I’m going to improve my writing so I don’t have to type it out but for now I will, or maybe I WILL type it out too. Regardless, I will share some of my diary entries throughout the coming year as I attempt once again, to live on wartime rations for a full year.
The reasoning for this is mostly twofold
- Eat simply, become healthier, reduce obesity
- Make Do & Mend: A bare bones year for spending, keep a daily spending log to offset the current high cost of living
My year of rationing and spending less begins on Monday January 9th
Good luck to everyone making similar changes. C xxx
January 1st, 2023.
Poised with a 5 pack of 3XL M&S knickers and a 44GG “boulder holder”, I made a promise to myself that 2023 would be the year that I spend little and eat little (or at least not as much as I have been doing for the last 30 years of my life).
My foray into a 1940’s life of ration book recipes and making do and mending starts on January 9th, a day after my birthday and a day after rationing started in the UK in 1940.
By the way it cost me £25 for the big knickers and bra but they were a very necessary spend prior to D-Day on January 9th. Literally all my bras are broken or ill fitting, and the less spoken about that state of my current knickers collection, the better!
C xxxx
“Boulder holders”…
That gave me the laugh of the day!!
LOL! 😄
Hahaha! I don’t know why that expression popped into my mind but it seemed apt.. c xx
I call them a upperdecker flopperstopper!
hahahah that is funny! I have never heard that before!! haha xxx
This made me laugh out loud! We called them “over the shoulder boulder holders” when I was a kid in the 60’s and 70’s in California. I always enjoy your posts — thanks! Happy New Year!
Hahaha! Love it! Happy New year too! C xxxx
Handwritten posts have so much character. And your sketches are so lively. Thank you!
Thanks although I wasn’t sure my scribbles could be read, my handwriting is terrible right now because I only ever type!!! xxxx
£25 for the knickers and bra sounds pretty good value to me, it’s easy to spend more than that on a bra!
So far my frugal year isn’t going too well, I am looking at having to spend £23 plus p &p on shampoo! Ultraswim shampoo no longer seems to be available in the UK and I need something to remove the chlorine. The shampoo will cost more than the swimming membership, how’s that for ridiculous?
Yep I found a good fitting bra in an M&S own brand that fits pretty comfortably and offers enough support for a decent price and the knickers are just bog standard but have no holes, not like ALL the ones in my drawer at the moment! Crikey, yes that is expensive for shampoo but as you say it is a speciality shampoo that removes damaging chemicals from your hair so an investment in maintaining your locks and feeling good xxxxx hugs
In the distant 1960s women used rubber swimming caps to cover their hair. I assumed it helped. Don’t remember any special shampoos.
I love your honesty & you have inspired me to be more candid with my entries rather than methodical, I thank you for that…..I daren’t even go to M&S yet to get measured🥴 (I’m in the H category😳) but will soon have to pick up the courage to do so & yes undergarments are a necessary evil we have to purchase outside our clothing ration!…keep up the old work! x
Hi, I literally went into M&S on a whim last year and grabbed a few bras in different sizes (to try on in the dressing rooms) in the price range I could afford and there was only one that fit well and felt comfortable so I bought exactly the same one again – this is it and it goes up to a H https://www.marksandspencer.com/total-support-striped-non-wired-full-cup-bra-b-g/p/clp22198584 and it was £18 Thanks C xxxxxx
Happy Birthday Beautiful!
Had to smile about your comment about the now-replaced undergarments. I call those my “hope I don’t get hit by a bus and have to go to the hospital” underwear.
Thank you for the inspiration and the humor. The world needs all it can get right now. Thanks again.
Hoping this isn’t too much information, but I too am inspired by ill-fitting bras and panties!
That reminded me of being a kid and referring to them as “Over the Shoulder boulder holders”
I take in the side seams of undies as I lose weight. Also hand wash then and bras so they last longer. In USA there is a company ran by women that uses thicker material so the panties last much longer than the other thin ones they sell elsewhere.