Old Finances (back in the day)

Butterfly_Brain

I remember the meals that Mum cooked were cheap, filling and simple ( She wasn't the greatest cook but we never went hungry) She always did a special Sunday tea as well sandwiches and a cake. We had Sunday dinner at 1pm on the dot after family favourites had been on the radio all morning
Mince and tatties , stews, sausage toad, sausage and mash, egg and chips, macaroni cheese, cheese and onion pie, steak and kidney pie, gammon hock, liver and bacon etc. We always had a pudding on a Sunday it could be rice pudding, macaroni done with milk, apple pie and custard, tinned peaches with evaporated milk and sometimes fruit cocktail. Even when times were hard there was something to eat even though it was stodge - no wonder I have always had a weight problem :eek:

My dad was actually a better cook and we used to love his left over turkey meal at Christmas - he called it turkey savoury - left over turkey minced and mixed with mash potatoes, a couple of eggs and herbs, then baked in the oven until it was golden it was really tasty with a salad.

Flibsey

in the early 90s (i know, I know, not *that* long ago) my mum made me a coat from scrap fabric and an old blanket. yes, very much like dolly parton's coat of many colours. my stepdad had been made redundant for the second time in 2 years, they had a mortgage and two kids and were so skint our next door neighbour (single parent, 3 kids, on benefits) used to drop round things like her newspaper, a little extra coffee etc cos she knew my parents couldn't afford such luxuries.

I think most of my thrift ability comes from my mum cos she's spent most of her life living hand to mouth, except the last 10 or so years when things have really looked up!

I was marvelled at at university because where some people saw an "empty" cupboard, I saw a few meals

maganan

ButterflyBrain - I'm glad you said you had macaroni as a pudding I thought that only happened in my family! I used to really like it. We used to have baked apple too and sometimes as a quick pudding, presumably also to fill us up after a less filling main meal, was jam rolypoly but made with normal pastry (which has never been mum's strong point!) Custard most days, my nan would even sprinkle some sugar on it for me, its a wonder I've got any teeth! Especially as I used to be given a dummy with honey on and guiness in bottle as a baby to make me sleep............should be a morbidly obese, toothless alcoholic :rotfl:




cake and wine for my birthday then!

Justamum

maganan wrote: »

The only stuff she ever did for my dad was to turn the collars on his shirts, can't imagine many do that now:)

I do . When the collar is worn on the other side I take it off and just leave it as a mandarin collar.

Justamum

valentina wrote: »

I had a talking doll - you put a small plastic "record" in her back and she said stuff like "do you want to play"

I had an Alice in Wonderland doll which had those records in. It was based on the film which had Fiona Fullerton playing Alice.

THIRZAH

We had macaroni as a pudding too-and semolina, flaked rice, flaked tabioca, ordinary tabioca and sago.

My Mum always used to boil suet puddings such as jam roll . It wasn't until I married that I started baking them as DH preferred baked.

Alwaysthebusybee

Hi,

I was born in 82 and can remember how thrifty my mum used to be. I always had home made clothes and can even remember her making me an halloween outfit (which I wore for 2 years and was rather upset when it no longer fit ).

My dad was the one that was very thrifty, he found it really hard to get work whilst my mum always worked as a sewing machinist, however she was the one that always cooked and cleaned as my dad made food inedible :rotfl:He hasn't changed much! He wasn't afraid of hard work though, he often worked the fields to bring in extra money and food. He worked as a security guard when things were really bad, often not seeing us on Christmas day but that's what had to be done for them to manage.

My grandparents used to make their own homebrew which was brought out at family gatherings. Parties consisted of all homemade buns and such, there was no catering companies that I can remember!

Everything we had was saved for and paid up front, on the odd occassion where a major appliance was bought through the catelogue. I played all the free games like cricket, rounders, bull dog or hide and seek - There was always a lot of us in our street. I loved my skipping rope. I was never an overweight child

I never felt like I went without and now think they always did the best they could - I did however feel at high school I was not as well off as my friends , certainly not as poor as some - Maybe that is why I am now living the harsh lesson with credit because as soon as I was able I bought everything I wanted on the never never :mad: - 10 years later I am paying it back! I now believe if I want something I need to save for it. My dad always says you should cut your cloth according, which I now do :j

I think the role reversal has applied with me and my parents, I am definately more thrifty and love showing my bargain purchases from ebay :j I definately want to teach my children about the value of money, working for what you want and not having everything handed to you.

There is some differences that I have noticed from growing up - nothing is made like it used to be and nothing is fixed anymore. Clothes seem to fall apart at the seams, washing machines are luckily to last 5 years and now when things break ... we go buy a new one :eek:

Busybee x

Justamum

Does anybody else remember Rice Cremola? We had that a lot for pudding. We used to get banana custard quite often too (bananas chopped into custard, not banana flavoured)

meames_2

notatvstar wrote: »

I got nearly a full grant when I went to Uni - £9000 a year! Shocking... and very sad

Sort of off thread, but slightly relevant and nostaligic...

I got my first mobile phone when I was doing my PhD... and only THIS year bought myself my first computer (all others have been given to me by work - old models to be thrown out).

When I talk to my students now - I tell them how no-one at Uni had a mobile (and I went to a posh one!) and very few had their own computers. Also FaceAche didn't exist. When we 'messeaged' each other what we used to do instead of FAceAche, was to bluetack a clean piece of A4 on our door when we went out, together with a pencil (not a pen - as that would get nicked). If anyone wanted to get in touch with you they would leave a scribbled message on your door...

The looks of horror I get from them are amazing!

I went to uni 1991 - no phone, we had to use the communal phone in the cupboard under the stairs - everyone could hear you, no tv, occaionally we would mooch over to the social area which did have one to watch vic & bob.

I still have the last note I wrote on my door when I left and the messages people wrote back.

You could go out with £10 and still get a vege burger on the way home!

I remember having no heating and just a calor heater in the bedroom in 1970s. I also remeber getting a draught excluder for xmas. My mum denies it but there is a photo :-) . Even when we moved to a new house with cenral heating it wasn't on except down stairs. I live in a terrace now and een with heaing it gets cold. I go to their house now and its like a oven!

I did get clothes made out of old curtains (i'm sure) both me and my sister would match. My ballroom dancing dress was home made and I loved it. My nan knitted me cardis, I was 25 by the time she stopped. I wish I still had them now in this cold terrace in winter.

We got a video in about 1980 and the first one we watched was "every which way but loose".

Caravanning in Rhyl for our holidays. loved it!

Wheeling the TV with the huge wings in school to watch look & read


Public service announcements - the girl who picked up a sparkler the wrong way haunted me for years, plus the don't climb on pylons and the keep off the railways. the green crosss code man came to school. In my first year of senior school, I remember a community drama group doing a play about drugs and I was frightened to death.

I too lived in an Orange and brown world!

chocolate_buttons_2

valentina wrote: »

Talking of spooky, there was that dismembered doll's head thing which (I think) you were supposed to practice styling hair on ...

I had a Girls' World - I loved it! Until my parents bought one for my younger sister about 6 months later, then I went off the idea. Shoved it in the jumble bag, lol. They had this idea that we (biting, scratching, punching and maiming sisters could play beauty salons "nicely") :rotfl:

Sadly me and my sister still don't get on. She still throws tantrums (worthy of a 2 year old, screams, shouts, throws things and throws herself on the floor and drums her heels!! :eek: ) at 39 and gets her own way and I have chosen to not pander to her paddywacks.

Would love to be closer to her but she wants one thing - her own way on everything and no debate.