Os, 26/04/2007

dannahaz

Hi SamSam
Definitely pop over to the DFW. If you post the info on what debts you have where at what rate, they'll really help you get a plan of action together.

Don't forget they are your JOINT debts, it's not like you've been spending all the money secretly. It's important you are both on board with the plan of action.

Over on this board the wonderful people here will help you reduce the amount of money you spend unnecessarily on shopping.

In the meantime, here's Queenie's Welcome Poem, which is fuill of useful links to various posts and parts of the boards.

Queenie wrote: »

Welcome to ALL our Old Styler’s
Oldies, newbies, (lurkers too) :hello:
If you’re after ‘Grannies’ hints and tips
This place is just for you!

If you thought that good ole vinegar
Was to spice up fish n chips
Then click on Save on cleaning…
And get cleaning with those tips!

If you feel it’s all too cliquey
(Or feel left out in the cold L )
Dive in and introduce yourself
Get posting! Do be bold!

If you need to know an answer
(Baking, cooking, gardening too)
Or some other “home” based topic
Then our Old Style’s here for you!

Check out the Indexed Collections
And the Mega Index too
But grab yourself a cuppa
So you can have a good look through!

If you want to chat about your OS day
Or ponder any excesses
The OS Daily Thread exists
To talk of our successes

Flylady’s Cleaning Challenge
May be more your cup of tea
To list your tasks, “To Do’s” of the day
And to make ‘home’ clutter free!

Domestic bills you’ll find may be reduced
(Gas, electric, telephone )
Or you can vent about bad service
If you feel it deserves a moan!

No matter what your reasons for coming
Whether Debt/Savings (or DIY!)
Martin’s supplied a variety of forums
Where your query/answer will apply.

If “fun and frolics” kind of banter
Is what brightens up your day
Pop to The Money Savers Arms
Share a joke; enjoy your stay.

For more ‘meaningful’ conversations
If that is more your style
Wander over to Discussion Time
For topics more :think: … versatile

If you feel you do not gel straight off
Feel ignored? (Or confidence waivers?)
Please remember Martin’s mantra
“Be nice to your fellow Money-Savers!”

mrs_mix

Hello
well we were at the hospital for 1 1/2 hours so not too bad but they don't know if it's broken( what's the x-ray for then) so we have an appointment too go back next week
been to asda and got some bagains in there
tuna special 6 pack two for £3
pepsi max 3x6 pack for £3
haad a look at their world food as well big bags of pulses ect really cheap
just going to get some lunch for me and ds2 and more tea I'm really thirsty today for some reason

welcome to samsampotts I hope your happy with us
see you later

pam xx

catznine

csarina wrote: »

catznine wrote: »

Morning!:hello:

So sorry to hear about your chooks Pen Pen! ((hugs)) I would be in tears too.

Happy anniversary Shez!

Been busy the last 3 days on the flylady thread, it is really making a difference but I am shattered what with trying to keep up with the garden as well!


Brg Rzl, 2 egg whites? how about:-

from the Goode Kitchen book by Shirley Goode. This recipe also uses up the heat from the oven's evening meal overnight so very Ol style!

Meringue Crunchies
(makes 30 - 36)

2 egg whites
5oz/150g caster sugar
6oz/175g crunch (cereal, broken biscuit, muesli, nuts whatever you have)

Beat the egg whites with the sugar for 3 mins with an electric whisk until really thick. (It will take longer if done by hand) Fold in the crunchy bits. Line 3 baking sheets with foil and dot with teaspoons of the mixture, leaving room for them to spread. Place the baking sheets in the oven before you turn it out. Shut the door and turn off the heat and leave the cookies for at least 8 hours (overnight is perfect) Don't open the door until morning! Result very yummy cookies!

Catz x What temp for the oven to pre heat??????????????????

Hi Csarina! you cook them in the remaining heat after turning off the cooker from cooking that nights meal, I average 180 C for most meals in my oven basically what you need is a long slow cook, hotter at first and then cooling down. Whatever you do though don't cook them in an oven that is still on and don't open the oven door until 8 hours are up, very tempting though this is! That's why I cook them overnight!

Walnuts sound great Brgn rzl! My kids used to love them with the leftover cereals (rice crispies/cornflakes) in.

Welcome Samsampots! You will get lots of moneysaving ideas here and it all adds up! Sounds like you are making the most important change which is being honest with yourself and changing you mind set re money! Any help re loosing weight would be very very welcome!

