Now and Then - April 8th

furrypig

congratulations on your winnings!!

We managed to win about £25 with our betting, the 3 year old and the cat were the only ones out of 4 adults, 2 kids and kitty that won tho!!

mink35

Okay I'm adding my two penn'orth - for food shopping habits...

Now Looked for frozen potato wedges then changed my mind and decided to make them myself (my family love homemade wedges but half the time I don't bother!)

Then Would have just bought the frozen ones


Now Looking in supermarket for meat and decided not to bother but go to the butchers again (had some really nice meat from there last week)

Then Would just have stocked up and not bothered despite the butchers meat being almost the same price and not shrinking during cooking so you know what you're gonna get!


Now Stocked up on squash

Then Fizzy pop


Now Looked on seconds fruit counter and bought massive bag of apples for 50p just cos they're a bit blemished. Kids have taken big time to the juicer so they'll be ideal for that

Then Wouldn't even have looked cos couldn't be bothered


I'm sure there must have been some other things but just can't think for now!

mrsmab59

Then our main TV finally gave up on us yesterday and we'd have gone out instantly with the credit card to get an even bigger top technology type TV to replace it.

Now our main TV finally gave up on us yesterday but how much TV do we actually watch? Sometimes we go for days without switching it on...so our little portable living idly in our loft will be perfect as a stand in.

Queenie

mrsmab59 wrote:

Then our main TV finally gave up on us yesterday and we'd have gone out instantly with the credit card to get an even bigger top technology type TV to replace it.

Now our main TV finally gave up on us yesterday but how much TV do we actually watch? Sometimes we go for days without switching it on...so our little portable living idly in our loft will be perfect as a stand in.

:T :j :beer: Great attitude!!

Now: D10yo used *his* pocket money to rent a DVD from the library (Garfield - hilarious!!) for a family movie night (bless!) Initially he wanted to buy it, asked my opinion (heheheh) and chose to rent instead. I made up the popcorn. We all snuggled down for a hearty larf and a bumper bowl of popcorn. D10yo's ego went up by humungous amounts as it was his idea, his money, his "treat".

Then: We used to pay for the Sky Movie channel and the kids didn't have pocket money on a regular or structured basis. Dh would buy junk snacks and would use the Box Office facility!!! (which is in addition to the Movie subs!)

moggins

Now - have worked out I have enough wood to build myself shelves for the new shed.

Then - Ran straight out to B & Q and spent £30 on some smart metal shelves.

Queenie

Oooh, just chatting with dh and he pointed out something I've been doing differently that I didn't even *think* of including!

During the Easter Hols ...

Then: breakfast, lunch, dinner; breakfast, lunch, dinner; breakfast, lunch, dinner; breakfast, lunch, dinner; breakfast, lunch, dinner; breakfast, lunch, dinner!!! Neverending stream of kitchen drudgery! (8am; 12.30pm; 6pm)

Now: Breakfast (8.30am) .... mid afternoon dinner (3.30pm):j That kept the wormy beggars going for the rest of the night!! Ok, so it was only because dh's shifts allowed it, but I'm thinking I should do this at weekends as standard and it means one less meal to cater for.

Lillibet_2

Then : Have been eyeing up a chest of drawers in Ikea for the nursery, would have just spent the £40 & an afternoon trying to figure out how to put them together

Now : Have realised that with the aid of a redundant set of storage shelves some nice spare crates I can re-create exactly the same thing with what I already have on hand in less time & for free:j


Then : Would have bought new book shelves to accomodate the stacks of books which need relocating from our spare room to other parts of the house before we can turn it into a nursery:rolleyes:

Now : Have sorted through books & reduced number by half and listed for sale on Amazon, meaning we can relocate some of the exisitng shelves from the spare room to other rooms for the price of some screws & still have enough shelves left over for nursery purposes, plus we might even make a bit from any sales:j

mrsmab59

Queenie wrote:

Oooh, just chatting with dh and he pointed out something I've been doing differently that I didn't even *think* of including!

