Need some good ideas urgently!

Rachie_B

sorry to hear whats happened

re cleaning products - i used to be a sucker for all the different potions etc

now i only use

stardrops - for damp dusting and general cleaning of everything
soda crystals - for washing clothes,stain removal,for baked on food etc in oven ,pans
white vinegar - with water and essential oils in a spray bottle as a spray cleaner in bathroom & kitchen,add to washing machine instead of fabric conditioner
cheap bleach

also use cheaper washing powder now and use half and half with soda crystals

i save tonnes by not usiong branded specialist cleaning products !!


if you dont want to start using resuable night time nappies

then try tesco own (ive not tried the value) they worked just aswell as pampers IMO

Jay-Jay_4

Rachie_B wrote:

if you dont want to start using resuable night time nappies

then try tesco own (ive not tried the value) they worked just aswell as pampers IMO

They work 'better' than Pampers and Huggies. If they were the same price I would still choose Tesco. Asda and Morrisons are absolutely fine too.

jasmin10

The only input I can say is about the nappies. I use reuseable nappies all the time. My little girl is now 8 months old and can say that I have only bought 3 packs of the 36 packs of Asda own nappies in that time (I use them when I'm out to make life easier.

I suggest buying saying 3 nappies so that while one is worn you can wash the other and have a spare. I use totsbots and buy them from https://www.kittykins.co.uk (or is it .com) they are about £8 but you would soon recoup the cost. They also sell very well on Ebay for when you have finished with them. I have bought some myself of Ebay and got them for about £3 each and just given them a boil wash before I use them. You would need to buy a Fleece wrap so hold any wee in too but again they are cheap of Ebay. The other website where you can buy second hand ones is https://www.thenappylady.co.uk where they have a classified section.

I am now a stay at home mum but I wouldn't be able to afford to do this is I didn't watch the pennies and disposables are very expensive.

Hope this helps.

Sam

missk_ensington

Thanks so much to everyone. I'm going to get some soapnuts and look into reusable nappies at night. My son was 2 in January, and has been dry through the day since he was 18 months old, but nothing I do seems to make him dry at night! I';ve done the 'no drinks' and going on the toilet before bed, yet he seems to wake up wet! Still, I dont mind too much cos its only wee which isn't too offensive!

In meantime Il use half a dishwasher tablet (and whack the living daylights out of it with my rolling pin lol! Thanks Chickadee!)

Im going to spend all of tmw digging through my freezer and seeing how long I can last on what Ive got without buying any more food! I'm going to set a challenge of 2 weeks only buying bread, milk and a few perishables with a budget of £3 a week!

The lady who said sue my ex- I would but the first rule of litigation, is dont ever sue someone who has nothing! And we weren't married, I couldn't sue him if I wanted to, I'd have no grounds to do it.

I can't believe how many people have rallied in to help, I've explained my situation to work and theyre putting me on 16 hours a week not 14 so i can get working tax credits, worth about an extra £60 a week!

I'll try some stardrops, I saw the thread about them last week and wondered what they are. I like Zoflora which is cheap but the bottle is tiny and doesn't last me very long! How many ml do you get for 58p with Stardrops?

I'm going to complete my degree come hell or high water as my long term goal is to be a lecturer of English Literature. I will probably need to take a study break and work full time after my degree before doing my MA/pHD but I'll have my degree and no one can take it away!

I'll have a good rummage through the recipes-cant believe there isn't a Board just called 'Old Style recipes' and nothing else! (Or is there one and I just haven't noticed??)

Ive signed up to Huggies/Pampers online to get the free vouchers, and I always buy Tesco own brand nappies anyway.

Things have got so bad, I'm fished through my wardrobes for all the clothes Ive bought in the last 6 months and unpicked the seams to take them back for a refund! I know its a bit naughty, but I'm totally desperate paying back £82,000 mortgage and childcare.

I wouldnt mind so much, but I moved from Blackpool to Manchester becauase my ex-partner worked over here. I have no friends, no family I dont know one single person but it was ok cos there were two of us. Now Im stuck here in a town I hate with no one to help! I can't move back until I sell my house, but since Ive only just bought it this seems unlikely until early Autumn at best.

mamaoba

oh hun - hang in there and you WILL het thru it!

My ex left me high and dry at 7 months pg so I know how hard it is!

a few ideas I remember using that helped

- switch to cloth nappies - terry squares and motherease wraps are a good cheap combo. http://www.ukparents.co.uk has a good cloth forum and a second hand sale forum or you can make your own http://www.cookiepants.com/sew%20what.htm has great patterns - use old towels! Even if you only use them weekends and nights it'll save considerable cash!
- switch to reuseable sanitary products - i used to spend at least £10 a month on these and it all adds up
- hit tescos and asda for clothes for bubs in future + at this time of year stock up on winter clothes for tiny one at jumble sales/charity shops and off ebay - out of season clothes go for a song so buy a couple of sizes up and you'll get her winter coat etc for a song.

cleaning products
make your own laundry gloop and cleaning products recipes here
http://www.ukparents.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1482

or
just use stardrops for the house (inc loo)
and soap nuts for laundry
value washing up liquid
+ 30p asda denture tablets once a month for descaling the loo.

switch to value loo paper - it's recycled so you are helping the environment if you need an excuse

I'm now amazed at how much of my budget used to be wasted on cleaning products compared to what I spend now. My cleaning products budget is less than £3 a month.

