When previously OS Mum isn't OS anymore!

cattie1

yeah my mam has stopped being os BUT she constantly reminds me of "the good old days" when she used to bake-when I ask her why she doesn't anymore "she doesn't have the time!" which is true as she now works 60hour weeks where as when we were growing up she never worked or worked part-time,(but she can now afford a bran new car, holidays abroad e.t.c and is enjoying life;) ) my dad on the other hand (they are divorced) has resorted back to os after taken volintary redundancy and now has a bid hip! he wants another allotment, does not believe in tumble driers or using lights unless completely neccesary!
He also makes (or make my stepmam) his own jam/cakes/pies etc!:T

wendym

This is really interesting. I now have grown-up daughters, who spent years mocking my OS ways (freezing the carcase of an organic free range chicken to make soup later made them collapse with laughter).
Gradually they are discovering that HM soup actually tastes better.

I'm still OS, partly for financial reasons, but also because I can't bring myself to be wasteful. But I can't remember when last I baked, or made jam/chutney, and I have lost some skills. I was talking yesterday to a friend who is temporarily feeding her sister's teenage children, and she was horrified that she can no longer time a family meal on auto-pilot.

And as for looking after children......I was the most hands-on Mummy you could imagine. Now I have two granddaughters, who do not live near me, and although I can still remember most of it (and I'm good at present buying, for example....not expensive things....the discontinued Duplo I bought on Ebay means my grandchildren are the envy of all their friends) I cannot believe that I ever did it myself, and can't imagine doing it now. All our phone calls are conducted against a background that sounds like an episode of Tom and Jerry. That's not disapproval, it's just that you genuinely forget the constant noise that you just absorb when you're in the thick of it.

I am full of amazed admiration for women who become full time carers of young children in their fifties. Or, to be honest, manage it for an occasional week. I did have my two very young, and we were very very broke, so my life was nothing but cooking, sewing, preserving, the useful box etc etc.

And although I'm not shopping in Monsoon, or buying M&S food, I am enjoying this bit of my life.

Sunday lunch will not be a roast, but HM soup, then HM hummus with reduced olives and reduced sald, followed by reduced figs poached with rosewater and cardamom, so I'm still in the OS club really!

bargain_babe

Oh, its nice to hear how everyone is enjoying life again after scrimping and saving for a whole episode in their lives. My mum is the same now, she no longer bakes (she used to - all the time) she buys tons of clothes and goes out for lots of meals. I look forward to the day I can do that too, but back to OS saving for now ... xx

lynzpower

My dad is a qualified chef and brought one of the 1st michelin stars to manchester. He packed in cheffing as the hours were so bad, now he works for a company importing nad exporting fruit & veg, so gets it all free.

When we were there a couple of weeks ago, lunch consisted of mini spring rolls, mini beef wellingtons, mini samosas chicken goujons and oven chips. All courtesy of the freezer.

OH was like, god dont they eat terrible food we pinched some bits from thier cupbard & meat from the freezer ( dad siad take whatever you want- so I did!! ) but there was a hell of a lot of stuff I didnt want in there as well. I actually found a frozen packaged sandwich to microwave.

Im so profoundly disappointed, My dad taught me how to cook and now he just bangs something in the microwave saying " I cant be bothered any more" and hes not even 55 yet???

I feel that when thier health starts to fail and Ill probably choose to look after them at home, at least Ill feed them and they'll get something vaguely nutricious! Amazing, that Im looking forward to caring for them to enbsure they get a good meal isnt it!

wendym

Can I put my name down for the lynzpower care home please?

CAFCGirl

I wish I was OS!

mah_jong

I am in the middle, my children have set up home and I have shown them OS board, I think they would say I am still OS, I still give them amusement over my money saving ways. My parents have def changed though they are now financially better off in thier late 70's than they have ever been. They qualify for free travel but use taxis and first class rail fare. The food and drink is top quality but they dont eat or drink much as keeping an eye on the calories is very important to them. They buy it in small quanties so nothing is wasted. There are occasional M and S meals. Seems very popular with the older folk.

In some aspects 'I think' they have spent wastefully, but at the end of the day, its thier money they have no need to save, they can spend it as they want! And they should enjoy it!