Anyone had a lightbulb moment with anything OS-related ?

mjburton

For me I've made gradual changes. I had a radical sort out with banking and savings since I discovered MSE a year ago and since then have slowly got better at controlling my money and where it goes to.

Nearly all my clothes are bought second hand on ebay after I've seen and tried them on in the shops. I've started to cook from scratch and am discovering that actually I can cook. I am getting good with sunday roasts.

I 'm getting there slowly, just trying to convince OH to think about how he manages money too, but that is much slower progress!

belfastgirl23

Realising when you use things that are in the house anyway (eg washing powder) it's still costing you money!! I know it's an obvious point but I didn't ever try to be MS with this stuff because somehow in my head they didn't cost money. Doh!!

Olliebeak

Three lightbulb moments spring to mind with me.

Freezing left-over portions of scouse/chilli/curry etc for use at a future date instead of leaving them in the fridge until they walk out by themselves!

Blanching (or cooking any vegetables) for freezing before they get so bad that they are unusable - discovered after I'd wasted over half of a veg box that cost me quite a bit of money .

The third one came in two parts. When I sent for a soap-powder measure, I discovered that I'd been using far too much in the laundry - so started to always use the measure. THEN I discovered that even that amount was more than enough so have almost halved the amount again!

So - no more tubs of food past it's best cluttering up the fridge!
- no more throwing away of vegetables because I'd let them 'go too far'!
- large boxes of soap powder that last me absolutely ages now!

sillyvixen

my light bulb moment came before i discovered MSE i was very ill with choycystitus and obstuctive jaundice and a very toxic liver. when they let me leave hospital i decided that all food would have to help my recovery (i had already been told to eat low fat). i decided that low fat ready meals contained too many chemicals and started to batch cook and fill the freezer so there was always somthing healthy and nutricious to eat. when i returned to work i started taking salads for lunch and found them to be cheaper than buying sandwhiches. i was saving money all ways - i was not able to face food some evenings and as i had defrosted a home made meal i boxed it up for lunch the next day and had it for lunch microwaved at work the next day. i learned so much about healthy eating and foods that supported my liver from various websites and also learned how to cut my food bill. i try to keep it up now but am in the happy situation that since surgery i can cope with a few glasses of wine or a meal out if it someones birthday!!

monkey22_2

I was making lasagne today and thinking about how much money I wasted over the years on ready made white sauce/bechamel sauce because Ithought it was too difficult to make. Then I learnt how to make it from scratch and realised what a numpty I'd been!

Similarly I have a friend who buys packet crumble mix and I tell her if you knew how easy it was to make, you'd kick yourself (she's not interested though).

So I was wondering what have you learnt to cook that's made you think "why did I ever buy this?"

Tabatha_Kitten

I made Toad in the Hole for the first time the other day. Hubby had been craving it for a while.
Cant beleive I used to spend money on frozen Yorkshire Puds ! Never again. It was so easy. Even had enough batter mix left over to make pancakes for breakfast the following day.

abaxas

Pizza is the one for me!

Yes it's faffy, but since the lass is on a diet, you can make a lovely pizza for about 1/2 to 2/3 the ww points. Tastes better too!

Beccatje

Mayonaise!!!

It is TOO easy and you can add any flavor you fancy.

halight

Hi ,
im male, 29 years old and marrid with 5 month old twin girls and i love cooking,
i cook most nights roast dinners,currys,spag bog,stews, And all sorts to much to list. I love river cottage, And that got me into piggion, rabit, free fruit from the wild. I got all the books from the show by hugh and buy all new ones that come out. normaly with birthday xmas money, I also last year got into growing my own veg. This has been great fun and iv saved money and gat some great tasting veg!!!!!

Good luck all with your cooking

halight

Sorry about the length of the last post but i thourt that id just say a little bity about myself so you all know im male and a cook as most who come on this thred are female i think...??????

Dont know just ramberling now.
have a good evening all