Getting to know you........

MUMOF4_2

hi,
Finallygot my registration sorted, so i can do some posting and replies!after spending a fortnight reading loads of posts!
I have 4 children, cat and a dog,we are all vegetarian, and on a very strict budget!

Zenjen_2

Hi there.
My name is Jen, I am coming up to 27 which is completely :eek: in my book.

I live with my OH, no kids, no pets. We have been together since our late teens, and celebrated our third wedding anniversary this April. He is a university tutor and doctoral student as well as a private tutor of A level and GCSE kids. I do not work because I am officially 'disabled' although i hate that word! I am waiting for the results of a benefits claim I should have made about five years ago but was too ill to even order the form let alone fill it out. Things are a lot better these days and I am living in hope that I will soon get the financial help I deserve.

Since we met as students, and with my illness as well we have always lived on an tiny income. We live in subsidised housing and our combined income is usually around £10,000 per annum, although in the old days of student loans somehow we lived on less than £5k including rent!

After nearly a decade on the poverty line, I fancy myself as quite an experienced money saver. Not only did we have a fab 60 person wedding with all the trimmings for just over £2500 but we have managed to put my OH through 4 years of postgraduate study without adding any debt to our undergraduate overdrafts. I am great in the kitchen on a small budget (at one point we were eating on £25 a fortnight) and I am just so used to money being tight that I don't even consider shopping anywhere other than charity shops for clothes or household stuff. Fortunately here in York we have loads of ace charity shops so it's never that much of a struggle. To save money, I've stopped smoking (4 years this summer-:j ) cut down on alcohol and we're working on our own hair dressing techniques and nowadays all our gifts are handmade.

So thats the good stuff,

However,

I am a CRAP housewife in terms of tidying and cleaning, all that stuff. It gets put off and put off and it takes a day to clean a months mess. I do feel sorry for my OH as it is my responsibility to do this and I really need some help. The flylady thread looks like it could be a lot of assistance as well as some other related threads

I also would really like to get better at making things from scratch. I'm pretty hot at certain kitchen goodies, e.g. fudge, chocolates, coconut ice, but I would love to make things like homemade oils, chutneys and preserves, and also home brewed alcoholic drinks.

Basically I would love to be a bit better organised. I am achieving a lot but it seems to be by the skin of me teeth. I would love to have sandwiches in the fridge the night before rather than waking up at seven and nearly chopping my finger off through my blurry sleepy vision. I would love to notice when things in the fridge were getting past their best and any tips i can pick up regarding money-saving will be greatly treasured. I hope I can contribute, but I'm only young :rotfl: and would be interested to learn from people with loads more experience and skills than me.

Most importantly about me is that for me frugality is a lifestyle choice rather than a case of making do. My OH and I could be rolling in money as he was offered a fast track graduate job where by now he'd be on 40k +. However we made the decision to make do on less and spend as much time as possible pursuing the things that mean most to us: love, learning and laughter.

I look forward to getting to know you all over time,

Jen

karenlaura

Hi I am a newbie. Have watched for ages and now plucked up the courage to sign up properly.:T
I am 47 got remarried recently (second time round for us both) am blissfully happy but like so many finding it hard to manage with all these price rises etc. I have learnt so much already just by reading some of the tips on this site.
I just love it and am addicted it is taking over my lunch breaks and tea breaks at work
Two teenage boys at home who eat me out of house and home and a DH who does the same
Hoping to make lots of friends on here
Karen
xxxxx

victoriaplum1

I am a stay at home mum for a 3 year old son and foster carer for a 16 year old boy, just given up my job as a p/t library supervisor as couldnt be doing with the stress, want a more simple life, really need to save money as oh thinking of jacking in job and taking an appreticeship to learn a trade so money will be tight esp as we are trying for another baby this year. L ove bootsales buying and selling and ebay, enter lots of comps, do interior design course at college.

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart

I'm a stay at home mum to my one year-old daughter. I write in my spare time and I do a lot of cooking and baking. My husband currently runs a pub but he's in the process of applying to become an army officer. Looking forward to the change!

maryjanethespider

Im lauren, not mary as my name suggest's.....mary's the pet spider.

I have 2 kids, one is 2 and the other is 7, both stubbornly fussy eaters both costing a fortune.

No one in the house will eat anything 'a bit funny looking' anything that doesn't look like its come from mcdonald and nothing a bit 'gooey'.

So i am going to try and re-create (as well as the bagels and brioches)

Birds eye chicken, pea and sweetcorn shapes - I figured if i whizz up a cooked chicken breast, add some grated carrot, corn and beans from the garden, shape them (i cant DO raw chicken, i'd kill us all in seconds), toss them in breadcrubs and grill them for 5 or o mins they wont notice the difference too much....

If i try and do at least one a week to begin with then gradually build up so by christmas i will be home cooking permenantly 7 days a week, ideally if i get the eldest involved she may eat more, she currently lives on sandwiches, yoghurts and happy meals.

We do eat pasta dishes but they never go down well.

Any quick idea's for fussy kids?

Penelope_Penguin

Hello and welcome :beer: I'll move your post to the Getting to Know You thread, where we all introduce ourselves.

Take a look at this thread - fussy eaters on the cheap.

Penny. x

LameWolf

Hello

I'm new to the site, having been introduced to it recently by a friend.

I'm disabled, and had to retire from work when I was 41, and spend my time these days trying to look after the house (with my wonderful husband's help). As I'm better than he is with money, the household finances are my responsibility, and I'm always interested to find tips to make things go further, or find inexpensive alternatives to make life easier.

I do a lot of home cooking, and often adapt recipes to suit our lifestyle (I'm a vegetarian).

There's only the two of us in the household, although we do have a friend's dog to stay with us from time to time.

I look forward to reading posts on the forum, and hope to be able to contribute something useful myself.

thumperandbambi

I'm Katie age 24 and a full time stay at home mum to two (2 year old girl and 6mth old boy) and a part time childminder (although am still on Maternity leave until Sept....)

I am going to be dropping alot of money in Sept as my Maternity allowance is about £350 less than what I will be getting to start with for childminding :O

MissKay

Hi. I'm new too. :wave:

I'm 30 and a part-time teacher with two little ones at home. O/H is a teacher too and going part-time in Sept so we don't have to pay for a nursery. Very excited about our new lifestyle but also very worried about the drop in income!