Dry Cleaning and Food shopping - my two big issues

TheCrimsonAvenger

Looking at my spending I spend £15ish a fortnight on dry cleaning (sometimes a suit but mostly 5 shirts a week) and I'd like to change this but, and I know this sounds silly, I don't know how to iron or what sort of iron to get etc. Does anyone know of a good website/book that can help? Have tried googling but can't find anything helpful.

Also I spend £25 a week in M&S on ready meals and £4.50 on sandwiches and stuff for lunch which I'm sure I can be saving on. Likewise I'm clueless about how to prepare food for myself and have a very small kitchen so any pointers to sites or books would be gratefully received!

ragz_2

I'd recommend any books or sites aimed at students for cooking advice, as they should have the info you require. As for irons, just get a cheap basic steam iron and an ironing board and give it a go. I'd never ironed until I left home as I grew up without electricity (in the 90s!) but it's not as hard as it looks and you don't need a book to teach you. (Maybe a how-to vid on youtube?)

immoral_angeluk

Google is your friend! I hate ironing but I would never pay for dry cleaning. It's a waste of money. You can pick up an iron for very little, just remember not to leave the iron still on the fabric for long otherwise it'll burn!

elfen

Try ironing sheets to start with, they're easy and it's ok if you burn one. Then move upto shirts....I hate ironing shirts, but I will do....it's the buttons that get me!

Dry cleaning is a con, especially now you can get dry cleaning sheet tings that are meant to do the same thing. And another way to reduce ironing is to hang shirts up whilst they're still a little damp (in a warm place...like the airing cupboard) and the creases should come out a little more easily.

moneysavingmonkey85

lots of recipes online - start with pasta things or sausage and mash, yummy! if you need some practise ironing, start with old t shirt before you do work shirts!

Tixy

I bet they'll be videos on how to iron on youtube. I do see that you could be daunted I think there is a specfic way to attack a shirt so that you don't crease the bits you have already ironed.
A cheap board and basic iron should suit you fine. http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-iron-a-shirt

As to food, well I'm sure you can make your own sandwiches as a starting point, with a bit of practice they'll probably taste better than the bought ones.

Then just try learning a couple of basic dishes to cook to start, you'll actually find really helpful people to advise on the oldstyle board and as someone already said a student cookbook would be a good idea.
What sort of food do you like? pasta dishes /spag bol/ chilli dishes I think are quite and fairly easy to start. Or perhaps look here tips and recipies http://www.studentcook.co.uk/

wit40iwtwan

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-iron-a-shirt

It is very theraputic and maybe you can put the £15 in a jar every time you get through 5 shirts! - that will soon be enough to buy more shirts - non iron ones at M&S are pretty good! hehehee

i1189

For sandwiches, I buy a tub of sandwich filling and a loaf of bread. Then all I need to do is spread the filling on the bread and wrap it all up.

Faye449

I bought some great non-iron M&S shirts on ebay for about 3 pounds each so no ironing for me! Might be worth a look :-)
get them out of the machine, dry them on their hangers and you'll be good to go.

x-cupcake-x

ehow is a good site
http://www.ehow.com/how_4916663_properly-iron-mens-shirts.html

Some good recipe books are Delia's Complete How to Cook: Both a Guide for Beginners and a Tried and Tested Recipe Collection for Life , Jamie's Ministry of Food: Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours and Cooking for Blokes by Duncan Anderson.

You could join your local library (if you're not a member already) and borrow them to see if they would be any good for you then write out your favourite recipes or see if you can get a cheap copy of them somewhere.

The Old Style board on here is a good place too

QueenBeruthiel

Marks and Spencers sell non-iron shirts. You could buy one for the same price as having a few items dry cleaned.