I have lost my OS ways, help!

Caterina

Good morning,

Today I am going to the farmers market for apples, eggs and beetroots, then DH and I are driving to a community vegetable farm where last years we brought our small crop of grapes. Today we will get it back in the shape of 3 bottles of perfectly organic, 100% natural red wine! It will cost us £15 as we had to pay the production and bottling costs, but we are delighted and very excited.

The first bottle goes to the lady who gave us the vine as a gift, the other two bottles are for our children, one each.

It is a lovely place and today they are also having a book launch and a chilli demo, so I hope to get some chillies. Last year's chillies lasted me all winter. This year I have grown some of my own but not enough to see us through until next season.

Yesterday I ordered curtain tracks and curtains from dun-elm, so very soon I shall have thermal curtains on the front windows instead of tatty roman blinds. It will help keep the house warm.

Still not switched on the central heating but we have had the woodstove on a few times. Silly me, last night I had meant to put some oat groats to cook on it for today's porridge but I forgot. Never mind, I shall ask DH to make regular porridge with oat flakes.

Have a good OS day.

rosie383

Caterina thank you for starting this thread. I've been in exactly the same boat. Still doing some ingrained OS things but taking my eye off the ball with regards to meal planning and shopping etc. So thank you. I'm reading through at my leisure and getting inspired again. Enjoy the farmers' market.

Caterina

Hello Rosie383, you are welcome! Glad to have you on board. Hope you will find it useful and that you will keep us updated on how you are doing, with your posts.

Since starting this thread, treating it a bit like a diary really, I am managing to regain focus and I love reading others' ideas and how they implement their plans for an OS lifestyle, I find it very inspiring. So, thank YOU, and thanks to all who joined this thread!

mon1o

Morning All! I have been following this thread with interest over the past 2 days (yep ive read all 39 pages lol). Ive recently changed job and taken a role with less responsibility etc it was a hard decision but the right one. The problem is the pay cut of approx £600 a month is taking its toll and we are now having to rediscover our OS ways! Hubby is self employed too so his income can be extremely good or extremely poor - just depends on what hes got on at the time.

We already shop at ald! and dont have many takeaways or ready meals etc but could do better ie bake cakes instead of buy them - same for bread, plan meals better, and just generally be more organised. We are already set for a non extravagant christmas and have accepted we need to be more frugal but the kids dont understand why they cant have all the luxuries they used to get or why they have to wait for things. Dont get me wrong they have never been spoilt but we used to get them all 1 "big" present for xmas and this year we have told them there wont be a "big" present but they will still get something nice - they didnt say anything but looked disappointed and it broke my heart.

Sorry ive gone on. Can i please join you for the sake of my bank balance and sanity?
Mon x

mothernerd

Hi caterina I've been lurking for a while but not in a position do do a lot atm (long story). Don't want to hi-jack your thread but wanted to ask mon1o how old her children were.

My ex-OH was self-employed and one year he got Bell's Palsy and could not go back to work in a computer room until he recovered (estimates as to how long that would be were 3 - 6 months). Our children were very young 7,5 and 2 years so we had to have a conversation about Christmas without saying anything about you know who.

I knew the middle one wanted a Thunderbird suit (eldest as well, possibly) and was confident I could make that (or buy a cheap pair of pyjamas and make the hat and sash) and already had the Blue Peter instructions for making Tracy Island but we needed to know what 'made Christmas' for them. What most surprised us was that getting chocolate money in their stockings was really important to them - it would have been so easy to miss it out for the sake of saving a few pennies.

Also it won't help now but for the past ten years I have been looking at what is left after Christmas and reducing my buying accordingly. I've also tried asking the boys (they're 23 to 29 now) to list their top ten 'must-have' foods for Christmas and if they've not put it down, don't complain that 'you've forgotten such and such'. It takes away some of the stress of always doing everything.

