It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

midnightraven3

weenancyinAmerica said:

You can't get Peppermint Cremes in America either. It's been awhile since I have been the British Isles - can you still get them there?

You can indeed still get them, I bought a bag of Buchanan's peppermint creams just last week. They remind me of my dad, they were his favourits.

I have loved everyone's stories, it's like listening to my gran all over again, she taught me SO much

KxMx

ladyholly said:

I always  regret the lack of seasonal food as it was really something to look forward to. With everything available all year I think it takes away some of the excitement. 

I eat British strawberries and new potatoes in season, they are both eagerly awaited by me every year.
Imports are simply far inferior. 

Otherwise for the rest of the year, I'm happy in the interests of a healthy diet to buy things we don't grow here or are only in season for part of the year. Especially if it's something like melons that come by boat. And apples can be harvested in season and stored safely for many months. 

5 a day is so important, as is eating a variety of colours across fruit and veg, we grow lots of veg here but can be lean on the fruit. 

https://www.bda.uk.com/food-health/your-health/sustainable-diets/seasonal-fruit-and-veg-a-handy-guide.html

I buy the majority of fresh from a loose greengrocer so get exactly what I'll need for the week, no waste.
I also buy frozen veg and tinned (pineapple) which are excellent nutritionally and again no waste. 


I'm happy that my health benefits as does the planet as I eat sustainably, just in a slightly different way. 

MovingForwards

I do tend to buy seasonal and UK produced, ideally Scottish as it's more 'local'.

Before I purchased my flat I'd be at 'pick your own' farms, now I grow what I want to eat / use.

I've found a great bread company which doesn't play havoc with my stomach. My OH makes pizza and again that's fine for me to eat. I've not been able to convince OH to make our bread all the time, mainly because it doesn't last 5 minutes fresh out the oven or off the hob, with butter on!

Like others, I'm enjoying reading how everyone grew up. Even though the majority are way before when I did, there's little difference.

One thing I really wanted to do was go back to basics when buying the flat. I achieved the 'grow my own' and borrowed another garden to expand that last year. I even progressed to making my own chutney. This year I've enough experience to know what I can and will be growing, hopefully progressing into making jams and having enough winter stores; I've an old cookbook to keep me straight.

My overall aim is to be self-sufficient with fruit and veg and if I was somehow able to buy a property with a lot more land, I'd be going full on the good life, while working to pay the normal bills.

Rosa_Damascena

MovingForwards said:

I do tend to buy seasonal and UK produced, ideally Scottish as it's more 'local'.

Before I purchased my flat I'd be at 'pick your own' farms, now I grow what I want to eat / use.

I've found a great bread company which doesn't play havoc with my stomach. My OH makes pizza and again that's fine for me to eat. I've not been able to convince OH to make our bread all the time, mainly because it doesn't last 5 minutes fresh out the oven or off the hob, with butter on!

Like others, I'm enjoying reading how everyone grew up. Even though the majority are way before when I did, there's little difference.

One thing I really wanted to do was go back to basics when buying the flat. I achieved the 'grow my own' and borrowed another garden to expand that last year. I even progressed to making my own chutney. This year I've enough experience to know what I can and will be growing, hopefully progressing into making jams and having enough winter stores; I've an old cookbook to keep me straight.

My overall aim is to be self-sufficient with fruit and veg and if I was somehow able to buy a property with a lot more land, I'd be going full on the good life, while working to pay the normal bills.

It is a great deal of hard work, and expensive to pay someone else to do it - so kudos if you have it in you!

MovingForwards

@Rosa_Damascena I can't realistically afford a smallholding to do be fully self-sufficient.

Instead I've a scaled back version, with my name on the allotment waiting list. I'll do the same with the next property I buy or get one with a bigger garden, enabling me to achieve close to what I want. 

Blackcats

I think mars bars must have been much bigger in the past.  On a Friday night my mum would cut one into thin slices to share with me, her and my dad with a "nice cup of tea" - just to differentiate from the unlikely event of a horrid cup of tea.  

