Snowdrop souffle
It might be nearly spring but there's a chill wind blowing. This metaphorical meteorological phenomena means virtual belts are being tightened all over.The other day, Super Sister asked innocently on Facebook what she could do to save a few quid and avoid the necessity of eating the dog or selling a child now that she's got a spare.
The answers deserved more than slipping down her timeline along with the news that Little G had been asking Mummy A exactly what a sanitary towel was for.
So things kicked off with supermarket "down-branding". You know. Ocado for Sainsbury, Tesco for Aldi and so on.
Meal planning and shopping on-line (while strictly sticking to your list rather than glugging Merlot and clicking away randomly). No, Panther of News, that's not what happens most of the time.
Vouchercodes.co.uk to get things cheaper and Quidco.co.uk to get money back on what you do have to buy. Utility supplier reviews went without saying.
Sell what you don't need - books on Amazon, junk at the car boot sale (thanks to, Donnie from Barnton Fine Foods) or Ebay if it's raining and you can't be arsed.
So far so, well, ordinary and sensible, but then it got interesting.
There was a suggestion that hard-line money saving would include feeding the children cat food and nettle soup. Um, not if your kids are as picky as mine.
Sticking with soup though. Tripe soup is apparently delicious (but only if you get the right kind of tripe).
"Go veggie," said Sophie. "At least five days a week. Making your own bread helps - not because it is that much cheaper, but it is so good that you eat it instead of expensive stuff."
She also suggested brewing your own using wine and beer kits (I know you don't brew wine, but it's late and I can't think what you do do to make it). Bitter works out at 80p a pint and wine £1.40 a bottle.
How about foraging for food? One of my sister's chums had done a course at Eat Weeds. Just head out with some scissors and a bag for life... come home with dinner.
Finally, disconnect your telly and only watch things on the i-Player for which, we were told, you don't need a license...
Superscrimpers eat your hearts out.
