Frump to Fab 2022 - The Big One

chanie

@Wednesday2000 that’s a good idea about checking out the old style boards.  I might pop over and ‘see’ you there.  Whilst we are on the subject, I’ll be in your neck of the woods this weekend, for a bit of beach fun.  I can get cheap tickets for the amusement park, so it’s good value.   Look out for me…. I’ll be gorging on seafood platters and warm doughnuts 😂.

@sugarbaby125 i knew you would have a good stockpile for the coming months.  OH doesn’t like chicken on the bone or any fatty meats, so it’s difficult for us to change our meats.  

How frustrating with your train delays.  It really does put your day out, doesn’t it?

I’ve been experimenting with different cooking appliances as a way to reduce our energy bills.  We have a slow cooker, pressure cooker, George Foreman grill, halogen oven and our newest addition is an air fryer.  I must admit, I normally default to the oven because it’s just ‘there’ whereas the appliances are in a cupboard.

I read about the plans for cheaper power if you use less between 4–8pm (or thereabouts).  OH is now expecting his dinner at 9pm.  Luckily, now that I work from home, I can start dinner earlier, so that it just needs to be heated up when needed.

Wednesday2000

Chanie - it is supposed to be thundery here today, it is raining and dark at the moment. The weekend weather looks a lot nicer so hopefully you will enjoy yourselves.:) I saw that Denise Van Outen was in the area the other day and she ate at a local restaurant! Haha.

I'm glad I checked our finances yesterday as I realised Virgin Media have been taking out money each month when we cancelled with them. It was less than £15 a month but I have taken my eye off the ball with our finances so I need to sort that out. My bills are slightly less than I thought so that will be good when I switch on the heating.

I got some tips from the OS board and have stocked up on tinned food, basic medicines if we get ill and boxes for batch cooking soups and stews. I'm just looking at door curtains now...

chanie

@Wednesday2000 please do let me know how you get on with door curtains.  Our front door is really draughty and I’m thinking of putting a curtain this winter. 

helensbiggestfan

Good morning lovely ladies. 

Lots going on here.  

Chanie well done on the decorating.  You are saving yourselves a small fortune.  And you might not think it but you have made amazing progress. A little break won't do any harm,  just think by Christmas you will have totally transformed your house in less than a year. I am sure you will love the extra space.  

Re the cost of living......well this winter is not an inviting prospect, not only costs but the spectre of rolling power cuts.  I can remember the 70s very well.  Rampant inflation, power cuts, strikes, shortages.  Don't really fancy going through all that again.  And for some people the outlook is very grim. I think a lot of people are secretly terrified, they can't cope now, so they've no chance for this winter unless the powers that be start pulling rabbits out of hats.  

I'm not going to get political but I find it deeply depressing that as a society we seem to be going back to another era.  I was born in 1951 and can well remember "Austerity Britain" of the 1950s and early 1960s. I fear that's where we are heading.  It's a small comfort to realise it's not just Britain, it's global. The whole world is in for a rough time.  The storm clouds have been gathering for years but I think  it's the speed of the decline that is so shocking and which has caught everyone off guard,  governments and "ordinary folk" alike. Even Mother Nature is piling on the agony, with droughts everywhere.  It's not just the U.K..  I just  hope we have a mild winter.  The last thing we need is another 1963  or 1947.  

Well done SUgarbaby on your Armageddon preparations.  You are an inspiration,  I think we all need to adopt a bit of a prepper mindset and do as much as we can to get ready for what lies ahead.  My mum was just like you. I once teased her and she said she remembered conditions in Belguim and never wanted to go through that again. She described the hardships living under the German Occupation. I never teased her again!! She taught me the value of always have some reserves.   

 I read about a man who has taken out a £5k loan whilst interest rates are still favourable.  He worked out it would be better to take out a 5 year fixed rate loan to cover the energy price rises.  Can't remember the exact details but he said his energy costs had tripled (This was without the next round of rises in October, January and Aprils). The payments for the loan were £80 a month .....the energy supplier was already demanding over £300 ). As he said, not ideal but it gives him a breathing space.  

