It may be tough for 6 years. The survival thread

A question about : It may be tough for 6 years. The survival thread

I think it is time for me to start a new thread. We all know that it may take at least 6 years for this country to get back on its feet. We need to survive and we need to share survival strategies.

can we pull together and help each other?

Yes of course we can but please can I ask that the thread stays uncluttered so that newbies can source help and ideas quickly

Best answers:

• Ooooh new thread! Could start by linking all the 'its tough now threads' and 'sneaky ways' to here, there a few of them
• I found one https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...highlight=2006
  The first one was started in 2006 but I haven`t found it yet. It is just as relevant today
• Oh and the recipes and storecupboards! well done op...very wise thread
• I found it
  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...gs+get+tougher
  The sad thing is that we were supposed to be well out of the tough times by now. There is a huge amount of help in that thread and it helped a lot of people get through
• Thanks for this Kittie
  I am fairly new to all of this frugal living. I did not class myself as extravagant but knew I could do better especially with the grocery shopping. /Recently found out that hubby owed Ј20,000 on cc's and after getting over the shock of it grabbed the bull by the horns and started financial planing.
  Have remortgaged (but not for a longer term) with the option of paying it off early. Swopped utility providers where we could find a better deal and cancelled magazine subscriptions.
  I now meal plan and batch cook which has helped to reduce the grocery bill. I now walk to work which in its self saves Ј17 a month that I was spending on parking and for the first time this year have a veg plot which I'm loving.
  I am amazed at what I have managed to save. I work full time but I am also working an extra shift two or three times a month to try to save an emergency fund as we had no savings. Its hard work and I know it will get harder but I have gained some invaluable advice and tips on this site from various forums.
  I am looking forward to sharing peoples advice on this new thread.
  Thanks again Mrs VP
• Hi kittie,
  While I do understand your reasons for wishing to begin a new thread, it is confusing to have two threads on the same subject running simultaneously so I am going to close this thread for now and ask you to continue to post on the existing 'tough' thread.
  Other threads that may be helpful are:
  Preparing for winter II
  really old style living?
  Pink
• As the existing thread in this series has now become very long and has gone off topic I am closing it and re-opening this one in it's place.
  The last thread can be found here:
  Its tough, it will get better and guess what its freezing brrrrr!
  And these are the previous threads:
  It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?
  It is tough NOW. So how are we coping
  If things get tougher?
  May I politely remind posters to keep this one on the topic of things getting tougher from an Old Style perspective.
  Many thanks,
  Pink
• oooh a shiny new thread! fab!
  as for things getting tougher.. luckily OH's been getting a fair amount of overtime in the last few weeks, but i know after christmas it's going to come to an abrupt end and we'll be having to tighten the purse strings once again. i have my frugal head well and truly screwed on now thank goodness
• Mine is actually a 4 and a half year survival plan - that's how long I have left of my career break, so that's how long I want to survive on as little money as possible. I know basic baking skills, but I would like to learn a lot more about cooking and baking. I have bought myself a small food processor. This is my gift to myself for the future as I have fairly bad arthritis in one hand, so I'm worried that I may struggle with pastry making etc as I get older. Making shortbread already hurts quite a bit.
  My new years resolution is to read the recipe books that I have, and come up with some new meal ideas that me and my son will enjoy without spending a fortune on ingredients. Having some left over for the freezer would be a bonus.
• Cranky can I recommend a book? Its the first cookbook we were recommended at catering college, which I took up when I was 22/23 Its called Practical Cookery by Ceserini, Kinton and Foskett - I have the eighth edition, I don't know if there are later ones now, but its a fantastic book with excellent instructions on all aspects of cookery, to give anyone a good solid basis in cooking skills. The ISBN is 0-340-62068-4
  I still use it every week, and have notations in all the margins for mistakes I have made, fixes I have learned - especially for baking, the book comes with good fixes or answers to problems found in cooking.
• Oh, and as for the sore hand, I tend to make all my cakes biscuits etc in the food mixer now as a result of RA. Shortbread is a wheeze in the mixer or processor.
• Six years sounds about right for me, just started an OU degree with the plan to go into something in the education sector with term time hours once DD and bump are at school.
  Cranky40, it sounds really geeky but I mark recipes in my (huge) collection of cookbooks with different coloured paper scraps depending on the season, every so often I have a look through a couple of books and add a few or take some out then when I'm recipe planning I just look at say the white for winter ones for warming stuff or the yellow summer ones. Depends how many books you have whether it's worth being such an annorak but as I have nearly 200 after years of running a tea room kitchen I find that helps.
