Ask yer Granny!

monnagran

Can only agree with everything JackieO says. I only have 2 Grandchildren, but 4 step Grandchildren, ranging from 21 to 7 years old and I'm afraid I spoil them all outrageously. Having been brought up during the war and brought my own family up in very straitened circumstances it is sheer delight for me to be able to do nice things for the DGs. As to my own way of life I am the queen of the leftover. My family have great fun going through a meal and identifying where the various components came from. Not only food but bits of material, stained Tshirts, interesting boxes, wrapping paper, (never mind pinnies, you haven't lived until you have ironed used wrapping paper), leftover decorating materials etc. etc. They can all live again with a bit of imagination. That and making absolutely everything you can from scratch has got me through many hair-raising situations.
In my time I have made my own bread, biscuits, cakes, puddings, orange squash, (my grown-up children still have nostalgic memories of the orange squash), crisps...............get the picture?
I even managed to to make my youngest son a bike out of 2 knackered ones.
Don't despair, everything is possible and it can be quite a lot of fun if you like a challenge.
I think that people have a great reservoir of untapped ingenuity.
Come all of you, get tapping!

3v3

mardatha wrote: »

....
There isn't a lot we can do re the job situation but there is a lot we can do on the home front eh? We need to tighten belts one more notch ladies, and we need to grab our grannies and pick their brains... they have secrets we need !
Please, any and all granny tips for living through hard times - post them for me.

I never knew my Grannies; yet, my mother was old enough to be my granny (last child of long line) and I learned a lot from her and .... her books! She adored books and I am fortunate to have inherited one or two.

The problem with today vs the Jarrow Marches (which my mother told me all about!) is, there is a skills gap between what women knew then and what women know now.

My advice to any contemporary female trying to stretch their resources is to learn traditional skills. By that I mean, cooking from scratch, basic knitting, basic sewing skills and how to conserve energy!

For example:-

Knitting: squares to knit into a blanket; longer, equals scarves etc. That is just the bare minimum you can achieve with a basic knit stitch (without even going into pearl!)

Conserving energy: Only put your oven on IF you can fill every shelf/level! Refridgerate/freeze the excess and then utilise your microwave to re-heat before eat!
Heating-wise = LAYERS!!! (Remember the days of vests? Liberty bodices? Thick socks and slippers? Yes, it's great to walk around home in a T-shirt in November, but that is a luxury afforded by central heating ) Hot water bottles!!!

Scratch cooking: Know how to make a batter, that ONE recipe is very versitile (pancakes, coating for fish, yorkshire pud - sweet and savoury! - coating fruits/potatoes for fritters. Remember, if you can't afford meat, eggs and cheese are a protein substitute (as are lentils and pulses). You don't *need* meat every main meal
Cheaper cuts of meat (which have gone out of fashion!) for the meat-lovers/dependant: so, liver, stuffed heart, kidney soup. They have been rejected in modernity because they have a) a strong flavour and b) some people are put off by the mere mention! That was when we had cheap meat in abundance - now, we don't! Remember the old adage: "Beggars can't be choosers!" = Attitude shift!

Basic sauces can turn the most tedious of vegetables into zingy fresh meals! A basic tomato sauce recipe; a basic white sauce (which can them become a cheese/onion/parsley/mushroom) a basic curry/chilli sauce - all have the potential to alter the humble spud/veg/cheap cut of meat/lentil/pulses into something which has texture, familiar flavour but cheaper version

Granny did not tolerate food "fussy-ness" It was a case of "like it, or lump it!". Contemporary families have kow-towed to fussy eaters (that excludes those who have genuine food intolerances). Luxury is being able to pick and choose; reality is: eat it, or starve! So, "attitude" is the greatest money saver (or, conversely, the greatest money waster ) Rethink your eating! "Cut your coat according to your cloth"

Make stock!!! They add substance to gravy/sauces/soups. So, you failed the cook-from-scratch test and bought a Kentucky - use those bones that you would throw away and make them into tasty chicken stock! That stock will make a soup (and still taste of chicken!) even if you only have veggies to make the soup with - add a chuck of crusty bread and you have a real OS meal!

