The commonsense thread

D&DD

cuddlymarm wrote: »

Hi

I hope you lovely people don't mind me starting this thread. There seems to be a lot of worry at the moment about the future, about jobs, prices, and mainly how we are all going to cope.
So (as a lot of us older moneysavers know we have been here before, not quite this bad but we have been here before) and taking a deep breath and using our commonsense can make things not quite so bad.

So I thought I would start a thread about commonsense ideas ( please join in cos that is how we can help each other.)

Can I please respectfully ask we keep up the spirit of this thread as the OP intended rather than it descending into yet another debate about 'how old style this or that is' etc as it can make posters feel very uncomfortable about posting when other threads/points of view are being criticised
Many thanks :A

Popperwell

I agree but I think generally we are keeping to the spirit of things...and will again...

I think that commonsense is realising the simple life is important OS wise and that loved one's are what matters...

This is probably why people survived through the difficult times of the past and we have so much to learn from them.

tryingtobethrifty

fuddle wrote: »

I use the slow cooker a lot whether a stew or a steamed pudding. I loved learning about the hay box in wartime farm last week. Would a cardboard box filled with hay do the trick too?

I tried this last year. I got a box, stuffed it with blankets, boiled pot up and stuffed it inside a sleeping bag, covered in blankets and viola!!

Babyshoes - what a great post - thank you!

Popperwell

tryingtobethrifty wrote: »

I tried this last year. I got a box, stuffed it with blankets, boiled pot up and stuffed it inside a sleeping bag, covered in blankets and viola!!

We are really learning new skills and ideas. And that cannot be a bad thing.

I have some great books with lots of advice how to cure ills or do things around the house with items you would not normally think of but are everyday things normally in anyone's cupboard and therefore cost nothing or very little.

Purple_kitten

Chirpy Chic, that is a fantastic post. I can relate to the kindle gadget so much. I'm hoping the same may be able to afford it in a few months, I keep seeing books I would have liked to have downloaded go from free to pay for thou!

Live life and enjoy what you can do, I love things like creating blackberry and apple pie with food that was picked up, thing is then having to cook it :rotfl:

I am about to complete a piece of work, which will mean I am back out of work as of next week, and its a scarey prospect, and learning from this forum continuously.

chirpychick

Purple_kitten wrote: »

Chirpy Chic, that is a fantastic post. I can relate to the kindle gadget so much. I'm hoping the same may be able to afford it in a few months, I keep seeing books I would have liked to have downloaded go from free to pay for thou!

Live life and enjoy what you can do, I love things like creating blackberry and apple pie with food that was picked up, thing is then having to cook it :rotfl:

I do that too re the books LOL

One of my all time favourite things is to blackberry and apple pick, remind me of my great nanny. she was really old, had terrible knees and when i visited her at the old peoples home (i was about 5/6 yrs) she would take her seat in their gardens and give me a tub and i would just pick blackberries (and eat them) for hours on end!
Tomorrow I have hospital and hubby booked the afternoon off so we are going to pick apples from "our secret tree" :rotfl: and I look forward to making apple tart for my FIL who loves it as it reminds him of post war visiting his family in Cornwall. and Apple pies for hubby for Christmas and apple and blackberry crumble for my next door neighbour
Such a sense of achievement and so many people get the benefit!

D&DD

re the kindle you can download a free kindle app thing for the pc from amazon which then enables you download the books to your pc.:D
Then if you go to the top free books and scroll down and hit food and drink it brings up loads you can download free I've got quite a few good ones this week on there HTH

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_ipad_mkt_lnd?docId=1000425503

tru

D&DD wrote: »

Can I please respectfully ask we keep up the spirit of this thread as the OP intended rather than it descending into yet another debate about 'how old style this or that is' etc as it can make posters feel very uncomfortable about posting when other threads/points of view are being criticised
Many thanks :A

No-one's point of view has been criticised on here. If we can't discuss OS things on the OS board, what's the point of the board?

Hardup_Hester

Great thread.
I'm guilty of have some gadgets, mainly as my hands don't work too well, the one I really wouldn't be without is my stick blender for making soup, mine is a cheapy one & has been in use for years.
I have a couple of steamers but only the sort that go on the hob, not the electric one.
I also have enough food in to feed us for a couple of days incase we get snowed in, which we do some years.
Hester

tru

Ahhhhhhhh autumn and soups I've had lots of tomatoes from the garden this year so tomato soup will feature regularly in the menu plan for a while. My favourite is potato and leek, I'll get mr tru to make it because he's better at it than me

I bought a yogurt maker a couple of years ago - don't know why, when I could've used a flask. But I have to admit to prefering the shop bought full-of-chemicals stuff (either Shape or full fat Ski please). Mr tru loves HM stuff though, he makes 3 or 4 lots a week.

I've trained myself to separate my wants from my needs so I find that quite easy. When miss tru was 2 weeks old, mr tru lost his job so we got used to having no spare money. 21 years later I find that I can be generous with others but still a bit mean with myself. Must work on that Not too much though, sometimes I feel I really need my wants :rotfl:

We take flasks of coffee whenever we go out, always take a packed lunch with us too.

In the 2007 floods we were without tap water for 2 weeks. The army and some volunteers were in all the supermarket car parks, giving out crates of bottled water. That was OK for most people, but there were people around who didn't/couldn't drive and some who couldn't manage to carry a crate on a bus. There were the odd few idiots around who tried to take the pee (sometimes literally - there were bowsers dotted about and some idiots peed in them). BUT most people checked on their neighbours and arranged to collect water with them, at a time that suited them both. Looking around, it seems that people are getting on with their days without a thought for anyone else but when it counts, most are there offering help and sharing.

I always thought slow cookers were silly, til I got a temp job with mr tru. He was working in a shop that was closing down, there was going to be a huge sale and they didn't have enough staff. I went to the boss and volunteered my services, ending up working 12 hour days with an hour's travel each way. We've always prepared meat and veg before freezing it, so we'd get home, take the food out of the freezer and collapse into bed. Wake up the next day, throw the food into the SC and head off out again. That thing meant I actually had time to eat