Churchmouse

Just popped on for my lunchtime fix:D

Welcome to samsampotts!:hello: You'll love it here, lots of support and suggestions for moneysaving. Agree with Rzl though, get yourself onto the DFW board. There's not a scenario they've not encountered before, and there's some really good advice going. You do need to have your OH in the know and onboard to succeed. We'll all encourage you and you can tell us the best ways to lose some of the "padding" we've got:rotfl: :rotfl:

Not got half as much done this morning as I hoped. DH waited at the train station for over an hour, not able to get on a packed train because of the disruption Rzl mentioned. Eventually 'phoned me to take him to North Greenwich underground . It took me 55 minutes to get there!!!:eek: Bear in mind it took me 14 minutes to get back when I was against the flow. I could have done without that. Just hope it's all resolved by hometime, I really don't want a repeat tonight.

Well I suppose I should get my nose firmly pressed on the grindstone again! The sun is out and another washload is just about to finish and go on the line.

Bye for now,
CMxx

Bargain_Rzl

Churchmouse - trains have been cleared to run through the area again so your DH should be OK for this evening.

http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/main.php?page_id=5

Penny-Pincher!!

Afternoon Guys!

Its freezing here and have turned the GCH on for a bit. 2 washloads done, DW needs emptying and house is all clean as cleaner has been here this morning:o

OH & I decided last night to book a few nights away when DD is away with the school abroad in July:D ...so looking through last night, we found a very quaint cottage in Kings Lynn Norfolk. Its only 1 bedroom and is quite exciting as we've never really been away from DD before and if we were at home, I would only be moping around;) ....was going to do 3 nights but the lady who owns the cottage offered 5 nights for the same price:D ...so DD goes on the Wednesday, we go on the Thursday and come back Tuesday and DD comes back Wednesday. Sent our £50 deposit off this morning and we pay the rest cash upon arrival as she lives a few doors down.

Got the bits we needed but didnt stop out long as OH still not feeling great, so he has taken some cold/flu tablets and has had a sleep but says he feels worse now:rolleyes:....got 6 TTD eggs reduced to 30p and they are in date for 2 more weeks ...spent £7.50 on stuff we needed and got 6 first class stamps.

Sold a skirt this morning for £7.50 on Ebay and have about 17 watchers on other items which finish this weekend.

Right, I'd better go and do some reading, I really need to get this essay done and dusted:rolleyes:

Hugs

PP
xx

meanmarie

Afternoon all,

Welcome to Samsam, and hugs to all who need or want them..especially PenPen for the loss of your chickens, 2 legged foxes IMHO.

Most of the clan have gathered at this stage, only DD1 to come tomorrow evening.

Must start on dinner soon as OH likes to have his early, people seem to have been eating bits all day so not sure who will eat a full meal...hate that because there are bits for days...one freezer haz quite a bit of space so must do that later.

Marie

Penelope_Penguin

Hello, there. Back again, and still feeling very flat. Didn't go into town - I can't shop when I'm sad. However, I have 12 fertilised eggs in my car, and I think we'll have a monent's silence for *our girls* this evening, before putting the new ones into the incubator. Please keep everything crossed for us. We're hoping for lots of girls, as we can only keep one cocqerell. They should hatch in about 21 days. Can I call one Shez

I'm almost certain that they've been got by a predator, not a human - I think they'd open the gate rather than tunneling under the chicken wire :rotfl: . It's been damaged and pushed out of shape in 2 places, from the outside of the pen - it's not the hens tunneling out. The wire was turned under by us by about 50cm, then buried, so whatever wanted to get them was determined. It's possible that whatever it was took only 1, and the others have escaped. We haven't wing-clipped them, so they are able to fly (but choose not to), so could have got away that way.

DS is devestated - he allowed me to hug him, and hugged me back Only glad that he didn't discover them gone :eek: :eek: He's picked up a feather as a keepsake. DD was comforting me.

Penny. x

csarina

Gggggggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

I have just had 12 letters from the HB and CTB office, they are clawing back over £400 in overpayments and we are going to have to pay £200 a month in rent on the apartment...................I am so angry. We used to fill in a benefit form each year, then 3 years ago they stopped it, and clawed back over £600 from us................when I retired from work........my pension was £50, but I had two private pensions which shoved my weekly pension up, thus we owed them money, no matter that I wrote with all the information they needed BEFORE I retired, they did not deal with it for 4 months...........I made them wait for the money.paid them back over 12 months..........we also had to pay back CTB as the two are linked.

When they changed the system we wrote each time we got an increase, they say they never recieved the letters and there fore are taking cash back.............can you see the steam!!!!!!!!!!!!! they also wanted to know about an account I had with FD which was closed in 2004, I was supposed to tell them about that too..when I queried it I was told that anything to do with my private finanaces was their business and I should have sent them the letter to prove the account was closed...................MY GOD how I wish we had enough money to do without HB and CTB........my OH says that we are entitled to the money and therefore should claim it. I can understand how people will not claim benefits, they make you feel as if you are s*** under their foot............

