Things you've done when things got desperate!

Seaxwyn

My top tip: If you take your children to a duckpond without any bread, other people take pity and give them bread to feed to the ducks. At worst, it's an enjoyable outing, at best, you get half a loaf of Mother's Pride to take home with you.

dreams_R_free

My Granny regularly used to send me to buy the minimum amount of whatever was cheapest at the village butcher and told me to then casually ask him if he had any bones for the dog. He usually put a couple of enormous marrow bones with loads of meat still on into the bag and never charge anything for them.

Gran never owned a dog:rolleyes: and the bones made enough soup/stew to last most of the week:j .

Rain_is_Insane

My mum always used to make a pan of stew last a week.....first night with dumplings....2nd night add more spuds....3rd night with bread n butter.....4th night with chips.....5th night you had it on a butty or went hungry (it was thick enough by then to slice)

I find myself adding more lentils just to see if i can get more days out of it than her.

Going to play rock, paper scissors in front of the gas fire again to save electric

azjh77

"Could you not just keep some back and present them later in the year as *Christmas* presents. That way they still get them...eventually"

Have done this too...

I always make a list of who gives what, so when it comes to Christmas again I don't 'give' the presents back to the same people.

I have also gone into my Mum's house while she is at work and 'borrowed' some tins from her cupboard....

Inactive

SPAM SPAM...:mad:

piptom&AndyPandy

Think I just saved money - been poorly so not in work - because my boss is pure evil I received over a dozen texts and calls re work needing doing, so I went into the office this morning - still sick. But I did take the opportunity to use z loo! so saved myself some toilet paper (much needed with a cold).

Karmacat

Mine's really boring - some of the stuff on here is riveting! My first proper job, I was a secretary in Birmingham. I used to take marmite sandwiches to work, and walked home to save the busfare. Did the toilet paper thing, of course. And for years I got into bed in the evening to watch TV so I didn't have to use the heating. Of course, then the damp started creeping in. Can't win.....

squiggles

Love reading this thread,so thanks for starting it.:T

ive been laughing at many of the posts at what you do when desperate,some are quite heart wrenching and some of your desperate things is my normal weekly routines :rotfl:

LookingAhead

lol at the using the works loo thing!

It makes you feel great as well sometimes that you are getting paid to go to the toilet at work....especially when you want to ram a custard pie in your bosses face that day.

Mrs._Irwin

When I was little we were skint one winter, and for christmas Mum and Dad bought me and my sister a cheap doll, and then Dad made a crib for each one and Mum knitted them a blanket each. It was awesome, cos no one else had one! We were living in Canada, so it was tinned moose for dinner that winter!

When sharing a house with some guys from college, I wouldn't let them turn the heating on, February or no February! We nicked the big rolls of loo paper from college, of course, but also some cleaning products we found unattended, salt and pepper, and I think some crockery from the refectory.
Dad occasionally took me to Sainsbury's out of pity, and I would sneak some cheese in for the lads, even though I was vegan at the time.
The best thing was that bread was 7p from Kwiksave at the time! plus 7p tin of beans and you could find enough change on the street for us all to eat!

I developed a bit of a Clinique habit a few years ago, may God forgive me, but I would always buy it when it was bonus time. My sister-in-law has received a make-up bag with samples as a Christmas gift in the past, but I did feel rather guilty.

My sister is really good at this, she never has any money, so for my birthday the other year, I had her help me clean the house and do the garden before a barbeque, and make me a cardboard armadillo.
The christmas before that, she gave everybody things she was going to take to the charity shop.
THIS Christmas, she gave everybody scooby keyrings she'd made and small woollen hats. Yes, they were the small woollen hats that were limited edition with the Innocent smoothies before Christmas.

xx