How to Get Through The Tough Times The Old Style Way.

apple_mint

It's so lovely to find the Tough Times thread back As a regular reader and very occasional poster I missed the banter and the great ideas. It was a bit confusing having to go elsewhere to read the Tough Times chat so as a result I've missed out. Thank you Jackieglasgow for starting this up :j To be honest what is happening out in the economy, what is being done by the government and changes in legislation are all key things which impact on our OS lifestyle. I don't know how many times over the past 6 years or so I'm been able to anticipate price rises etc. due to the chat on these threads.

Now that I've had my daily dose of motivation from this thread and the Frugal Challenge today I'm going to:

Make a batch of bolognese sauce (freezer). OH will make some pasta to freeze (we take it out in the morning and pop into the fridge. It goes nicely through the pasta maker after being in the freezer).

Make a batch of mince (freezer - to have as 'mince 'n' tatties).

Make Lesley's soup (first page) but I'm going to use the bag of mixed veg from the freezer that was put in there for emergencies and never used (OH doesn't like shop frozen veg). This will be a bit of experiment.

I'm being reading up on some OS threads on using dye and I'm going to source some black dye to change the colour of some skirts (and some tshirts if I can). I also have some undies which are tired looking so I'm considering dyeing these too if the black dye session works. My clothes have to really earn their keep - but I do need to stay smart for work. So I've decided that repurposing and restyling is the way to go. I've severely limited my budget for clothing as part of the frugal challenge.

I thawed out a leg of lamb from the freezer overnight and this is already in the slow cooker. Lamb for dinner tonight and left overs will become shepherds pies and ordinary pies. Hopefully I'll have enough room in the freezer for all my batch makes.

The weather is wild, windy and wet outside so I don't think we'll be heading out into the garden any time soon, but I'm going to look into growing some basil / other herbs in pots on the window sill. I just need some compost and will look in Lidl next week to see what they have. I need to get some potato sets. We grew two varieties of potato last year and they were a lovely treat. There's nothing quite like new potatoes cooked right after lifting. Trouble is, I didn't remember to write on the brown paper bags what variety I bought and so have no idea what they were :rotfl: I bought them loose at the local garden centre - about 8 seed potatoes from two varieties. Came to about £2 in total but we got lots of meals from them. Will definitely do this again this year, though will rotate into the next vegetable bed.

beanrua

HardupHester -We are expecting hubby's DLA to be taken away soon, he's on the lowest rate, but he's received a letter asking him to fill in a form if he thinks he needs the higher rate. The cynic in me assumes that if he replied 'yes' he'd be hauled in immediately & have it taken away & that if he replies 'no' then they will also take it away.
I would be thinking if your OH needs the lower rate as opposed to the higher rate then there is no need to reply? Once you apply for the higher rate your current award is in jeopardy. BTW - I am not an expert in this. Good Luck.

Hardup_Hester

Hi Beanrua
Yes hubby does only need the lower rate & so won't reply, but I'm assuming it is a roundabout way of reducing the amount of people claiming, but then as I said I'm a cynic.
Hester

Hardup_Hester

So far today I have cleaned the fridge out & made soup with everthing that was looking past it's best, so that's lunch sorted for me for next week.
Hester

welshcamper

Morning all

nice to be back

foggy here this morning

when my dd started back brownies after christmas they went around all the girls asking what they had for christmas, all said some type of electronic game, my dd said "a new wheelbarrow for the allotment" dont think the others were impressed lol

ok, i need a bit of help, dd has to dress up as someone from another country for brownies, two days later she has to dress up fpr world book day as something from a childrens book for school, thought i could do one outfit for both, any ideas please?

im on a pre payment meter for gas and electric, over the last few weeks have been topping up alot i seem to be using more than the winter!

still crocheting mug cozys for my friends shop, but im not that good and very slow, wish i could knit, i can only do plain in straight lines lol.

Youngest two boys still havnt had any agency shifts in weeks, phoned them up yesterday and said they are very very quiet , nothing available.

jackieglasgow

Welsh camper what about dressing them up as one of the Pevensey's with their evacuation outfits and a Gas mask box round their necks and a parcel label attached? They were from England, which is another country and then that will do for world book day too? Sorry if that's rubbish but I like to be a bit subversive in these things. I shall think on:D

greenbee

jackieglasgow wrote: »

Actually BB htat bit you highlighted, really surprises me, aren't employers legally required to provide adaptations and not discriminate against someone on the basis of disability?.

I think the idea is to make sure that small businesses can afford not to discriminate where people need expensive/significant adaptations. But not all employers are good at doing what they should. I changed jobs 18 months ago and declared my (very minor) disability throughout the recruitment process. However, with no application form and nothing on any other paperwork, it wasn't formally noted. When I asked about DDA and sorting out adaptations on day one the response was 'what's DDA' and 'we've never employed a disabled person before'. If only I'd been recording... Three months to get an Occupational Health assessment which didn't tell them anything I couldn't have told them for free, and another two months to sort out adaptations including a chair that is cheaper than the standard one they supply... Now I mostly work from home anyway so don't use them. And this isn't a small business with limited resources, it has an HR team who should know this stuff. Awareness of rights under DDA is shocking. I'm lucky to be able to work, in a well paid job, and not to be disabled enough to qualify for support. However, DDA still applies at work and I do feel that I have a responsibility to make a fuss on behalf of those people who feel to vulnerable to do so.

maryb

Welshcamper how about Heidi? White blouse, red cardigan and a gathered skirt with a white apron and hair done in plaits crossed over the top of the head.

I did this for book day when DD was in junior school and it was very quick. I didn't have a red cardigan so I bought some red felt to make a sleeveless waistcoat so didn't have to finish any seams and the red felt came in useful at Christmas. The pattern was just a rectangle with curves cut out for the armholes and neck and the edges of the neckline folded back by themselves to look like lapels. I used some old green wool to knit some braid to trim the edge. Just three stitches on a needle and plain knit. Very quick and it looked just like braid.

I had a little white apron from an old Alice in Wonderland costume but you could get some 1" white tape for the waistband and just sew a bit of white cotton on with a little bit of gathering along the top. Charity shops usually have plain white pillow cases for pennies

Hope this helps

fletch3163

welshcamper wrote: »

ok, i need a bit of help, dd has to dress up as someone from another country for brownies, two days later she has to dress up fpr world book day as something from a childrens book for school, thought i could do one outfit for both, any ideas please?

How about my own National Dress and put her in a kilt? Am sure you could pick one up in the charity shop. I dressed as a Hawian (sp) girl when I was wee. A couple of rolls of that thick coloured plastic ribbon stapled to a waistband, a garland of tissue paper flowers and a flower in her hair? Go the whole hog and get a hollowed out coconut for her top (she'll obviously have clothes beneath everything:D

How about a veil (middle Eastern?) or a sombrero and droopy moustache (though not very glam for a girl)?

saveabobortwo

your citizen s advice bureau that could help you threatens to close but there is a super forum called money saving tips old style to give you advice so you read the tips muster up some confidence to join in the conversations with who you think are really lovely people , in the same situation as yourself only to find that you are then booted off to another area for what ever trivial reason then they mess you about and invite you back no apology which i think they deserve one you ve obviously made people feel uncomfortable because of their posts and probably put other prospective posters off from posting because they now feel their views won t be accepted my thoughts are with these people .