When the shoestring is a bit short

A series full of tips and old fashioned wisdom (with an up-to-date twist) to help with the constant battle of financial survival.

If you didn't win Lotto this week, here is the column for you. ALTHEA FROM MIDDELMOST(of "Letters from Middelmost" fame) with ideas and hints to help you stretch that stretched budget even further. Enjoy.

The milk of human kindness

A secure and safe food source is vital for me.

I didn't see you there...

Image is all-important. It's an item that doesn't cost much.

Caring and sharing

A friend called in with the most enormous pumpkin I had ever seen.

Like money in the bank...

Hay in the shed is like money in the bank and my little hay shed was full.

If the cap fits....

I did worry the other day when we had the first real cold snap since summer finished.

You scratch my back....

I saw an advert in a weekly rural paper which reminded me of a discovery I made a while back.

Small but powerful

It is so tough when you struggle each day to keep your self-esteem intact because one eye is continually on the bank balance and the other is always on the ever-diminishing budget forecast.

All that I wish for...

I love shopping and, for those fans of "Letters from Middelmost"

Small steps to save cash

Save the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.

Getting to the bottom of things

I'm a bit of a label reader. Firstly it saves me money because, if there is a word I can't read or can't pronounce on the label, then the item gets put back onto the shelf.

Treat with care!

I get quite cross when I am at the checkout and I find my hard-worked-for goods are treated with disrespect.

Creature comforts

Last winter I had stopped at a Service Station to fill up.

Growing it easy...

When I garden, I don't waste my time.

Cabbage a la Middelmost

One of the key things at this time of the year is to not waste all of the hard work you have put into your vegetable garden.

Taking time

Time ... how do you make time? Time is my New Year's Resolution. "Take time out to smell the roses" ... easier said than done. But done it's going to be and I started by recognising what I already do.

A timely reminder

Talking about my mother's last article reminded me of something she always did at this time of the year.

The best makeup

I was in at the Doctors flicking through the magazines as you do and I found myself reading an advertorial for a life-saving, youth-returning, new-to-the-market foundation type makeup.