Need some good ideas urgently!

Debt_Free_Chick

missk_ensington wrote:

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

Simmer the veg in the stock until soft and then mash it all with a potato masher. Hard work, but cheaper than the gym

Put cooked chicken in, return to a very gentle heat and let the chicken heat through - thoroughly!

Anne_Marie_2

First of all, a big hug.

Regarding making soup, you don't need a blender at all - only if you like smooth soup. Otherwise grate or chop up veggies into small pieces.

Not sure how long you can keep meat in the freezer, but think you should be okay with what you have.

Loads of good suggestions already for you, so not sure what I can add to help out further.

One thing is soya mince (also called tvp - textured vegetable protein), which you can buy in health food stores, also those stores that let you help yourself from big containers. It looks like a pale version of coffee granules.
It tastes nothing like mince, but can be used for spag bol/chilli/lasagne and loads more. Good thing about it is very cheap, and is full of protein, and when made up with tin of tomatoes, some veg and some herbs, is a very tasty meal - just don't expect it to taste like minced beef. It also goes a long way - 1 oz is roughly equivalent to 4oz when hydrated.
You could also use this to make meat mince go a bit further, or another one for stretching out mince is porridge oats - just buy a bag of cheap stuff at one of the grain stores or supermarket, don't go for the branded options.
Am not in a position to say how much you should add to minced beef, as am a vegetarian, perhaps others could advise.

Going a wee bit vegetarian sometimes might be cheaper too, not that I am trying to get you into that at all - got a "won't eat any veg man"!
Just if you can pick up some really cheap veg, say mushrooms - great with pasta in a white or cream sauce.

As for nappies, as you are using only night nappies, possibly washable terry type might be cheaper - and you won't need a whole load. However, you will have to add the cost of plastic pants and safety pins - suspect that it will be cheaper than disposables. (Am well out of that stage now, but had daughter in disposables during day, and terries at night). I just rinsed nappies out, then washed. Sometimes had to soak in a bucket when stained.

Cleaning house - cut out all the normal cleaning stuff. Have a rake about this board for suggestions. Vinegar and bi-carb of soda are very good for loads, but am sure others will post their favourites.
I normally use white vinegar for cleaning, but ran out, so had to use brown malt on windows - worked just as fine. Just not willing to try brown malt as a fabric conditioner in a white wash yet!!

Rachie_B

stardrops is a huge 600ml compared to 120ml of zoflora !!!

re having no friends / family around go to https://www.netmums.com ,sign up to your local site and go on the MEET A MUM page and either reply to someone elses message or post on e of your own:)

also if you go on the COFFEEHOUSE there is a chat forum

ive met 6 fab mums so far from this site,we meet up regularly and its great to have someone close by with kids !there really is no reason you and your son should be lonely

you will find there are many others in the same position as you

re food / meals etc dont watse anything ! make it into another meal or freeze leftovers etc ,any veg starting to go off a bit chuck into a soup or blanche and freeze

if you dont have a slowcooker get one ! lol they are fab and you can make really cheap cuts of meat tatse to good and really tender the £10 one in argos is good or for even cheaper is to ask / look on freecycle or carboot sales etc

i have the £5 stick blender also which is fab for making pasta sauces / soups / sauces if they go lumpy lmao etc etc

basically just try and make as much from scratch as you can ,its generally much much cheaper and of course healthier

i wish you loads of luck miss k

Mrs-Clements-to-be

I also wanted to add my support and say how sorry I am to hear of your troubles.

Can I just say as an adopted Mancunian that it is a great city to live in once you get used to it. Anywhere seems daunting and unfriendly if you don't feel that you know anyone, but give it time and most places grow on you.

Another good thing about Manchester is that because a lot of people who live here are on low incomes there are a lot of good value places to shop. I don't know where you're based exactly but there are a lot of LIDLs and ALDIs over the city which are great places to shop for quality foods at low prices.

There are also quite a few stores called Home Bargains or Quality Save and Wilkinsons which are good for toiletries, household stuff etc. The brands change a lot but I like that cos when I go in I get to try something new, and I'm not brand loyal anyway! I especially like the shopping area on Regents Road in Salford, as it's got a home bargains, TX MAxx and Dunnes Stores all in one bit!

And a final big up for Manchester is that there is a lot of free cultural stuff for you to do with the little one, like visiting the Urbis centre or the art gallery on Moseley Street which has a lot of child friendly exhibits. Then there's the museum of science and industry which is also free in.

Please don't begrudge the time you have left here, as with the right mindset (if you can find it!) you could end up enjoying it here. (And there are lots of friendly people like me!)

Good luck!!

missk_ensington

Thank you so much for all your support, peoplpe have PM'd me offering help who Ive never even met when my own family couldn't care less (my mum's response 'I told you not to move away with him, you've made your bed lie in it) and my 'friends' (who always say 'Oooh we'll be here if ever you need us') have declined to help me move into my new house and help strip the walls because 'they have parties to go to every weekend for the next 8 weeks and just can't spare the time'.

