Preparedness for when

westcoastscot

When I was younger we didn't have new school clothes every year - we had home-made, and we handed them down (family of 6 kids). Each summer from a very young age we knitted a jumper for the next one down, so always had one "good" jumper and an old one to play in.
Life is just so different now - even very small children are consumers - was just watching TV and saw an advert for a pretty bear who will "teach" your baby to clap his hands! really??? what happened to playing peek-a-boo with mum??? I remember also my very first supermarket - it was a Leo's (co-op I think) - It made shopping so much easier than traipsing around the market but that's when I really noticed prices starting to rise - would have been mid 70's. My shopping list was given in prices, so no 1 LB of cheese, more £1 of cheese! the bits got smaller and smaller and I was accused of nibbling on the way home :-)

Not sure where my ramblings are taking me really - just pondering how difficult it is to simplify life and still fit in with peers etc if that's important to you.

[Deleted User]

ragz wrote: »

Still haven't got any fuel for my lovely Feuerhand lantern, I know someone here told me what to put it in and where to get it but sieve-like brain has lost the info. BedsitBob, was it you and if so could you tell me again please?

Is this the one you got for £1, from the Charity Shop?

The one with "a wick about an inch wide but not much of it"?

Did you actually measure the wick, and get some replacement wick?

[Deleted User]

GreyQueen wrote: »

Can't you also make a coffee-substitute out of the dried roots of dandelions?

Yes you can.

They need to be slow roasted, at a moderate temperature, until they are dry, then ground to a powder.

craigywv

I have noticed when I going into butchers more and more people saying a pound in money please, to the butcher rather than a pound in weight pls. this brings back memories as to how it was in the 70s when I would have went for my mum people couldn't afford "round" figures to buy. my granny would send me for 3 quarters of a pound of mince ............this fed 8 people and a dog with stew which was lovely .....probally hard to find the meat but still lovely. I think we eat too much meat in one sitting now anyway. I trying to reduce our intake here gradually

[Deleted User]

westcoastscot wrote: »

Are you supporting a family Bob? Your father was possibly supporting himself, his wife and at least you

I was referring to the time when all of us were working, and contributing to the household.

Even with 4 wages coming in, there still wasn't much left, after the bills had been paid.

westcoastscot

oh ok - have no experience of that. In our family my father was the only one who worked, and I left home at 15 so worked to support myself from then on.

[Deleted User]

If you want to see how much better off we are now, consider three items.

Firstly, a pint of milk.

I have a friend who was a milkman for many years.

Twenty years ago, he was delivering it at 23p a pint.

You can buy it today, for 25p a pint.

Next, a pair of jeans.

You can get a pair from Asda for less than £5.

I paid more than £5 for a pair, 20 years ago.

Finally, a bicycle.

My first bike, in about 1967, was second hand.

My father brought it home, stripped it down, paint stripped it, resprayed it with a few aerosol cans, polished the rust from the handlebars and wheels, and reassembled it.

That was my "big Christmas present".

The rest consisted of the odd board game or annual.

How many children, nowadays, get a second hand bike for Christmas?

These days, it's a quick trip to Halfords, or the Supermarket, to buy a new one, which becomes just one present, among a pile.

ALIBOBSY

westcoastscot wrote: »

GQ I too concur. I think compared to our parents' generation we're doubly damned - both by high rents/rates as a % of our wages and less flexibility in our living arrangements. One reason I have a fuel stove is I know if things get bad and I cannot afford coal I can burn anything, which will give me a means of heat and cooking - labour intensive and not pleasant, but doable. That kind of flexibility can be the difference between empowering an individual or encouraging dependency. If you're all electric the only currency you have is coin, yes?

This is the reason I would love to get a stove. Plus now OH works as a volunteer woodland ranger we could get both some free wood and then cheap wood from there. We also live in a semi rural area where we could easily collect up wood for burning as well as there being loads of places that sell cheap bags of wood around here.

It's just that initial outlay we need to get saved up. After doing a bit of research it would appear as we have no chimney we are looking at the stove, plus twinwall liner up the outside of the house. So around 2k fitted maybe slightly more or less. So aiming for 2.5k and will then get some actual quotes.

Mum and Dad have a friend who is a chimney sweep who a few years ago retrained and qualified to fit stoves etc and is HETAS (think that's right) registered and is a lovely guy, so reckon he would do a good price. But I suppose we should get a few quotes anyway.

Just not going to be able to get it done this year .

Ali x

westlothianlass

Hi all
Boy is it nippy today, had to wear a hat in the garden and it still felt very cold.
We have been cutting down an enormous pine hedge over the last two days. DH has been perched on a ladder and some scaffolding to bring it down to a decent height, with neighbour doing the same on the other side. Its still around 8ft tall but i'm amazed at how much lighter the garden is/feels. So lots of wood to be chopped up for storing over the next week or so :T.
Bought myself some furry snow boots for a decent price on fleabay today (bought a pair for my DM too) they have a wellie bottom and a fleecy upper so fingers crossed they will be practical and cozy.
WLL x

ALIBOBSY

GreyQueen wrote: »

I know that I spend very little that isn't in the cheapest discount stores or the charity shops. I'm not prepared to drop £3 on a beer or £6-8 on a cinema ticket, and know plenty of people in the same boat.

Heck, I seldom even darken the door of "proper" shops. I'm wearing some shirts that Mum has turfed out of her wardobe as things she no longer uses and a pair of cast-off shoes from a pal.

They're very good quality shoes, btw, of a much higher quality brand than I've ever bought for myself, but I won't be buying any more until they've worn out.

I agree about the "normal" shops, but we are lucky that a lot of our local stores especially the farm shops are good and cheap.

We also have a lovely fishmonger stall outside our local farm shop twice a week and he is great. Will tell you what is good, how to store it, if it will freeze, and how to cook it.

You can tell him the exact piece and cut of fish you want and people often order by price.

He used the trimming to make lovely massive fishcakes which he flash freezes and only charges 50p a piece-full of fish, really tasty and the size of a quarterpounder we always have some in the freezer if I haven't had chance to make my own.

We can and sometimes do manage to do a weekly shop wil no supermarkets at all, but I would miss not having Lidl/Aldi and the pound stores.

Ali x