Does being OS get you down?

purpleivy

Good point Rzl

scottish_lassy

Ada Doom - just remember you are teaching your children valuable lessons. They will grow up knowing how to cook, not be wasteful, make choices, prioritise, value what others have and memories of the most valuable thing - time - with mum and dad!!!!!

DenBo_4

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

For those who are saying they HAVE to be OS... is this really the case for anybody? Do you not still have the choice between being OS (i.e. feeding yourself and your family good nutritious food on a very small budget) and succumbing to the junky, additive-filled alternatives? After all, disgusting tasteless value burgers, crisps etc are VERY cheap, and a lot of people on very low incomes do go down this route :eek:

I think for the vast majority of people there is at least some element of choice in the decision to be OS - even if it's only that on the budget available, the alternative just doesn't bear thinking about.

I suppose the point I'm trying to make is... maybe if you realise that it IS a choice, and you've taken that choice to feed your family the best you can with what you've got, you might feel more positive about it

I suppose so! I must admit I am much happier to eat healthy, homemade stuff (got carrot & lentil soup cooking as we speak), I've got to the point where if it's an option between crisps and an apple, I now go for the apple. But I would love to look in my freezer/fridge and find an M&S chicken pie in there........................but I know full well for the price I can buy a whole chicken and make it last days, and be nutritious. So that's what I do. But have you tried M&S ready cooked chicken pie?? Gorgeous! (Well it was two years ago, when I last bought one!)

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

pigpen wrote: »

We were way below the 'poverty line' growing up.. every penny had to count so it is normal to me.. I see those who are not OS as wasting money.. there are so many things I would do with a large sum of money.. or unending money like some people have.

We actually probably get a lot more into our house than lots and lots of people on here but the thought of spending it on something like heinz beans instead of tesco value just galls me.

I LIKE tesco value beans!!

I don't think I could live on ready meals if I wanted to.. though having a freezer full of meat and veg and bread doesn't appeal to my 16 y/o son.. he thinks there is 'nothing to eat' if it needs a bit of preparation..

I like cooking meals for everyone.. I want to slop it on their heads when they complain about it though lol

We are OS through necessity really as we have debts to pay off and the ongoing bills to pay.. but one day they won't be there any more.. but I love it.. I see every shopping trip and every task as a challenge to make it as cheap as possible but the best that I can.. currently saving and looking for a stove for the middle room.. I want a certain size and less than £100.. I have found a few but they are too small.. I'll find one.. I love a challenge!

Hi pigpen, have you seen this http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=719499&page=163 post 3244
might be the answer to your problem?

I love being OS, for me its about giving us choices (hubby and I want to reduce hours and spend more time with the kids) and less wastage. I hate food going in the bin and can make a lovely soup out of the bones in my corset (lol!) We didn't have anything when we were kids but were happy and well cared for and my parents brought us up decently.

I remember going through the school dustbins in the summer hols for pencils and old books which we read and re read, food was grown by dad and cooked from scratch by mum. We didn't have a tv/ inside toilet/ washer/ carpets/ loads of clothes but we read loads of books from the library and played. I am blessed with my happy childhood and want my kids to feel like this when they grow up. Yes, its nice to have money but I have nieces and nephews who have everything but are so miserable and spoilt.

I should imagine that my parents found it very hard but they never made us feel deprived. I reckon its a state of mind and looking on it as a challenge to get round a problem and be creative. In the days when I was desperately skint I took it each day at a time and kept my goals in sight. There's always someone worse off.

Nowadays its become a way of life, its second nature to get all my clothes from charity shops and jumble sales and to cook leftovers but instead of feeling a bit of a baglady, I am out and proud and its partly to do with fellow posters on this forum. Thank you guys for all your posts.

A good book to read is the 'Tightwad Gazette' by Amy Dacyzyn, much quoted on here and well loved by many a money saver. She doesn't care about other people's opinions about her moneysaving and gets on with bringing up her family her way.

