It isn`t tough for us. We are OS and we COPE

mardatha

Sister I feel your pain !!! :rotfl:

Pitlanepiglet

Oh Lauren! At least it sounds like you're managing to keep a little bit of a sense of humour about it all!

We're having to fill our machine with jugs of water as ours has stopped taking in enough water on most of the programmes. It's better than having a buy a new machine though!

charlies-aunt

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

The news is all doom and gloom and there really does seem to be no light at the end of the tunnel and from where I'm sitting it's very tough and looks like it will continue to be so

Yup - its time to ebay anything that hasn't been worn/used/looked at in the last year - rake out all those odds and ends of gold jewellery to cash in - reuse, reduce and recycle to the max Stick a jumper on and turn the CH down or off

On the upside - I'll definately be able to stick to my resolution of not buying any new clothes this year :rotfl: it may end up being no charity shop offerings too

Not got my tax sorted on my new job yet so still paying Basic Rate tax . . . . . I'm hoping that they will get it sorted before the end of the tax year as otherwise it will be 18 months plus before I see any kind of tax refund . . . and had a nasty shock when my credit card bill came - I thought I'd gone through the last one with a fine toothed comb and paid everything - but I've boobed and ended up paying nearly £8 in charges on top of the £25.oo that I'd not paid :mad: Stupid me! :mad: Really cross with myself as that one weeks housekeeping money gone before the month has even started :mad:

Oh well ....things could be worse - as Mardatha wisely says soups and plain cooking costs little so its tough but we will cope

Justamum

Another thing I do is to buy those big blocks of Iceland mature cheddar and grate them. My DH prefers to slice it, but I keep telling him it goes further if it's grated. I used to grate it on the big grates, but now I grate it finely so it goes even further. I've resorted to putting half of it in a tub in the freezer and keeping the other half in the fridge. £5 a week on cheese is a big chunk of the budget, but now I've got 3 weeks worth, so I can spend the fiver on something else we need for a few weeks! DH is grumbling about it though.Tough :rotfl:

suzybloo

Seeing the post about semolina - can you still buy sago? These puddings were great with a dollop of HM jam or stewed fruit. Any tips too for tapioca - it is something I just cannot make its either like water or like bullets - we used to get it with a fruit jelly type topping. We are also a fortune for cheese but last week were in Makro and bought 5kg of Lockerbie cheddar for £24.95, so that will see us through for a good while. I used to wonder at my husbands granny she would make custard just using sugar and cornflour with the milk, when the kids were wee and we were in dire straights with no money and little in the cupboard I made this and its now a firm favourite
Staff at one department in work today were interviewed as redundancies are being made, thank goodness its not our department, but unfortunately no-one knows whats round the corner for anyone, so belts will be tightened, cloths cut and every penny saved until we are out of this hard time.

mardatha

Oh I used to make cornflour custard when mine were wee. I cant look at it now LOL bad memories of being desperately hard up. I dont know about sago - is that the frogs spawn stuff ?

suzybloo

Sago is smaller than the 'eggs' of tapioca but larger than the grains of semolina. Must compare the price of cornflour against custard powder - guess what colour of custard they may be getting soon................ did used to add cochineal to it too and told the kids it was strawberry custard!!!

mardatha

No I just said this is what my mum made me when I was your age. I can remember adding brown sugar to the top to make it look a bit more special though LOL

kezlou

Guess what were having tomorrow:D

Making home made soup or stew with left over cooked veg water, then semolina with HM bramble or elderberry jam for afters. Haven't had semolina or made halwa for ages, its such a filling meal too and cheap as chips.

Its been tough here but its been good just spending time with OH.

we go through between 400g to 1kg of cheese a week, i find if we
grate it, its gets eaten even quicker. So i just shove on the top shelf behind jars or freeze it grated.

grandma247

chocolate tapioca is very yummy. just add some cocoa powder mixed with a little milk at the start of cooking.