I thought we could make a list of ideas that meanie people would think of.
The recession is coming and we are all going to have to be able to live for a week on last weeks left overs plus a sprouting potato and will have to knit our own clothes unless the BBC spots us.
So if anyone has any ideas others have not yet thought of , we may be able to save each others lives.
Anyway, my clothing tip is to wear odd socks and slippers.
Going forward I will stick to black or white socks and then at least they will be the same colour. Today I am wearing one black and one salmon sock, and the world is still turning.
My food tip is to keep all the old bits of vegetables like tomatos when making neatly sliced sandwiches in the week and then make an omlette or a mashed potato thingy at the end of the week , I think it is called bubble and squeak.When buying socks, I always try to buy at least two identical pairs at a time. That way, when one of a pair wears out, the other is still usable as a spare for the identical pair.I buy all my underwear at Tesco, as there are few 'special occasions'
Cotton Knickers £2.50 for a pack of 4 (very nice range of colours) and Two bras for the same price.
I like everyone else's tips and can't wait to make my first omelette from old vegetable bits.
I think Mr Merry has lots of these, I seem to remember something about going round the bathrooms and squashing teeny slivers of soap together to make a new bar.My dad used to microwave the stub of the stick deodorant to melt it, pour it onto the top of the new stick of deodorant, and then refrigerate it to solidify it. I kid you not.too many holes in your jumpers? Use old newspaper as a vest!
OK you may crinkle a bit, but when the paper gets too crushed there is always the traditional use for it, which is very green because it will reduce the quantity of bleach and dye used on better makes!
RonWell this is a bit obvious, I suppose, but after stew or even lasagne or pretty much any meal really (except the salad ...) instead of me pigging out on the leftovers for a midnight snack or polishing them off for tomorrow's lunch they make a whole other meal when transmogrified into soup (and if it seems too boring to have it the very next night it gets frozen for a few days later). There is no more delicious soup than day-after soup
Any trimmings and/or really impossible left-overs are sincerely and passionately appreciated by Dog, anyway! So that's a scoopful less dog-food used, I s'pose. Am I being mean enough yet?
Am I being mean enough yet?
Not until you mince the Dog and make dog-burgers!
There is probably 500lb of lean meat on Clyde....
There is probably 500lb of lean meat on Clyde....
I dare you to suggest that to Desert Princess Eat lower on the food chain. Become a vegetarian. It really is cheaper.
But I have a question... my husband just handed me two of his old-as-the-hills wool jackets. They have been mended to extinction. He asked me to cut off the buttons and the suede patches from the elbows, and then dispose of the rest. My daughter says she will make skirts out of the larger portions of the cloth. [We've always done this sort of thing, recession- smeshun, bah.]
But in the olden days, didn't folks recycle wool somehow? I seem to recall "100% Virgin Wool" as an advertising slogan, and I assumed they weren't referring to the chastity of their sheep. heh.
Because there's those pesky sleeves off the jackets to use somehow, and woolen cloth does not make for good rags or quilts.
Heliophile, we used to have "everything in the fridge" thrown into the stew pot- style soup, and it got called "burgoo". Mom would simmer it all day on the stovetop, and in the evening it would taste wonderful. But somehow since my daughter started dating, there are never any leftovers [heh].Asy, I don't think the herbivore vs omnivore argument is as simple as that. For example, there are a lot of hill farms around the UK where the soil is marginal and little can be grown there except grass. Therefore, lamb and mutton from hill-bred sheep are as sustainable as vegetarian food. And you get wool for clothing as well.
I always freeze sliced bread when I buy it, taking out slices as I need them. 30 seconds in the toaster makes them ready to eat. I haven't had mouldy or stale bread for years.
Plastic bread wrappers make good freezer bags as the acetic acid used in baking bread keeps bacteria down therefore they are clean.
Not exactly a meanie tip but an environmental one: I reuse plastic supermarket bags until they get full of holes. Before discarding them in the bin, I tie knots in them. This stops them floating away and cluttering up the street when the bins are emptied.Next Page...
