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A local shop is selling Pasta Making machines.... how much can you save by making your own?????

Ofcom fines up at record levels.

I was looking for a motorbike and the owner of the shop tells me that sales of 125 bikes and mopeds are booming. He can hardly keep up with demand. More and more customers are telling him that they are getting rid of their "other car"

I've seen a number of trends rise through observing my own behaviour, my family, friends, colleagues, and of course reading news. Such as...

#Growing your own vegetables.
#Keeping livestock, mainly chickens.
#Shopping at markets/stalls for other sundries and clothes.
#Taking lunch to work.
#Repairing personal items rahter than replacing.
#Performing your own car maintenance.
#Doing your own work on or around the house.
#Using Aucitions more be it local or electronic.
#Using alternative transport such as mopeds, bicycles or just walking.
#Moving onto Pay as Go contracts for various services.
#Changing Direct Debits to Standing Orders.
#Moonlighting or just changing jobs for greater pay.



The list is almost endless, and just about most of those I've done myself.

To C1_Backload - i don't think you save any money making your own pasta. it's very labour intensive when done on a small scale .....

... but the taste is incredible - especially when you don't skimp on the egg yolks ;)

On Aston Villa's VitalFootball forums the credit crunch is being blamed for Villa being useless at football!

Almost related;

Purveyors of seed must be rubbing their hands with glee.
www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/apr/22/foodanddrink.food

More people going to the gym.....?

My gym has been packed in recent weeks. I know that I am going more because:

- I am committed to spending that money every month anyway, so I might as well use it

and

- Its cheaper (for the above reason) than going to the cinema to kill an evening or two during the week.

I can back up the daily mirror's comments re the beer. I work in the alcohol industry and it's appalling - 4 pubs a day are closing on average according to trade journals whilst our own company is experiencing drops even more than those citied by the Mirror.

It's not just the credit crunch though, the smoking ban, housing market, consumer spending and increases in beer prices (tax and also raw material price increase) have all combined to hit us hard.

Aldi's exploding across the world - - 172 in Australia opened in the past 10 years with a further 28 in the next 6 months is just one example - the Washington Post had an article about their prices in last Thursday's newspaper.

Are you sure you actually mean 'tupperware' ?

This is surely only sold by agents, and not by Sainsburys ??

Spurious price rises blamed on the credit crunch are on the up.

Coupons are back in fashion. I was at first surprised to have people peering over my shoulder at the supermarket and at sporting goods stores. Now I ask if they want this or that one because I am not going to use it, and they are over the moon.

More people are working from home one day a week. Saves on gas and we are able to be there for house related repairs.

There are more bicycles on the road and more bicycle lanes are appearing in the city.

People are buying more kitchen/cooking items such as cake tins, mixing bowls, chopping boards, yoghurt makers, decent set of saucepans etc

I have never seen shops such as Lakeland and kitchenshops being so popular.

I have been to Wilkinsons and seen gaps in the cooking aisle.

Ten years ago, people chucked out kitchen equipment such as food processors, slow cookers, yoghurt makers etc

Two signs of the times in Gainesville, Florida:
The local allotments are all taken and the city council is trying to find more land to use; and several restaurants have closed, citing rising food prices and fewer clients.

Starbucks in Australia are closing three quarters of their branches - people no longer want to spend too much on a pint of hot milk with flavouring

Save money the easy way:

Grow your own spaghetti - look - the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ tells you how ...

Indeed grow our own...

But what about brown cows producing chocolate milk, and the egg touted as having crossed the road in company with a chicken would be which hue?

Definately many more cars parked at the side of the road with 'For Sale' posted on them.
Not many seem to be selling. Also, plenty of them seem to be 4x4's

Jeremy Clarkon's review in the Sunday Times referred to the (non-festival related) rise in sales of tents and camping gear and decline in foreign holidays this summer.



Although I suppose this was tempered by the fact that the review was for a 4x4!

Definatley noticed more people making their own lunch for work (myself included), which I have noticed saves a fortune!! Stupid to have not done it before.

More people are riding their bikes for short journies to save on petrol costs.

People want to clean the car themselves, rather than pay some one or something to do it for them.

People buying 'value' products also.

I have even seen newspapers reusing the same stories day in day out.

And its funny how more pop bands are now producing cover versions to save on ink and paper

An odd thing I've found out - a certain 4 fingered popular snack which is named build it yourself feline is now more expensive than the larger, chunkier 1 finger variety.

There are 91% more cyclists in London now than in 2000

The government has also been doing its bit - good re-announcing of spending commitments and success stories; organic burial of bad news; not to mention doing away with all that paper-based democracy nonsense!

That is not good, when tupperware sales are up and take-outs are down...

Lakeland are selling Soda Streams, a blast from the past!

From ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News/Wales

Abandoned pets charity blames credit crunch

The credit crunch is resulting in hundreds of pets being made homeless, claims an animal charity.

Powys Animal Welfare Trust said the number of abandoned cats and dogs in its care had doubled to over 400 since 2006 and it was struggling to cope.

Hair loss, apparently....

As an animal lover, I really pity the increasing amount of homeless animals.

lover.