• We are trying really hard to cut back as for some reason this year we have ended up Ј1000 in debt.....a little bit of this and a little bit of that all adds up and on one wage for a family of four, it's hard to pull it back...but i'm determined to. It's amazing when you you take the your finger off the ball, how the debt starts to add up.
  Anyway, i joined the grocery challenge again and i'm doing well (see my signature, i go up to payday on the 24th). Me and DH are scrutinising every little thing we spend. I'm not sure how long it will take to get back to normal, i'm hoping by May, it depends though.
  In 6 years times...i can't see that far ahead but i have a feeling we will be going quite a bit into debt if my DD's decide to go to university!
  After the challenge of money saving wears off after a few weeks i do get fed up, but i try and think i am one of the lucky ones. My DH has a job and we have a roof over our heads...alot more than others have
• Snow's back ! We got a blizzard !
• Same here Mardatha. Guess that`ll be another fortnight at least of Scotland grinding to a halt!
  Haven`t had the time or resources to gather enough to see us through this latest batch of severe weather. So it`s just going to be a case of hunkering down and trying to survive it and putting all I`ve learned into practice next year. Yup..I`ll be the eejit during the fine sunny weather hoarding for winter, both food and fuel.
• I joined MSE almost 6 years ago and lurked for a while before that. All through that time, Old Style has been a part of our lives. The threads on here, along with everyone's willingness to share their knowledge, have helped us to clear our debts, to save and to comfortably manage now that one wage has disappeared. So six years is a timespan we've already MSE OS'd through. Bring it on!
  We live below our means and we have never been richer We may be ЈЈs poorer but we are happy.
  The things we do:
• Cook from scratch and keep a well stocked storecupboard - buying when things are on offer and storing in cupboards, in boxes under the bed etc. We aim to keep our main meal cost below Ј1 per person. Batch cooking helps with this. We could go lower if needed.
• We always do a packed lunch. When we go out on trips we take a picnic and a flask.
• Track our finances by spreadsheet. We originally set up a budget for each year and knew exactly how much our fuel costs etc. and added 10% at the beginning of each year (for any increases). Everything is divided by 12 and a linked savings account holds the money that is built up for when the bills come in (oil for heating, electric, house insurance etc.). We've a good idea of all our costs now and didn't do the annual forward plan last year. However, I think we'll spend the Christmas break doing a new annual spreadsheet as things have probably slipped or increased in cost and we may not be covering everything now.
• We do the mantra ... is it a need or is it a want? when considering purchases. If it's a need then we spend time looking for the best, at the best price.
• We now have a small budget for entertainment (DVDs, games) so we don't feel deprived but we never buy new releases and wait until prices come down. When we were paying off our debts we rented DVDs from the library and if things became difficult again this budget would cease.
• Barter - if someone kindly gives us something - we recipricate - so a jar of jam, baking etc. wings their way to them. Kindness helps the world go round.
• Putting on extra jumpers, warm clothing etc. rather than turning the heating up. Heating is at a comfortable lower level and we track the meter readings and oil levels.
• We make our own wine
• We plan multiple tasks from each car journey - calling at the supermarket on the way home from work etc. We drive with a light foot and try to get get as many mpg as possible. Even so, this budget has gone sky high over the last few months with the increases in fuel prices. If only I was allowed to work from home occasionally - this would save ЈЈЈs

Things we are going to do:

• Revisit the budget calculations
• Keep a price book to keep track of ingredient costs (and therefore be able to cost up the real price of meals). I've noticed things not just going up by pennies but by 40p-50p
• Make more of an effort with the vegetable growing - we had some lovely potatoes in the summer and have kale and purple sprouting broccoli growing in the garden now. With a little more effort we could have a more regular supply of vegetables.
• I've got an old hand singer sewing machine - I'm going to look at ways of restyling some of my clothes to increase their lifespan or create new items out of several old ones.
• Keep reading MSE OS - as this keeps up the motivation. You are all inspirational and have so many good ideas.
• Snowing here too ... not looking forward to going to work!
• lead weight in the stomach again for some. Good luck to all of you with snow to contend with
  I am going to have an organising day today, otherwise it`ll just be a wasted day. So fridge cleaning first, then freezer sorting. Then get a spicy red cabbage and apple casserole in the oven, to cook and freeze
  Bits and bobs of paperwork later so that I can free up a desk
  It doesn`t stop tbh, I always tell myself not to be messy again but it happens slowly
  Am waiting for late deliveries but losing hope now, oh well at least the presents are in, although I am apprehensive about people getting here because of weather