The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

mardatha

It's sunday and I've come to confession - I am so dead miffed and annoyed at meself! Yesterday I managed to spend £50. Only the two of us in the house... only one cooked meal per day apart from breakfast porridge... and yet I spent 50 quid. I couldn't even sleep for thinking about it! And it isn't as if I even ot good meals out of it, it seems to be bits and pieces of nothing!!
You lot need to get me back into gear here lol SAVE ME!

Possession

Hope Miss VP is feeling better.
Right, Christmas is over, so obviously DD's thoughts have moved on to her birthday (in March!). DS's is first (this month) but he'll be happy with a couple of friends. Parties have always been tremendously important to DD and her friends still have some quite elaborate ideas. She has just been invited to a toboganning party. Last year we had 6 friends for a party here and a sleepover - I said never again to the sleepover bit, but it is the cheapest thing to do really. I suppose I could have a few of them over for a party and then chuck out most of them but I am never having 6 for a sleepover again. Any cheap ideas? I don't have any clubcard vouchers I don't think, and they are 10 so possibly too old for the kids' club cinema showings, depending on the film.

LOL Mar, what did you buy?! It's all too easy to come back with bits and pieces and not even the makings of a meal isn't it.

[Deleted User]

MAR those prices are rising, even on the basics, in every shop I go in to. Things that were pence a few years ago are now pounds and even YS items are more than I would have considered paying for premium goods a while ago. £50 doesn't go very far pet, don't beat yourself up about it, if you've bought the best available at the best possible price than you just can't help but pay the prices they are asking for it. I know you're a canny lass when it comes to making 5p do the work of 10p so sometimes you just have to accept that's how it is!!!

mardatha

Yea MrsL, that's true but no excuse for 50 quid lol. I never get YS, we only hit the shops at opening time so there's never any.
It was mostly in Aldi, but for the GF stuff I need Tesco.
I think I've gone into shock and won't be able to eat the bloody stuff now anyway!

Softstuff

Mardatha, if you think a one off shopping trip needs a beg of forgiveness and atonement, I think I'd be damned for good for some of the silly things I've done now and again :rotfl:

I'm on a bid to shop very minimally this month and get through as many food stocks as I can. This isn't only to save money, but if we're to move I'd be better off having little in stock and shopping just to get by. We did the budget today for 2015, if we're to move there's some pinching going to happen.

Prices have gone up here Mardatha, as I'm sure they have there. To give an example, if I wanted to buy a loaf, some ham, a couple of tomatoes and a bit of lettuce for some sandwiches, I wouldn't get much in the way of change from $10 (about 7 quid). And I didn't previously consider ham sandwiches to be an extravagant meal!

camelot1001

mardatha, it's easily done. When the children were all at home I used to spend in excess of £100 a week on food and not be able to put together a meal! Sometimes it's necessary to buy the little, slightly more expensive things in order to make it more economical in the long run.

Mrs Veg Plot - Hopefully DD will be lots better by Wednesday.

I've put some washing on the line! I know it is January but the sun is splitting the skies here although it is quite cold. There was a frost this morning but I want my washing to smell fresh!

Off for a shower in a mo then going to walk to Ald!, said DD could have the car as the trains are dodgy on Sundays and she's not feeling too good. Quite glad really as it makes me walk, it's not that far and may go the long way round so I can try to get my 10,000 steps for today. Managed fine while in The Netherlands as had no car. Apart from lifts to and from the airport I haven't been in the car since Monday. Going to try not using it so much.

Have a good Sunday everyone.

Mrs_Veg_Plot

Camelot1001 my washing is also out on the line and the garden is white over with frost. I have not used the tumble dryer since 2013 but turfed so much laundry out of daughters bedroom yesterday I am using it for some of her laundry as I need everything done before her op. The reason it is so bad is because in our house once you have finished your GCSEs you do your own laundry and are responsible for your own room. The result is that both DDs rooms are a total mess but I keep the doors shut and ignore it.

