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

Penelope_Penguin

I'm in my 40s, and my parents were brought up during the war. I was brought up not to waste, to always save something, to cook from scratch (and love it ), to grow fruit and veg. So I suppose I've always been OS, though never called it that I was lucky enough to find DH who has similar values, and we have grown to share similar plans for our lives.

I'd agree - baby steps. If you like making bread, do it. If not, don't worry, just continue buying it - find what you do like, there'll be plenty of things

Penny. x

Chipps

I think I have been OS for a long time, as we had DD 15 months after we got married, the mortgage seemed to eat most of our money & I wanted to be there for the baby. (I did once do a temp f/t job, but hated every minute!)

So I had to think of other ways to make ends meet - if I wasn't going to be making money, I needed to make the most of every penny!

So I looked in old fashioned & wartime recipe books, to get ideas on how to do things without all the "convenience" of having to go out to work to afford to pay someone else to do them for me! Also, I have always preferred to be environmentally friendly where possible, recycling and reusing etc, so also looked in those sorts of books too.

I thought maybe I was a bit odd, but then I found a whole load of other people all a bit odd too, sitting by their computers and talking about the same sort of things I did - that most of my friends don't. So I started reading what these other odd people were saying, and joining in with my two pennies worth!

And I'm still here!!!!

.....and now I think it's the others who are odd!!!!

Softstuff

There are things I started which I now couldn't do otherwise (cleaning with lemon and vinegar, cooking from scratch, general economising) and things I tried which I simply don't have the time or inclination for (breadmaking regularly, kefir, shopping at a farmers market at 7am)

I work OS to make my life easier, not harder. If it fits in with that philosophy I do it.

Was shocked to find on tuesday I was incapable of buying any pre prepared foods for that nights meal (thinking that would be easier)... simply can't stomach the thought of not having complete control over every ingredient I consume.

rosieben

Chipps wrote: »

I thought maybe I was a bit odd, but then I found a whole load of other people all a bit odd too, sitting by their computers and talking about the same sort of things I did - that most of my friends don't. So I started reading what these other odd people were saying, and joining in with my two pennies worth!

And I'm still here!!!!

.....and now I think it's the others who are odd!!!!

Well said, Chips! My family thinks I'm a bit odd and I don't care a bit! OS is quite definitely my preferred way of ilfe! :rotfl:

Mrs_Dawn

I'm so proud of my OS lifestyle I tell everyone who cares to ask.
I especially love making bread again, I'd forgotten the joy of it. Best of all the kids love my bread rolls(just put some another batch in) and we all had a great family weekend trawling the car boots, we had a competition to see who could bag the best bargain. My DD1 won with a pair of Next jeans complete with original price tag on £35, she only paid £1.
We love our OS style, but like everyone says just take what works for you.
:beer:

moanymoany

My family always cooked from scratch and it is something I've continued to do. However, the moneysaving aspect of old style did not hit me until about three years ago. We then discovered that our endowments were not going to pay our mortgage. We had a deal that meant we had a great low rate, but we could also pay £500 a month extra.

We talked and calculated, but we could not really afford this much. In the end I said to DH Let us set up a standing order for this much and live on what's left. He thought it would be impossible, I thought a lot and realised by using as much value stuff as I could I could do it and we did.

The same thing happened to me as many others have said, it became part of life. Alvin Hall said, if you want to be a millionaire you have to love money - not what money will buy! I doubt that I will ever have a million quid - but I now love money more than what it will buy.

The best bit? This month we make our last endowment payment. When we pay the mortgage in July there will be about £2,000 over to put in an ISA. Long live old style. :T

Mrs_Wossinge

We've been learning the OS way of life for a couple of years now, and the change in our approach to spending has been great - I feel as though my life has more integrity as a result. I *love* the integration of money-saving and planet-saving, for example.

We're in a position where I've been able to give up a long commute and become self-employed, which in turn has meant I have more time for OS activities. We have a thriving vegetable garden and increased sanity, and working from home has drastically improved my health - I was previously permanently exhausted.

Not allowed to post any links, but a mod has advised that I am allowed to say search for 'creative simplicity' on Google and you'll find out more!

deniseduck

I found this great site not so long ago, it was recommended by someone on another forum which I'm very grateful for.
I work part time, 2 full days a week, and my husband works full time, but neither of us is on a very big wage so I've found loads of tips on here which have been very useful to us.
I always thought I cooked a lot of things from scratch, but really compared to others, I didn't and still don't. I have been making my own bread for a few months now though, using my food processor to knead the dough and then finishing off by hand.
I also grow some of our own veg, but as we don't have a very big garden can't do too much on that front. I did have an allotment once upon a time, but found I couldn't keep up with it on my own (my husband isn't keen on gardening).
I'm quite hot on composting everything I can, and we have quite a good recycling system with the council (paper, glass, tins, cardboard). I asked them if they were going to start collecting plastics but apparently it isn't economically viable, but they told me I can take them to the local recycling bank myself (go figure!)

DawnW

I have always been OS, as I am of the generation that was brought up to be, and remain so, even though I could now afford not to bother. I do pick and choose a bit now, as I work FT, in a job that can be stressful, but by and large stick mostly with OS. We enjoy good food, and unless you can afford always to eat out in good restaurants (and I am not that rich!!), the only way to ensure this is to cook from scratch - much more choice of what you have, as well.

DanceInThe_Dark

My mum would have loved OS (she died just before christmas last year), so many things I find on the board that she put into practice so finding this site a week or so ago was like meeting old friends once more.
Stardrops for instance.
Using half the washing powder in the machine and so much more.

I'm lucky, I'm not in debt and am mortgage free thanks to my frugal grandmother and very frugal uncle who left me a part share in their house.
I guess OS is inbred in me and it just took a few gentle nudges in the right direction for me to find it again. I don't think I'll change, far too many things to explore and savings to be had to spend on luxuries instead of necessities.