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

System

I'm going to attempt cauliflower cheese today. I am trying to cut down on grocery bills and am looking for cheaper sources of protein. I dont really want to go down the route of proccessed food if i can help it and my family totally refuse point blank to eat lentils.

I was thinking along the lines of a cauliflower/brocolli bake do you think it would work?

parsniphead

GreyQueen wrote: »

I was only talking at the weekend with my Mum. She managed to be a SAHM until me and brother were 9 and 7 respectively, then returned to work part-time, then full-time as we grew older. Money was very very tight and it was hard for my folks when we both needed shoes at the same time. I can recall Mum unravelling 2 worn out adults' jumpers to skein and wash the yarn and re-knit as stripy tanktops for us kids (OK, I know, I was a 70s child ) and many many other little economies.

Thing was, we had lots of love and attention, we were warm and clean and well-fed (lots of hearty fillers like semolina for dessert) and we knew that we were the first priotities in our parents' lives.

I had a very similar upbringing GreyQueen during the 70's. We may not have had much but were happy, well fed and knew we were loved. I know a lot of people had it harder during that time but I sometimes long for that way of life. Perhaps it's rose tinted glasses. I hope my little one can grow up in a similar environment (with a little less struggle with money I hope).

mardatha wrote: »

Its awful here too, any washing put out here will end up in Norway within hours! plus its pelting doon, I'm not even venturing out to fix the chickens, they had their porridge and can wait for their cabbage until I feel braver!
Gigervamp thats very true re chimneys and open fires - its the way to go. Even if only as a backup for powercuts etc, anybody can gather fallen wood. Free heat!
I need to hide the remote from the RV if Osbourne's coming on telly today - I canny stand the screaming and swearing :rotfl:I like to watch him though. Anybody who can act and lie through his teeth like he can without one bat of an eyelid deserves applause

My DH's a virgo too and I know he will be shouting and swearing at the TV tonight.....mmmmmm. I think he enjoys it though as he will never turn the darn thing off.

imataloss

Thanks for starting up this thread again - I am another long time lurker, occassional poster who has missed it.
GQ - we must be a similar age. I grew up in the 1970`s and remember the unravelling of wool to make new jumpers.
I am the oldest of three children and although things were tight at times we never went without anything. My late DD work two jobs at many times to keep the money coming in. My DM worked part time when we were at school.
We struggled in the 1980`s when my DH was made redundant just after we got married. We started out married life living with my inlaws. Then we were lucky enough to get a council flat. This was furnished with hand me downs and second hand items. Just after moving in my DH was made redundant. He was out of work for 2 years. Fortunately I was lucky enough to have a job that was well paid enough to pay the rent, bills and buy food.
He then managed to get a job and we had a lovely addition to our family our DS.
Our council flat was not big enough for us then and we decided that we needed a house to live in. It was decided that I would return to work full time. This was at a time where maternity leave was available but most women didn`t return. The money that had been held back paid for the solicitors fees on our house. We also managed to get a 100% mortgage.
A few years later our DD was a most welcome surprise. I carried on working full time (apart from 4 years part time when the children were at primary school) ever since.
The reason for telling you this is that my DD is now finding life very hard. She lives with her partner and DGS and works part time.
She cannot afford not to work and the nursery fees are crippling. They have a mortgage and bills to pay. Sometimes it is a struggle to buy the grocery. They do not go out (unless they are treated by someone else). Sometimes when I talk with her I can see the hurt and worry in her eyes. She is upset that they cannot afford to buy anyone Christmas presents. She doesn`t buy any new clothes at all. We try to help them out a much as we can. Also her partners parents are helping to pay the nursery fees.
I keep on trying to tell her that things will get better in time but it is so hard for her as I have been in the same position in the past.
Anyway - thanks for reading this just needed to get it off my chest.
Have a good day

CH27

imataloss wrote: »

Thanks for starting up this thread again - I am another long time lurker, occassional poster who has missed it.
GQ - we must be a similar age. I grew up in the 1970`s and remember the unravelling of wool to make new jumpers.
I am the oldest of three children and although things were tight at times we never went without anything. My late DD work two jobs at many times to keep the money coming in. My DM worked part time when we were at school.
We struggled in the 1980`s when my DH was made redundant just after we got married. We started out married life living with my inlaws. Then we were lucky enough to get a council flat. This was furnished with hand me downs and second hand items. Just after moving in my DH was made redundant. He was out of work for 2 years. Fortunately I was lucky enough to have a job that was well paid enough to pay the rent, bills and buy food.
He then managed to get a job and we had a lovely addition to our family our DS.
Our council flat was not big enough for us then and we decided that we needed a house to live in. It was decided that I would return to work full time. This was at a time where maternity leave was available but most women didn`t return. The money that had been held back paid for the solicitors fees on our house. We also managed to get a 100% mortgage.
A few years later our DD was a most welcome surprise. I carried on working full time (apart from 4 years part time when the children were at primary school) ever since.
The reason for telling you this is that my DD is now finding life very hard. She lives with her partner and DGS and works part time.
She cannot afford not to work and the nursery fees are crippling. They have a mortgage and bills to pay. Sometimes it is a struggle to buy the grocery. They do not go out (unless they are treated by someone else). Sometimes when I talk with her I can see the hurt and worry in her eyes. She is upset that they cannot afford to buy anyone Christmas presents. She doesn`t buy any new clothes at all. We try to help them out a much as we can. Also her partners parents are helping to pay the nursery fees.
I keep on trying to tell her that things will get better in time but it is so hard for her as I have been in the same position in the past.
Anyway - thanks for reading this just needed to get it off my chest.
Have a good day