I think a lot of people are going to have to be very creative but let's face it, it is very difficult to be creative if you've got nothing and are already at subsistence level.  At least in the 50s most houses still had open fires so people could find stuff to burn and have some heat in at least one room. Not now, there is little room for manoeuvre. So much for progress. 

In the 70s, during the three day week and all the power cuts, I lived in an all electric house, so had no alternatives when the power was off.  I swore never again, since then I've made sure that I've always had more than one power source,  plus emergency rations of candles, a calor gas heater and I even have a small bio-ethanol fire.  Both the calor gas and the ethanol smell a bit but they are better than nothing.  

I am thinking of getting one of those heated gilets, the sort outdoor workers often use,    My son is an electrical  contractor and it can be a bit chilly working on site in winter. He bought one last winter and swears by it.  Having fibro and arthritis means I do have to try and keep warm or I seize up.  I think I will be doing a lot more vigorous exercise just to warm up...... dancing like no one is watching will take on a whole new meaning, lol.  

I would also advise people to keep some cash for emergencies, don't rely on cards.  ATMs won't work in a power cut.  Shops all have electronic tills too......so unless they have generators they won't function either.  All the technology in the world won't help us if we have no power.  

SUgarbaby well done on the weight loss.  I've lost 3.5 lb so far......another 2 stone to go.  I'll get there,  I feel my head is in the right place now.   I have a wardrobe full of nice clothes just waiting for me. Just need to drop one size.  I've got a massage booked for Saturday.  Looking forward to it,  in the meantime I'm doing some daily stretches which are really helping,   

Stay well and happy everyone.  Keep fabbing,  a bit of perfume and lippy won't keep us warm but it might lift our spirits and help us get through what's coming,  it might sound daft but self care will be more important than ever.  

All through the Great Depression, the War and the Austerity Years my aunts would still get dolled up and somehow managed to look  like a million dollars even though they had nothing.  They might not have had the benefit of modern research and terminology that we use today but they understood the wisdom of always trying to do and look their best with their scant resources.  They seemed to understand the psychology behind it all without ever being taught the power of looking good.  We have the edge on them. It's easier than ever now to look good because, in relative terms, clothing, footwear, cosmetics are much cheaper now. 

I do have plenty of warm clothing. I have been adding to my wardrobe with both warmth and glamour in mind,    Fake furs, faux sheepskins etc cost pennies, especially if you hit the charity shops. My furs and sheepskins keep me snug and cosy and always look glam.    You can get good wool coats, skirts, for next to nothing,  I have been stocking up on knitwear.  Pure wool is much warmer than acrylics. I do find wool rather scratchy, so have to wear a collared shirt underneath. I have also bought some pure wool trousers, much warmer than denim jeans.  For the itch factor I have only bought lined ones and I should be ok if I wear tights underneath.  Just need to get some more thermal underwear and socks.  

House sale seems on track, but painfully slow progress,  other than that, no real news.  

❤️❤️

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

I have lost another pound in weight this week.  Only 2 stones and 2 pounds to go. 

Helen, I too have very vivid memories of the power cuts in the 70's. I was talking to my son and daughter about them the other day and they were incredulous. I also remember all of the strikes. 

I also have a large stockpile of tinned goods, seasonings, rice and wholemeal pasta. 

I grew up in severe poverty. I have also experienced poverty when I was married and since being divorced. I have lived in this housing association maisonette for over 17 years, yet I had times in recent years when we were really struggling to survive and it was only thanks to my lovely daughter who gave me literally all of her wages over the year when I was only receiving £73.10 of ESA for that year, that we got through that year. Even though I had such a small income, I was still assessed for housing benefit and council tax that I was liable to pay some of both.   

