I have lost my OS ways, help!

cheerfulness4

Lovely to see you posting again Sammy. And congratulations too on your marriage.


All those improvements to your house are really going to help you save. You know all the tricks to get back on track so you'll soon be heading back out of debt.


Don't forget to do a bit of comping, too. I remember you had success in the past and I've found it fab for those extras. Plus its fun!

serena

Caterina Thank you so much for your welcome! I apologise for gate crashing the thread, but I was so excited to see greenbee's name. We were friends on flylady thread a few years back, and have met a few times in real life. Then I forgot which thread it was I'd found her on!

I have now read the whole thread, and very much enjoyed reading everyone's descriptions of the OS lifestyle.

I try to be fairly OS, but feel that as I am not particularly short of money (although not wealthy either!) that perhaps I do not get the best value from it, so this thread is just the encouragement that I need, thank you. Now I've found you again, I shall be lurking and popping in.

mon1o

Hi everyone! Hope youre all ok? Wow lots gone on over the past few days going to have to read through and catch up properly!

Ive been absolutely full of cold. Its all been in my sinuses so thats not been much fun. Its starting to get better now though thank goodness - the joys of winter!
Ive joined the november grocery challenge thread and weve done most of our monthly shop and spent half our budget. It will just be top up shops now of bread/milk/other essentials now so thats all good, feel positive we should manage it.

Ive ordered my sons birthday present (he turns 7 on 23rd december) and it only cost £20 but it is something I know he will love.
We went "trick or treat"-ing last night the kids havent grown much so we recycled last years costumes and spent £2.49 on some make up to make them look goulish. Worked well and they had a fab time.

Tonight weve been to a bonfire and we "shopped around" - i know sounds sill doesnt it? Well, we were looking at around £20-£25 entry for organised displays so decided we werent paying that and were all set to give it a miss until a friend of ours told DH about a local pub putting one on. We decided to take a look and entry was free!! We had a fab time and wouldnt have had more fun at an organised event. We only spent £3.90 while we were there so a massive saving. It was absolutely brilliant.

Hope you all are having a lovely weekend xxx

moments_of_sanity

sammy, congratulations on your wedding.

Mon10, fantastic money saving for you over the last few days, it's lovely to be able to take children out for a special evening and not have to pay an absolute fortune ��

I have been trying to increase my fruit eating over the last few days so have been having 2 small satsumas but since Friday I have had tummy ache, no other symptoms just an ache that comes in waves so wondering if it could be the fruit. I don't normally eat any as it's not really my thing but do like lots of different vegetables so have never worried about it too much. Maybe I will try just one small one tomorrow and see how it goes.

I had to pop into Ald!'s this afternoon and I couldn't believe how busy it was, no parking spaces in the car park and 4 deep at all the tills. I only spent £9.04 so happy with that and £3.98 was nail care that I bought for my DD. Dinner today is slow cooked beef with roast potatoes and all the trimmings, good job we have some spare as DD's boyfriend will be joining us. I have some bread pudding, chocolate cornflake cakes, tinned peaches, bananas and custard or rice pudding if anyone wants any pudding later.

I also need to do a menu plan for next week, or at least adapt the one I have as my vegetarian DD has some sweet potatoes and a butternut squash that will need eating in a few days and not sure she is going to use them. No food shopping for me until Friday at the earliest as I have spent the food money for the week but we have lots of food in the house/freezer/garage, milk in the freezer and flour to make some HM bread. DH has discovered my hiding place for the frozen prawns and has decided he will have some in his sandwiches tomorrow whilst at work, I have 'advised' him that if he eats them all before I make a fish pie, he will be going without prawns!:rotfl:

I hope you all manage to have a stress free and relaxing Sunday x

Caterina

Good evening,

Hello Sammy, good to see you posting again and many congratulations on your wedding.

Hi Bella and cheerfulness4!

You are very welcome Serena, this is not all about being short of money, but living within our limits and simply, in the Old Style way, making do and mending, being mindful and trying to avoid unnecessary consumption. It will be good to read your posts.

Mon1o sorry you haven't been well, hope you are better today. Well done on your bargainous bonfire night!

MOS perhaps the fruit is giving you gas, try to eat it away from meals, see if it makes a difference. Re. Veggie DD, if you roast and mash the sweet potatoes and squash you can freeze some of it and give the rest to your DD as soup, just an idea, she might like it.

Today rainy Sunday, but as soon as it cleared a bit I walked to the gym and had my first workout in ages. Pleased about it even if it was very gentle. It's a start.