I think we expected to have it tough when we were starting out & had young kids.
This isn't aimed at you & your daughter but a lot of young people expect to have everything their parents worked very hard for when they start out. They seem to regard a dishwasher & Sky tv as essentials.

charliemaine1bee

Agghhh true to form at this time of year boiler is playing up..like a sauna in here and it wont stop firing up...plus side of rented is dont have to foot the bill for the plumber but am trying not to freak out at the gas usage of the boiler firing up all the time..am so frugal with it that i was almost in tears when i rang the plumber..felt a right numpty..lol

ifonlyitwaseasier

Judi - if your making a mince dish just don't tell your family it has lentils in it, i bet they'll not notice

Gigervamp

7_week_wonder wrote: »

Does anyone else find they can muddle along being OS and frugual until they have visitors? We've got my BIL staying tonight so I know we'll have more heating and lighting on and I've prepared a meal without padding it out with veg, chickpeas etc, so it cost much more than we normally budget. It doesn't help that he is diabetic and so I've bought lots of posh fruit for pudding. Help - how on earth am I going to cope over the festive period?

Have a good day all.

I've found that when my mum comes to stay it costs us more because she doesn't like spicy foods (out goes chilli and curry), she doesn't like rice unless it's a packet rice mix used as an accompaniment (out goes risotto), she eats spag bol, but not other pasta dishes, jacket spuds have to have sausages or something like that as well as the beans and soup isn't a meal. :rotfl:

imataloss

CH27 wrote: »

I think we expected to have it tough when we were starting out & had young kids.
This isn't aimed at you & your daughter but a lot of young people expect to have everything their parents worked very hard for when they start out. They seem to regard a dishwasher & Sky tv as essentials.

Thanks, I know it`s not aimed at us. All my DD wants is a roof over her head and for her son to be happy and healthy.
My DD is very OS and was very excited the other day. Her Tesco shopping was delivered and they had subsituted a small piece of pork with a huge leg. They charged her £3.50 for it. It is now cut up into smaller pieces and is sitting in my freezer. They will get lots of meals from those.

GreyQueen wrote: »

imataloss I'm in my late forties (getting greyer and later by the hour ) so I guess we're similar age but I chose not to do motherhood as it's a tough job and best left for those who want it, IMO.

Mum said, way back in the 1970s when she returned to work, that the more women who go out to work, the more will HAVE to go out to work. Now, understand that Mum left school for work aged 15, as did my Dad, and has no qualifications whatsover. However, she is a shrewd woman and can see around corners, a trait which people remark-upon in me ILRW.

Sh thinks that wages overall have been driven down by the fact that so many households with children are 2-income; whether it's 1.5 or 1.75 or 2 whole incomes.

Most of my colleagues are either parents of very young children or grandparents to littlies and how people are struggling to manage to keep the roof over the family's head etc is wickedly-hard. Things ahve really gone backwards in the past few years.

I was talking to a guy from Lithuania who'd emigrated into the UK with his wife and 2 young children and was finding it very hard to manage on just his income (it's grimmer still back there, apparently) and had to explain gently to this decent hardworking guy that you haven't been able to keep a family on one wage in the UK for a generation or more, unless you make a whopping salary..........

OMG, the sky has gone BLACK, think the raih has reached Provincial City just in time to land on me when I go to work. Cue waders, brolly etc etc.

Toodle pip!:)

Thanks Grey Queen, I`m a little older than you then. Probably very grey too but the blond highlights help to hide the grey hairs

charliemaine1bee wrote: »

Agghhh true to form at this time of year boiler is playing up..like a sauna in here and it wont stop firing up...plus side of rented is dont have to foot the bill for the plumber but am trying not to freak out at the gas usage of the boiler firing up all the time..am so frugal with it that i was almost in tears when i rang the plumber..felt a right numpty..lol

Ours boiler is too. We have a service contract and the engineer is coming out this afternoon. Ours is something to do with the pressure. Hope your bill isn`t too painful.

mardatha

Gigervamp are you my daughter? I hate rice, I hate chilli, I SERIOUSLY hate curry, I hate anything with beans innit

Gigervamp

Lol Mardatha, I don't think so, my mum doesn't have much of a sweet tooth.