Sewing: Basic sewing skills can assist you in many, many ways! Running stitch, back stitch, French seams: Knowing how to turn a hem, patch something that is thread bare, turn the worn middle of sheets to the outside edges are all skills which can benefit you in stretching your resources. Someone mentioned earlier: one to wash; one to wear; one "just in case". That also applies to bed linen
In addition, knowing the basics can also lead to using up old clothes/bedlinen/fabric scraps to make hardwearing, cosy lap quilts (to use while watching TV) or bed quilts to add weight to your bed and cosiness to your sleep or even, curtains as draught excluders! ) But, you do need to know the basics, after all, "You can't make a silk purse from a cow's ear"

Basic rag rug: (ok, this is extreme MSE ) every piece of fabric, which may find its way to the charity shop or bin can be made into a rug. Hessian sacks are not commonplace anymore, but, an investment can be made into rug canvas and a latchet hook. Cut your lengths and away you go! They last decades!!!!! No place in contemporary homes? Yes, they do! In recent years people have been encouraged to have laminate flooring (nice! Cold in winter though ). A rag rug will add a degree of warmth for cold tootsies and a (smaller) degree of sound proofing

How extreme do you really, really, want to go? Don't throw out those free newspapers: make them into fire logs (if you have a fireplace!) Or, what our genuine grannies used to do was ... use them to line your mattress Or, use them to make your patchwork, but don't take them out! They provide warmth Old adage? Waste not; want not!

On a final note, the biggest, most far reaching advice from "Granny" would be: "Neither a lender, nor a borrower be!" Clear your debts to free up much needed resources! Debt was a source of shame for our Grannies (if they could get it, that is!) Workhouse if you couldn't pay it back. Lesson: dignity matters On an "economics" point of view - every penny you pay out on your debts, is another penny you could be richer by

Think outside the box; be creative; learn traditional skills (they were invented for efficiency ).

Above all: keep faith in your ABILITY to make ends meet and manage through ever increasing economic challenges

pws52

I agree that those who have experienced 'austerity' have lessons to teach those who haven't.

One of the things that I remember happening in the village where I lived when I was young was the passing down of things which were of no further use to one family but would be of use to another...a bit like Freecycle I suppose.
Because it was a small village you knew when someone was wearing something which had been worn by an older child before because you recognised it but no-one ever made a comment. In fact, I clearly remember an older girl wearing a lovely cardigan and looking forward to inheriting it the following winter!!! (..which I did, thanks Marie's mum).

The most important lesson I learnt from my Grandparents and parents is that unless you can afford to buy something for cash you don't have it. They were great believers in saving for a rainy day and distrusted credit.

I am looking forward to keeping up with this thread...there should be some interesting advice.

BitterAndTwisted

Meh: the main reason working-class folk didn't get into debt in the past was because there was no-one to borrow from. Except the Provi man who collected the repayments on the doorstep. Being visited by the Provi man was a considered shameful when I was growing up. Ordinary working-class people couldn't even get bank-accounts without jumping through hoops and that didn't change until the 1970's when employers were persuaded to pay their staff by monthly bank transfer because it was much cheaper than paying people to count cash into wage-packets every week.

Both of my grandmothers raised their families during the 20s and 30s and both sides lost their businesses in the Great Depression. The scars of those losses endured with them and their children their whole lives. Family legend has it that my Scottish granny could make a small tin of Heinz beans go round a family of five. Experience told me that I had no reason to think this may have been untrue. My German Oma sewed, knitted, darned, baked, bottled and preserved and all in a property with no hot running water or a flushing lav.

karren

rosie383 wrote: »

You are a gem JackieO. As I don't have a granny left, I shall have to adopt you!

i too shall follow you as no grannies in my life !!!
or in my childrens

deb68_2

rosie383 wrote: »

You are a gem JackieO. As I don't have a granny left, I shall have to adopt you!

me too please
let us adopt you :A

MuchAdo_2

I miss my Granny dearly

Having been widowed very young with 2 young children, her way of finding her way through the difficult times was to enjoy life. Food was a chore to be endured between cigarettes and coffee (before midday) and gin (post midday). She was a mean seamstress, but only interested in patterns from Vogue. She had a great many friends, and her new year's parties were legendary Her house was never spotless, but always a lovely, happy place to be.

