A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

greenbee

fuddle wrote: »

I wouldn't be disappointed if I unwrapped one no :rotfl: Thanks for that MG. Yeah it is reality. No point hiding or pretending. I hope my children grow up to be savvy and financially switched on. Gnocci from mashed potato? Would you share how to do that? Well done Master 11 year old

Try here

Cat501

greenbee wrote: »

Try here

thanks for that, I love gnocchi and really want to try making it.

The sauce in that pic looks a bit like rhubarb, though I'm sure it tastes nice!

fuddle

greenbee wrote: »

Try here

wonderful, thank you

ifonlyitwaseasier

MARDYWOTSIT! - slice up one of the cabbage's and boil for about 5 mins, then drain, mix well with mash and then fry up in butter til you get a nice crust on both sides and serve with bacon and a fried egg nomnomnomnomnom

bellaquidsin

Mardatha help is at hand for your cabbage mountain:-

Cream of Cabbage Soup

1 Onion
1 large potato
1 oz butter
1 lb cabbage
3/4 pint water
3/4 pint milk
nutmeg
salt and pepper

Peel and slice onion and potato and saute gently in the butter for 10 minutes. Meanwhile wash and shred cabbage and add to onion and potato and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the water and simmer gently for 30 minutes or until potato is cooked, then add the milk and seasoning and reheat, but do not boil. Liquidise and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

An economical and nourishing soup.

Taken from the book Not just a Load of Old Lentils by Rose Elliot.

Do try it, it's a lot nicer than it sounds.

Bella.

notjustlaura

fuddle wrote: »

...
Had DD in tears (7) when she saw my handmade attempt at a draught excluder "but you've spoilt the surprise, I've asked Santa for one for you!" That had me in tears. Of all the things that she thought that were important to me she thought I really wanted a draught excluder? Tells me she's picking up on things that she shouldn't really be picking up on.... or should she? Is it 'good' for children to know we haven't much money? I don't want her to know we are not very well off, not worry about it anyway but I wonder will it set her up in good stead to know that we have to wait for things, work hard for things and choose more important needs before wants. I don't know. All a bit sad really.

I guess if my children grow up thinking we didn't have much money but Mum and Dad tried their very best for us then that can only be a good thing. I think. So confused and a bit upset but ok.

I'm not a parent so perhaps shouldn't comment. But ... I *do* remember growing up from about your daughter's age in varying financial states. I wasn't really aware of our circumstances until I was older. At 7 I would have picked up on 'Mum wants a draught excluder 'cause it's cold' but not 'Mum wants a draught excluder because she can't afford the heating bills.'

I don't think it's done me any harm to know that we weren't well off and, really, why would it? I regard myself as 'comfortable' now (I'm trying to save rather than pay off debt) and I enjoy the things money buys me. But I have made do and mended and could do so again without it 'ruining my life' or anything like that.

fuddle

notjustlaura wrote: »

I'm not a parent so perhaps shouldn't comment. But ... I *do* remember growing up from about your daughter's age in varying financial states. I wasn't really aware of our circumstances until I was older. At 7 I would have picked up on 'Mum wants a draught excluder 'cause it's cold' but not 'Mum wants a draught excluder because she can't afford the heating bills.'

I don't think it's done me any harm to know that we weren't well off and, really, why would it? I regard myself as 'comfortable' now (I'm trying to save rather than pay off debt) and I enjoy the things money buys me. But I have made do and mended and could do so again without it 'ruining my life' or anything like that.

I'm so pleased you commented. That makes absolute sense to me and I'm more comfortable with the thought that she isn't so much as picking up on the money issues but the need issues.

taurusgb

How fantastic :j have been too poorly to log in for a while and now I have there is a new Tough thread woopeeeeee!

I agree that there seems to be no end in sight to the hard times. Personally it's getting harder and harder for us. I've been ill and unable to work very much since the end of July, and I don't earn enough to get SSP (I earn £1.50 per MONTH too little :mad: ).I have no idea when I will be able to go back to work and earn some money as I am waiting for major surgery. My DH is working but we hold our breath on a regular basis in case of redundancy.

Living in a rural area our diesel costs are fairly high, public transport is all but useless and majorly expensive on the few routes that there are - none of which go where we need to go. We are spending a fortune on hospital car parking and other ill-health related costs and we have to pay £250 per term for our 16 year old DS to get to college. Food seems to go up daily and although I cook everything I can from scratch I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle trying to feed us healthily and affordably (is that actually a a word? :rotfl:)

We rarely go out unless visiting family or for a walk (which I can't do at the moment). We don't drink, smoke, have any paid for TV such as Sky. We only buy clothes that are needs not wants and I can't remember the last time we bought a DVD or CD. Our one indulgence is books, but they are very rarely new ones unless they are received as gifts. It's hard really to see where we could cut back much.

