make do and mend for tougher times

fuddle

I guess we have to remember that forums are just people's opinions. To say that there's summat up just because a form has been highlighted seems a bit daft to me. Someone has suggested something based on their own interpretations. That's all.

I'm sure an office investigating fraud/misdemeanour's would have a better system than highlighting a form They want you to be truthful and they want the form back on time - they are just making sure you know it

prepareathome

I think the highlighted part is to make you think twice if you are of a dishonest frame of mind -fill that part in truthfully, we can check......

Well not rained all night and we have sun( yet forecast says it should have poured all night and be raining now, so don't mind then being wrong like that). A lot of white clouds around but also blue sky........

mardatha

Cheapskate I agree re twin tubs, they might wash well but they're hard on the back and feet. And there is nothing worse than hand washing!! I had to do that for a while too when we were poor and never again, the automatic WM is the greatest invention since sliced bread lol. In fact even greater
I've decided to get a chip pan. I blame Mrs Chip, it's all her fault!

nuatha

fuddle wrote: »

In a bit of a dilemma. DH brought in 45kg (3 big sacks) of dog food given to him by his work colleague completely free. His dog was putting too much weight on and needed senior food - this is working dog food (that part I have no qualms with, you can't get any more working than a beagle/collie cross :rotfl: ) but I have just got his diet stable with James Wellbeloved (expensive but Alfie is much better on it than the cheaper stuff) This is Arkrights dog food and not as expensive. It's probably about 6 months worth of food, even more as he gets meat, offal and rice/veg of an evening. I don't know whether to use it but all my frugal instincts are telling me I have to. I'm going to try to compare the compositions of the two. I feed my kids basic value stuff :cool:

The main reason the Arkwright's is cheaper is that "working dog" food is VAT free.
I'd at least try Alfie on it, you could be in for a pleasant surprise. (I know you were having problems with his feeding regime, but do know several folk who have recommended Arkwright's for years)

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

Cheapskate I agree re twin tubs, they might wash well but they're hard on the back and feet. And there is nothing worse than hand washing!! I had to do that for a while too when we were poor and never again, the automatic WM is the greatest invention since sliced bread lol. In fact even greater
I've decided to get a chip pan. I blame Mrs Chip, it's all her fault!

Mar, there's a powerful argument made by a leading ecomomist that the w.m. changed the world more that the internet by freeing up a big chunk of women's time and energy.

My Mum, who is ideaogically-opposed to using credit, admits that an automatic w.m. is one thing she would get into hock for, if necessary.

In my childhood, we had a single-tub and a spindrier. A regular thing was to come home from school and find Mum in the kitchen with one or the other of them resting across 2 chairs having surgery on its innards. They were pretty simple machines and our weekly market had a stall selling parts for household appliances and a lot of people fixed their own stuff out of necessity, and the streets on the estate were companionable at the weekends with people working on their cars. I was often out there rubbing rust off ours! My first ever job was prepping trade-ins for resale at a big garage so I'm a whizz with the T-Cut.

Pooky

Pops - if I were in your position I'd get the probate sorted as quickly as possible and get everyone informed when the money comes through. At the moment you're beating yourself up with worry about what might happen and spending money that you don't seem happy about spending. If the probate amount is going to take you over the threshold for a while then any saving you can make yourself will just give you another few months of easier living without the stress and worry of the brown envelope.

Sorry if that offends, it isn't meant to but putting off the enevitable just builds it up into a monster in your head. By being proactive and sorting it now it will help your health in the long run, stress and anxiety is an absolute b*gger and you don't need anymore.

SpikyHedgehog

fuddle wrote: »

You notice I haven't lost anything yet :rotfl::D

Thanks for reminding me pops about the hairy dieters, gutted I missed it. Too engrossed in the olympics. So I too will be watching online later.


Dumplings? Has anyone made dumplings in the slow cooker with a stew. I normally transfer stew from SC onto hob and make dumplings but this just seems daft. :cool: :eek: and she has the gual to mention dieting :rotfl:

Back to boiling kettle and flasking water for my tea hits during the day. Feeling bad as the washing machine is on. I am seriously thinking about hand washing and then just spinning for 10 minutes in the machine at the end. Anyone done this?

