Embracing the old style to get through this next stage..

Bobcatbelle

Bobcatbelle said:

Thanks Nathalia

I hadn't really thought about contacting mobile company etc.. re: contract - I think you are probably right in putting 2 and 2 together though , it was a quick and difficult move with not much time to get more than the basics sorted. 
I'm not sure even if I go back for things ( I have most of my stuff to be honest) there would be very much money in it .. in time that will happen, but right now it's more making ends meet month to month whilst I sort something out longer term ... 

In good news though, I'm covered for bills and food till payday. 
I have calculated my credit card debt (0%) to pay off which is £400 which I'm planning on making/ saving in the next month!....
via £175 bank account cashback
£70 owed from some recent work 

£150 ish left to find.... 

Going to have a look on the debt free threads for some inspiration too . 

Made a huge pasta dish yesterday which will feed me till tomorrow , plus a friend round tomorrow, have pet supplies and food for next month so that puts me £25 ahead of next months expenditure at least!...
Have some veg to cook up into a massive curry for tomorrow to last a few days and then bits in the freezer that can do me the next week or so till payday . 

London_1 said:

Hope you can get sorted out its difficult when things change in your life but tie your purse up, and batten down the hatches and you will survive honey

Back in the 1970s when the mortgage rate went up to 16,5% then the three day week happened along with all the blackouts it was like everything we had planned for went out the window.I can remember counting how many slices of bread I had in the bread bin until my late OH got paid and if there would be enough to get us through until then

 I had two small children of 4 & 2 and we had very little behind us as we hadn't long gone from a rented two roomed flat to a mortgage and a house. but we survived .

Thursday nights dinner was odds and ends pie basically a pastry case filled with grated cheese a couple of beaten eggs, sliced tomatoes some cooked odd mushrooms from the fridge, and two skinless sausages I cooked and cut lengthways into slices and turned the top this quiche/pie into a clock  or fill a pastry case with odds and ends of anything from beans and topped with mashed potatoes and onion ,and a little bit of grated cheese I would make something out of anything I could find to feed the four of us. I even once made a pizza and topped it with a tin of sardines in tomato sauce and grated cheese over the top. a rice pud made with a tin of evaporated milk and a dollop of jam in the middle was a filling pudding.I used anything that was edible in the cupboards before I went near a shop.

Growing up with rationing and post war austerity and seeing how my late Mum coped with three food demanding kids on very little rations meant I could streeetch food with all sorts of things, reduced veg turned into HM soup is a good filler-upper if a soft roll or two are added.
Don't stress about five a day or healthy eating, being hungry is far more unhealthy than egg and chips at the moment 

Plain egg chips and beans will fill you up Time enough for healthy eating when you have more cash, but don't panic or stress as that won't help list what you have in store and see how many meals you can turn it into.

There's always some one here who will help you with a recipe if you list some of what you have in the cupboard.

what ever you do try not to worry you will look back one day and think YES I did it and survived   

  JackieO xx

Thank you too @London_1
That certainly sounds like a tough situation with such high rates and little ones... It's definitely un-nerving being suddenly (quite quick/ urgent need to leave but also leaves with some big outgoings/ expenses right in the beginning which had left me with quite a bit on credit card and then having to navigate a whole new reality on one income) . 

It's a good point re: food and I've become much more savvy about cooking/ using up what's left. There's definitely fruit and veg in there, but at the same time it's more often than not a case of whats in the house/ needs using than what I'd "like" in the same way as it used to be. But having lived like this before (and grown up with rationing era relatives I definitely inherited a lot of that kind of thinking) I know I can do it! Have filled my freezer almost for the month ahead (so end of May payday) just need to buy fresh stuff in so hoping I'll be ahead of the game a bit before long. 

And FANTASTIC on you for doing it, getting through it , and surviving. I'll spend some more time this week meal planning based on what I have in but I have a good selection so far and making the most of lots of pasta in the cupboard and 15p lidl veg I've been turning into curries!

Thank you
BCB

weenancyinAmerica

I thought everyone grew up with chipped beef on toast on day a week, pancakes the next, boiled chicken made into sandwiches one night, mac and cheese one night, potato soup (we couldn't afford the leeks, celery tops instead) one night. If we had hamburger, it was in gravy over biscuits. Or cooked and then mixed in vegetable soup. Sometimes I'm surprised our generation, those of us in our seventies, are still alive and kicking. When I was in college I took a class from our local Department of Agriculture on cooking on a budget of $10 a week. We were going out and teaching those who were aeronautical engineers who had lost their jobs in a massive layoff. But it really helped me too. Even now I eat oatmeal for breakfast or bran flakes with bananas, sandwiches and soups for lunch most days, and very simple food in the evening. The only times I eat out these days are when someone else is taking me out for helping them with their family history. But I don't always enjoy the food as much as I should because I like what I get at home better.

sammy_kaye18

London_1 said:

Hope you can get sorted out its difficult when things change in your life but tie your purse up, and batten down the hatches and you will survive honey

Back in the 1970s when the mortgage rate went up to 16,5% then the three day week happened along with all the blackouts it was like everything we had planned for went out the window.I can remember counting how many slices of bread I had in the bread bin until my late OH got paid and if there would be enough to get us through until then

 I had two small children of 4 & 2 and we had very little behind us as we hadn't long gone from a rented two roomed flat to a mortgage and a house. but we survived .

