :T

To widen it to the whole of MSE

I do some paid-to-clicks,
I make full use of the Tesco codes and we are saving the points for a major holiday next year
I took up mystery shopping with info from here
Because of the 'selling your stuff on Amazon' thread (now in it's 6th edition, that's over 6000 posts) it made me look harder at my Amazon trading and upped my list of stock from around 300 items to about 900 at the moment, if it hadn't been for the other posters on the thread I'd have still been plodding along with 300 listings.

If MSE folded tomorrow I'd feel as if part of my lifestyle support mechanism would be missing and I'd be saddened

mrs_mix

best bits for me finding people whom I would consider friends
stardrops
giving me the courage to realise I can give up work without sufffering finacally for it
planning things for dinner
digging out a really old (1968) book of my late mum's called the new domestic encyclopedia which has just sat on my shelf since she died because I didn't have the courage to do it before without crying (yes it still hurts after 10 years)
and I suppose the best bit of all is realising that there is no such thing as a stupid question

pam

jobbingmusician

Mrbadexample is the best laugh I've had for ages. And it's so inspiring when he posts pix of his cooking in progress....

Lillibet_2

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

I don't buy milk - we have a cow in the back garden

Wow!:eek: Really? My husband won't even let me have a chicken:p! I am soooo jealous:o:cool::rotfl:

apprentice_tycoon

Lillibet wrote:

Wow!:eek: Really? My husband won't even let me have a chicken:p! I am soooo jealous:o:cool::rotfl:

Lillibet, you didn't read every word :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

PoshPaws_3

Goodness me, I've taken so much from the OS board in one way or another, its difficult to know where to start! Maybe with appliances ..

- I asked Santa for a BIG slow cooker for Xmas - now I can batch cook casseroles & stews, plus roast a chicken without using inordinate amounts of electricity;
- Accepted the offer of a BM from M-I-L who had got fed up with it .. .. (can you imagine such a thing?) and now use it almost every day to produce low-fat, no salt, healthy bread;
- Discovered and joined Freecycle from where I've received so many wonderful things, including a brand new vacuum cleaner and a tropical fish! :laugh:
- Discovered and joined MATH's Paid2clicks programme, which comes in very handy at odd moments - and I have quite a few of those;
- Discovered that h/made Pizza is ridiculously cheap and fabulous - and can be made low fat;
- Learned all about rubber chicken and now practice the art of stretching a chicken further than was previously imaginable;
- Learned how to make and use real chicken stock;
- Got the confidence to use dried beans/lentils/fruit;
- Discovered Stardrops and Microfibre cloths, both of which have changed my life;
- Discovered the benefits of Bicarb and Vinegar;
- Exchanged expensive clothes washing products for cheap-as-chips powder cut down with soda crystals and with vinegar & essential oil as fabric conditioner;
- Batch cooking! Who'd have thought it .. and me with a freezer, too. Goodness only knows why I didn't think of it before.
- Knitting. I got all enthused to have another go and have just finished a huge sofa blanket.
- Home made food instead of shop bought processed. My Mum is so proud!
- The courage to try "cheap as chips" supermarket economy brands. Not all of them are bad!
- Menu planning. Now I even menu-plan DS's lunchboxes, to make sure of variety.
- Keeping a "to do" list. (Although I'm sure not all of you Old Stylers keep it in your bra, as I do!). :laugh:
- Forward planning big household jobs like gardening/spring cleaning etc. Previously, it never used to happen!
- Composting!

... and if that wasn't enough, (I'm sure there's more I just haven't thought of!), being a place where I can come and shout for help when my tea loaf burns, or I couldn't resist the job lot of rhubarb at the market, or the dog has desecrated the carpet. This is the biggest and best online resource I've ever made use of - and the best bit is that, from time to time, I get to give something back by way of a recipe or a rare piece of wisdom. :j You can't ask for more than that.

Ruby_Pudding

My reply would take up 3 pages if I listed the changes I've made directly inspired by OS and MSE as a whole.

At the sound of sounding soppy and a tad over dramatic this forum has changed my life, not least by giving me a sense of identity after 38 years. I grew up unsure of my place in the world and have always felt a bit 'apart' from my friends whose lives seemed to revolve around nightclubs, booze and boys. Not having a particularly stable or happy upbringing I have always associated 'home' with being poor, unhappy, hungry etc and I grew up without the skills to build my own secure environment for myself and my husband (and cats)

OS has taught me to take pride in my surroundings, however humble, and has given me the 'building blocks' to do this re cooking, cleaning, gardening, decorating etc

I'm not explaining myself very well but I know there are other posters who know what I mean.

OS has meant everything to me - it feels like home.

VickyA_2

Ruby_Pudding wrote:

OS has meant everything to me - it feels like home.

Same here! :T :T

In addition, OS has revolutionised our lives in the following ways:

Now use a slow cooker (I'd previously turned my nose up at them, don't know why as they save me sooooooooooooo much time)
Frown/sneer at people in the supermarket who are only buying fully processed foods
Love going to the Farmers' Market
Not afraid to go to our lovely butcher and ask daft questions about cuts etc
White vinegar......... used as a conditioner in the WM and as a glass cleaner.... and limescale remover!

So thanks everyone :beer:

Vicky