I was doing it the other week when my washing machine was broken, & the stuff got washed ok, but I don't like doing it all the time! Someone said about washing in the bath & treading it, & that's what I did with DS2's bedding, & I've done it on holiday.

jamanda wrote: »

Fuddle

re sewing machine needle - try putting the needle in the other way round. Does it have a screw at the side to secure it?

Mine has the flat side to the back, but on older machines the flat side goes to the right hand side.

Hope this makes sense.

Hi Jamanda, it was me having problems, & I bought new needles which has done that trick. Binned the cheap rubbish thread I'd got as it kept breaking, so can't get on till I've got new thread...

smileyt wrote: »

I have a feeling that left-over stock from Julian Graves might be ending up on Approved Foods - there's currently lots of 'wholefood/healthfood shop' type stuff being listed on there. Will be keeping an eye out to see if it's worth doing another order for £5 delivery before tonight.

Just taken delivery of 27kg of dog food. That should keep my two going for a while. It's expensive stuff but I worked out that I need less of it to feed the dogs as it's high quality, so it works out about the same as the brand I was getting before, in fact I think it's a bit cheaper. This lot should last about 18 weeks, maybe a bit longer. So that'll be half-way through December. The dogs look fantastic on it and are glowing with health at age 13 and 14 so as far as I'm concerned it's worth every penny! This is what OS is for - cutting where you can so you can spend on what you think is worthwhile, and for me, that's a high quality dog food for my babies.

Off to a fun day this afternoon. I'll hopefully be collecting addresses of people who are interested in attending my budgeting club. This is a club I hope to run with some other tenants on the Tenants' Panel, lasting six weeks. It will cover stuff like budgeting, best value for money from supermarkets, calculating annual fuel usage and then looking online for best utility deals, setting up a credit union account (instead of using loan sharks) and a basic bank account, doing a financial statement, meal planning, and hopefully we will be able to grey the CAB to do a spiel on dealing with debts and on welfare reforms. I'm hoping people will form friendships and do BOGOF's with each other, too. There's a lot of work to be done getting the content ready. I know a lot of you will know all of the above back-to-front and upside-down, but I bet there are many who don't. So I'd better get my factor 50 on (good grief yes it is actually sunny!) and make myself look presentable for a change.

Did I tell you all that I've given up my allotment? I have handed it over to the community allotment people here and have become part of that group. I will keep half a dozen small raised beds for myself and the rest the group will cultivate. I will actually get more produce out it, new friends, and the relief from having the nagging voice in the back of my mind telling me I really should be spending my life digging. It will free me up to do other things (like the budgeting club) and I think I will therefore have more mental energy. It's a win-win situation.

Right I'd better go and get some lunch so that I am full of energy to bounce up to people and convince them that they do really need to sign up for the super-duper budgeting club!

Oh dear, I'm going to have to do an AF order then, I think! Lol

fuddle

nuatha wrote: »

The main reason the Arkwright's is cheaper is that "working dog" food is VAT free.
I'd at least try Alfie on it, you could be in for a pleasant surprise. (I know you were having problems with his feeding regime, but do know several folk who have recommended Arkwright's for years)

Thank you so much for posting this, I had no idea. I will try it.

paidinchickens

Morning everyone

Haven't been on in a while as we have had some HUGE unexpected bills this month so I have been Eb*ying my little butt off.

Nothing seems to be going for much any more unless I am after it then it sells for oooodles of dosh.

Is it the beginning of the end? is that why they have been doing so many free listings lately?

Going to read back posts

PIC x

Shropshirelass

Hi everyone, been thinking of you all as I lurked briefly during the week. Hope you are enjoying the summer, even if it is a bit unusual this year!! Think it may be autumn now actually.

Re: Pops, Pooky and probate - last year I (finally) recieved inheritance money of £30,000+. In my tax code information letter this year, they said my annual income was over £32,000. I was horrified, the same day sent a letter back to HMRC putting the facts straight, and they revised my tax code back, before April, so I did not actually have to pay any extra tax. In fact, I'm on a low income so not paying any (income) tax now - I dont forget Council Tax, VAT, etc. of course.

BTW we were on holiday for a week when the money was paid into my account. When we got home, there were 3 messages on the answer phone, and three letters on the door mat - from the bank, informing me a lot of money ahd been paid to me, and basically, was I money laundering, and did I want to invest it with them? At 0.5%, I dont think so!

Good luck anyone in the same position, when something like that happens, you certainly start to see how the other half lives.