Please help me get BACK TO THE BASICS of os moneysaving

lessonlearned

Mashedavacado......I worked as a debt advisor too at one point, in charge of mortgage arrears. DEbt theory is one thing, putting it into practice is actually quite different.

So don't beat yourself up if you can't put all that theory into practice.

For example the theory is to budget for everything, ie separate saving pots for different expenses. However in real life when you are skint you can't always afford to to do that. Sometimes in the short term you have to just lump everything together and muddle through as best you can, robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Re the exhaustion when pregnant and cooking. Rather than going mad at it trying to batch cook etc try just doubling up - so if you do say a spag Bol or chilli then double up the meat sauce bit and freeze one lot for those cba days, same with casseroles, stews etc.

Also have a simpe soup and pud night now and again, or something on toast if you are really tired and pushed for time.

I know it's not actually MSE as such but keeping potato products such as oven chips, potato croquettes, hash browns etc in the freezer can be a real help when you are exhausted. Nowt wrong with good old egg, chips and beans.....:rotfl:

And a lot cheaper than a takeaway.....

PenniesMake£s

:j I'm so thrilled with this thread. I'm learning and feeling highly motivated to implement all these tips. :T

Serendipitious

Fascinating thread. Yes, I remember expensive tights - I had to beg and plead for my first pair of American Tan in the very late 60s, they were 18 shillings and eleven-pence if I recall correctly. Just under a pound. The same as about 5 pints of beer.

milasavesmoney

Jackie, when I married at 18 we did not have a pot to !!!! in, as they say. It never ever occurred to me that my mom and dad should help us out monetarily. It just wasn't done. When they would come every 3-4 months to visit us, mother would always bring HM jelly and jam and jars of vegetables she canned. She also brought frozen meat because they butchered and split a cow and a hog with one of her sibling's family. I considered myself very lucky (living in high cotton) because I did not know of anyone else's parents who did this.

We worked and saved for what we had which was second hand...it was all we could afford. Today, so many people want to have everything new and they use credit to buy it. I look at the furniture in my living room and there is not one thing that I bought new in there except the paintings on the wall. It was either bought second hand or given to us. And it is gorgeous! I get lots of complements when people see it for the first time.

It's actually very easy to get pretty things second hand because of people wanting new all the time. It has worked out quite well for me.

I really worry about the lack of savings in families today. If the world financial situation ever turns belly up it will be more devastating than our (US) Great Depression or your war/rebuilding rationing years. I pray that never happens! If I could say one thing it would be pay off your debt and save for emergencies. Things are going to break down, that's a given. It's wise to have the money to pay for repairs or new when that time comes.

We have bought cars and our house on credit, but not much else. I now online shop for birthdays and Christmas and sometimes food/toiletry (if it's a great deal) but that is paid the same month usually. When I see people's huge CC debt I just cringe. How have we failed to teach our children to not pay for things with money that is not theirs? And then pay interest on borrowing this money? It has not been the example we showed, but somehow they haven't absorbed that lesson. Are we to blame? Yes, I think in part. Finances is not something most of us sat down with our children and taught them.

So Jackie, I think we are the lucky ones. We grew up knowing we had to make our own way, work and pay for things ourselves and save what little we had left over. I worry that so many of our young ones simply won't be prepared for tough times, if they come.

On a happier note, there are wise voices on here and it will be a great place to learn. Ask questions about anything and someone will be along to help out!

milasavesmoney

Upsidedown_Bear wrote: »

Great threads here for ideas
Sneaky ways to save the pennies
Lots more sneaky ways to save the pennies

Fantastic threads!!! Thank you for posting them!!

I've started reading through the first one and especially love the idea of freezing any leftover wine in an ice cube tray. These could be stored in a ziplock bag and used when the recipe calls for a splash or so of wine. No having to open a new bottle.

Also > turn the oven off 5 min before your through baking.

suki1964

milasavesmoney wrote: »

Fantastic threads!!! Thank you for posting them!!

I've started reading through the first one and especially love the idea of freezing any leftover wine in an ice cube tray. These could be stored in a ziplock bag and used when the recipe calls for a splash or so of wine. No having to open a new bottle.

Also > turn the oven off 5 min before your through baking.

There is never such a thing as left over wine in this household :beer:


We buy by the box. Means there's always some for cooking and no one feels obliged to have one cos a bottle is being opened. Box lasts about 2/3 weeks between 3 adults and it doesn't go off

lessonlearned

No left over wine here either......:rotfl:

Instead of wine I buy a bottle of cheap port from Aldi and add a splash of that instead of red wine. It gives a lovely rich taste to even the simplest stews and casseroles. A bottle cost around £7 and will last for months.

