Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#1
MP Laura Sandys says in Telegraph:
"Rediscover 'make-do and mend' attitude.. to weather economic challenges."
Writing as a blogger for The Telegraph, Laura Sandys, MP for South Thanet, argued that "living standards aren't just about how much money comes into our homes or the economic policies pursued by the Government. Rather, living standards are shaped by how smart we are at managing our lives."
The full article can be read online:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/laurasandys/100141691/in-these-tough-times-young-people-need-to-learn-to-cook-from-left-overs-and-change-a-plug/
Laura said:
"Today's 'throw-away' culture means many of us have lost the skills to make things last. In our kitchens, few under 30s know how to make a stew or use left-over for a soup. Many people would rather buy new than change a plug, fix a jumper or repair their shoes. By returning to the sort of "make do and mend" attitude that was so favoured by previous generations, we can be smart about maintaining our living standards despite the squeeze."
Laura's comments follow an Opposition Day debate in Parliament on Living Standards on Monday 5th March.
-ENDS-
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#2
That one above will remind many of us of the old days...the days when your mother used to darn your socks! Does anyone darn socks anymore? It was always the heels that went first and off mother dear would go.. nasty looking weapon at the ready in the shape of a long and lethal needle, and do the necessary mending to whatever needed it.
It used to be the same with food and so on... all ended up in soup eventually !!
Bet you didnt think those days would return. Well now you have it...the busy busy MP above knows how to do it. But do people generally know how to do this kind of thing any more. I couldnt darn a sock if my life depended on it...and surely soup comes from a tin marked Heinz !!
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
#3
Oh how times change..and quicker than you might think.
Only a month or so ago there was much whipping-in of those who advocated clearing debt and not spending. It was not the debt clearing advice that was the problem then, but the not spending bit.
maybe with Christmas so firmly in the past that retail woes are now too out of mind.
Where would the pensioners of today be if they had not been doing as they were told and knitting hats and other warm woollens...by first picking the stitches from a blanket?
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 641- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,335
#4
Ah, memories! I remember Mrs Hodgson downstairs darning socks with her darning mushroom, and boiling a calves foot as the basic ingredient for a stock/soup Mmmmm
Heinz? PaulB, wasn't he the Bass Gutarist for the Tornados with their classic 60's hit 'Telstar'
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
#5
I still MAKE-DO and MEND !! You can't stop a long time habit!
But I don't turn Bob's collars now.
I can still darn socks with a darning mushroom !
And I make soup, very tasty too, from left over vegetables, casseroles etc.
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Guest 736- Registered: 5 Jan 2012
- Posts: 118
#6
Yep !! Same as !! I make bread pudding by saving the crusts and just keep them in the fridge or freeze them down. The green waste food bin only goes at every other week as there is only ever one or maybe two bags in it. The one thing that I would say is probably cheaper to buy new rather than get fixed is shoes. Sometimes maybe but the price of shoe repairs in general is more expensive than buying a cheap new pair. As a rule I must admit that I would rather try and get something fixed (price pending!!) than just throw it away.
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
#7
Well thank god for this patronising advice. Where would we be without this help?
I can darn socks, my nan showed me, although I will say that I have not bothered for a long while. I would also agree with Mark about the cost of repairing shoes. Funny how capitalism can drive prices down and make certain service industries obsolete.
'Throwing things away rather than change a plug' - what planet does she live on? I don't know anyone that would do this!!! although I am confused as to why she has not encouraged this behavior, as 'making do' is hardly going to save the economy...unless of course this only applies to those that are really being penalised by reforms?!
Soup, stew, offal. Yes we know, yawn!
Yes we can be all be smart about maintaining our lifestyles, starting with maintaining our sanity by ignoring this condescending bunkum.
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
#8
Cobbles!
I've just purchased 13 pairs of new socks in Morrisons for under £7 in all. They are on special offer to get rid of the items.
Can't repair my shoes as they wear out from underneath, so purchased a pair of new ones yesterday.
Any scraps from the kitchen go straight in the little bio-waste bin supplied by the Council.
And IF I have to revert to drinking ersatz-coffee made from acorns, I've inserted a mechanism by way of which the lords in high will also be drinking ersatz-coffee for the same reasons.
#9
Condescending? Perhaps in intent, but honestly, it is true we have drifted into a horrible consumer driven market (or been driven into it by those who profit from it). Mark - I would have thought you would have applauded measures that keep the folding green stuff out of bankers wallets! Seriously - if we do make do and mend, as we can and should, it benefits the make-do-and-menders, not the Tescos and Bankers. And we regain some of the skills we have lost.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#10
well meaning but as darren says a touch patronising, i cannot imagine someone lobbing their cinema screen sized television on the tip for the want of a new plug.
most things today are disposable because it is cheaper to buy new than repair.
shoes are a classic case.
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
#11
Ahhhhh, we recently took a very good quality pair of ladies high leather boots into Timpson's and they pronounced them beyond repair and 'only fit for the tip'. Nonsense, said I, those will cost £100-plus to replace. We went to an old fashioned shoe shop in Sandwich and they are now as good as new for £26, complete new soles and heels.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
#12
I agree with Peter, old fashioned shoe repairers are good and will do all sorts of leather repairs.
If you buy a good (and probably expensive) pair of shoes, they will last, and be well worth mending.
We always go to the Sandwich shoe shop, Brewers, at 14 King Street, very helpful and obliging and reasonable. And they sell a good variety of footwear also.
And, as Bern says, we do not lose the skills our families have always had in the past.
When my son was little, a neighbour had a similar age toddler.
One day she offered me some hand made cardigans in good condition - I said you can still use these they are a good size, to which she replied, they have all lost a button and I can't sew buttons on !!
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
#13
You can't help some people Kath, can you ?
Roger
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
#14
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
#15
Yes it was Brewers, well worth a visit. When was the last time you walked into a shoe shop and got hit by that lovely smell of leather?
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Guest 660- Registered: 14 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,205
#16
Peter I did the same bought some lovely shoes with heels( makes me look bigger) from Matlock cost me £20 Leather soles.Got a friend of mine who works at Timpson's to do them £25, brilliant.I remember Mike Brewer when I lived in Sandwich where there used to be 2 shops like that!
If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble!
#17
I hate cheap shoes! It is worth the difference to spend out like that. I have a pair of good leather work shoes bought in Dublin, over a year old and no sign of too much wear, so comfortable, perfectly designed for smart/comfortable work wear. With a bit of repair here and there they will last years!
Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
#18
I watched SuperScrimpers on Channel 4 Monday night, It had great tips on 'Make do and Mend' and great ideas on using products for cleaning such as lemon juice, bicarbonate of soda and vinegar etc, instead of expensive cleaning products. It was for the most part aimed at the young, who seem to know practically nothing about making do. Sadly I remembered it all from my Mum, it sure made me feel ancient
#19
Indeed - even as reach for the bicarb I am thinking Granny!!
Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
#20
Indeed Bern, didn't like to admit to that one but you've done it for me
