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

mardatha

Nope MrsW because none of them has ever had a real job! They do school/university/party gopher when daddy gets them an opening. They don't know what is it work and live off a weekly wage.
We were just talking yesterday about when we grew up in the 50s. Both our mums went to "the tatties" - tattie picking in summer holidays. We don't know how much a council house rent was then, but think it would've been a hell of a lot less than it is now. And there would have been no rebates or anything but when you made a wee bit extra money then you'd be allowed to keep it - and not have it taken back off somehow. Simpler all round.

westlothianlass

Hi all,
I used to have the Bernadine Lawrence book but no idea where it is now. I bought it when i moved into my first flat and had no idea how to budget/cook etc. I remember reading it but have no memory of following any recipes (but that may be old age creeping in).
I like Jocasta Innes- The Paupers cookbook it has a nice mix of recipes and have found myself using quite a few.

I worry about my son and his generation (he is 16 this year) and how on earth they will be able to find somewhere affordable to live.:eek:
Much as i love him dearly i don't want him to have to live with us for years:D .

I was watching Morrissey at Glastonbury last night and my DS couldn't believe someone could be so depressing, tried to explain what was going on in Britain when he started singing ( i.e 80's Britain only being fun for a few in the City ) but he just shook his head in disbelief, but i didn't care and carried on glass of wine in hand singing along to this charming man:D

On a positive note cashed in pennies from the jar for our holidays and got £117 which was a lovely boost, and also managed to walk into Sainsbugs and only buy the 2 things i needed (onwards and upwards eh).
Hope you all have a lovely weekend despite our strange weather x

driver2save

Hi all,

Big newbie here, been lurking with interest and thought it about time I said hi.

Have recently got married and our 'lovely' present was that DH got laid off 3 weeks before the wedding . So I am currently supporting us both along with a very unmoney saving conscious 16 year old and have to admit Im struggling.

Always shop late at night, only ever buy woopsied meat and freeze everything and anything, and am selling everything that is not nailed down on ebay.......what more can I do with ever rising prices, all advice welcombed with open arms

jackel

Good ideaMardatha re dole diet.Our teatime meals(not dinner)are Jacket potates. with cottage cheese or beans on toast. Please could anyone tell me how to get onto Weezels (don't think I've spelled that right) can't find it anywhere . Thankyou

dollydaydream07

google cheap family meals and it should come up

off back into lurkdom for a while now

EDIT: http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

short_bird

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/index.html?opt=rcost

westlothianlass

Welcome Driver2save:)
Sounds like you have started really well, there is daily advice on here so you are bound to pick up some very helpful hints/tips and of course it's a welcoming place to ask or discuss how things are going which is just as important imo.
so a big hi from me and good luck
x
p.s I have found the website just mentioned by others (cheap family recipes) a fantastic resource.

ceridwen

Larumbelle wrote: »

My own dole diet wasn't really 'dole', but for a while when I came out of care I had literally no income at all and after that was supporting myself on about £25 per week earned at Woolies, so I guess that counts. We stole all of our food from skips. Desperate times and all that. We only had two supermarkets in town - Tesco and Waitrose. Tesco took to dousing their food skips with bleach to keep out 'vermin' (i.e, us) so after that it was Waitrose all the way. When the manager there caught us he took pity and let us come and collect food at closing, on the condition that we didn't tell a soul what was going on. This was the first and only time I ever ate fresh lobster, we used to get given a lot of stuff from the wet fish counter, it was mainly that and posh sandwiches! Bless his heart, that manager even got me my Woolies job by 'having a word'.
So I actually ate very well, but I have a feeling things would be different now. For one thing, Tesco recently successfully prosecuted someone for taking food from a skip. For another, our lovely manager would be too scared of getting sued if the waifs and strays got food poisoning. Then there's the fact that 'freeganism' has hijacked this sort of thing and it's now assumed to be a lifestyle choice and not an act of desperation.