What she did teach me was the value of hospitality, generosity and selflessness. For over 30 years, well into her 80's, she campaigned hard for the Poppy Appeal and voluteered for the Stroke Association. She never missed a single week's volunteering in all those years.

After her death, a local hospice called to thank her for all of her support and donations over the years. We had no idea, and sent them the flowers after her funeral.

I'm sure her tip would've been that no matter how financially tough times are, you only have one life to enjoy

3v3

JackieO wrote: »

as a Granny of seven I save the most by using up what I have if at all possible before buying any more The amount of stored foodstuff in your cupboards would probably suprise you all.So do a stock take of all edible items followed by a menu plan .In my kitchen inside each cupboard door I have a typed out list of all the food in there in tins,bottles jars etc i know it sounds a bit OCD but it works for me and when I am on an economy drive (which happens usually before Christmas ) I do a massive stocktake and sort out how many meals I can make from what I have to hand.By my kettle I have my 'Essentials' list and on there goes literally 'essentials only 'which means stuff that HAS to be bought to help use up what I already have .On my list at the moment is eggs and thats all I have to buy over the next few days I have enough in the stores to feed myself for at least a week without buying fresh food stuff as I have bread,cheese etc in the freezer and long life milk in the fridge to use when my fresh milk truns out (about Sunday possibly)I have a stash of fruit and veg bought earlier this week so nothing to buy there so I am well fixed for at least another week with only buying a dozen eggs which i will do later on today .Some of these I will use to make cakes and cookies for my grandsons as I like to keep the cake tin filled for them.Organisation and forward planning is the key .My late Mum bless her managed to raise three children without the aid of a fridge,freezer,washing machine,tumble dryer ,microwave and at times very little hot running water coupled with 9 years of rationing and a war where bobms were falling round her ears shopping became almost a challenge to her housekeeping skills.I learned quite a lot from her about steeeetching food and how you don't need a great deal to feed your family and improvisation is the key if you run out of something
Grannies may be old, but we are definitely up to scratch when it comes to budgetting and feeding a family on next to nothing :):)

Great advice, on the food front

Perhaps you could share your advice on other fronts? I'm sure you have much to offer After all, food is only the start of it

deb68_2

Please keep posting this looks like its going to great
Rag rugs would love to no how to make one----but not very good sewing lack of vision in left eye an arms/hands going into spasm but would love to learn
im trying make a patch work prob take me for ever but im am enjoying it

i enjoy batch cooking have to hair cairs doted round kitch for me to sit down,hubby puts things in an out of oven
I have always helped others was told by my Gramps never turn your back on those less fortunate than you
My mum/dad loved em to bits didnt really teach me much in os living but my dad used to take me for walks point out diff things he would even have me picking up sticks an pointing them the way we had just come or to put a bit of cotton round a bush incase i got lost or someone wanted to no where i was
do this now when legs are working just so hubby can find me i must sound a right odd one lol
i have noticed that people on here help others so much its a wonderful warm feeling
thank you everyone
love deb

katiecoodle

My gran was dead cute, and loved the finer things in life. When my mum and dad married, she wore a Dior hat to the wedding. The same hat is on my auntie and uncle's wedding photo. And on my brothers too 35 years later! She knew how to look after things, it looked immaculate after being in storage for all those years. Interesting, that she didn't feel that she couldn't wear it again (in front of all the same relatives), like today people would be embarrassed to be caught wearing the same thing twice.
My other granny enjoyed doing things which didn't cost. She loved gardening, or just walking, or volunteering at various activities. I guess that was a major saving - my 'leisure money' could easily spiral out of control, my kids don't know how lucky they are when they get to go roller skating & movies & bowling & things like that.