2022 Frugal Living Challenge

2Scratters

@Deleted_User We wash the rice 3 times to ensure the starch is removed. Then fill to a finger digit (Knuckle) above the top of the levelled rice and gook in microwave for 14 mins. If a bit sticky/dry just add a bit of water to and stir it.
2Scratters xx

[Deleted User]

I'll try that.  Thanks very much, 2Scratters.  

Primrose

ladyholly said:

MY Mum used to talk of the winter of 1947.  She and my dad were married in August 1946 so it must have been very tough as a new housewife.

Yes and most men were completely undomesticated in those days so she probably would have been struggling with all those issues alone.  Running a home was definitely regarded as "woman's work", totally unlike the more equal partnerships it often is today when both couples have to work.
If you want to get a better sense of what it was like from a woman's point of view, read "Nella Last's War  - the diary of a wartime housewife."  It's very enlightening. 

ladyholly

I have read both  Nella Lasts war and Nella Lasts peace. They are both really interesting and quite enlightening . I was born in 1953 and by the time I was old enough to figure the world out things were very different. My dad was in the RAF and we were in Germany during the building of the Berlin wall and the Cuban missile crisis, prior to that dad had served in Cyprus during the EOKA trouble. Then as a young  working wife we had the 3 day week. Every age has its problems. Some are worse than others but we get through them and learn to cope with changes. All things no matter how hard will end and at least we live without the threat of bombs falling on us.

Frugaldom

HelenaPinky said:

I don’t know how long you’ve been away @Frugaldom, but last big topic was wine making and hayboxes (getting a stew to boiling point and then putting in a blanket box to cook in its own heat through the day) was discussed before that. Also speculation on possible cuts to electricity, like the 1970s miners strikes.

Thanks, Helena. I've missed so much because the mobile signal here seems to have all but vanished and by the time I've caught up with messages, emails and social media, it's the middle of the night or else battery has gone flat. My laptop is slowly dying but I can't warrant the expense of a newer one.

Is everyone stocked up with candles, fleeces, dried and tinned goods, salt, sugar and essential spices? Along with the rice, lentils, pasta and tomato puree / tinned tomatoes, the above are my absolute essentials. I'm now planning my tea garden for herbal teas, my soup garden with onions, carrots, leeks and potatoes, my salad garden with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, and my edible hedge of fruit and herbs. The birds got all but 2 of the hazelnuts again! 

[Deleted User]

I just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you for the memories you are all sharing with me. 

I am in my 30s, my lovely grandparents are no longer with us and would be in their 80s now. How I wish they were with us to tell me their stories and memories, but they are not, and reading yours really does make for a fascinating insight into what life was like then. 

We live a very simple rural life - some may say austere, but it’s a life that brings us great satisfaction- and I think my grandparents would be proud of the choices we have made. 

Primrose and Jackie - I would love to share a pot of tea and cake with you both. Take care xx

Primrose

 Do think it,s important for each generation to share their memories and experiences.  Situations nd  generational circumstances vary so much but there is always something to be learned that can be incorporated into one's own life.

my maternal grandmother brought up 6 children while her husband was away in World War I and he was then unemployed without a regular for many years, so my mum picked up many of her survival hint from that r and her own experience of being a yiung mum in WW2 were passed onto me.  Those habits die hard, I find. As a child of WW2 I grew up learning nothing must ever be wasted.

i feel quite sorry for youngsters today.  Many have grown up in a world of affluence and plenty with a "throw away and replace"attitude being the norm, so encountering tough austerity will be very hard and cause a lot of resentment.   I think much of the current industrial discontent may be from people who have not really ever been  accustomed to having to tightly pull in their belts before.  If you're a generation where a couple of annual holidays abroad and a new iPhone every year is the norm, "make do and mend" will feel a very frustrating and alien experience, especially when they,ve never learnt the skills and do ,t know where to start.  Many youngsters today don,t even have  basic cooking skills,- an essential when budgeting for grocery purchases.

London_1

ASB bless you honey ,we would chat the hind legs off a wonky donkey I think . Sure life had its problems, but like most things a bit of common sense and a dose of laughter can usually help sort things out a bit better.

Living a simple life is not a bad thing if it brings you peace and happiness, which it obviously does. I live in a largish village, can't really call it a town, more of a suburb of the local town of Chatham,I rarely go there though as its noisy and rather littered and there are enough shops locally for me if I need them A small precinct of around 20 odd shops that cater for most things and several  large supermarkets if I need a big shop that I can drive to in 10 minutes. Hopefully when we get two of my grandsons sorted and housed and settled into their careers my youngest DD ,son-in-law and I will both sell up, and up sticks and move down to the Isle of Wight to live as its been our aim for the past couple of years.
Her youngest lad is off to Uni next month her eldest boy is settled in London teaching so its just the middle two were have to sort out her daughter is married and has her own little family so she is settled.Our move to the Island has been carefully planned and thought out and there is a possibility she can take her job with her as its mostly online anyway. My son-in-law is an surveyor and is adaptable enough once the family are all off hand not to worry too much about employment.

We will pick a semi rural area to live as we know the Island very well my daughter spent half her childhood there as my late husbands family were Islanders. So we too will be living a quieter more relaxed life .

DD wants to be able to have a larger garden for growing fruit and veg and I'm pretty happy at the more relaxed country life anyway now. 
Not everyone likes a quiet life and my grandsons ,being young want to enjoy the more lively life of the towns which is understandable, but they know we will alway have a place for them, should they want to come with us or visit at any time.

Being at peace with less hustle and bustle is fine for us though and a slightly less cold climate will be nice in the winter. We have spent many times over the years on the Island so have no illusions about how quiet it is in the winter once the visitors have gone home, but it is the quiet that we are looking for. I shall have my granny annexe, so won't lose my independance, but will still have my family around me .
My tasks this coming winter is decluttering the stuff thats accrued in my house Finding a home for books, and all sorts of stuff I won't need to take with me is quiteexciting My youngest granddaughter who married last year has had her pick of china and pots and pans and kitchenalia, nothing is going to andfill if I can find a home for it

So enjoy your quiet simple life fingers crossed I will be doing the same at some point next year 

JackieO xx

[Deleted User]

My Mum was born in 1911 and, growing up 1940's/50's, we were quite poor with Dad in and out of work.

We had one coal fire with back boiler (so good hot water all through winter when the fire was on.)  My brother gathered sticks from outside for kindling.  Ice on inside windows was very common on winter mornings.

I remember Mum heating our clothes on the hearth and she would call us ... O.K. to get up now ... fire is on! Although poor, and often secondhand clothes, never second hand shoes and always warm living room in winter.  'Cheap' choices of healthy food and never hungry.  I learned so much from Mum's  good priorities in hard times.

YoungBlueEyes

I agree Primrose. A lot of people today will feel it all the more because they’ve never had to really think and implement these cutbacks. 

My father was a young teenager winter of ‘47 and was made to work on a farm a few miles away. He often recalled having to get turnips out of the ground with pick axes, but that’s what there was to eat so they did it. 

He joined the military as soon as he could and was posted all over. He never really spoke about the things he’d done or what he’d seen. Along with the usual refrain of “you kids don’t know you’re born”, he would often say “are you up to your neck in sh*t and bullets? Well then don’t whine”.  I can hear him saying that now. God I do miss him.