The OS Starter Pack

notenoughcash

For lunches we have egg, cheese, tuna, leftover chicken (occasionally a bit of best ham as a treat) on sandwiches made with HM bread and fruit or yoghurt when we are at work/school. If we are at home then beans/scrambled eggs on toast. On sundays we have a leisurely get up and get ready and have sausage, egg, beans and toast and then a big sunday roast around 3pm.

I have also reduced my electricity costs (by half) by switching off. Nothing is EVER left on standby, all appliances (apart from fridge freezer) are switched off at the plug when not in use and every light is switched off whenever a room is empty.

I have also drastically reduced my gas usage by draught-proofing and having the heating completely turned off from april - october.

I make a lot of my own wine from gluts of free fruit throughout late summer and autumn and grow a lot of my own fruit and veg ( a great family actovoty which we spend hours and hours on, outside in the fresh air getting plenty of exercise and loads of fresh nutritious food.

notenoughcash

I have slipped a few times and not kept up with my spending diary, which has then led to me impulse buying foods we would normally see as a treat, and over-buying things we have plenty of. (It's amazing what you find at the back of the store-cupboard when you empty it!!) But it gets to the end of the month and my bank account is empty and my purse is empty it motivates me back into honesty again.

I do like to know that incase of emergency we would survive. I try to put new purchases to the back of the cupboard so things don't end up going out of date, but off the top of my head and without giving it much thought I know we could survive for at least 2 weeks on what's in.

Barneysmom

This is such a great thread, I try and play by the rules of the MSE, and today when we were at the till in Mr.M's I looked at what the lady behind me had put on the conveyor.
With envy!:o

She had a box of 4 fresh cream cakes and I remember thinking oh I'd love some of them! It's been such a long time.
But no. Healthy heart and not so empty pocket rules!

taplady

thankyou for taking the time to post all this notenoughcash:T its made very interesting reading, you are so organised. I need to take a leaf out of your book I think!:D

Penelope_Penguin

notenoughcash - you have some great tips there for someone starting out in Old Style :beer: I've found an older thread (but this being Old Style, there's nothing wrong with that - the tips can hardly go out of date ) with more tips and ideas. I'm going to add yours to that one, and hope people add more ideas

Penny. x

mypet62

apologies if this has already been mentioned. But if i see anything ie a tip, recipe etc i copy and then paste it onto a new word document to then save to a file on my pc! That way if i get side tracked as i do:rotfl: i can find what i was looking for!:j

Mags_cat

That would be my best tip - if you work away from home, pack some lunch to take with you.

Uses up last night's leftovers and saves a lot on overpriced, often full-of-fat, tasteless sandwiches.

My lunchtime curries/chillis often get envious glances and comments - but I have to eat them in the kitchen/lunch room so as not to make the rest of the office smelly :rotfl:

Patchwork_Quilt

We always take leftovers for lunch. If you think that the average sandwich is about £2, that saves £10 a week each. Eek!

notenoughcash

luxor4t wrote: »

I was chez Mr S today, basics baked beans were 29p: spookily enough exactly the same as at Mr T's.

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?Store=3&Product=3252
http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?Store=1&Product=3201

Sorry to sound picky, I am getting quite grumpy about pricing 'coincidences' as value/basic tinned tomato is 33p in both and in Aldi. Maybe it is old age!

I have been to Mr S today and checked on the beans while I was there as thought this must be a new price and they have shot up considerably, definately 18p, and checked with an assistant who said it is a long-term price and not a special offer. Lucky me!! I agree with you with the prices being the same in different places. It's cheaper for me to go to Mr S T or M as I save on the bus fare because A & N are two buses away and I don't save anything on the products when I get there. Maybe it is old age ha ha!!

Butterfly_Brain

My OS starter Pack is as follows:

• A Notebook and Pen for all those lists (shopping, Meal planning etc)
• A Flask for making Coffee to last the day (in my case the morning)
• An Airer for drying clothes for when you can't put washing out
• A decent food mixer for making cakes and bread
• A Slow cooker for stews etc
• A Big Freezer for freezing all your Bulk cooking
• Martin Lewis :j
• A sewing machine for making curtains etc
• Lots of Blankets
• Learn to knit and or crochet
• A good cookbook
• A library card
• Stardrops

And last but not least plenty of help from fellow Old Stylers