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

miserly_mum

I'm OS because of how I grew up

Dad was tight with money for house keeping (bit on the side)

Mum was tight with house keeping money to fund a drink problem.(re:bit on side)

I get palpitations if my fridge/freezer/cupboards aren't full

Pink.

Hi redcherry_girl,

There's an older thread on this subject that should interest you so I've added your thread to it to keep all the replies together.

Pink

grannybroon

I have just come across this thread. I do it for all 3 reasons but I think the main one is to be moneysaving. We are probably going to live longer and we have to preserve whatever income we get. Next is recycling and I am sorry last is ecological! If it is cheap we buy but we don't look at the air miles. Maybe selfish.

GB

BBC

I do it because my mum used to make everything from scratch. I don't use any of the expensive cleaning products any more I use borax, vinegar, bircab and lemon juice a bit more hard work but does the job and no harsh orders or pollutants for environment and my son, obviously the recycling. Also natural cleaning stuff cheaper than the expensive cleaning stuff.

pigpen

economy = 10. I added up my debt and realised I HAVE to cut back on my spending habits overall and it made sense to become more OS to do this. We have 8 children, a killer mortgage and I don't work, actually the truth is I never STOP!! (I think it is important for me to be home with my children!)

ecology = originally probably about 2.. now probably more an 8 .. I have started composting and recycle more than ever. I think about the environmental issues around the future of the planet and the legacy I am leaving my children and grandchildren. I do wonder how long it will be before they start digging up landfills to 'harvest' plastics.

healthy living = 4 I didn't really THINK about what we ate or why we ate it.. I just opened the freezer cooked a meal and fed it to everyone.. now I think about what we are eating and overall we probably have a healthier diet.. though with all the delicious recipes on here I think I have gained 5 stone over the last couple of months lol

job satisfaction = 2 Because the finances were the ultimate decider here I must admit there was very little to do with how satisfied I am or was. I keep it up because I am really pleased I am learning to cook healthy meals for my family. I am sometimes (not openly) a bit smug about it!! A friend emailed the other day saying she was having 'something from the freezer' and what am I having to inspire her.. I said home made casserole with homemade dumplings and homemade bread.. followed by.. homemade cake!!! she just emailed back 'geek' lol.. I was still smug!!

Individuality = 0 I am about as unique as you can get (picking my nose with the other hand)

To learn!! = 9 I wanted to learn various things. How to better juggle my money, how to save and how to spend and not be in debt. Where to look for precious bargains. How to cook better meals. How to 'manage' rather than 'cope'. So far I am still learning but what feels so good is that the few bits I have learned I can offer to other people which I just love ... how sickening is that?? I am now learning housework!!!! :eek:

mummy_Jay

Interesting question.

I think it has many answers for me, I have always kept accounts for my spending even as a student (my mum taught me well on this one, everytime she spent anything, she'd come home and write it in her accounts book, she always kept a tight rain on the house hold accounts). I also can't stand the though of letting myself get into debt, I'd go with out rather than get in debt, I was brought up to be a skinflint.

I was brought up with home cooking, with fresh veg out of the garden, take out was just about unheard of and fast food a treat 3-4 times a year, add to this an allergy to garlic has also made me very weary of what is in my food, as it seems more common than salt in a lot of premade foods.
Since having my boy I like to know what he's eating and ensure it's healthy, he really got me into cooking from home-made baby food to trying things I hadn't before so I could get him to eat it, I'd also say I'm an old fashioned mum, we do eat at the table, I do insist on nice manners.

I always think I can do that and why pay through the roof for it so before I had my boy and I had a little more time, I use to make things like corsets by hand complete with steel ribs, I made a beautiful corset and skirt to wear to a wedding once as I couldn't find a dress I liked but sadly little man means for the time being I don't have time for this one, just lots of repair jobs on jeans and buttons back on jackets.

As for cleaning, I'm not OS yet but I intend changing that with a little help from this board.

Cazzdevil

pigpen wrote: »

I wanted to learn various things. How to better juggle my money, how to save and how to spend and not be in debt. Where to look for precious bargains. How to cook better meals. How to 'manage' rather than 'cope'. So far I am still learning but what feels so good is that the few bits I have learned I can offer to other people which I just love ... how sickening is that?? I am now learning housework!!!! :eek:

That's me to a tee. I'm greedy in a sense - I want to know how to do EVERYTHING! I want to be able to have a bit of money spare each month to treat myself or stick in savings and know that I haven't had to cut back on anything to get it, I've just been really money savvy.

nearlyrich

If I am cooking I want to do it all, HM tastes so much better than pre-prepared, I'm not saying we never eat out or get a take away but when we do it's a treat not a way of life.

My supermarket shop is really low now, it used to be £100 a week now it's sometimes not even £20 but I spend more at the butchers, fishmonger etc. We don't have to live on a really tight budget but I hate waste and just chucking stuff into a trolley with no plan definately leads to waste.

My main reasons are probably healthy eating 8 and enjoyment ( I love a bargain) 8
the fact that we eat better for less is a bonus as you can only spend it once.

moanymoany

Queenie wrote: »

There's a lovely thread currently running titled: "Is OS a habit for life?" which addresses just those questions It's an interesting read

Hi Queenie, I can't follow the link or find the thread - any further clues will be very welcome.

Vampgirl

For me its about experimenting and being creative - I simply love cooking and find it really enjoyable to try new recepies and make things up (some work really well, others, well the least said the better!) Its great that there are economy and health benefits too - and these are also pretty important to me as I'm trying (and suceeding) to lose weight and to pay of debts.

I do occasionally buy ready-made things like sauces to keep in the cupboard, but only use one of them maybe once every 3 months or so when I'm feeling lazy. One thing that really helps me is that I keep an list in Excel of what is in each drawer of the freezer - makes planning meals and shopping SO much easier! Looking at it I can see I have a few packs of sausages and burgers in there (left over from summer bbqs that didn't happen!) but that's really it as far as convenience food goes :-)

The next stage is growing things...I'm working on hubby for us to move to a house with a garden (luckily we're only renting so it shouldn't be too difficult) so I can start growing veg and herbs as there's only certain things that'll grow well inside and I'm feeling the need to get my hands dirty (which is strange coz I've always hated gardening!)