As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

bluebag

CorBlimeyHowMuch wrote: »

Just thought Id delurk and say hello, Ive been following this thread for months and love the comaraderie and advice given and thought if my life ever meant cutting back Id love to join, well they say never wish for something:p yep its happened...Im getting divorced and have now got to move into rented accommodation and have lost my job as well:eek: so its welcome to the real world for me bigtime.

On the bright side Ive lost 15 stone in weight ( the ex):rotfl:and now have finally come to terms with all thats happened, and have by some sheer good luck have just been given the tenancy of what I can only describe as my dream home and will have to really tighten my belt to make ends meet so I might be asking for lots of advice in a while once Ive got settled in and titivated it up on a £100 budget and it has a garden which Landlord said I could have a veggie patch in .... is it too late to start a veggie patch now??? Im a very very eager learner, he said the previous tenant had left somethings in the house and outsheds so will go this evening and have
a look maybe I can reuse/recycle whats been left if possible as needs must as there are plenty of pennies in my purse but not pounds so I will have to be making make do and mend my motto from now on ..
This so scarey paddling my own canoe but also exciting ...

CorBlimeyHowMuch??????:D

:wave:Paddling your own canoe, just love that. Just saying hello, join in, it's fun here.

oldtractor

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393237/US-economy-Were-verge-great-great-depression.html heres an interesting article. Get ready for the Great Depression part 2.

GreyQueen

maryb wrote: »

For our banner, how about

" when the going gets tough, the tough get together"

Can I please have a bit of advice? I mentioned about three weeks ago that I had done my back in. It was tweaky for quite a while and I didn't want to risk it going again so I have not really done anything on the lottie other than sow a few salad leaves. But I think it has settled down enough for me to get back in there and try to make up lost time. I think June should be OK to stick some courgette seeds in and I've got tomatoes in pots ready for going in.

But what else could I do at this time of year that would catch up with where I would have been if I had done everything when the textbooks said? For instance I got some onion sets - will they do anything if I stick them in the ground now? And my leek seedlings are still alive but they haven't got to the thickness of a pencil which is when you are supposed to transplant them, I suspect because they got a bit starved in the seed tray. Would it be a waste of time transplanting them and seeing what happens?

For info - I'm in the London bit of Kent so dry atm- the soil is like concrete dust. But we should be well past frosts

Any suggestions gratefully receievd

:)Hello maryb and welcome Corblimeyhowmuch (lve that user name btw!)

You can still sow beetroot; mate of mine sowed them in August and got a crop and also maincrop and autumn varieties of cabbage. You can get runner and french and broad beans and peas straight out into open ground (soak these 3 in water for 48 hrs to speed the germination). Salad greens yes, too late for onions unless the overwintering kind, they need a pretty long growing season. Deffo for radishes and sow winter cabbages now.

Can't stay long as internet goes off at 4pm but just to say that I have a confirmation from an unimpeachable source as to where the rogue fly-tipped sofa came from.........and it's that address where all the other problems come from. Sofa is going to be photographed in situ this afternoon then I should get a call that I can get the Council to pick it up as fly-tipping.

Ducked into Little Mr T on way home and made out like a bandit on meat and fish to restock the freezer; a whole chicken, a twinpack of a fish called a Cobbler (?!), stir fry beef, twinpack breaded cod, turkey mince all for £6.33 yayyyyy:rotfl:Cook the cod for tea and rest in freezer, I have my mojo back after last night's poor showing.

Off to the lottie after tea and am planting out the runners, hope everyone has a lovely evening.

jackieglasgow

Big yellow ball! :j :j

gailey_2

saveabobortwo wrote: »

the shopping i bought for next week was a store cupboard shop. I typed in value rangeand then chose everything under 30p like beans spaghetti custard chicken noodles pasta sheets biscuits stock cubes vinegar mint sauce value uht milk tinned rice pudding soup shower gel shamoo 1 litre 2 for 1 price 22 pence value water squash lemon orange etc sage and onion stuffing ,pitta bread ,garlic couple carrots and onion1 apple soaps value disinfectant value herbs i basicly bought the absolute cheapest store cupboard items that tesco sell somtimes purchased 2 off each there was no meals or meat but it was store some items at the lowest possible price i could find and managed 80 items the price came to 17 pounds plus 3 pound delivery charge this makes me feel like we have plenty in stock also bought salt and other items but it tells you as you add up how many things you have purchased so i was pleased with what i had got all these items will keep us clean or can be used with something else to make up a meal oh yes tea bags aswell 27p i do this shop now and then and family cant believe when it is delivered how much shopping we ve got for the price the blood out of a stone monthly shop and if you are hardup its a good feeling .

Thanks feeling inspired to do the same.

Might try doing it with sainsburys as love their basics select
I do need some store cupboardthings like herbs and spices was going to go lidls.