Thursday nights dinner was odds and ends pie basically a pastry case filled with grated cheese a couple of beaten eggs, sliced tomatoes some cooked odd mushrooms from the fridge, and two skinless sausages I cooked and cut lengthways into slices and turned the top this quiche/pie into a clock  or fill a pastry case with odds and ends of anything from beans and topped with mashed potatoes and onion ,and a little bit of grated cheese I would make something out of anything I could find to feed the four of us. I even once made a pizza and topped it with a tin of sardines in tomato sauce and grated cheese over the top. a rice pud made with a tin of evaporated milk and a dollop of jam in the middle was a filling pudding.I used anything that was edible in the cupboards before I went near a shop.

Growing up with rationing and post war austerity and seeing how my late Mum coped with three food demanding kids on very little rations meant I could streeetch food with all sorts of things, reduced veg turned into HM soup is a good filler-upper if a soft roll or two are added.
Don't stress about five a day or healthy eating, being hungry is far more unhealthy than egg and chips at the moment 

Plain egg chips and beans will fill you up Time enough for healthy eating when you have more cash, but don't panic or stress as that won't help list what you have in store and see how many meals you can turn it into.

There's always some one here who will help you with a recipe if you list some of what you have in the cupboard.

what ever you do try not to worry you will look back one day and think YES I did it and survived   

  JackieO xx

Ham, Egg and Chips was staple of ours growing up, if we were feeling fancy we had corned beef instead of Ham and I still enjoy it now especially with a bit of bread and butter to make a chip butty too. :-) 

I was also just about to echo your sentiments as well as far as reduced veg goes - I tend to use any reduced veg and put them in a soup or a casserole which can then be served over rice or potatoes. Filling and comforting and can be frozen as well for a later meal and nuked in the microwave or just a quick heat up on the stove. 

sammy_kaye18

weenancyinAmerica said:

I thought everyone grew up with chipped beef on toast on day a week, pancakes the next, boiled chicken made into sandwiches one night, mac and cheese one night, potato soup (we couldn't afford the leeks, celery tops instead) one night. If we had hamburger, it was in gravy over biscuits. Or cooked and then mixed in vegetable soup. Sometimes I'm surprised our generation, those of us in our seventies, are still alive and kicking. When I was in college I took a class from our local Department of Agriculture on cooking on a budget of $10 a week. We were going out and teaching those who were aeronautical engineers who had lost their jobs in a massive layoff. But it really helped me too. Even now I eat oatmeal for breakfast or bran flakes with bananas, sandwiches and soups for lunch most days, and very simple food in the evening. The only times I eat out these days are when someone else is taking me out for helping them with their family history. But I don't always enjoy the food as much as I should because I like what I get at home better.

I always found my grandmother made some of the best meals. 
There was definitely rubber chicken in her house, roast leftovers were made into something the following day or frozen as another meal to eat at a later date. 
Any veg was in a soup or casserole. 
And I never remember her ever buying a cake, she always made her own. 

I was going to add as well @Bobcatbelle do you have any outside space? Im not sure what your situation is at the minute with your home but do you have room that you could start a few seeds and grow some basic fresh veg for yourself? If you do I have plenty of seeds here ( I seriously over brought things) that I would happily send you to give you a few easy grow salad bits to help with fresh bits. 

weenancyinAmerica

It would be nice for the economy if everyone could learn how to cook. People here in the United States are complaining mightily about the food prices, but most of them are buying readymade meals and partially prepared foods - or just snack type food. I have two roommates who I don't think have cooked anything in the last year - every meal has been brought in from fast food places, or worse, delivered from the same places. And they have no money - I wonder why. I have one roommate that likes to cook, but he has this thing about adding tomato sauce to almost everything. So I actually prefer my own cooking most of the time. It doesn't cost that much if you stick to basic foods, but you do have to learn to cook sometime. I had to teach myself as my mother cooked very little besides what I mentioned before except meat loaf - hers was very good. My father's mother had three boys and she wasn't going to stay home and cook for the family all of the time. She insisted that all three of them learn to cook - and take turns making the dinners (2 each per week), with leftovers on the weekend. So she didn't have to cook at all unless it was a family dinner at Thanksgiving. Though I still remember the Thanksgiving dinners at her house usually involved up to ten other cooks besides her - and premade pies done by my uncle who loved to bake. These days when the family gets together, we each bring a couple of food dishes (Easter) or we make sandwiches (Christmas, so we can start opening presents faster). I always wish I could help people by changing their food buying habits so they wouldn't be complaining so much about the costs.

London_1

My eldest DGS lives in NYC with his wife and they both thankfully cook although he does like to send out for his special coffee .When he was home last he did and I said 'Danny your Dad has a £200 plus all singing dancing coffee machine in the kitchen why are you sending out for coffee?  ,he just looked at me and said
"But I always do at home, its quicker when I'm working Nanna" He works from home quite a bit Bless him I guess as he says it helps the economy, but I still think it's a bit daft for a cup of coffee that he's perfectly capable of making himself . Certain things he misses from the UK, decent bacon and he says you can't buy a proper sausage roll in the USA, at least not like his Nanna's
 But both him and his wife have been out there almost 8 years and have assimilated the cuisine and they hasve a Spanish landlady who has taught them some nice hispanic recipes that they both like. He loves the diversity of the food and his wife has really come to enjoy the different things that at first she wasn't sure of.

JackieO xx

florianatwobob

Egg & chips was a staple in my house. I miss my mum’s fried eggs. 

Siebrie

I once read an article where they had tested what type of food kept you feeling full the longest. It turned out that the meal served as a soup was the best. So, rice-veg-meat on a plate and a glass of water made you hungry before veg-soup-with-rice-and-meat did.