Miss VP has ventured out of bed today and eaten a little scrambled egg on toast, her temp is down and we have pinpointed the source of her infection which is her sinuses again which explaines why her chest sounded clear when the doc listened to it. The op on Wed is to remove areas of bone to allow her sinuses to drain and hopefully stop the recurrent sinusitis but they won't be able to do it if her sinuses are infected so I hope the antibiotics do their thing. This is the sickest she has been with sinusitis but strangely she has not had the sever pain she usually gets with it.

Having slow cooker pheasant for tea tonight. Dad shoots for the table and has given us pheasant and duck for the freezer. It only needs 3 hours so will put it in this afternoon. The older Miss VP is meeting a friend in Manchester today but once she heard what was for tea she decided that she would be having tea at home (which will save her some money).

Off to put the next load of washing on the line. I swear that DD has just been buying new clothes rather than washing the ones she already has.

Pooky

Mrs VP - Sounds very similar to DD1 - the amount of clothes she owns is astounding - but hey - she earns it - she can spend it how she likes (she runs her car and has a few grand saved in the bank too so she's entitled to a splurge now and then).

I was going to put my washing out, lovely sunny day here but the dehumidifier is in the conservatory so I thought I'd bung it out there and take advantage of the sun too.

Less than 3 hours sleep last night thanks to some very unthoughtful actions by DD1 and her boyfriend who's not a boyfriend but is a friend but might be a boyfriend but no ones allowed to ask and he might be interested in someone else but might not be but stringing her along (!!!!! don't ask!!!!)......Needless to say that arriving home at 2.30am and making enough noise to wake the dead before falling into a drunken slumber at 4am isn't endearing to me. Had to stop myself doing this "you treat this place like a hotel" speech, I think I remember it word for word from my teenage years! Words will be had later, I'm aiming for calm and serene rather than sleep depraved loon. Wish me luck.

I need to do some grocery shopping but it will have to wait until tomorrow - I've got loads of store cupboard and freezer stuff, just out of basics like fresh fruit, potatoes, cheese and bread. As long as there's cat food and tea everything will be fine.

kidcat

Mardatha, I think prices rose dramatically just before Christmas, petrol was going down but food rose inexplicably. It's odd really as with fuel prices going down its technically cheaper now to get the food onto the shelf. I also find that after Christmas we need a top up shop of bits and pieces which then lasts us for ages before I need to do the same again.

Possession could you do a craft party? We have been to make your own jewellery box, decorating a money bank, design a plate or mug in recent years. None of which are particularly expensive to put on. I bought ceramic paint pens before Christmas which are really easy to use, I decorated 50p ikea plant pots then baked in oven.
Or how about a make over party? Can you get a couple of older teens or friend of yours, do foot spa, hair braid, painted nails, bit of glittery make up. Then a spot of music and party food.
I paid someone to come and do it for us last year and she wasn't cheap, it was something I could easily have done myself but I was pressed for time. I did it years ago when Dd20 was that age and her friends absolutely loved it. I can send you list of all the special bits the expensive lady did to make it special.
Other than that soap making, card making, or even fairground games come to mind. If you want something outside of home our local pool does a really Cheap pool hire for parties which allows own food and makes it good value.

kidcat

MrsVp I do the laundry although Dd20 does help with it, she even did 5 loads while we were away but have always said after a certain age I expect rooms kept up without nagging. It hasn't happened yet, I made the awful realisation just before Christmas that ds16 doesn't have the skills to undertake it on his own and genuinely can't see what needs doing. So have reluctantly taken it back on myself, I now go through it with him weekly and am trying to teach him, but I fear it may be another reason he can never live unsupported.
Dd20 is another matter and had proved herself more than capable however she simply chooses to live in squalor. I have read the riot act and said it's not good example for the kids and also it will encourage mice, she took 2 bin bags of recycling out last week and 3 bin bags of rubbish. I am hoping she will stay in top of it this time.