Back home, DH was at the DIY like billy-o, had put silicone all around the worktops, did a grand job, but it meant that the kitchen was upside down again! So I spent some time tidying and rearranging.

Dinner was going to be curry but DS was suffering from a hangover after being at an all night party so he requested a gentler meal. I made a mild vege chilli.

We ate and watched the DVD of August Osage County, a very intense film all about dysfunctional relationships among family members, very well acted, but sad.

Early night tonight, as tomorrow back to work after a 2 week break, and some mystery shop to be done, too.

Thursday I am off to Italy for five days so I have lots to do in the next few days.

Good night.

tatabubbly

Hi all! Back from being sick

Yesterday was a NSD, going to have quite a few of those this month with Christmas on its way next month! Today, I will be heading out and meeting a friend for lunch.. Keeping costs down so it'll just be a salad for moi!

Got most of my meals planned this week, OH is off on a business trip on Wednesday so I'll be having fish!

Other than that, my savings are increasing slowly but surely. Hoping I can last till the 25th without having to borrow off OH.. Need to get cracking with the wedding savings as well.. Getting the last bit together is definitely the hardest!

Caterina

Good morning,

Tatabubbly sorry you haven't been well, glad you feel better. Good luck with your wedding savings.

Today's OS plan:

Breakfast, no eggs in the house so it will have to be hm granola.

If it does not rain I shall go to the park to see if the tai chi man is there, for some practice. Not done any last week and I am forgetting everything, it goes so quickly! If he is not there I shall just walk down to the gym for a workout.

Then a bit of shopping, returning DVDs to the library and will try to get the evening meal going, as I won't have a lot of time later on.

Nose back to grindstone at 3:30 pm, the boys are back from their long half term (2 weeks, it went so fast!), so it is a school pick up, cook them dinner and wait for mum to get back.

Later on, babysitting the girls. Sometimes I wonder if I should not just pack it all in, I am tired of looking after people, kids or grownups, I have done it all my life and had enough. But it is work and brings me a little independent income. Probably less traumatic than office work, and in these times also better paid (not the evening job though, that's paid a pittance, but easy as just round the corner).

Have a good OS day.

sammy_kaye18

Morning all

Well yesterday I had my first NSD in a long time which I am sad to say I will make up for today as I have to go and pay the rent.
Im also hoping to look for some grey school trousers for Holly since the weather is getting colder and she seems to be living in her winter school dress but I sillily (?) only brought her one as it was all I could find at the time when I got her summer dresses but that is my aim for today and I will them come home and try and reclaim my bedroom.

All the boxes need going through before I even think about putting them back near my wardrobe so I will get them done and hopefully away as that is my main job to get done and I will have a sort through to see if I can sell anything in there that we no longer need.

Dinner tonight is beef casserole with dumplings I think if I can find suet cheap enough but we have enough shops in town that Im sure it will be no problem. Just not entirely sure what else to serve it with as we had potatoes yesterday in cheese and potato pie.

Also need to finish washing or rewash the kids school stuff to freshen it all up before school tomorrow.

Also hoping Tuesday will be a NSD but on Wednesday the 3 for 2 toys in argos start again so Im hoping to go and get a few bits for Holly with the last of our argos vouchers from the wedding and then that should be her christmas practically done.

right off to competition for a little bit before town.

x

Caterina

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

Morning all
....
Dinner tonight is beef casserole with dumplings I think if I can find suet cheap enough but we have enough shops in town that Im sure it will be no problem. Just not entirely sure what else to serve it with as we had potatoes yesterday in cheese and potato pie.

....

x

Sammy you can make dumplings with vegetable oil if you don't have suet, as long as you use self raising flour.

Alternatives to potato: rice, pasta, barley, couscous, slices of bread, but also consider that if you make dumplings that's the carbs sorted, especially if you stretch the casserole with sliced carrot, swede and/or parsnips, just cook some greens to go alongside the casserole. Hope it helps.

amber03

This morning when thinking I might have to go shopping for tea as I couldn't think what we would have, I decided to write a list of what I had in the freezer, fridge and cupboards. Heard of people who do this but hadn't done it myself. Well after completeing 5 A4 sheets of paper with food that was there, I came to a conclusion that I didn't need to go shopping for tea or for the next couple of weeks. I was embarrassed that I had so much food but totally unaware of what there was and by the amount there was. Now the beginning of each month I will list all foods I have down on the paper. Another bonus was when the family asked what was for tea I handed them all the pieces of paper and told them they could have anything off the list.x