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

doddsy

Thank you all for replying, I'm afraid yesterday was a day and I am sooooo tired! However, have pulled meself t'gehter and will be back on track. I suppose the mindset was 'I am so careful and now through no fault of my own I am going to be £100's pounds worse off every month' whereas I should be thinking 'Because I am careful we CAN afford to get my daughter to a place where she is not suicidal!'

Jackie & Queenie, thank you particularly for your posts. I also remember my mum and her efforts. EG I would often come in from school to find a pigs head on the draining board ready for brawn making. Even now she manages to live on the state pension and save. When things are on bogof she buys in bulk to last until the next offer.

Thanks
Doddsy

frugglewump

OS is a want for me not a must. We are in debt, but could afford to be non OS if we rebudgeted elsewhere (just dropping the gym membership for both of us would save 40/month - but i'd end up slapping the uni VC or something without that stress release)

The food tastes better, things stay clean longer. Now that we've moved to a house and have a garden I can't believe the difference a washing line makes to clothes.

JailhouseBabe

I'm Os through need and want. I've been a single parent for nearly 16 years (DD will be 18 later this year), and lost my quite well paid job nearly 2 years ago. I look back now and wonder what on earth I did with all that money - £800 per month disposable income after bills!

My family have always known to ask for my advice when looking for a bargain, now I'm living on benefits it's a necessity to make my money stretch as far as possible. I'm always proud to tell my family/friends of my latest moneysaving (for example, went to tesco on tuesday and bought £15 worth of groceries, used £5 coupons and claimed back £7 at cs for overcharge on meat - so spent £3 in total )

My only wish at the moment is that I could be more OS. I REALLY hate gardening, but would love to grow my own veg and herbs. I know I'd not follow it through though. I'd also like to spend more time making better meals, but my depression can leave me unable to function most days. I console myself with the thought that at least we're eating for free a lot of the time! That's how sad my life is - if I feel in need of a boost I go shopping and spend ages scouring the meat aisles for overpriced goods :embarasse

I'm most proud of the way DD regards my 'spending habits', she's always looking for a bargain, searching internet for freebies and not at all impressed by 'labels'.

JailhouseBabe

A quick add on to my post above - on the tesco mis-price discussion board, some people have expressed the view that actively seeking R&R (looking for items that are overpriced knowing that the policy is to offer a full refund and you retain the items bought) is tantamount to fraud.

I'd be really interested to know what the opinion is of others OS'ers.

brokenwings

OS for me is also want and must.

Grew up in a very OS household ( farmers) and when i left home swore i woulkd not be OS myself - HATED IT.

went off into the world and earned a great wage and basically squandered it away with reckless overspending and overuse of all credit card and loan offers.

Am now living with my widowed dad back in the old family home as I cant afford anything else and partner is in a similar situation but back in the usa. We have decided to get debts sorted before we get a place over there together and start looking to get me into the usa.

Anyway - all my pennies now go on paying off debts - its been 9 months since i had my lightbulb moment.

I forced myself to go OS last september - and i am an all or nothing person - so i went in at the deep end. I now cook all meals from scratch, bake all my own bread, pies and cakes - and am lucky that although he is almost 80 my dad keeps hens and ducks and has a veg garden and greenhouse so i dont buy any eggs and very few veg.

Our family friends have a good farm shop just along the road and theres an even better one a fifteen minute drive away.

Suprising thing is that i NOW LOVE OS and even if i was rich i would be OS out of want.

OS has seen an amazing transformation in me, my values, my attitude and life in general.

Finding this site and especially this OS board has genuinely changed my life for the better.

Thanks to all of you who have unkowingly contributed
xxx

[Deleted User]

Queenie wrote:

<Hand-me-downs were simply a way of life, rather than a choice>


. <Three sheets per bed (if you were flush) and changing the bed meant a fresh top sheet, the old top sheet would then be put on as the bottom sheet, while the bottom sheet was being washed and dried>

And when they got a bit thin it was 'Turn the sides to the middle and wear the outsude edges out, I hated that horrible ridge down the middle.

