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If we were frugal
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Florence



Joined: 15 Mar 2025
Posts: 138

PostPosted: Sat May 31, 25 3:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Isn't it an interesting syndrome - what we need in the kitchen for the actual cooking. It's social housing here so the layout is set (you get a choice of decor in the colour of the flooring, cupboard doors, work tops but that's about it). It means that cupboard and worktop space is tight (design for older person's bungalow - we don't need much for cooking you know - we're older folks ).

In the end, a cooker that fits in the space provided is the frugal option (nowhere to store, worktop space to use a variety of stuff). And what would you do with the empty space provided for the cooker if you don't own one?

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 44403
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sat May 31, 25 4:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

the table top kit is useful

the things that perform several tasks well is best

i am very pleased with an induction hob(most of the pans worked and the new ones are double ace)

steel wok or crepe pan no bother
control over boiling stuff , ace

very frugal with leccy

it took a wee while to get used to it , but for leccy powered tis the best system i have experienced in 6 decades

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 44403
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sat May 31, 25 4:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

re the social housing design criteria

i went from old and poor to refurb

the "what do you want in your kitchen " chap was surprised at dishwasher plumbing and space for a 4.5 cu M freezer rather than a useless work top

a freezer can be a work top even better than chipboard and melamine

he did go with my requests

Florence



Joined: 15 Mar 2025
Posts: 138

PostPosted: Sat May 31, 25 6:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

You've got something with you dpak that we haven't here - social housing that has heard of modern living. We've only just got to checking that everyone has double glazing round here. We only got upgraded gas boilers when they couldn't get parts for the old ones. In the last 5 years. Frugal used to be ringing round to see if one of the local depots had the part required on the shelf.

Whatever. There's frugal and there's miserly as in the old Scrooge before his change of ways.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 44403
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sun Jun 01, 25 10:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

umm, the roof still leaked badly, the mould was nasty and they were changing the theme by adding "difficult" tenants who really did not fit in

after i moved out they put flammable cladding on the outside

ps they would not have taken a month removing the asbestos unless i had mentioned it rather emphatically the first time a fella came to ask about what the tenants might want

nice flat, ace view, good job i was more than robust if needs be,
crane to a carotid barorecepter is great fun and tiled floors make moving the lump quite easy

i spose i could be a bit antisocial, drum kit, flashbangs etc, wolf and yellow hell hound
i was always polite whether i was rescuing somebody from themselves or offering somebody 2 options both of which were my choice



troll towers, interesting and educational, not a place for the vulnerable or meek
i would not like it now, at the time it was rather fun, i learned impi kata and mr shotokan learnt never to mess with one of sifu ray's pupils

tommy setting fire to his flat the second time was a bit troubling, 2 of us dragged him out ant then he wanted to attack us

are you getting an impression of a normal day in troll towers

back in the mid 1990's i did get a newly refurbished G2 listed, HA flat in an regency town house, 3 terrace made into 12 flats, next to my portacabin at art school as well, that was rather nice
it was too expensive when i had to pay and travel to barnsley for my degree school, so i moved

social housing, very mixed quality

ps i was part of a squatting crew, that housed people who needed a home

for the most part less "difficult" than troll towers

now i am urban fringe part home owner,
i do have a nicely refurbished yard but it isnt as cute as living in a temperate rain forest etc

Florence



Joined: 15 Mar 2025
Posts: 138

PostPosted: Sun Jun 01, 25 11:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Troll Towers sounds a special place but recognisable in some ways. Yes - social housing can be mixed but so can private if you have no money. Family remembers the days in a house with no heating except the coal fire which wasn't good if there was no sea coal on the beach. And yes you did learn to jump on the sparks which was bad for the carpet (which was free when we moved in). But the sea coal was free.

The result of the experience is that two of the family have do it yourself experts as partners and the third has decided that a decent rental with good back up is preferable as the partnership has no do it up/repairs skills.

Those who are do it uppers have skills in the barter market where needed besides skill of hand, but also the skill to pick the site to do up.

Florence



Joined: 15 Mar 2025
Posts: 138

PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 25 7:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The garden is now enjoyable to sit in with drink and generally easy to maintain. Main expense will be replacing a few bulbs - some just haven't done the job. But that's on the list of fun expenses and may not happen.