Contact eaga to see if you qualify for any energy saving grants - even if all you get is some low energy light bulbs - it all adds up. check to see you are still getting the best deals on household utilies and be really strict about not leaving anything on standby. If you save a fiver a month this way at the moment that's a help.

apply to the csa in writing TODAY for maintenance - legally he has to pay and the sooner you chase the sooner you'll get help - don't be sentimental and put it off

Cheap sarnie fillings

Home made hummous - 1 can chick peas (25p) + 1 garlic clove + a splodge of oil + 2 tbs tahini & a squirt of lemon juice (the tahini is optional) blended with a £5 tesco blender will make enough hommous for severall days

variations include adding a grated carrot, more lemon and some coriander - experiment

butterbean pate - 1 can butterbeans + 1/2 an orange pepper and a splodge of oil - just blend into a paste

mackeral pate - tin of mackeral (or other cheap tinned meat) in oil, tablespoon horsradish, tablespoon marg, 2 slices stale bread crumbled into bread crumbs, vinegar and black pepper to taste. just mash in a bolw together. YUM! (and a good source of omega 3 for your child). the same mix with a coarser texture makes a lovely filling for a pie with leftover mash on top.


both of these contain protein but are much cheaper than meat


tesco value peanut butter is only 54p a jar - again it's protein

eggs - 15 value eggs are only £1.15 I know lots of people only approve of free range eggs but when you are up against it with a little one to feed eggs can make an amazing amount of differnt foods and is a very good source of protein

frittata omlette slices - thick omlette made with potato makes a filling lunch.

learn how to make pizza bases - cold home made pizza makes a nice lunch - use left over veggies & lidls 27p passata for the topping.

Cold pasta - lidls passata makes a nice sauce base and is dirt cheap.

I buy 1 piece of meat a week - a small chicken, a piece of beef, lamb neck and do a nice sunday dinner than use every scrap of the leftovers - eg roast chicken sunday, chicken pie monday, chicken pizza tuesday, chicken and pasta wednesady, chicken soup thursday etc. to avoid boredom I freeze stuff in cheap tupperware and pull it out when required so I l aways have some chicken stock etc in the freezer. Fish is laso cheaper than meat. Pulses are cheaper still. aim to eat meat just 2 or 3 times a week.

flog your old baby stuff bubs has grown out of - sell via ebid which is free or local nct sales or classifieds. A postcard on the wall at the baby clinic works well.

for fruit and veg - find out what day they reduce stuff (be cheeky and ask!)or check out your local market on a saturady just before closing. Use frozen veg as it keeps better so there's no waste.

lastly contact your local sally army - they gave me food parcels at one stage and were really helpful at helping me find my way thru the financial maze of benefits, mortgage co etc. Also see if your local sure start can give you any help.

You will come out the other side of this!

chaos5678

HI Sorry you're in a mess,
I use the AQUA BALLS in my washer, £15 for 2 and a refill for each is included, they last for hundreds of washes and no soap powder or fabric conditioner is needed at all, cloths come out really soft
For cleaning I use MICROFIBRE CLOTHS which cost less than £1 form most shops and no detergent of any sort is needed.
These two items have saved me a fortune

SOAPNUTS can be boiled to make a soap liquid which can be used in baths or for hairwashing, they will send you a free sample which will keep you going for ages.

missk_ensington

Thanks mamaoba, I'll try these things! Dying to get my hands on soapnuts, they sound great and I've going to make my own washing powder with washing soda, powder, and cheap powder! According to the thread link on page 1 it works out at less than 4p a wash!

With regard to the CSA I already get it. My partner isn't my sons biological father, his biological father left me when I refused an abortion. I met the partner in question here when Oli was 3 months old, I was on my own and dating him until baby was 18 months oldf and moved in with him last year (which has lasted all of 8 months!!) Good job my ex isn't sons father, he's a tiler and gets a lot of cash. He'd be pleading poverty and getting cash in hand and id never see a penny of it!

My lad Oli is pretty good and eats whatever I eat, Ive always cooked home made, just not on a budget! Normally Id buy lean mince, loads of fruit and veg, a nice piece of lamb/beef 2/3 nights a week, a couple of pieces of salmon for £3... but now its like pasta pasta potatoes pasta...

Anyone know how to make soup without a blender?? I love soup especially chicken and vegetable.

And how long can you ahve meat in the freezer? I was rummaging earlier and found braising steak and chicken fillets dated September 05, what dya think? Theres about £10's worth of food and I reallly don't want to throw it in the bin!!

missk_ensington

PS. This is a long shot but anyone any idea's how I can get out of a gym membership? I took it on in December and its 19.95 a month, and I never use it. I'm suposed to have it 12 months but if I cancelled the Direct Debit and said I had no money, what could they do about it??

SnowyOwl_2

Hi there

There are loads and loads of recipes on here! Scroll upwards until you find the blue bar near the top - it kind of resembles this (sorry, am carp at copy and paste obviously!):


For more MoneySaving see the Shopping Zone which includes
Best Buy Articles: Internet Shopping | Budget Planner | Consumer Rights Shopping Comparison Sites: Kelkoo* | Pricerunner* | Dealtime* Other: Money Diet Old Style Chat Forum: Indexed Collections | Monthly Challenges
[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/FIONNU%7E1.FLU/LOCALS%7E1/TEMP/moz-screenshot-3.jpg[/IMG]

Click on Indexed Collections - they'll be at your fingertips then. There is lots of stuff other than recipes, even down to planning for Christmas, making your own greetings cards and so on and so forth. There isn't much Old Style hasn't thought of!

SnowyOwl_2

Regards your gym, I think I'd be honest and tell them how it is and at least give them the chance to end the contract amicably. Just stopping your direct debit would inevitably end up on your credit record which could have longer term repercussions. Also not speaking to them before hand might end up with them setting their Rottweiler Corportate Lawyers onto you. Sorry if I am putting the wind up you...that's a worst case scenario but it's not impossible. You could give them the full bullsh*t and say that as soon as you are in work again you'll be rejoining because it's so fantastic...blah blah blah...and have bubs with you, preferably exercising her lungs...