Can you do OS and work full time too?

Sarahsaver

yes it is do-able - will post more detail when dd is not dancing around me demanding fruit!

Yorkielass

I've recently started my first full time job (after finishing university) and have also started trying to do things Old Style for the last few months - have to admit it was easier at the start when I wasn't working full time but I'm really trying hard to do things like:

Menu plan, write a detailed shopping list and stick to it

Do Pin money to keep track of my coupon and multibuy savings etc so I can see what I'm actually saving and put the money to good use for something for me.

Cook as many meals from stratch, e.g. did spagetti bolognese tonight - got home from work at 5.45, had a little sit down then did the washing up and then made spag bol - so at 7.30 sat down to a lovely home cooked meal - and I knew exactly what went into it, suppose that only really works if you like cooking.

Then cleaning - use vinegar, bicarb etc.

I'm trying to get into good habits and then hope that they'll be things Ill do forever and will hopefully help me to stay out of debt.

I think there are lots of things you can do when you work - but it's all things in moderation - no point beating yourself up if you can't do things all the time - we have 1 ready meal a week normally for example.

Caterina

Hi

Old Style does not just mean doing absolutely everyting from scratch, it is more about looking at how to live well (better) with less waste.

I can give you a personal example: I am really not very good at keeping the house clean but I am very good at doing other things such as cooking, doing the home admin and spotting a freebie/bargain. I have two part time jobs (totalling nearly 20 hours per week) plus regular babysittings some afternoons and evenings.

Because of the extra bit of money I get with babysittings I choose to pay a cleaner once a week. Of course, I have to cut in other areas of my life - I don't remember when I last bought new clothes for myself for example, and I have given up owning a car altogether for the last 5 years now.

If you work full time you can choose to be very frugal in some areas of your life and then maybe splash out a bit in other areas, when it makes your life easier.

I hope this makes some sense. Best of luck!

Ciao

Caterina

mah_jong

i work full time with a second P/T job and think I am mainly OS.

For me, planning ahead is the key. I am not as organized as some, I generally have an idea of the weeks dinners/lunches. I slow cook/freeze etc but also am aimiable to sudden bargains! I def know the night before, whats for dinner the next day. I bulk cook soup and to be honest frozen/thawed soup is much nicer than same day cooked soup..... think someone earlier said they liked day 2 soup.

Whilst I use vinegar sometimes in the rinse I have never been sucked into the cleaning product scene. I think I only ever had bleach, jif and washing up liquid ! So not many changes can be made there!

Ironing...what little is done, is done whilst watching tv. Its not a chore just exercise whilst relaxing! (re branding the chores!!)

Clutter has gone..... I decided on a years program and it worked. Dont decide to everything at once. But a gradual, drawer at a time, works far better. Then keep on top..... pick up stuff before you leave the room.... wipe the sink, bleach round loo etc as you finish in the morning. Fill dishwasher as you go...answer/file your mail on the day you get it.

I like the daily thread...yes its manily SAHM there...its like walking ito a busy cafe....lots of friendly faces and you vaguely know them.....then after a few days you do!!!! (in an internet way!).

For me its all about prioritising and planning.

Frogling

Wow, I've been an MSE'er for ages and am only just discovering the delights of this board!

I'm very lucky because I work part-time for my Father-in-Law, and he mostly leaves me to get on with things. The added benefit is that I can do virtually all of the work from home, so I get to spend lots of time with my little ones & am effectively getting paid for it.

I'm not the best at housework - I have to make myself do it. I tend to always look at the bigger picture and freak myself out by how much there is to do! Hubby is much better, and does things bit-by-bit, he will look at a room and just focus on one area rather than thinking there is too much to get done in a short space of time.

My best thing is cooking and baking. I make meat pies in bulk and freeze them, and also make lots of soups. Whenever I make a fruit crumble I make extra topping, as that freezes really well, as does any extra stewed fruit.

One thing I noticed I used to do a lot was throw potatoes out when I hadn't managed to use the full bag before they started to go soft. Now, before they get to that stage I boil them, mash them and get a disposable icing bag, a nozzle and pipe them out on to a baking tray in an assortment of shapes. I open-freeze them and bag them so that I always have potatoes to hand in the event I don't have time/can't be bothered one evening (they take about 20 mins to cook in the oven, and go nicely with the meat pie, plus my children like the various shapes). I prefer home-made cakes and biccies, and again often make double of my favourite biscuit dough so that I can freeze some (great for the kids to play with on a rainy day).

Ironing - like mah_jong, I do mine in front of the tv when the girls are in bed.

I used to feel like I had to do it all and be Wonderwoman, and I thought that everyone else was better at organising and doing things than I was. Then I realised that it didn't matter - they are good at looking like they are perfect, but actually they aren't! We all envy each other to some extent because we all have different strengths.

Focus on the good stuff, do the best you can and try not to beat yourself up about what you aren't able to get around to.