My idea of frugal at the moment is the everyday - food, clothes, heating, lighting, water, what to do in proper retirement (no large allotment and associated no committee work). There's only so much to do in a small house and garden with just me. And only so many places to go on a bus pass in one day in a rural area.

Let's just say I can even walk past the charity shops at the moment.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16508

PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 25 7:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I was always brought up to think it was normal to do things for yourself; needlework, knitting, woodwork, house improvements. Most houses at that time only had one or two fires to heat the house. I remember the frost on the inside of the window panes in the winter, and not using some of the rooms unless we had guests as it was too cold. We didn't use sea coal though as no sea.

Florence



Joined: 15 Mar 2025
Posts: 138

PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 25 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Teenage years spent in a 7 bedroom Victorian farmhouse with grates in 4 of the bedrooms. As well as 2 of the posh downstairs and the kitchen range. No we didn't have "the staff" to run all of those. Can you just imagine the labour up the stairs and along the passages? Never mind the cost. Wonder if the landlord upgraded after we left.

Single glazing too.

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 9247
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 25 3:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Same here MR.
Either cheap rentals or with grandparents in a "Home for Heroes"...the acre of ground was good, even if it was max 9" soil over chalk it made up for the glorified wriggly tin shed of a house .

When dad did buy a large house it was financed by student lodgers...the university pointed vegetarian students our way

Make do and mend has always been the family motto
Being frugal on the home front has meant that other interesting things and experiences were made possible

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16508

PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 25 7:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We had a modern semi; modern for the 1950s that is. An Ideal boiler in the kitchen and a coal fire in the lounge. No central heating and single glazed of course. As it was built in 1953 a permit had to be obtained and the downstairs was solid floor as timber for building was still at a premium. My father built two bookcases (which I am still using), a toy cupboard for me, two 'occasional' tables for the lounge (still have one of them), and a radio cabinet with a hastily added plywood front when I got to the walking stage. Mum made her and my clothes, and grandmother did the knitting. We grew our own veg and some fruit, so could afford to go on holiday once a year. We didn't have a car, so in the late 1950s Dad hired one for our holidays.

That was why I grew up with the idea it was 'normal' to do all those things ourselves, and as husband is similar we still do as much as we can in the way of doing up the house, and making things.

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 9247
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 25 3:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

MR I think that there are more like us around than would usually be thought.
We were late getting a car too..Dad prioritised paying the mortgage as we lived a mile from his work. Then we had a Ford Thames ( forerunner of the Transit) for days out and going to races , late 60s.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 16508

PostPosted: Wed Jun 04, 25 7:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

My father lived further from work, but he either caught a bus or cycled. When we moved to a new house in the 1960s Mum used to open the up and over door of the garage and Dad used to ride out on his bike. An interesting sight! I always either walked, cycled, or used the bus to junior school or caught the bus to senior school as that was quite a long way. Mum had a shopping trolley to do the shopping, but when I was a child, a lot of the tradesmen delivered. Eventually my father got a second hand car; a Morris Oxford. By the time he finished using it it had lost syncro into 2nd gear as well as never having it in 1st. I suppose it was for the same reason; the mortgage took up quite a lot of the money.

Florence



Joined: 15 Mar 2025
Posts: 138

PostPosted: Wed Jun 04, 25 11:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thing is - people don't think like how we managed money back then. Different century, no war and the resulting poverty lived through by our parents.

dpack's description of troll towers is more familiar to more modern generations though possibly not quite as "interesting". More stories in the press about badly kept up social housing. Some of which are actually true rather than scabby tenants.

But I set this conversation off with the thoughts of what people expect nowadays of living standards. There seems to be no good reason to be self reliant and frugal for a lot of people what with credit cards and buy now, pay later options.

Reduce, reuse, recycle seems to belong to an older generation?

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 9247
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Wed Jun 04, 25 11:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Looking at our family histories it looks like Make Do and Mend has always been there.

I think more younger people are catching on to the three Rs....but sometimes they have to push against the previous generation rubbishing what they are trying to do

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