Five OS Pleasures in your day today

Olliebeak

Cooooeeeee all :hello: - lovely morning (at the moment) here in Huyton. Fingers crossed that they day stays like this .

- thanks all for your comments on Calamity Jane (my gorgeous DD) - she is a great girl and does cope very well most of the time, though she does have her down moments. Have to admit, that after the initial squeals of disbelief at what was happening in the bathroom, we were all laughing our heads off at the ludicrous situation we were in. I'm still trying to work out if she was brave, or naive to kick her OH out when she did! She really believed that he would keep to his promises to continue paying the mortgage/insurance - oh yeah, wake up and smell the :coffee:, girl!

- littlemissmoneysaver, that's part of the delights of car-boots - to buy stuff you don't need ; the reduced amount of washing powder does work, obviously not if something is really dirty - but most of us don't seem to have really dirty stuff these days unless our OH has a 'mucky job/hobby'.
- hope you enjoy your trip to Barcelona, Blimus .
- what a busy day, BigMumma - sometimes a takeaway is just what's needed .
- well done on your usual brilliant haul of freebies, Reverbe - you're one busy lady .
- what a fabulously romantic day out, allydowd - country walk, campfire and a cuddly bath time :heartpuls.
- thanks for your comments on DD, SunnyGirl - and well done on your 'tin rattling'. I used to go door knocking for Christian Aid Week years ago, so I know how hard it is. Hope all your efforts were well-rewarded - you'd have thought that Costa Coffee would have taken pity on you all and provided some freebies :rolleyes:.
- I've never thought about freezing jacket potatoes, fedup - something I should have a go at .
- that rain was so welcome wasn't it, JaySL, I actually missed filling the watering can to give everything a good soak.
- well done on your self-restraint with the 'buymes', frugalswan :beer:.
- what a lovely way to spend your weekend, emmie - playtime with your dd, visiting your lovely parents and then coseytime with your OH!
- how sweet of your little girl, kittikins - it's so good when they show their feelings - she must have really missed your even though she enjoyed her sleepover. congrats on your NSD and also on not letting a 'naughty food day' get you down too much - it happened, so just forget about it and put it behind you now.
- welcome back, Sparrer - sounds like you and your DM had a lovely trip. Hope you had a good sleep in your own bed last night .
- know that feeling of being wide awake on a weekend but not on a weekday only too well, shopndrop! I think it's my body's way of telling me that I will not want to still be working past 62 (and a bit) when the time comes :rolleyes:. Hope you enjoy your holiday - I was awake early everyday on mine cos I found the birdsong deafening :rotfl:!
- lol at 'opera in English', Caterina! Sounds like you and OH had a great evening .

My blessings for yesterday weren't that many but here goes:

1. Trip to local shopping centre and managed to not go too crazy (due to lack of funds!) and forced myself to stay away from HomeBargains.

2. Delicious Spicy Turkey Casserole for evening meal - even some leftover and frozen to go with a jacket spud one day.

3. Watered down 4pts semi-skimmed milk to make 6pts of skimmed :rolleyes: - this has become second nature now. Just make sure that I don't do it for dgks.

4. Took a whoopsied Extra Tasty Chicken out of the freezer last night for today's lunch. Will be having it with stuffing, roast parsnips, mashed pots, carrots, greenbeans and gravy.

5. Bought some more compost and large plant pots yesterday, so got some more 'potting on' to do this afternoon - that'll keep me out of mischief while the lunch is cooking :rolleyes:.

6. Yesterday's laundry has all dried on the airers overnight, another load has finished while I've been having breakfast and mooching on here and one more load to go in.

7. BB to look forward to this evening :j:j!

Have a great day everybody ((((((HUGS)))))) to all - Ollie xxx

cookie9

I know there is lots of gloom about the recession but today I was thinking about the good points about watching the pennies.

1. being creative - my presents show a lot more thought and creativity. Pesonalised calenders, nappy cakes and even the paper itself.

2. eating well. More freshly made food and a lot less ready meals.

3. more environmentally friendly. Less waste and more recylcing.

4. the OS Board. great ideas and so friendly.