I would walk to the off licence with my dad on a Friday night, take back 2 empty Guinness bottles and an empty cream soda bottle, buy the same again and a mars bar.  Sometimes I'd be able to have a bag of crisps to eat on the walk home.  

Someone on here mentioned tinned fruit and evap - one of my favourite puddings as a child only edged out of first place by the glorious bowl of banana angel delight with sliced banana in it (at least the milk and banana had some nutritional merit).

Paspatur

Blackcats - the off licence refund!
I forgot about that. I am 5th out of 6 kids and we took it in turns according to age to bring my dad's Whitbread screwtops back to the shop for a refund for pennies for the sweet shop next door. As each child starting earning from a paper round and/or a Saturday job it moved to the next one. Once we were all earning no one bothered and the bottles piled up in a cupboard. 
Remember the Scouts and Bob-A-Job? My dad said they could take all the empties back to the shop and it was worth far more than a bob. After that time they phased out refunds
People are now selling these bottles on *Bay for £6
Someone mentioned the small dustbins we had back in the 60's and 70's and them stinking
Ours never did as the only thing that went in it was ashes from the coal fire everything else was either burned in the coal fire or composted. The bin was tiny probably about a foot high. No plastic, food came in paper bags. Milk came in glass bottles which were collected back by the milkman, nappies were terry towelling.
This was a household of 8 people
I now have 3 wheelie bins for one person - rubbish, recycling and garden/food waste

pelirocco

newlywed said:

I am on prepay and not smart meters, so will top up as much as I can before April. Have redirected some of the budget to do this. Thankfully I am in a position to do this.

can only top up £49 at a time as it’s the limit on the card and key. Apparently I can have £250 credit on the meter…. Well there’s no way I will get to that point but will see next payday (25th) what else I can add. 

You are topping up money,not preparing 

nannygladys

I was an early 50's baby and bought up by grandparents so had dripping on toast and Yorkshire pudding with jam on for pudding etc, but I also remember going hungry when adults had the 'better' food and being sent to bed hungry, in winter there was ice on the inside of the windows that I used to try and chip off and we went to bed with coats on top of beds and with socks and jumpers on over pjs. When I went to senior school my skirt and jumper were washed every half term and in the holidays (I only had one of each) and I had three pairs of knickers and three blouses, one to wear, one in the wash and one in the draw!, So only two of each was worn in a week!! Only one bath a week and teeth hardly ever cleaned. I must have been a real scruff pot lol.
I also remember when my ex and I bought our first house in the mid 70's,  the only new piece of furniture was the cheapest bed and I covered cardboard boxes for bedside tables, we didn't have dining room furniture or a settee and  when we did it was second-hand or given to us by family, and carpet we bought just before we moved house!!!! But it seemed most people were in the same boat, we didn't consider ourselves poor. How things have have changed!
It was a different era and not one I would like my dds to return to, I hope I have bought them up to be able to cope with what's thrown at them and when possible I will be there to help and guide if needed. 
Times are changing and I just hope the younger generations will be able cope with the changes and come out the other side wiser and still solvent.
Nannyg

pickapennyup

KxMx said:

ladyholly said:

I always  regret the lack of seasonal food as it was really something to look forward to. With everything available all year I think it takes away some of the excitement. 

I eat British strawberries and new potatoes in season, they are both eagerly awaited by me every year.
Imports are simply far inferior. 

Otherwise for the rest of the year, I'm happy in the interests of a healthy diet to buy things we don't grow here or are only in season for part of the year. Especially if it's something like melons that come by boat. And apples can be harvested in season and stored safely for many months. 

5 a day is so important, as is eating a variety of colours across fruit and veg, we grow lots of veg here but can be lean on the fruit. 

https://www.bda.uk.com/food-health/your-health/sustainable-diets/seasonal-fruit-and-veg-a-handy-guide.html

I buy the majority of fresh from a loose greengrocer so get exactly what I'll need for the week, no waste.
I also buy frozen veg and tinned (pineapple) which are excellent nutritionally and again no waste. 


I'm happy that my health benefits as does the planet as I eat sustainably, just in a slightly different way. 

always look forward to the Jersey Royals such a distinctive taste