If you tell us how old your children are, we might be able to come up with some good ideas between us.

mon1o

Mothernerd my children are 9, 6 and 4. My 6 year old turns 7 on 23rd december so its never going to be a "cheap" month! My youngest loves anything peppa pig and i think to be fair would be happy with anything she gets. My 6 year old son is very much into computers and superheroes. He asked us for a wii U console but even second hand these are over £100 so he wont be getting that. My eldest daughter is into history at the moment and loves writing stories - egyptians and dinosaurs being her favourite topics.

As i said before they are definitely not spoilt but i think because they are young its trying to explain to them that we dont have as much money as we used to have and them not fully understanding the reasons why (not so much of an issue with the 9yr old but more with the little ones). i think on the day they will be thrilled with what they do get whatever that may be.

grandmasam

Morning all, well the kitchen looks a bit like a murder scene!! Cooking, peeling and dicing a kilo of beetroot for beet and apple relish. It's now simmering nicely on the cooker, so that will be some more jars for the hampers for the family.

Made some orange and apricot marmalade for the same reason last evening so I'm keeping busy and getting ahead with the presents.This preserve making also has the side benefit of clearing the stores in the freezer and doing something with the stuff I've grown instead of adding to freezer store. Amazing the other 'goodies' hidden in the freezer drawers, blueberries anyone ?? think these will be used to make more jam/relish!

Hens are in a moult and the days are shorter so no eggs at present but looking to get some pol pullets after christmas.Meantime, housework is continuing [ very slowly!] in between walking the hound and making preserves.

Have a good day all ,
Caz

Pooky

Mon1o - Is there family that might chip in towards the console so you could maybe then buy it as a joint family present - there's lots of group games available (we have one and love the silly games - DD's are 16 and 18) Maybe then each child could have a game of their own to use on it?

My OS ways are kicking back in and I've gone back to online grocery ordering - I really do save so much this way. I've been utilising my slow cooker as much as possible too. Slow cooked porridge for breakfast and lots of stews and slow cooked meats etc. Yesterday I made 6l of ratatouille, it made the house smell amazing.

I'm part way through my winterfcation of the house too, just one pair of curtain linings (thermal) to alter for DD2's room and I need to have a dig in the garage for some curtain pole and brackets for a doorway off the hall, the curtain is ready to hang so I just need to get on with it.

My parents popped in this morning on their way to a family doo, they brought 4 big tubs of blackberries and 2 huge sacks of wood for the fire.....shall get the blackberries turned into wine this week, I'll appreciate that over Christmas.

rosie383

Woohoo! I'm officially back on the OS wagon! Thanks for being there to encourage everyone.
Today I made a pot of broccoli soup using a ys head of broccoli that was getting a bit too near to the bin. Kids both said it was revolting but I like it so it'll do me for a couple of lunches. Made the kids cheesy champ and beans and made a choc fridge cake out of bits lurking in the baking cupboard with 4 leftover jellybeans chopped up in wee bits and 2 bits of turkish delight all thrown into the mix with a handful of choc chips so it's
more appealing and doesn't look like it's thrown together!
Found some poppadoms lurking also and grilled those for a savoury snack. Ran out of milk and rather than walking to a big supermarket, just went to the corner shop. 20p more expensive but cheaper in the end as I would've been tempted to buy rubbish that I didn't need if I went to sains.
So thank you one and all.

Caterina

Good evening,

WOW, I turn my back for 5 minutes and there's a crowd!

Hello Mon1o, mothernerd, grandmasam and Pooky, good to have so many of you interested in walking this path together!

Mon1o, I agree with the others about getting the kids to tell you what's really special for them at Christmas, I am sure that they will be happy with a fewer gifts but with family traditions, love and warmth. Children, especially at the age they are now, really thrive on tradition, so if you do what they know to happen regularly at Christmas (tree, decoration, special food etc) it will go a long way towards making their day happy.

Also, you can get them gifts from charity shops, pound shop, market stalls, boot sales, freebies or cheap stuff from e - bay, freecycle, gumtree etc. you will be amazed at how much stuff there is for little or nothing and the children will love it. Involve them in making a gingerbread house, mince pies, buy or make them a big stocking each and stuff it with the goodies, they will love it!

Best wishes.