WHY are you old style?......

stressedoutmumof1

I think I've always been old style at heart (traditional anyway ) but last year when the bank took away our overdraft and "downsized" our account to a basic one I had to learn to do a weekly shop on about £30 :eek: This site has been a godsend for us (btw also thanks to this site it only took us 4 1/2 months to upgrade our bank account again with full benefits ie cheque guarantee card, overdraft and Visa card).

Without old style I think I would lose my way - none of my friends have any money worries and buy what they want when they want IYKWIM. But I'm happy in the knowledge that I would never buy anything without first checking it out on here - ie cheaper prices, discounts, vouchers etc.

I feel happier knowing my family are eating meals cooked from scratch, and that actually a take away is a real treat now, ie once a month as opposed to 2-3 times a week :eek:

So yes I make my own bread, haven't branched into yoghurt yet :rotfl: , clean with vinegar (although that was hard stopping my cleaning product fetish ) make all meals from scratch and definately have a happier life - all thanks to old style

COOLTRIKERCHICK

well done...... i must admit... even though my eyes have been opened by these wonderfull posts... and people on os......i still got a long way to go......but as you say baby steps.....

your post has really made me appreciate......the os... section of mse.....

as i feel this is where the true day to day savings....are made....... and mser's help you do those day to day savings without... noticing.... your saving.....( hope that makes sense )

but well done.....posts like this keeps us all going.....:T

lynsayjane

i've never been a fan of ready meals, i'm so wary of whats in them, especially those with meat as i'm so picky with that. so i've always done cooked meals, tho with bottled sauces etc. i've always filed paperwork away (i live in a one bed flat so it's not big enough for clutter!) and dealt with bills as quick as i could. so a lot of the old style stuff is 'business as usual' to me. oh and i make my own clothes, curtains, cushions and stuff.

but i have learned a few new things on here, like meal planning and doing shopping lists, before it was stuff i'd run out of on a list plus a hundred other bits! i'm yet to do the stardrops and vinegar stuff, but when my current cleaning stuff runs out i'll give you guys a shout for all the info! oh and i'm also going to start freezing ready cooked meals, i did soup on friday and froze one portion, but i'll do more. i'd love to try breadmaking, yogurt making and i've always fancied a veggie garden, but i wouldnt know where to start, so one thing at a time!

big :T to anyone who's helped me on my way and :T to all who will help me at some point, you are all stars!!!

nabowla

Brilliant post. It would be great to add the OP to the OS welcome sticky at the top of the board so that new visitors realise that OS isn't just for Domestic Goddesses!

Linda32

Thanks, you've actually inspired me to do more things. For me OS means living very will within your means and eating good food. What can be better.

QueenB.

My story is similair to yours, i was a regular DFW poster (still am) but i rarely ventured out and never came here. But the more i heard people raving about it the more i became interested.

Popped in a couple of times read a bit but nothing really caught my attention.

But i slowly began to realise that OS is close to my heart, not only because i have a debt to tackle but also because i believe in an enviromentally friendly life and a healthy life for my children and OS helps. Yes i am finding it hard work and have a LONG way to go but as you say its all about baby steps.

I consider this place to be like a giant old fashioned mother. Years ago children/girls got taught how to cook, clean and budget from their mother/parent. This died away as it was seen as old fashioned and against womens lib (which it is sooooooo not) and more mothers where having to go out to work full time. Enter food and machines and products to make life 'easier' but those new things also enslaved us:rolleyes:. So many skills where lost and so many of us became lost, if that makes sense. The OS board is that virtual mother teaching us those lost skills and doing it in a way which once you start does not seem as scary as it does at the beginning:D

I am still in awe of so many who post on here and hope that one day i am as capable as they are. I am also making sure i am involving my childtren in my OS conversion in the hope they will take some of the skills with them when they leave home( i am even making a recipe folder of OS/favourite recipes for them to take with them).

But the thing that really convinced me that this place is for me was the weetabix cake recipe, so simple and SO tasty:D

Ruby_Pudding

QueenB. wrote:

I consider this place to be like a giant old fashioned mother.

That is exactly how I feel about the OS forums QueenB - it feels like a giant mum and dad that I can run too when I need help or I have a problem

jordylass

I'm not sure how i got here in the first place, but I did feel very similar to you and wrote in a thread some time ago about how i couldn't cook when i came here.
When I had money, (or busy buiding debts) we ate out or ordered in 3-4 times a week, and found we made was mostly prepared by the supermarket.
I made a concious decision to downshift, and then found it wasn't that I couldn't cook/clean, I'd just never made time for it, I went to work and paid someone else to do that.
Now I'm at home full time and I love it, I've still a long OS way to go but I'm enjoying it, I'm enjoying being with my family and look to this board for inspiration where it can always be found.
I always had a fondness for Ma Larkin and a simpler time, and now in my own way I feel I'm getting there.

catznine

Although I was brought up by a thrifty Mum, she was in her twenties during the years of rationing, I guess I rebelled against that during the "have it all 80's" and we certainly paid the price but whenever we were really struggling I would revert to my Mums ol style ways and we soon noticed that we were all eating better, much nicer meals, because I was having to think about it. I was also much happier when at home with my children even if we had to go without the so called luxuries.


It wasn't easy to ignore the pressures to go out to work and buy everything new especially then, in the thatcher years you were expected to be superwoman! Friends thought I was cruel when I refused to buy my kids expensive pressies on the credit and store cards!:rolleyes:

I started to make toys for them and to buy clothes and toys second hand. Working away from the home had cost me my health in the end but I have no regrets about my decision to stay home. I just used to temp when we needed some funds for Christmas or a holiday. Old styling came in very handy recently when, with the children grown up and having returned to work, I became ill with CFS and had to give up a job I loved in order to recover.

I only wish the internet had been available then and also this site! I am always learning new ways to save on here, no one knows it all and there is so much we can learn from each other. I also find this site such an encouraging one, if you are having a bad day there is always a friend on this board who will cheer you up and encourage you gently back onto the ol style bandwagon. :T

Getting back to the original question I think I was fascinated by the many uses for vinegar and bicarb of soda! :rotfl:

MimiF

Truth be told I'm a control freak and if my house isn't shipshape, if we don't have good healthy food in the house and the kids don't have a routine and shape to their day I feel stressed and out of control and that in turn means I am not being the best mummy / wife / employee I can possibly be.

Being OS helps me to work full time and bring up a family with minumum stress but ensure we eat well and live within our means. I am relatively new to this forum, I started on DFW but as I was already on a DMP, that forum, whilst comforting to know others were in the same situation, wasn't useful as such to us.

OS keeps me on the straight and narrow, it's taught me about budgeting and meal planning and in a way I feel like OS is my conscience.

Hope that doesn't sound too weird.

MimiF