I got an email this week from Eon, my energy supplier. It had come to their notice, that I had been paying my electricity on my prepayment meter since April at the pre April price cap prices. They graciously conceded that they would not be trying to recover the difference from me. They were having a laugh! I had taken Martin Lewis's advice in March that if you could afford to pre load your Gas and electric prepayment meters with lots of cash, then you could save money, as the way the old style prepayment meters work, you pay at the rate that is on your meter when you top up until that cash is used up. You were only allowed to top up a maximum of £249 on an electric prepayment meter, but it was a whopping £999 maximum on a Gas prepayment meter. I topped up the maximum on my electric meter and £550 on my Gas meter. I had cancelled my 60th birthday party and put the money to better use. 

Once that £249 had been used up, I topped up another £249. I have supposedly been charged my electricity at the new rates since then, but yet I have not seen the money on my electricity meter being used at a faster rate. It will be interesting in October to see how much difference the new price cap is going to make on how much faster the money on my Gas meter is used up. 

My energy use so far this year has not proved to be more costly for me and my family than last year.  I will have to see what the colder months bring. 

chanie

Wise words from @helensbiggestfan and @sugarbaby125, as always.  I feel like I’m ready to get back onto the fabbing bandwagon, after it has taken a bit of a backseat since the pandemic.

I’m eyeing up a couple of items in the shops, which I’ll get with my upcoming birthday money.  I can’t remember the last time I felt any excitement when shopping, so it does feel quite nice, to look forward to some new purchases.  Since the pandemic, shopping has just felt a bit boring and uninspiring, so it’s nice to actually see things I actually want.

I’m also conscious that I need to help others during this time, as there will be lots of people in need.  I’ve filled 4 charity shoeboxes and have a bag of school Uniform to take to the childrens schools.  I must confess, I’ve been lax with my food bank donations, so that is on my list.   Last year, I donated a bag of toys to the toy appeal, but I am so late with my own stuff this year, that I’m not sure I’ll be able to.

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

Chanie, when I need chicken off the bone for curries or pasta dishes for example it is much cheaper to buy chicken thighs or chicken legs, take the skin off and remove the flesh from the bones., or to buy a whole chicken and skin and cut it up if I want inexpensive chicken breasts. I have been removing the skin from chicken for more than 20 years, ever since I was a healthy eating project co-ordinator for my local NHS Primary Care Trust.  I have never liked fatty meat, so I pay more for lean cuts of meat and add lots of fresh vegetables to stretch the meat out. 

What kind of meat does your husband actually prefer? 

So all of Martin Lewis's warnings about the energy cap price rise from October have now been proved to be scarily accurate. Every household in the UK is now wondering how their individual households can cope with an 80% price increase in their energy bills.   

chanie

@sugarbaby125 thanks for the suggestions, but OH doesn’t like de-boned meat either, so he just has the breast meat.   

I had a nice MSE day, taking the children to Eltham Palace.  I have English Heritage membership, so it didn’t cost anything to get there.  

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies, 

Thanks for answering me Chanie, I was just curious. 

I went to the 5 Star Sea Containers Hotel on the Southbank for our Neighbourhood Voices final Masterclass. We had a panel of 4 industry professionals who gave us solid advice about the craft of playwriting and also answered all of our questions.    

Lunch was laid on for us all in the hotel. We had a choice of 2 types of pizza, macaroni cheese, fish pie, this sausage casserole type dish, watermelon with feta cheese, beetroot salad, roast chicken quarters, slices of wholemeal bread followed by some decadent desserts with or without luxury ice cream. We also had a choice of soft drinks. 

At lunch, 3 of the professionals sat at the table I was sharing with two of the other women. We were able to talk to the three of them some more and get to know them more on a more personal level, which made for great interactions.    

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies, 

It is £3 day across all Picturehouse cinemas on Saturday 3rd September.  It is actually National Cinema day so there are other cinema chains participating where you can buy a cinema ticket for only £3 on that day. 

I used my Clubcard vouchers to buy Picturehouse vouchers for 3 films on Saturday 3rd September at The Ritzy.