Magentasue

This is a topical thread for me as I'm considering full-time work after years of part-time and the last six months not working. When working part-time, my OS decreased as my hours increased.

Before I had children, OS was easy - we had so little money even when I was working F/T and thinking back, I had so much time to spare even though I didn't realise it!

In theory I'd have the help of OH, son aged 20 and son aged 17 to help with the house and the two younger ones but they have full-times jobs/courses so their input is going to be limited to heating up rather than cooking.

If I work f/t, OS will be school hols only.

Sarahsaver

these are my OS tactics which I wouldn't manage without. No mystery or alchemy to it but hopefully someone will benefit from seeing what I do.
Get up early - currently 6.20 - to get ready and do the packed lunch b4 the kids surface.
Do a weekly meal plan on a sunday.
Always have a proper roast dinner on a sunday then use the meat the next day or two as well. Often do extra roast spuds and freeze the surplus. Make soup from leftover veg.
Get kids clothes and mine ready the night before.
Only iron things that need it i.e. no bedlinen, jeans, jumpers, t-shirts - they are not creased if they are folded straight out of the drier. (line drying = takes too much time and standing in chicken poo)
Not afraid to ask friend for her older boys' hand-me-downs, and pass on my boys clothes to a friend with a littlun.Use ebay and freecycle.
Starting to declutter my entire house so that it is easier to keep tidy.
Zoom around the house on a sunday tidying whilst the roast cooks - kids help.
Have a separate shopping purse £20 a week for groceries etc.
Shop round the market on a Saturday with my 'granny bag' which has wheels.
Have an inventory of what is in the freezer.
Kids have 'treat day' on a friday - they dont pester for sweets etc the rest of the time because they know they get them on Friday afrer school.
I now have a few things in the freezer and cupboard to use if I am ill again - some bolognese sauce and tins of beans/tuna etc.
99% of our meals are HM but that doesnt mean I spend ages cooking. This week we have bolognese (yesterday) pizza tonight, toad in the hole weds, salmon thursday and sausage and bean casserole on friday. I use the slow cooker a couple of times a week just bung it in and leave it!
I think thats mostly it I think.

squiggles

Like sarahsaver i decluttered my whole house,mainly because of the feng shui thread that we had not so long ago ,clutter meant bad luck or negativity so out it all went.The housework was much easier to keep ontop of :T but slowly its crept back to the way it was :rolleyes: and everytime i open a cupboard its like playing kerplunk :rotfl: ,slowly removing the item i need so the rest doesnt fall out.

Hermia

I think you should just pick and choose the bits that suit you. I work full-time and don't get in till 7pm and I also work some Saturdays. So, I can't always find the time to cook for the week ahead so I do sometimes rely on convenience foods especially on the evenings I have to work till 8pm. I also can't bulk buy as much as I would like because I am renting and the only property I can afford to rent are shoeboxes with no storage space!

There are some OS money-saving things I refuse to do. I have precious little free-time at home so I am not faffing about using lemons and vinegar to clean when I can buy a bottle of something which will clean everything in 30 seconds! I just try and do my best. I recycle/reuse as much as possible. I'm quite crafty so I make a lot of cards and gifts for Christmas and birthdays. I'm quite a canny shopper. When I do cook I do it very cheaply and freeze loads. I look after all my possessions so that they last for ages (my work handbag is 15 years old, but still attracts compliments probably thanks to regular applications of leather cream).

I basically use this forum for tips and ideas, but adapt 'em to suit my circumstances.

Alfietinker

Hermia wrote:

I basically use this forum for tips and ideas, but adapt 'em to suit my circumstances.

I think that sums it up I look here most days for tips and to see what interesting things others say. (I didn't know you could freeze cheese & butter until just now for instance)

We are both out the house from 6.30am to 7.15pm and the last thing we want to do when we get home is house keeping and cooking. At the weekends we're usually decorating/DIY/gardening which again we'd rather be doing.

But I would say we're fairly OS. I meal plan each week but this came about because of budgeting than OSing initially - it keeps me from browsing and adding things because 'that looks interesting'. I do a weekly shop in my lunch hour so don't have time to dawdle anyway. Weekdays we cook from scratch but really quick things like stirfrys, salmon + veg. Sunday I might make a 'fuller' meal like a casserole but only if I can leave it. I do make a pot of soup for packed lunches. Occasionally I may make a load of bread but if I'm not eating it and a 40p loaf lasts hubby a week then so be it.

With regards to cleaining. I have a spray bottle of vinegar & water which I can wipe worktops with, but when we eventually do some proper housework I admit to sometimes using 'other' cleaners. I haven't got time to wait for vinegar to disolve the inevitable limescale buildup etc. And I don't have the time or inclination to 'keep on top of things' I do need a life too!

I tend to make Xmas gifts etc because I enjoy doing it. We re-use or recyle everything we can. We car share. So that's OS.

But to the outside world we're 'normal'.

In essence, everyone is a little OS - just in different ways.