BitterAndTwisted

I've turned it into a kind of game in my mind. I get enormous pleasure from making my modest income stretch and stretch

Guapa1

I blog about watching the pennies and take pictures of my cheap and cheerful creations.

My presents are interesting, and things people actually use. The 'what I wish I knew when I was 18' book I made my sister is really popular, and I'm looking into publishing it.

I 'talk' to some fab people on the OS board, I don't really venture out anywhere else anymore.

I love showing off my new found knowledge. When I made a batch of condensed milk, my friends couldn't believe it. I'm going to spring home made Baileys on them soon, and I'll not be giving them the recipe either!

sunflower76

There are so many things that I've gained from being a tightwad and an OS'er :cool:

1. We eat really well on a reasonable budget and can create a reasonable meal from practically anything
2. I will attempt to do lots of things and have all sorts of random skills from tiling, to cake baking, to pointing walls to jam making etc
3. I am environmentally aware and be careful to reduce, re-use and recycle
4. I'm content in what I have. This is probably the hardest thing I've learnt as I used to want the nicest things. Now I am happy with what I have as my mindset has completely chnaged. I now only replace something if I need to and only then if it is beautiful, useful or preferably both
5. I like being able to help others with my OS & tightwad ways and am not ashamed of who I am and how I live

dazzle21

Some of my 'friends' are quite resentful of the luxury life i lead, they don't believe me when i tell them that all clothes come from charity shops, toys for ds from car boot, kitchen/household - carboot (except my breadmaker from freecycle!). When we talk about food, they assume i shop in m&s as we eat well but it is actually homemade/home grown (i have had to learn to cook which has been fun!!) I love being old-style, and not fearing a credit card bill at the end of the month, I wish i'd discovered it sooner! Anything i no longer have a use for departs to the local childrens hospice shop so everyone is happy

mouseymousey99

My P60 says we lived on 4k last year. Actually I'm happier than when we lived on 65k (ha oneday the book).......

We live very well - we eat good food - but it has taken me years to work it all out. The boards have been amazing. I manage to put a bit away too.
Oh and we go on holiday.
Just wish I knew all this a long time ago - hey ho that's life.

SuziQ

I feel so much more in control of my budget-and of my life generally-since I have been so careful with money,I have the lowest income I have ever had in 30 years yet eat better and appreciate things far more than when I could buy what I wanted,when I wanted. My kids are also getting a very good grounding which I think will be invaluable to them as they get older. My oldest is at Uni and having watched and helped me budget,do meal plans and cook from scratch for a year before she went she is doing the same-eats much better than all of her friends and spends a fraction of what they do for better food. She has said to me that what she has learned from me is priceless!

I have a very expensive hobby-scrapbooking-but have learned it doesn't have to be. I buy far less and am actually using what I already have for the first time in years,using left overs to make lovely birthday cards etc and have also started making my own gifts too.

This is much more how I was brought up and I love the nostalgia of it. My parents never went into debt for anything (apart from being the frst people in either family to have a small mortgage back in the 50's) and I have decided that their save and wait policy is actually so much more sensible. The only appliances I would replace quickly if they went wrong and weren't repairable would be my washer and fridge freezer-things like my dishwasher are a lovely luxury but not essential-in fact I often now wash up and drain everything in the dishwasher rather than run it! I have found using launderettes really expensive so that to me would be false economy.

Life ain't so bad. Mind you-I am recovering from surgery for bowel cancer and that has also changed my attitude-I am much more of a glass half full person these days as I am far more appreciative.

Primrose

Over recent days::
1. Enjoyable visit with a friend from overseas staying and reminiscing over old times..
2. Lying cosily tucked up in bed last night as the thunderstorm roared overhead.
3. Pub lunch together with her and a group of friends from the past.
4. Sitting on the patio after breakfast watching the sun rapidly dry out the wet paving stones and seeing huge swatches of steam rising from the soaked fence as the heat of the sun dried it out.

allydowd

Olliebeak wrote: »

- what a fabulously romantic day out, allydowd - country walk, campfire and a cuddly bath time :heartpuls.

Well, I am a newlywed!