The only person who's really helped is my son's granny (on dad's side) which is really kind considering me and her son don't speak and he doesn't have anything to do with his child! I'm going to ask her today if she wants to buy 10% of my house as an investment, it'll cost her £9,250 (purchase price) and she'll get back 10% of what I sell for (hoping for £110,000-120,000 which is quite feasible as the house is a wreck and the rest of the street are going for about £135,000 for same bedrooms) so we'll all be happy because she'll essentially be getting 20% interest on her investment and I can just about afford to live and still make a bit of money to use as a deposit on another house when I move back to my home town. I'll still be skint but at least I'll be able to do the house up with her money to enable me to sell, at the mo every penny is going towards living. Its lucky its summer because there's no heating, no carpets, nothing! I don't mean its a wreck with dodgy wallpaper, it literally has no kicthen, carpets, no heating, its as bad as a house can be!

I can just about see a light at the end of the tunnel, if I can use your advice to live on the £50 a month I have (after paying everything) and renovate house asap to sell, then I might just cope. It'll be hard having no support nearby and working and doing uni, plus I have my uni exams in June, but I'll be stronger for it and when I have a good degree and job, and my own house at 22-23, I'll owe it no one because I'll have done it myself. Okay I wont see the inside of a pub, probably until my 21st in October, but it'll be worth it just showing everyone that Ive done it, and not crumbled (which they're all expecting me to do- my ex texted me today saying he bets the house will be repossessed in 6 months cos I wont cope without him!)

Again, thank you all so much you're all really kind people and I wish I knew peoplen like that in 'the real world'.

Going to use all your advice, in fact on my way to Sainsburys later for some startdrops, Ive got my SAE for some trial soapnuts, ive signed up to netmums and I'm making corned beef hash (as on page1) for dinner tonight!

Thanks, wouldn't know where to start without all this great advice!!

Trow

Wow, its great to hear the difference in your post, you sound SO much more positive now.You can do this, and it sounds like you are well and truly up for the challenge. Thats the thing woth OS - some people think it sounds deadly dull, but I love the challenge of making a little go a long way.Good luck to you - wish I could help but I am really too far away to be of any real assistance.

mamaoba

as a student there is an organisation that'll fit a new heating system for you for FREE hun - I'll look it up for you and post again when I've found it (i used tham and have the tel no somewhere "safe")

kitchens often come up on freecycle - so keep an eye out there.

ignore muppet ex - you WILL prove em all wrong - people underestimate the sheer will power of a Mum at times - it's wot got me thru the first year without the ex - and it'll get you thru too hun. When I look back at how deep in doo doo I was and far out I've come I'm amazed, though I'm not quite out of the woods yet I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

An alternative to taking a loan from granny is to extend your mortgage term - most banks will let single mums extend to 30 years interest only in circumstances like this. You don't have to keep it like that forever - just till you get get back on your feet.

missk_ensington

Thanks guys, Ive already extended to 30yrs, but to push it to 40 wouldn't save me more than £80 a month. The problem is doing the house up, I can't sell it in its current state, but don't have the money to do it up because everythings going on living. If I can find the money to do it up, I can then get rid of it, and buy something else more affordable. Unfortunately I can't overpay my mortgage with what I make on the house for 2 years, so I estimate (if Im lucky!) to make £10,000 after Ive repaid granny and from that I'll pay back back everyone Ive borrowed off, put a little for a deposit on a smaller house in my home town, and keep a couple of grand to pay the child care for 3-4 months. I wont be 'well-off' by any means, but at least I'll have a smal safety net so that I can sleep at night knowing I;ve got ebough money to cover the mortgage for 2-3 months if I lost my job or anything.

Thats what worries me most, my coping strategy is very idealistic and dependent on not losing my job, getting what I want for the house, being able to sell the house quickly (It could be on the market 6 months or more!) and nothing bad coming up in the meantime! Its a high risk because it'll only take one factor for it to crumble, and thats presuming granny even agrees to investing. She might not even have £9,250 to invest when I ask her!

Doe anyone know anything about these kitchens you see advertised 'No chipboard, quality kitchen for under £1500' that you see in magazines and on flyers through the door? I received one yesterday and wondered if it was a con.

Mamaoba- Id really appreciate a link for central heating, that'd help loads, even if they only contributed £200 or something!

Debt_Free_Chick

missk_ensington wrote:

Thanks guys, Ive already extended to 30yrs, but to push it to 40 wouldn't save me more than £80 a month. The problem is doing the house up, I can't sell it in its current state, but don't have the money to do it up because everythings going on living. If I can find the money to do it up, I can then get rid of it, and buy something else more affordable.

Radical suggestion, but here goes ....

Even in its current state, could you still get an attractive price which would enable you to downsize?

Properties sold as "restoration/development" projects can attract the right buyer!

:j

Callanish

Hi Miss K

Have you thought about speaking to the welfare officer at your university's student union? As well as giving advice, they can sometimes help you with additional sources of funding.

A mature student friend of mine was very ill and unable to work for several months, resulting in some serious debt problems. Anyway, the SU welfare people were brilliant and helped her successfully apply for a grant from the university's hardship fund (which we'd never even heard of).

The hardship fund is designed to help students in crisis, who might otherwise be unable to complete their studies - mature students and single parents are usually given priority. Now I don't know if all unis / colleges have this kind of thing, but it would be worth giving them a call, or checking on the SU website, to see if there's anything they can offer you?

Good luck!

Callie