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

EstherH

Is chapati flour wholemeal then? I can't work out what to do to cut costs further. The bread I make goes faster than the cheap supermarket bread - no surprise there - but somehow don't think moneysaving either!

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

My daughter changed last week to a huge plasma effort and says her elect went up from 11 units a day to 15, and she can't get it any lower than that. We found that getting an ordianry whistling kettle made a big difference, because in this house the kettle's always on We currently use 5 units a day and can't get it any lower than that.

Blimey, 4 units up just for going to plasma. That's a shocker. Kettle's always on round the Shoebox, too. I'm English, I'm allowed. Plus have bought a whole load of teabags with best before date Nov 2011 as a hedge against nasty surprises down the shops. Had far too many of them lately. I can just about remember the galloping inflation of the early seventies and the 3 day week (I was a kid). Feels like it's heading that way again. I'm stocking up on tinned tomatoes, tomato puree and sardines with the extra lurking under the bed in cardboard cartons. Please don't tell anyone I know in RL as they already think I'm a bit weird.

GreyQueen

kidcat wrote: »

Greyqueen - we run six TVs, and changed almost all of them to LCD, this year (kids got them as presents etc) we run one plasma (several years old - bought second hand) and one CRT. The CRT is in the dining room and when its just me and the kids here I use the dining room tv for the kids to watch as its alot less than the plasma in the living room. The LCD ones in the kds rooms dont make that much difference as far as I can tell, but they are all only 19inch so the size of a monitor really.

That's fascinating, Kidkat. Do you think if times get really tough we'll have to take our deckchairs down to Currys and watch from outside? I've just discovered that if I'm just gabbing on my landline in the evening I can do without light at all and use the streetlights outside to light the flat. Pay enough blinking council tax, so I ought to use them. In very pauperish times past (cue violins, please) I used to spend a lot of time at the local library because they had heat, light and lots of things to read...

[Deleted User]

oh I remember going to the library when I was a young teenager and it was full of people keeping warm and reading the papers.

I cannot get the electricity below 7kwh a day during mid winter. Probably 4 in summer. We only see the bins emptied for our council tax and it`s absolutely pitch black at night. If anyone goes anywhere then they wear head torches

I am so tempted to re stock cupboards but they are still full enough, however I have stocked up on seeds and now I am researching preserving without the freezer. I ordered a tall pan today 22 x 23 (internal) and its a german pressure cooker too but I have that size of lid and I`ll be able to use like a normal pan. I am thinking that I will be able to do bottled veg with it but then again it will be fruit that will give me a glut later, with luck of course

lil_me

We have an LED rather than LCD, it uses less normal and you can reduce how much it uses too which I think is a good feature.

Love the way this has span into a more positive thread. Finding more friends who know of my OS ish ways are asking for info lately so as I keep signposting them here we might end up with an influx lol.

I think I'm over the shock this month of everything going up at once with the VAT increase again.

[Deleted User]

lil_me wrote: »

I think I'm over the shock this month of everything going up at once with the VAT increase again.

you are right lil me, its sink or swim and its comforting to be with like minded people. In a very strange way, I enjoy making ends meet, although I have to withdraw from our savings yet again this month. Now I have the pan sorted and the jars and the allotment too, all sorted I am thinking month on month should be cheaper. The allotment has cost quite a bit of money to set up because we didn`t have any tools for a start. Nothing is cheap these days and I noticed today that various garden items made from plastic have gone up, of course its due to oil costing more

zarazara

I too am going to do a big stock up shop next week. I think a seige mentality is the only way at the moment. in fact I have already written my shopping list and on the other side have written things to buy to store away. I intend on buying extra items each month . Theres room under the bed and tins and bottles can go there. Just look whats happening in the world,riots and protests all over ,its scarey.

[Deleted User]

looking back over my 60+ years, there have been many times when we all thought our world would stop eg the cuba crisis and we were actually told to make a shelter under the stairs and to collect cans of food. I remember being scared witless at that time and being scared has happened over and over for whatever reason. Now is one of those times and I am bleepin well not going to get sucked in by all the media hype. As long as we have access to water and a storm kettle and twigs and a quick cook cereal then we will not starve so no I will not be stockpiling above what I have in my cupboards.

We need to get it all in perspective for goodness sake and it is worth looking at how the genuinely poor live (or not) in this very greedy world and I mean people in the poorest of countries

Pitlanepiglet

kittie wrote: »

looking back over my 60+ years, there have been many times when we all thought our world would stop eg the cuba crisis and we were actually told to make a shelter under the stairs and to collect cans of food. I remember being scared witless at that time and being scared has happened over and over for whatever reason. Now is one of those times and I am bleepin well not going to get sucked in by all the media hype. As long as we have access to water and a storm kettle and twigs and a quick cook cereal then we will not starve so no I will not be stockpiling above what I have in my cupboards.

We need to get it all in perspective for goodness sake and it is worth looking at how the genuinely poor live (or not) in this very greedy world and I mean people in the poorest of countries

I don't think anyone is suggesting that we are going to starve, some of us are of the view that prices are increasing rapidly (as evidenced by the inflation figures) and will continue to do so over at least the next six months. It also appears likely that we will see more in the way of strikes that may effect our ability to buy goods easily at reasonable prices.

You may not wish to stock up further, I'm going to, my income won't stretch any further, we already can't make ends meet and life is looking pretty rubbish.

*Maya*

zarazara wrote: »

I think a seige mentality is the only way at the moment. .

Seriously?????? It's a recession, not a revolution. I think a bit of perspective is needed here. :cool: