Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

vhalla1478

PS. I forgot to say, Lynn. Yes, members of staff in shops do seem to make snide remarks about customers' purchases - it may be human nature, but it's mean, bad manners and it's wrong to do it within hearing range. When I first worked in retail, everyone, including management, had continuous training on customer relations etc, I don't think this happens that much now. Where have all the polite people gone? I know, they're all on this thread!:A

Viv xx

silvasava

I'm another one who is not unhappy about the downturn in McDonalds profits. We have a Kentucky on the main road here & DH & I tried it when we were moving in - never again! and that was 40 years ago lol.
My DH is a dab hand at soft boiled eggs & omelettes - but that's about it.
Do hope you get to spend some time with DB Vhalla - time together is precious.
Just looking at the weather report for our trip to Lincolnshire - I'm thinking summer on top & thermals underneath!!
Can anyone give me some ideas on what to buy for a bloke's 60th birthday - bearing in mind he is VERY comfortably off (& we're not!) Unfortunately I don't know what he drinks but I'd like to get him a 'token' at least.

Hope everyone has a good day x

janb5

How about ordering a newspaper from the day he was born which may be nice. A card and a bottle of wine could go down well?

Snorkypants

vhalla1478 wrote: »

Good morning All,


Just read a couple of snippets of news this morning that I thought were quite interesting. Apparently 42% of women in this country bake once a week and 41% of men. The only man I know who bakes is my DS - how about the male members of your families/friends?



Viv xx

My OH bakes excellent home made bread, he really enjoys it and is branching out into bagels too. I think he likes the challenge of perfecting his technique.

nursemaggie

I think I could list everything in my freezer without looking. I only have an extra slim fridge freezer with 4 small draws. I tried having things like meat or veg all in one draw but find myself squeezing things in any corner I can find when I stock up with meat from the market.

I tend to shop less often than once a week. I stock up on different things from different types of shops. DS buys milk and bread when we run out from Mr m so no risk of me buying extra as he is good at going in for what he came for and not noticing anything else. Yet he can spot a bargain at 100 paces in the market.

I have a market day once every two or three weeks depends how much I buy when I will go again. The market is meat fresh fish, frozen foods and fruit and veg. I may top up the veg in between but I always have some frozen veg in.

I stock up bits and pieces in discount and £shops in town about every three weeks. I go to Aldi about once a month. If we run out of anything I may do a small top up shop at Mr M or DS gets the odd thing. Sometimes we manage without even having to get milk and bread for more than a week. It is not unusual for me to have 12 NSD. I have lasted out a week after I have thought I needed a big shop

good_advice

Afternoon money savers.
We have just had our cream tea lunch out on the decking.
A change from sandwiches
The fruit cake is on a rack cooling down and the chicken is cooking away in the half size oven.
OH has just gone to walk the dog.

Vahalla - I bake but not every week. Sometimes DD will bake at the weekend.
Husband would run away if I said he has to cook anything.He will wash up occasionly, about twice in a week. Either breakfast or dinner if small.
Funny! he will jump up to dry some pots when I say it will not all fit on the draining board. If I left any dirty pots he would have to do them.
No dishwasher. I never wanted one.

The Mc Donalds in my town is not even a McDonalds. They just rent the stuff. It is fransised out. Bet I spelled that word wrong?
I use to like it when the kids were small. Walking the kids into town and then spending a few hours in their big play gym. Colouring and balloons. It has all changed now for more seating.

Silvasava - re the birthday. My husband loves his garden. How about a spade or fork with ribbon on? Bird bath or animal statue.
I think he likes chatting to the neighbours over the fence even better.
For oh birthday, just gone. I told the family we were all sharing buying a new mower. Husband had said he needed one. We all donated some cash with our cards as I felt he wanted to chose one himself.
I think family gladly gave as choseing a gift for a man is sometimes difficult.

Just thought of another gift. At Christmas, I had been watching HUKD for idea's for weeks. When a leather wallet came up. All boxed from an Argos sale price.
Well, I quickly reserved one for a DD BF. I gave it with a chocolate £50 ftom Tesco.

For several years I watched my FIL just get bottles every Christmas. All gratefully recieved but I felt sad.
I told OH we would start getting something else. So we changed to slippers.
Still gave out many chocolates.

cheerfulness4

Trying to remember all I've read in all your posts to comment.

1. I agree that its bad manners to talk about customers, clients or other members of staff while working. When 16 I worked at Waitrose one summer and their training was incredibly strict and marvellous in my opinion. We weren't allowed to even speak to the next cashier when working unless it was work related.

2. Why people are buying their YS is no ones business. Its not our place to judge, possibly unjustly, the reason why they buy what they do and how much of it they get.
There is a lovely poster on these boards that takes care of lots of her older neighbours in the country with YS which I think is very caring. She also feeds the birds with bread products as she can afford that better than seed.

3. I find it so interesting to read how people shop. My own habits have changed many times, determined by our circumstances. I love shopping daily and I'm really beginning to stop having that compulsion to buy through habit as others have mentioned.

The first time I went shopping on Friday and realised that we only needed milk and cereal and not a trolley full felt really strange. I nearly always use a basket now instead of a trolley. The exception has been if there are lots of YS bargains and then DH runs back and swaps for a small trolley.
I finding that I'm really enjoying shopping now and I give much more thought to what we buy.

The main difference I've found has been that occasionally we have run out of things. :eek:
But you know what..... the sky didn't fall in, we survived!
I learnt that there is nothing wrong with running out of things sometimes; you just pick something else. (with the exception of loo roll. Now that's not good and we've yet to be that badly off).

It has meant that we don't have 2 or 3 opened packets or jars of anything in the house or even unopened. I've done away with the hoarding mentality I once had. I love a bargain but I'm very choosy about which items are worth stockpiling. I have a small house and so I've had to adapt and not carry huge stocks now.

At the moment I feel that I'm decluttering my entire life, every which way, and it feels just fine. :j

Opps I'm waffling. I should be gardening in all this sun.

vhalla1478

Afternoon All,

After a grey morning the weather here has improved immeasurably, so much so that for the last hour I've been sitting outside in the sunshine reading gardening books.

Silva, just bring plenty of layers to Lincolnshire and as long as that wind doesn't come whistling in from Siberia, you should be ok. And thank you for your remark about DB - hopefully he will be here on Saturday as he's nursing a nasty cough at the moment - in fact when he left me a voicemail message via Skype I didn't recognise his voice - most embarrassing!

Cheerfulness - when I lived in Swaziland in the 1980s, an ex-pat lady said to me that she could always survive as long as she had loo roll, milk and tea. I'd change tea and milk to coffee and cream, but you get the drift...

There's something I keep meaning to mention, but then other topics come up to be discussed and I never get round to it. So whilst I remember, I think that too many people, in this country especially, are stuck onto the idea that there has to be a main meal of 'meat and two veg', whereas if we did what the Mediteranean people do for example,and make up more 'dishes', we could all stretch a small amount of meat to feed a larger number of people. I do understand that if you are busy working/looking after children etc., it's much quicker and easier to cook say, chops, potatoes and veg, but with a bit of forward planning, you can stretch your hard-earned cash much further.

Will post a couple of recipes later as examples, but at the moment, the sunshine is calling!

Viv xx

cheerfulness4

I found it interesting Viv to hear of other cultures that use meat as the flavouring rather than the main event. I've tried to adopt that principle in some of our meals.
We had Italian friends when I was a child and they made meat go a very long way. I loved the meals at their house. :drool: It was very simple fayre as they had little money and 4 children to feed.


On the subject of men baking, both DH and DS bake lovely cakes. I think they they consider themselves 'Bake off' material.:p
I like baking too but cooking is the thing I enjoy most.

DH learnt to bake at home. He was one of 7 children and home cooking was important to them. My brother loves cooking but I don't think he bakes. Dad always baked when we were children. His sultana sponge with crusty sugared topping still makes my mouth water thinking about. I don't think he can remember now that he once baked it. Such a shame.

SailorSam

silvasava wrote: »

I'm another one who is not unhappy about the downturn in McDonalds profits. We have a Kentucky on the main road here & DH & I tried it when we were moving in - never again! and that was 40 years ago lol.

I'd never had anything from McDonalds then about 5yrs ago i went to a 21st birthday party and half way through the lads Dad came around saying he was going out for the food and what did everyone want. I asked where he was going and what choice we had. I thought he was joking when he said McD. He likes to think he's a comedian. But sure enough he comes back perhaps an hour later with boxes and boxes from McDonalds.
Ok little kids may enjoy that on their birthday, but when you're 21.
How people can eat that stuff and enjoy it i'll never know.