During the Easter Hols ...

Then: breakfast, lunch, dinner; breakfast, lunch, dinner; breakfast, lunch, dinner; breakfast, lunch, dinner; breakfast, lunch, dinner; breakfast, lunch, dinner!!! Neverending stream of kitchen drudgery! (8am; 12.30pm; 6pm)

Now: Breakfast (8.30am) .... mid afternoon dinner (3.30pm):j That kept the wormy beggars going for the rest of the night!! Ok, so it was only because dh's shifts allowed it, but I'm thinking I should do this at weekends as standard and it means one less meal to cater for.

I find that during school holidays we tend to eat breakfast when we feel hungry, which is generally quite close to lunch time. Sometimes we go posh and call it brunch if it's a bit more than just toast and cereal

This cuts one meal out later in the day but if my 12 year old gets the munchies between dinner and bedtime I've started telling him to make his own snacks. As he suffers from occasional lazy-itis he goes for the easiest and quickest thing he can do which is a triple decker peanut butter sandwich...much cheaper and more filling than the things he'd be desperate for if I was making them :rolleyes:

swampytiggaa

NOW - microwave has died so we have decided to live without it for a while and see if we NEED a new one or if we can manage without, then if we need one we will get a very basic one

THEN - would have rushed out and bought a new all singing and dancing model regardless how much we used it

NOW - I have sorted my cupboards and freezers and done a meal plan for the week so that i can get food out of the freezer the day before to defrost

THEN - would have looked in the freezer for tea and decided there was nothing there and would have gone to the chippy

there are lots of others but those are the 2 i thought of last night whilst i was washing up

Eliza252

Now: Know where all my money is going, am totally in control of my expenditure, eat more healthily, generally more environmentally friendly and sleep better due to knowledge that am in control of my debts!

Then: Didnt ever look at bank balance and said a little prayer everytime I went to a cash point in the hope that it would give me some money - too scared to work out budget

on the negative side

Now: Constantly have to defend my money saving actions to my friends. Why I cant go out to every social occasion. Why I refuse to own more than two pairs of shoes. Why I spend so much time cooking instead of buying conveniance foods. Why I cant indulge in that one more drink at the pub. Why I keep my reciepts and make a list of all my outgoings and income religiously. I am so sick of my friends telling me I am over-reacting and that its normal to have debt. I am even more sick of arguing with everyone about it! Rah! :mad: Rant finished now.

Then: Went out to every social occasion, had lots of nice clothes etc. Made me very popular but increasingly very poor!

Sigh...

anyway, Just to cheer myself up have worked out I have payed off approx £800 of debt in three months!!

and just cus I'm proud of myself:
Now: I can cook a mean lentil and veg soup. Make a variety of muffins. make potato cheese bake to name but a few... also, a disgusting number of puddings and all on a budget of £10 a week!

Then: Cook? Moi! did I mention I set fire to the school kitchen on parents day? accidently!!!

Now: Buy cheap clothes from charity shops and alter them to look trendy (I've become a bit of a deft hand with the needle and thread!). Realised that i dont need a zillion pair of shoes - remember when I was a volunteer at a school in S.A. and some of my kids came in with their feet wrapped in tarpaulin for goodness sake!

Then: High Street Shopping Craziness

Now: I know every trick in the book, I notcie when my utility bills are wrong, pick up on all the free offers - sold my expensive mobile and got a naff cheap one (anyway, apparently retro mobiles are coming back into fashion)

Then: bills? eh?

Now: I grow my own herbs, spinach, tomatoes, lettuce and sunflowers (cus they're pretty) in window boxes - am the envy of my neighbours!

Then: spinach comes in plastic bags from tesco

Anyway, how does everyone else deal with constant pressure from friends etc that they are 'over reacting' about their debts? Seriously everyone I know thinks that debt is 'normal' and they assume that they will always be in debt and so never deal with it.. its very tiring to have to defend myself all the time!