Keep up the good work fellow msers.............out and proud!

patchwork_cat

I think I know what the OP is getting at. Yet another meal of mince when what I really fancy is a steak! I think that if that is the case then the whether you do OS by choice or necessity comes into play. If it is choice then you will get a steak or splurge occasionally if you are that way. If it is necessity then you can't and it could get you down- a little of what you fancy does you good.
I am not good at OS and most people on here put me to shame and I feel that I dabble at it, but I don't believe in ready meals and cook from scratch mostly. We all take from OS what fits in with our believes, needs, desires and while I can't feed my family for £40 a week I applaud those that do healthily and on the flip side I don't spend £100 a week.

Bargain_Rzl

DenBo wrote: »

I suppose so! I must admit I am much happier to eat healthy, homemade stuff (got carrot & lentil soup cooking as we speak), I've got to the point where if it's an option between crisps and an apple, I now go for the apple. But I would love to look in my freezer/fridge and find an M&S chicken pie in there........................but I know full well for the price I can buy a whole chicken and make it last days, and be nutritious. So that's what I do. But have you tried M&S ready cooked chicken pie?? Gorgeous! (Well it was two years ago, when I last bought one!)

I think the thing that's getting you down is not "needing to be OS" but "not having a lot of money". Not the same thing, and I think everybody with no spare cash feels this way from time to time. At least unlike a lot of people, you're doing it with a good meal in your belly

(By the way, I did think of a few examples of people for whom OS isn't a choice... people living miles from anywhere with land but no transport (am thinking Little House on the Prairie here!)... people on a low income needing to feed family members with multiple food allergies... and so on. There are people for whom it's the only option. But not many )

liz545

I feel like I'm coming to the end of a long tunnel at the moment - I've got a debt free date in sight, and money's a lot less tight than it was. I do sometimes get down about having to be on a budget; I don't begrudge cooking from scratch as I enjoy that, but if I had the money, I'd definitely get someone to do the cleaning, as some people I know do! The good thing is, though, once you've been living frugally for a while, smaller things feel like a treat - today I used a voucher from a Mystery Shop for a posh sandwich lunch, and treated myself to some new shoes from New Look - £12 using a discount voucher - and I'm chuffed But there was a time when I wouldn't've thought twice about spending that money, and consequently wouldn't appreciate what I'd bought as much.

DenBo_4

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

I think the thing that's getting you down is not "needing to be OS" but "not having a lot of money". Not the same thing, and I think everybody with no spare cash feels this way from time to time. At least unlike a lot of people, you're doing it with a good meal in your belly

(By the way, I did think of a few examples of people for whom OS isn't a choice... people living miles from anywhere with land but no transport (am thinking Little House on the Prairie here!)... people on a low income needing to feed family members with multiple food allergies... and so on. There are people for whom it's the only option. But not many )

Yes and no! I don't feel I have a choice, I have to have a gluten free diet, and the only way to do this and enjoy my food is to go old style. My immune system is knackered due to steroids, so I need to try to eat as nutritiously as possible in an attempt to build it up again. Once again this mean OS lentils rather than steak, as I can't afford steak. But I would rather have steak and fresh mango. Instead I'm having lentils, and my fruit is a 50p bag of frozen fruit for smoothies from Asda, which lasts 4 days, mixed up with my homemade kefir - all in attempt to eat really healthily and boost my immune system. I don't think crisps and burgers would have the same effect!

Elliesmum

I feel the same about the having mince when wanting steak (or other expensive food item). OS for me is a must at the moment for budget keeping as we're saving up for a big trip to Australia next year - my husband has stopped complaining about the lack of steak :rotfl:

But with all the money in the world I would still eat the OS cooking from scratch way. I would love to do a huge food shop and not look at the price of nice food or not have to stand there for a couple of minutes making sure I've bought the "best" value amount of a product. I can spend hours shopping as I'm always comparing prices, it's 2nd nature now for me to do it .

With food prices going the way they are at the moment, I can see more and more people having to shop the OS way. I'm estimating our food bill has risen by at least £10 pushing our food bill to over £50 a week some weeks :eek:
and they say it's gonna get worse!

EM xx

jak

We are OS because we have to be but I am alergic to E-numbers (STILL-at 30!) and other certain additives so it makes sense for me to cook from scratch. Also with a baby on the way I am keen to eat healthily and make sure my DH does too as he's the main bread winner now.x