The commonsense thread

LameWolf

My commonsense things to do include keeping all the household accounts on a spreadsheet, and as soon as Mr LW has been paid (he's paid at the end of the month) earmark a month's regular direct debits - you know, stuff like the council tax, leccy/gas, water, all the ones that come out monthly. And that money is spoken for and is deducted from the "cash available" sheet.

We only have what we can pay for; I'm debt-phobic, so if we have to wait a month or so for a big purchase, so be it. It does also focus the mind on whether the purchase is a "need" or just a "want" iyswim.;)

I have a spreadsheet for my store cupboard and freezer contents, too - makes it so much easier to keep tabs on what's being used.

I have to confess to being another who doesn't like Christmas. I'm not a Christian and have no children, so it's a tad pointless to me. Also I have only bad memories of Christmas as a child, which I prefer not to revisit. We stopped doing presents when Mr LW was out of work for 11 months, some six years or so ago, and we've carefully never restarted it.;)

Mr LW and I were only thinking the other day, so many recipes are actually geared to using up what we call "bibby-bobby-bits". We had egg fried rice last night; Mr LW was asking what he should put in it (I wasn't feeling well enough to cook) and I told him to throw in onion to start, and whatever he could find in the fridge that needed using up.:D It ended up with a couple of handfuls of peas, a chopped up tomato, and some slices of Quorn chopped into bits.

And lets face it, you can bung pretty much anything into an omelette, or a risotto, or a Shepherd Spy.:D I was also going to mention ratta... ratty.... the French one with the same name as a film, but I can't spell it.:rotfl:

fuddle

The tougher thread offers practical advice too

trifles

Post rarely.I think times have always been tough for the average person regardless of the Age lived in.
Apart from the obvious human needs of shelter, food and appropriate clothes,the only real wealth any of us have is in our family ,friendships and moral values.I love to cook and have friends over rather than eating out as we can all relax and children are welcome.
I enjoy furnishing my home from charity shop finds,making my own curtains on my old hand turned Singer machine,making my own toiletries as far as I can and altering bits and pieces of clothing to suit my tastes. If you have a particular love of a period-me 1920s-There is a real joy in using your creativity to look at materials/objects from different angles to adapt for your own use.This can give an added interest to life,I find,rather than a sense of deprivation-it's fun!
Don't spoil this life worrying-remember it's always been difficult,but we owe it to ourselves to live with style(even on a shoestring!):)

Butterfly_Brain

I built my stock cupboard up by earmarking £1 or £2 a week to buy things that I use all the time such as flour, yeast, sugar, tinned beans, peas, lentils and suet etc and I have a back up stock of sundries such as soap powder, toothpaste, toilet rolls etc.
I always meal plan and take a list when I go shopping and I leave the cards behind and use cash - I do have an extra £20 in purse in case I spot a bargain. Last week I got a new blender (mine has been broken for months and I used it all the time for making soups) it was reduced from £12.99 to £6.99 and it has a whisk attachment and goblet. I also got some pour and store bags for 60p a pack - they are normally between £1.20 and I have seen them on Amazon for £2.25 :eek:
I shop in Aldi for the majority of my stuff, I have a great local greengrocer who delivers for me at no extra charge and a butcher that is quite expensive, but the quality is very good and you can buy what you want, I got a couple of ham hocks for £1 each last week and I made a bacon suet pudding and I have one simmering for tonight's dinner to have with mash and cabbage and the water will be used as the base for a pea and ham soup for tomorrow's lunch using 2 tins of 4p mushy peas

trifles

I tend to buy out of season ie anything'Christmas' as I don't see that it matters what time of year things are bought.I tend to celebrate Yule,anyway,so refuse to buy into the commercialism of Christmas.
I eat frugally in that I always eat porage for breakfast,seasonal fruit for snacks.and a lot of soup made from all sorts of stuff Lurking About...I get most of my protein from organic eggs. I used to have a bad crisps habit,but have managed-with great difficulty!:D-to stop buying these with watching how they are manufactured and telling myself they have no food value for me.Sometimes I convince myself:o
Putting by foods etc is a good idea as there is a better return,in my opinion,than money in the bank,but only if you are sure that you will consume comfortably in the 'use by' period.
I think it is important to enjoy'now' and accept that we can never know how life will change for any of us:)

faerie~spangles

Popperwell wrote: »

Hard to believe it's less than 100 days to Christmas(sorry to mention that):(:o

I know and I'm sooooooooooooooooo looking forward to plugging in all my sparkly lights. My one selfish indulgence :j


Popperwell, if you were hit by a bus tomorrow who would appreciate your stockpile?

OrkneyStar

Popperwell wrote: »

That's the thing that matters...family and if you have family you are so fortunate...

I like it more now we have DS, and hope to teach him more about being together, having some presents and some (non-extravagant) food.

fuddle

There is a lot of 'stuff' buying in order to be OS. Somewhere along the lines I think maybe the OS message has been skewed a little. I can also understand why some people take exception to stockpiling, especially as they could well be struggling to live hand to mouth.

This thread this afternoon has made me feel a bit 'blergh' with all things OS if I'm honest. It's been a good thing though because I'm looking at OS with new eyes. I'm tired of reading about the 'stuff' people buy. Buying stuff isn't OS and I now understand why Old OSers are getting a bit peeved.

I like this thread. A 'stuff' free thread.

D&DD

Cuddly there are a few threads which have been merged on here which may be of help to you and others one is this one
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/57404



There is a wealth of knowledge spread across the old style pages and I'm sure on most threads you will be able to find something which will be of use

CH27

I always ask myself do I want it or do I really need it!
It's so easy to kid yourself about wants & needs.