< but they did use hay boxes,>
I remember having one of these back in the early 1970s when the whole country was on a three day week and we only had electricity for three hours at a time .I used mine to make casseroles with,brilliant .My children thought I had lost the plot.

< the sense of community was far stronger than it is today.>
Very true ,when we used to go on holiday to relations in scotland quite often one of my brothers would be 'farmed 'out to a neighbour who had a spare bed as my Aunt had four children and the logistics of a family of five descending to fill her already full house meant that he had to be . But we always managed to find a bed for anyone who turned up unexpectedly at our house too. My dad once brought an old army pal home for a few days and he stayed for three months 'just till he got back on his feet' My mum never complained as it was 'open house ' at our house .
My Mum never owned an ironing board, she always ironed on an old sheet on top of an old blanket.
I remember my dad bringing home her first electric iron and she was facinated that you could plug this in to the middle light with a double adaptor and use it when ever you wanted instead of having to warm up her old flat iron on the kitchen range

<everyone pulled together in times of trouble; you could leave your door open without fear of being burgled;>
That was because no one had anything worth pinching it was usually in 'Uncles' the pop shop having been pawned until the breadwinner earned enough to get it out. My dad's best wedding suit often went there when times were hard


<you could walk down the street without being mugged/happy slapped; you could cook up a meal with natural ingredients without having to pay a premium simply because it's labelled "organic";>

My Mum would have hooted at this as there was very little 'processed' food at all, the only thing in a tin in our house was Spam ( which made great fritters) or maybe if you were very lucky a tin of fruit,but that was as rare as hens teeth.
There was always a tin of pilchards in the cupboard 'just in case' though, and I still carry that on ,in my cupboard there is a tin 'just in case' my kids think it's funny as they have never tasted pilchards ever.
I too have a little store of tinned stuff,and they always say 'what are you waiting for another war' but you never know do you when a couple of tins may come in handy ,do you ?:rotfl: I am definately my Mother's daughter

tr3mor

OS for me is all about the general moneysaving idea, it's mostly about shunning consumerism and being advertised to death by Tescos et al. Why would I want to buy ready made curry when I can make it for a fraction of the price and it will taste twice as good. I'd also always support local producers and farmers, the less air miles my food has done the better.

We do alot of this kinda thing so that we can enjoy life in other ways, some couples spend £100 a week on food and wonder why they can't afford to spend anything nice on themselves. We enjoy spending our money on camping trips, or BBQs or just spending time with our friends. Incidentally, I'm always having my mates over, who are culinarily challenged, and feeding them up (We're students).

My OS aim is to have a place in Northumberland somewhere (where I grew up), with a big plot for me to grow veggies, and our (some point in the future) kids to run around in. And get a big workshop so I can mess about making furniture or whatever.

Alikay

OS for me is both want & need. I WANT to be a stay-at-home mum, so I NEED to keep costs down by shopping & cooking properly and cheaply. I gave up work in January and settled into OS lifestyle, then recently was tempted to do a spot of 'temping' for an agency. Almost immediately we resorted our old frozen pizza/prepared salad/sod-it-let's-go-to-the-chippy habits. The house ran haphazardly, the kids became stroppy and I felt niggly and stressed again. Just not worth the hassle!!!!
So now I'm back at home, back to OS and everything is calming down again!
And strangely enough I don't feel 'oppressed' or unfulfilled. It's what works for us.

Lillibet_2

For me OS used to be a want as I was lucky enough to only have a mortgage which I could afford & no other debt. Now with the increased cost of living & the wish to stay at home with Spud it is a must & I am finding it harder to do, the odd shortcut here & there makes a world of difference and before I know it I'm off tht OS wagon completely:eek: Doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying though:D. I guess life wouldn't be any fun if it was easy:rolleyes:

Good luck;)

Bargain_Rzl

For me it's a bit of both. I earn a perfectly decent wage (about the average for a moderate-to-senior admin job in London) but if I didn't keep my living costs as low as possible, I wouldn't be able to combine an enjoyable social life with saving for my own flat. I've always been a savvy budgeter and it can be really tricky to fit OS around a full time job, hectic social life and 2 hours a day commuting - but I eat sooooo well, and like brokenwings, even if I was rich enough not to have to make these choices, I'd still do it.