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

THIRZAH

Kezlou-I've given up buying the wadding for my quilts and just use a cheap fleece-or-two.

ginnyknit

I also use fleeces to layer up my patchwork as it works well and there are no bits of fibre floating round, which I hate. Other than that it is probably cheaper now to buy a duvet from one of the supermarkets and use the filling from that.My local market craft stall got some stuffing in and a tiny bag was 2.99! I could use that in ten minutes. I know some pound shops have cushion inners.

ChocClare

FatVonD wrote: »

I received my redundancy cheque today (whoopie!) and have allocated various amounts to see us through starting the new business and paying all the bills for the next year. Since I have a years worth of money for groceries I shall be stocking up on non-perishables whenever they are on offer (I bought 12 months supply of washing liquid yesterday )

Where do you stop though, should I have bought enough for 2 years??! Maybe I should be thinking that in a years cycle everything will be on offer again at some point (6 months even) and I can restock then.

Things being on offer goes in 1 month to 3 month cycles in the supermarkets. I like Olay Total Effects and Tesco's has that on offer every 3 months - which is the only time I buy it. BUT - it used to be half price when it was on offer; now it's a third off, so caveat emptor there...

I only like Fairy Liquid and only buy that when it's on offer, but it takes me quite a long time to go through a bottle, so I generally find that if it's 2 for the price of... then those 2 bottles will last me until the next time the offer comes round.

I went to Lidl on Saturday ONLY for the offers. 1100 Typhoo teabags for £9.99 was the main reason I went - can't risk running out of tea :rotfl:, but they also had big bottles of Fairy Liquid for £1; large McVities digestives for 49p; fruit corners for 30p each, Pepsi Max 6 for £1.39 and a 3 pack of Thirst Pockets kitchen roll for £1.29. I get the Aldi and Lidl offers email sent to me each week so I can keep an eye on these "odd" specials, as I know when Tesco's offers come round, but am less savvy about Lidl and Aldi - and, as in this case, it can be worth shopping there once in a while if they happen to have all the things you want to buy on offer!

The Latter Day Saints sites (their religion advocates having a year's supply of food on hand at all times) suggests you start with a month, then aim for three months, then up to your year. I don't know that it's WORTH having masses of stuff on hand if it's likely to be on offer regularly, but certainly tea and washing powder are worth buying in bulk when they're on offer if you have room to store them, as well as sugar and now flour, it would seem. We have sacks (well, ice-cream tubs) full of corn which we grind into flour as it allegedly lasts longer, but you can put flour in the freezer if you want to prolong its life. HTH.

ChocClare

On the quilt front, I use curtain interling - domette or bump, as it's properly called. It comes in nice widths, is like a warm blanket in itself and is washable. Much cheaper (and heavier) than wadding.

rachbc

YOu can get cotton batting in all bed sizes in ebay, when I last looked it was fair bit cheaper than anywhere else - I much prefer the weight and feeling cotton than the polyester wadding

Winchelsea

I bought some beautiful wool tweed and some heavy satin lining in Libertys in London in 1983, and made myself a coat. It's still going strong after 28 years, no signs of wear at all, and it sort of goes in and out of fashion. (Not that fashion bothers me too much.)

The other coat I love is my duffel - a 'proper' one, that I bought when it was a special offer in one of the weekend newspapers about three years ago. This too should last for donkey's years - both coats will probably outlast me!

I also have a good quality G*re T*x waterproof that's been up lots of mountains, including Ben Nevis, and can't see that letting me down either!

I bought NO clothes last year apart from a jacket "by mistake". I was doing some art work with fabric, and wanted a particular colour, so looked on the pound rail in a CS. Found said jacket in the very colour, a plummy purple, and when I got it home I realised it was my size. So it didn't get cut up, but has done me for a couple of smart events (rarities in themselves!).

Now I'm skint I'm grateful for the quality stuff that I've got in the past, as it means I can manage without clothes shopping for a long while. Am wearing a 13 year old top which is beginning to wear under the arms, and I plan to shorten the sleeves slightly and use the bits to put in a couple of patches. Meanwhile I wear it under a cardigan, so I'm the only one who knows about the little holes (well, you do now!)

Winchelsea

Back again to say.......WOW!..... I've just made my first loaf of sourdough bread in the BM, and it's just come out looking and smelling wonderful!

I made my own starter, and also experimented with using basic 'value' plain flour, with rice water as the liquid.

Couldn't get much more OS! And I've been doing a bit of a stock-up on flour, lugging a couple of bags back from town each time I go.

kezlou

Thanks everyone, i think i'll just use old duvet filling and fleece quilts. I can buy one £2 compred to what i saw today.
Its a shame really as this shop may close due to everything in there being so expensive.

Very pleased with myself, just repaired my coat that i got a couple of years ago from M&S, courtesy of my OH.
So its now got all new buttons and some patches and pockets all fixed.

I do need a proper winter coat as i tend to wear thick jumpers and a waterproof jacket. Currently i'm wearing thick cardigans over a smaller cardigan.

Most of the clothes i buy tend to be from charity shops and absolute bargains. So they probably won't last as long, but i'm happy to wear what i have.

Fingers crossed some more money will be paid into our account, when this happens i'm stocking up on tinned produce, flour and lentils. That way at least we know we'll have soup!

GreyQueen

I was old-styling like a good 'un yesterday evening and loving every minute. After a supper of tasty leftovers, I started to put my laundry away from the clothes airer. Got to the mint green french-cuffed formal blouse which I'd condemned as too knackered for work and de-buttoned before washing. Was reaching for the scissors to cut it for the ragbag when I had second thoughts. Yes, said blouse had only cost me 20p from a jumble sale back in 2007 (it hadn't been worn more than once, in my estimate) and yes, I'd worn it once and sometimes twice a week for 3 years, so it didn't "owe" me anything but still........Pure cotton, heavy user crop of water and pesticides, gotta respect those resources.

Upshot was, out came the stitch ripper and off came the collar. Will sew up the edge and have a Mandarin-type collar, which suits me. Then had the cuffs off. They're not true French cuffs as the button holes go thru all 4 thicknesses, so I lost an inch or so of fabric on either end when I opened them up. Then I turned the sleeve ends under which results in a 3/4 length sleeve. Have also taken the detached collar piece apart and may finesse that into a mini cuff for the sleeves; am still thinking on that one. The cuffs have been made into two patch pockets.

I knocked off at this point as it was getting too late to have the sewing machine on the go (paper-thin walls here at Shoebox Towers) so that will be this evening's project. I will also be making a fast pass to a C.S before work where I saw a Dylon cold water dye last Saturday and stupidly didn't buy at the time. If it's still there in the 20p basket, I'll dye the once-mint now-very-faded shirt brown and will raid my trimmings hoard for matching buttons and maybe a little else for the collar and cuffs. No one will know that this was an "old" shirt and I'll have a casual top which will give another year or two of service.

I worry about how much I enjoy making-do-and-mending.

ceridwen

GREYQUEEN

If that dye has gone - then time for a "homebrew" perhaps? There are various "natural" ways of making your own dyes. I've not done any myself - but things like onion skins, nettles, blackberries, elderberries come to mind.