Plus, there's probably not enough food waste left to feed the huge number of poor we have these days.

If I was in the same boat today as I was then, I have no idea how I'd cope. (well, I do. It'd be Weezl to the rescue. But you know what I mean) The thing is, you do cope when you have to in the short term. But long term I have no idea the effect it would have on your health. Even if you live on relatively balanced healthy foods, eating frugally relies a lot on repetition and eating the same foods over and over again you're bound to miss out on certain nutrients.

Larumbelle - I doubt very much whether many people would see taking food that had been thrown away out of skips as something "stolen" if a person took it. If its been thrown away - its been thrown away and is no longer anyone's/any firms possession. So - I think you do yourself a disservice to describe it that way actually. I'm very hard on theft (an eye for an eye would about sum up my philosophy on that) - and that isnt theft in my book - its stopping things en route to the rubbish tip. Its in the same category in my mind as when I put out usable larger items with my rubbish for the dustbin men - I know that it may well "go walkabout" before the dustbin men turn up and thats fair enough. Its always nice if someone rings my doorbell and asks if they can have it - but, inside my property its still my possession and will remain my possession in my mind even if subsequently lost or stolen. As soon as its clearly been thrown away by me - then I've given up owning it and its available if someone wants it.

If I were in desperate straits (crosses fingers quick that I never will be...) then, given the choice, between eating unhealthily and taking risks with my long-term health on the one hand OR helping out the larder with skip-diving - then I would skip dive too.

I dont see the point in supermarkets prosecuting people taking things out of skips or deliberately ruining it. Personally - I would take the view "I cant be sued - I put the stuff out there throwing it away. If someone takes it after that - I havent heard them doing so/I havent seen them doing so - therefore they havent taken it and cant even think of suing me" and look away quick and pretend I wasnt the manager if I spotted someone hoofing it up the road a bit fast with what looked like some of our thrown-out produce. As far as "higher up the food chain" was concerned - it would be "Yep...bossman/woman...all our rubbish was disposed of as per instructions";). I guess its the difference between "If I see them taking it off our shelves and running - then I give chase personally and tackle them one way or another if I catch them. If they take that exact same produce out of a skip after its been thrown out - then its become rubbish by then and turn that blind eye."

Re repetitious food - I also think it would be much easier to inadvertently miss out on vital nutrients if eating that way. My main concerns though would be if there were any lack of fresh fruit/veg and that people were buying the white version of things (ie as a regular thing) rather than the brown/wholemeal versions and so much fat and/or sugar is put into cheaper food in order to make it taste of something.

lizzyb1812

Yes, Weezl's site has some great stuff. I particularly like the look of the apple curd recipe where you remove only the stalks and chop everything else - no peeling and coring. I will definitely try that one when my apples ripen - looks like it is going to be a bumper crop :T

My energy supplier has informed me that my current plan expires in a few weeks and they will be switching me to another one - they gave the unit costs and it works out to 6% more:eek: and that's before any price increases :eek:. So I've compared, switched and saved. Savings aren't much but it's now fixed for 13 months and I get a case of wine thrown in. I'm actually hoping to save quite a bit more as the central heating will be working properly next winter and I shan't have to top up with expensive electric heat.

OS I picked up whoopsied breaded haddock and the Co-op had a good offer on looroll so I've got 6 months supply. Including the fish and the loorolls my big shop for the week came to £26-20 and I won't need to shop again for a while.

Getting hungry already so it's a good job I'm having mac and cheese and bacon tonight - I'll bung in a bit more pasta than usual and some peas as well. Lovely comfort food, yum.

Have a good weekend all

Lizzy

redlady_1

Holy crap! I have just had my electric bill - £200 for a quarter and I live in a 2 bed cottage!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek::eek::eek: So much for buying wood this month. I wouldnt mind except I am really good about switching things off so have now switched EVERYTHING except the washing machine (because I cant get to it) and the freezer. I am horrified.