Think I'll go and buy some lottery tickets for Saturday night.

mioliere

Good afternoon - and a big welcome to SAMSAMPOTTS :wave: :wave: - you'll love it here! I do! You will find the most constructive support from all of us but do, as others have said, drop in on DFW - you'll be surprised how much better you'll feel once you've introduced yourself! The people there have seen and heard everything - you are certainly not alone. They'll help you deal with your OH as well - as DANNA said, it's not just you who has been spending - it's a team effort and would be great all round if it was a team effort getting it sorted. Good luck! You will certainly have your brains picked by the rest of us - by those who are losing weight and those interested in nutrition and keeping fit!! As AMIE said, we are quite early starters here - usually way before sun-up! We have a sub-thread of insomniacs for which SMOKY has provided a yawning icon - still can't seem to copy and paste it, though, but will keep trying!
AMIE - re knitting! If you knit facing the mirror - you'll have to set it up while DD's learning - she can copy your mirror image!:j :j
CCSTAR - where are you? And MOGGINS for that matter? We don't want to lose anyone!
CSARINA - 2kg is brilliant! Pat on the back:T :T Also, I've never tried to sell on Amazon but will definitely give it a go now!
BARGAIN - couldn't do better than CATZNINE'S recipe - I'm going to give that a go!:j :j
JET77 - hasn't your boss heard of that new law that says you are allowed to spend ALL your working hours on MSE? After all, what is work for?:j :j
SHEZ - how romantic your DH is - he's not Colin Firth, is he?:A :A
CATZNINE - so glad your friend is out of the woods; enjoy your visit tonight!:T :T
TINKERBELLUK - you are so right about everything going to pot when the routine disappears. It seems to take ages to get organised again!:mad: :mad:
QUEENIE via DANNA - the poem is great - I'm going to email it to my sister - I keep trying to get her to join MSE and it's difficult to explain how much goes on here so the poem will do it for me. She gets depressed, has health problems and worries about her weight so I know she'd find this thread, in particular, will give her a new outlook on life!:T :T :j :j
MRS MIX - poor DS - hope they diagnose SOMETHING on your next visit! My Co-op does some world foods, too - I bought quite a few of their bags of spices this week - a lot cheaper than the Schwartz-type spices and the chicken one was very good last night. The bags are about .49p and I'm sure they contain more than the more expensive ones! I think I bought half a dozen because it was too difficult to choose just one!
CHURCHMOUSE - how I hate that 'can you come and pick me up?' scenario - it is ALWAYS in rush hour!:mad: :mad:
PENNYPINCHER - your planned holiday sounds lovely - I'm sure you will enjoy it! Hope OH not too poorly? I also have eight items on eBay ending within the hour. I have six watchers and six bids at the moment and some other stuff waiting to be listed. Good luck with yours.:T :T
Well, the sun which promised to be out all day, has gone it but I still managed to get a load of towels dry outside. DGD has gone home now but we had a lovely time! I dug out my old doll - which she didn't believe was about fifty years old because it's still a baby! and she was quite fascinated by its moulded hair, two eyelashes remaining on the one eye and arms that have been held together with a massive elastic band but still rotate wildly. I don't know whether there are any dolls' hospitals around any more. Will have to find out - be worth getting her mended professionally now that she has found another 'mummy'!
Dinner tonight is HM ratatouille with pork tenderloin - enough to freeze for another meal, as well. Will do this with saute potatoes. Pudding is a lovely recipe from last Sunday's YOU magazine:

BANANA EN PAPILLOTE - Serves Four

Oil, for cooking
4 small firm bananas (well, mine aren't small and they aren't that firm either but I'm sure they'll do - I am still talking about bananas here!)
I cinammon stick, cut into 4
4 star anise (found those in the Co-op in a bag for .49p!)
1 vanilla pod (which I haven't got, so essence will have to do!)
2tbsp grated carob (I'll use a Cadbury's Flake if I don't eat it first!)
75ml (3fl.ozs) pineapple juice
Lightly grease 4 pieces of kitchen foil or greaseproof paper, each large enough to wrap around a banana. Place banana in the centre and add a piece of cinammon, 1 star anise and a piece of vanilla pod.
Sprinkle over grated carob and pineapple juice and fold over the foil to make an airtight pocket. Place the sealed bananas on a baking sheet and cook in a pre-heated oven, 230degreesC/gas 8, for 3-4 minutes. Serve immediately.
Recipe extracted from a book called Eat all Day Diet by Helen Foster. Sounds yummy but I have already altered the recipe due to my lack of all the correct ingredients so don't know how mine will turn out!:T :T
It's pouring with rain now so I will have to go outside and smell it - I just love the smell of the garden when it hasn't been rained on for ages! Have got wholemeal bread doughing in the BM for rolls so will report back later re the bread! Have to go now - something has sold on eBay!:j :j Will call back later! Have a lovely rest of the afternoon!