A lot of our Christmas gifts have been home made and I intend to jazz them up by wrapping them in some fabric rather than Christmas paper...... I found a large piece of lovely material in my stash that I know I will never use for anything else that will do the job nicely. My oldest DD is making every gift she is giving and has been hoarding newspapers and magazines (free ones) to use for wrapping - she is trying to match what is on each page with the person the gift is for IYSWIM, which I think is a great idea.

I worry constantly about our 4 children and the future. The oldest has a husband, 1 child and a mortgage, she is unemployed and her husband under threat of redundancy. The second is in a low paid job, no children but a mortgage on a house he bought with 2 friends (it being the only way any of them could afford to leave home). Our third child is at university and will be out in the big wide world job hunting next summer with a large student debt to pay and no money in the bank, (though she has managed to stay away from credit cards and has never been overdrawn at the bank :T:A so I'm thankfull for that as a lot of her friends have overdrafts and credit card debt that you wouldn't believe!). Our youngest child has just started college and is aiming at university in 2 years time - given the recent changes in student loans I can only guess what level of debt he will end up with :eek:

I do realise that there are a lot of people worse off than we are, we do have enough to eat for now, a fairly good food stockpile, no debts other than our mortgage and most of all we have each other - and that is something I thank God for on a daily basis, my lovely DH and the best 4 children you could wish for.

Angel_Jenny

The SSP limits have affected a lot of people - you have to earn a lot more this year to pay National Insurance so more people are missing out on SSP through their employers. Bit irritating I am sure especially as some were above the limit last year!

lora

taurusgb wrote: »

How fantastic :j have been too poorly to log in for a while and now I have there is a new Tough thread woopeeeeee!

I agree that there seems to be no end in sight to the hard times. Personally it's getting harder and harder for us. I've been ill and unable to work very much since the end of July, and I don't earn enough to get SSP (I earn £1.50 per MONTH too little :mad: ).I have no idea when I will be able to go back to work and earn some money as I am waiting for major surgery. My DH is working but we hold our breath on a regular basis in case of redundancy.

Living in a rural area our diesel costs are fairly high, public transport is all but useless and majorly expensive on the few routes that there are - none of which go where we need to go. We are spending a fortune on hospital car parking and other ill-health related costs and we have to pay £250 per term for our 16 year old DS to get to college. Food seems to go up daily and although I cook everything I can from scratch I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle trying to feed us healthily and affordably (is that actually a a word? :rotfl:)

We rarely go out unless visiting family or for a walk (which I can't do at the moment). We don't drink, smoke, have any paid for TV such as Sky. We only buy clothes that are needs not wants and I can't remember the last time we bought a DVD or CD. Our one indulgence is books, but they are very rarely new ones unless they are received as gifts. It's hard really to see where we could cut back much.

A lot of our Christmas gifts have been home made and I intend to jazz them up by wrapping them in some fabric rather than Christmas paper...... I found a large piece of lovely material in my stash that I know I will never use for anything else that will do the job nicely. My oldest DD is making every gift she is giving and has been hoarding newspapers and magazines (free ones) to use for wrapping - she is trying to match what is on each page with the person the gift is for IYSWIM, which I think is a great idea.

I worry constantly about our 4 children and the future. The oldest has a husband, 1 child and a mortgage, she is unemployed and her husband under threat of redundancy. The second is in a low paid job, no children but a mortgage on a house he bought with 2 friends (it being the only way any of them could afford to leave home). Our third child is at university and will be out in the big wide world job hunting next summer with a large student debt to pay and no money in the bank, (though she has managed to stay away from credit cards and has never been overdrawn at the bank :T:A so I'm thankfull for that as a lot of her friends have overdrafts and credit card debt that you wouldn't believe!). Our youngest child has just started college and is aiming at university in 2 years time - given the recent changes in student loans I can only guess what level of debt he will end up with :eek:

I do realise that there are a lot of people worse off than we are, we do have enough to eat for now, a fairly good food stockpile, no debts other than our mortgage and most of all we have each other - and that is something I thank God for on a daily basis, my lovely DH and the best 4 children you could wish for.

Good to hear how you are. I have been thinking about you and I remember all your posts from hospital via mobile phone. Stay well.