Thank you OS and everyone - Merged

melancholly

froggergirl wrote:

This site has been great for me, I'm quite young and I suppose there's a lot of stuff that mum always just 'did' for me so when you move out and have your own kids it suddenly hits you how much there is to know about running a house - I always know I can come on here and get help from someone - most of the answers are already here it's just a case of reading through the old posts

I completely agree with that - i know that i gain a lot more from these boards than i could ever contribute.... and no-one laughs at me (too much!) for asking stupid questions! i have now fully embraced the OS approach and bought a slow cooker, and i think my mother nearly had a heart attack in shock! thank you all so much for your ideas/support/jokes etc etc etc

moggins

melancholly wrote:

I completely agree with that - i know that i gain a lot more from these boards than i could ever contribute.... and no-one laughs at me (too much!) for asking stupid questions! i have now fully embraced the OS approach and bought a slow cooker, and i think my mother nearly had a heart attack in shock! thank you all so much for your ideas/support/jokes etc etc etc

At least your mum was only shocked! Mine keeps trying to take food home with her as she can't cook

melancholly

moggins wrote:

At least your mum was only shocked! Mine keeps trying to take food home with her as she can't cook

that must be quite a compliment!! my parents live far too far away to try that trick!

kiwichick

froggergirl wrote:

This site has been great for me, I'm quite young and I suppose there's a lot of stuff that mum always just 'did' for me so when you move out and have your own kids it suddenly hits you how much there is to know about running a house - I always know I can come on here and get help from someone - most of the answers are already here it's just a case of reading through the old posts

Me too, I'm 26 and most of my friends (barr one) think I'm a bit strange cooking from scratch, sourcing a bargain, shopping at ALDI/LIDL, charity shop hunting etc. In NZ this OS is the norm so I feel REALLY at home here. I also agree with Dobies comment about passing on the skills. My kids 1,2&3 love to be in the kitchen with me. They all have their own aprons and can tell you what ingredients you need. None of my friends do this with their children. In fact, at Tesco the other week a friend of mine had her dd (3 and a mate of my dd) ask if she could make cakes. Mum dutifully went to the prepacked cake mix section and grabbed a box. DD then said proudly, "Great, now I can make these with Maisies mum (ME!)" LOL!!!

novice_money_saver_2

Hello everyone!

I love this site sooooo much. I had a lightbulb moment of a different kind almost a year ago. I bought "A Life Stripped Bare" (subtitled "tiptoeing through the ethical minefield") by Leo Hickman to read on holiday.

What an eye-opener! I learnt all about food miles, pesticides, intensive farming, sustainable energy, what happens to our rubbish, the true cost of air travel etc etc

I'm now making my own way through the ethical minefield and it isn't easy. I very quickly made some major changes to mine and OH's life, for example:

I stopped using disposable facial wipes in favour of soap & water.
We switched to eco-friendly cleaning products and pretty much stopped using bleach (can't persuade OH to drop it altogether).
We started really looking at where our food came from and moved towards local seasonal produce wherever possible.
We decided that cheapest was not necessarily best for us if it meant someone somewhere else in the world was being exploited as a result (we've switched to fairtrade coffee, tea etc)
We looked more carefully at food and other packaging in an attempt to "pre-cycle".
I started washing tin foil (which many people would say was a step too far, but not OSers).

Some of the steps we have taken have saved us money, others have cost us a bit more. But we are so much better off in a non-financial sense.

We both have stressful full-time jobs and work long hours. But the extra time we spend making food from scratch and growing our own veg etc is a huge investment in our physical and mental wellbeing.

I don't care if I get teased for spending a whole day making chutney (for example). I only wish I could persuade friends and family to join in a bit more. That's why it's so great to have this site full of like-minded people. Whether you are motivated by saving money, saving the planet or saving your sanity (or all three!), OS is a fantastic resource and the people on here are fantastic.

I'm not pretending that we've done everything we can, still many more things we can improve on.

I've noticed that awareness of all of these issues is rising through media coverage etc and certainly through this site - I really think the tide is turning back towards our society slowing down a bit and getting back to basics - I hope so. It will take a while I'm sure, but I hope I see it in my life time.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. I just wanted to say, keep up the good work everyone and keep posting!

Have a nice OS day! :hello:

NMS

Essex-girl_2

I would like to thank everyone too.

Since joining I have saved money, we all eat healthier and Ive started to enjoy cooking too. I come on most days even if I dont post and get really motivated by the daily thread and have turned life around to be more the organised person that I have always wanted to be.

This is the friendliest board even compared to the rest of MSE.

So THANK YOU!

ivyleaf

Last winter we had to virtually live on ready meals as I wasn't usually well enough to cook from scratch. This year I'm a bit better and OH commented the other day on the fact that our grocery bills had gone down - he thought it was because we were buying less food for DS20yo. He was a bit surprised when I said it was because I'm doing a lot more cooking from scratch and looking for savings wherever possible.

OH is applying for medical retirement so we don't know what our income will be this time next year, but one thing's for sure, thanks to this site and especially OS I have confidence we will manage!

Thanks everyone, for your help, support and inspiration! :A

ivyleaf xx

Aril

Hi everyone!
For the apple and leek quiche- I made a quiche following the normal cheese one but finely chopped a leek which I fried until softenend and then peeled and finely chopped a small cooking apple which I added to the leek for the last couple of minutes. I added the leeks and apple to the cheese/eggs mix and poured into the pastry case as usual.
Hope this helps!
Aril

fruityslh

I'd like to say thanks too, I don't contribute too much as I have a job that keeps me very busy (I work with men only and it's got to be the same as having 50 kids, you can definetly tell which ones are married and which ones aren't, but that's another story) but if I have a lull I'm on here itching to see what you've all been up to and what you're talking about.

It is nice to know that I'm not the only barmy one, my friends and family used to laugh at me, but slowly but surely they're coming round, my mum is going to attempt her own herbs and some veg in containers this year and my M-I-L actually bought things well in advance of Christmas last year instead of all the week before.

So keep up the good work, I'm sure there are plenty like me, who are lurking who just don't get the chance to respond to everything.

catznine

Thanks to this board and the rest of the site oh and I are managing to live quite comfortably on his pension and income from a part time job. We could never had managed this a few years ago but it is amazing how much you can do without when you have to focus. We still eat well and I have learnt over the years to use up what we have before we buy anew.

I have always loved shopping in charity shops and at car boot sales but no longer buy for the sake of it anymore. I now take a list with me and take into account things we may need in the future e.g. presents, craft supplies, curtains etc.

On top of this there is so much more we can do to save the pennies and slowly but surely we are educating ourselves and reading as much as possible on the rest of this site.