[Deleted User]

I just wanted to add about the guilt complex... I think as soon as you give birth, you make comparisons with other parents. Theres a few specimens of 'Yummy Mummies' in the village where I live, boasting about their 4x4, handmade kitchens, massive trampolines for the kids, playrooms stuffed full of toys etc etc. Life is too short - I would never want to be like them! I'd rather people liked me for who I am not for all the 'bling' I have. It probs doesnt help that they're all about 10 years older than me too. I'm actually quite contented with my life at the moment (which suprises me sometimes as I used to strive to have 'stuff') we have a small 2 bed house, small garden and its all we need. We can afford the mortgage (just!) and we can walk around the village.... I used to take DD to all sorts of places when she was under 1 (cos 'everybody' else was doing the same), now we stay in quite alot, have friends over, painting in the garden etc. I want to enjoy time with her and not feel like I have to 'buy' her if that makes sense?!

Sorry if I've waffled on!

L x

Kleopatra

maryb wrote: »

For instance I got some onion sets - will they do anything if I stick them in the ground now? And my leek seedlings are still alive but they haven't got to the thickness of a pencil which is when you are supposed to transplant them, I suspect because they got a bit starved in the seed tray. Would it be a waste of time transplanting them and seeing what happens?

One week ago I bought a bargain grow your own veg kit from a carboot for 50p. It contained seed potatoes 3 types of onion sets and garlic. I knew it was really too late but decided to chance it.

The onions I planted have all just started to show green shoots and the potatoes have got some leaves. Even if they don't get very big I will be thrilled if they grow.

I think it is worth having a go with any plant because they have a will to live and to reproduce themselves.

I have just planted some courgette seeds too and they came up very quickly and are ready to go in the ground within a week.

taurusgb

ChocClare wrote: »

I am also horrified at the reception your daughter received - a bit of naming and shaming is definitely called for, I think!

As for your son, the only thing I can think of is that - in guides at least, so I expect it's the same for scouts - all the kids plus "registered" adult helpers have to pay an annual membership fee which is round about the £25 mark. I pay my fee and my helper's out of the unit funds as this is a legitimate expense and I really don't see why we should pay extra when we are running it all year for nothing. I claim gift aid for my unit so usually have a bit of extra cash in the kitty, but I know that other units who don't claim can be very strapped for cash, so maybe that is why they asked for his money. As someone else has said, guiding/scouting is supposed to be open to all, so subs are kept to a minimum and, although we can chase someone who hasn't paid their subs, we can't FORCE them to pay, nor is an inability to pay a reason to exclude their child. I know a friend who runs a Brownie unit in a very run-down area says she struggles sometimes when half the unit can't pay - but she keeps going nevertheless!

My daughter lives 70 miles away so I'm not sure what charities it was but will happily ask her and report back. As for the beaver section my son was helping out with, they just said he needed to pay it or stop being a young leader helper. I thought this a bit shortsighted myself but would have paid it for him so that he could carry on, as I think helping others should be encouraged, and am always glad to see any of my offspring doing "stuff" that isn't TV / game machine etc related. But he was so incensed by it he refused to go back saying it was the principle not the money. Makes me feel very sad.

***edited to add we live in a reasonable area with not too much poverty and when I used to sit on the scout committee, group funds weren't massive but there was always a small surpluss so they aren't scrapping the barrel to get from week to week)

Mrs_Veg_Plot

corblimey and Maryb have just checked John Harrison vegetable growing month by month and in June you can still sow

French beans, peas, maincrop carrots, beetroot, swede, turnip, sweetcorn, outdoor cucumber, lettuce, radish, spring onions, pak choi

July
Beetroot, spring cabbage, chicory, chinese cabbage, carrotts, kholrabi, lettuce, peas, french beans radish and spring onions.

Youcan also sow herbs in the kitchen such as basil and dill.

LilacLouisa

mrswive wrote: »

My old mother didn't teach me to do anything really, she always said it was quicker to do it herself. Nowadays she's frankly embarrassed by my frugal lifestyle. I guess it's because she grew up poor and wanted better; the most important thing to her is 'what people think', and being frugal is tantamount to telling the world and his wife that you're hard up. She still buys 6 slices of ham from the deli counter even though she only uses 2, as she doesn't want the assistant to think that 2 is all she can afford - it's sad really.

On a different subject, though very relevant to the current tough times, I heard the other day - can't remember if it was radio or TV news - that the government borrowed a record amount for any April this year. That'll be the same government that's cutting everything left, right and centre to pay for the deficit they inherited will it?

Please don't be too hard on your Mum, I don't know her age, but at one time even if you were really hard up a lot of people didn't like to admit it, a sort of "it's one thing to be poor, but quite another to let people know it". Old habits die hard!

Apologies if this does not apply to your Mum, perhaps you could encourage her to freeze the extra ham slices, although possibly you do that already.