You can also use up cheap vermouth, sherry or cheap Spanish brandy. I have tried the special cooking wines but tbh I think they are expensive when compared to the choices I have outlined above.

Turning off the oven and electric hobs is definitely a good money saver.

A quick tip for this hot weather to keep your fridge cold and reduce leccy bills.

Freeze some of those gel picnic packs and pop them in the fridge. You could use a bottle of water instead. And of course if you are really organised, defrost meat etc in the fridge - probably safer in this heat anyway than defrosting at room temperature.

[Deleted User]

I have an electric hob and I usually turn it off five minutes before the potatoes are quite done and leave the lid on and they still keep cooking in their own generated heat.Doesn't sound much, but if you look at the electric dial slowing down considerably afterwards you realise the spuds are getting cooked for nowt The same with rice when its almost absorbed all the water it will carry on cooking even though the ring element is switched off.

Lots of silly sounding things save a few pennies here and there. When my children were small as they walked out of a room if it was not going to be occupied I would yell Lights.they got into the habit of switching them off if not needed I do the same to my DGC and they do it to each other now
I have a walk-in shower in my bathroom and because the water has to come from the upstairs tank which takes a few minutes before the water runs hot in the shower downstairs.

I have an empty used 10 litre emulsion paint tub that I stick in the shower and run the water into that and usually get at least three quarters of a tubfull of water.This goes on my lawn and shrubs rather than use the hose to water the garden.
Its my water, and its paid for via a meter so why waste it by running down the drain.My monthly water direct debit is now down to £14.80 per month which I am quite happy about.Before my water meter it was normally over £35 per month for water rates. I think recycling and conserving what we have is definitely the way to go.

I just hate waste because when I was growing up nothing was wasted as there were so little materials around to waste rationing certainly focuses the mind.

Our US friend Mila has it right the US had the great depression in the 1930s and we had wartime rationing during the 1940s.I too would hate to see a return of conditions like that.My late OH worked in the Sudan in the 1980s and when he would come home on leave he would tell us how bad it was for folk in the third world and how little they had yet managed somehow.Before he went away he has his moments of wastefullness but after working there on contract for three years it changed his outlook completely. he became the local recycling king and after me having been banging on at the family for many years about wasting stuff he was suddenly seeing my point of view.My two DDs are pretty good now they are grown up and do their best not to throw useable stuff out Normally its "oh take it to Mum,she will find a use/home for it

The same principle applies to food waste If you can't use it up then freeze it until you can Food is far too expensive a commodity to just throw in the bin.I enjoy trying to find a way or recipe that will use things up.At the moment I am working my way through a 'tin' cupboard as I am shortly going away on holiday so want to make sure that all the fresh stuff is used and not binned and I am quite happy to use up some of my stock of tinned stuff to make a meal.This morning I had for breakfast several left over new potatos sliced up and cooked in the frying pan with two eggs in an omelette Lunchtime I will use up some more of the salad bits that I have in a halluimi cheese wrap as I have got one of the Y/S wraps from the freezer. I will probably have a frozen chilli meal from the freezer for dinner tonight with some rice.No food shopping for me this week fingers crossed.

Experimenting with different food stuff and cobbling together a meal out of what I have to me is enjoyable But then I only have to cook for myself and I have a cast iron tummy and will eat almost anything :):)

I too always have bottles of tap water in the fridge to keep cool and stop the fridge having to work harder .My freezer is so full I can't get a gel pack in there at the moment :):)

milasavesmoney

Making a small change in habits can make a real difference.

For example, cut down on coffee out and alcohol consumption. Becoming mindful of where your money is leaking out can make a real difference.

For me it was wasting food and too many meals in restaurants/ take away.

Anyone else want to add a bad habit that needs changing?

EstherH

JACKIE; I agree that people do have a much higher expectation that they should be able to have everything they want these days.

We had a nice wedding which I don't think I would have enjoyed any more if we had had all the extras that people 'have to have' these days and go into debt for. The celebrities have that wedding so they have to. My wedding dress was homemade.

When I brought up my children McDonald's was somewhere we maybe went once when we were on holiday or the odd birthday treat. Takeaways were fish and chips occasionally. We went for days out with a picnic from home. My children had clothes passed on from friends with older children.

We bought our house with a mortgage that was calculated at two and a half times my husbands wage and half mine. And interest rates went up to fifteen per cent. Our furniture was (and still is) mostly second hand.

To my wider family we are the poor relations. But we are happy and content with what we have while they always seem to be hankering after something more.

Sorry, this isn't helping the OP with their original question.

A slowcooker full of mince and veg which can then be portioned up and frozen, takes little time and can then have tomatoes, beans and some herbs added to make chilli or bolognaise or be served with jacket potato or made into lasagne or shepherds pie.