Starting over ?? what would you have to have

stillbrok3n

Hi.
I am in a difficult situation right now and may soon be in the position to have to start a household from scratch with my 2 children (almost 5yrs and 2yrs).
I've posted here because I am more of an old style girl so it seemes to fit.
So if you were starting over with nothing what would you have to have - room specific
I'd need EVERYTHING.

honestly may be the scariest thing I've ever done but I need to be prepared : )

please help !!

maro11

Hi,
Sorry to hear that you are having difficulties. The most thing I would have to have is a big freezer.
You can batch cook, buy deals and YS items and stretch you money a bit
Good luck

smileyt_2

Ditto.

Also, lots of storage so you can have a store cupboard.
A food processor.
Baking trays/cake tins/muffin tins.
Food storers ie plastic boxes so you can freeze stuff.
A laundry rack (one of the ones you hang from the ceiling - they are unbelievably brilliant). Clothes horses and radiator hangers.
A slow cooker.
A sofa bed would be useful for visitors.
Lined curtains to keep the cold out in winter.

That's about all I can think of for now. I'm sure other more experienced old-stylers will chip in with good ideas.

Try to get stuff from freecycle if you can, it will cut your costs down.

Good luck.

ubamother

Do you know yet size of kitchen, number of rooms downstairs etc? Garden?

meritaten

the one item I would NOT want to be without with two young children is......the washing machine. after that its the gas cooker - but I can, and have, managed with the microwave.
after that its somewhere to sit, and sleep (mattresses on floor if necessary) bedding and pots and pans plates, mugs and cutlery.
freecycle may well help with some of these and charity shops or those freecycling places are great if you are on benefits.

ab7

stillbrok3n wrote: »

Hi.
I am in a difficult situation right now and may soon be in the position to have to start a household from scratch with my 2 children (almost 5yrs and 2yrs).
I've posted here because I am more of an old style girl so it seemes to fit.
So if you were starting over with nothing what would you have to have - room specific
I'd need EVERYTHING.

honestly may be the scariest thing I've ever done but I need to be prepared : )

please help !!

Having been there myself, the first thing you need to do is breath. Seriously. Dont expect to have the house kitted out overnight. Small steps first.

Perhaps it would help if you could tell us if you can afford to kit the house out or if this would be a slow build up? Would you be able to look for a partly furnished house?

This is a small example of how to tackle it.

Kitchen
This is really going to depend on how you cook. But even if you've been really OS with slow cooker bm etc before, your prorities may need to change unless you can afford everything. First thing is a kettle, then if possible a cooker. If you cant afford one yet, ask around on freecycle and friends/family, even if someone has a camping stove/microwave. Asda do a whole dinner set for £6 and cutlery sets are fairly cheap. Nip into a poundland and pick up a few sharp knives/fish slice or invest if you can afford it into decent ones. Same with pots. Search for Weezl's list on "Shirley's" necessities and see what you think from that.

HTH and if you need bedrooms/living room let us know

dronid

Do ask your local council if they have any kind of reuse scheme for furniture. In our borough we have stuff stored for people in need so it's worthwhile asking.

laurel7172

Decent knife, chopping board, big frying pan or wok with lid and one saucepan. Cups, plates, bowls, knives, forks, spoons (one for each person). Two tea towels.

Beds/mattresses/airbeds plus bedding. Towels. Clothes rail OR poundshop over-door hangers. Hangers. Clothes. Suitcases or cardboard boxes for clothes that don't fit on hangers. If you do need to use boxes as temporary storage, get the stacking fruit ones from a supermarket so it's still easy to access your stuff.

If your budget doesn't stretch to a table and chairs, or you can't organise them on day 1, then a tablecloth/picnic blanket. Make an adventure out of sitting on the floor until you're sorted. Maybe some cushions too..or your pillows.

And..stuff for the children. Whatever you can manage that's familiar to them.

Good luck x

laurel7172

Umm...without presuming anything about what your problem is, you may find people you know are willing to help you. A friend recently had to do something similar, but was borne away by a fleet of middle-aged women in their people carriers(!) and managed to salvage more-mostly her children's stuff-than she thought.

rachbc

I think if you list everything it will be overwhelming so just start with bare essentials - kettle, bedding for you and kids, something to cook on and eat off etc

Freecycle are brillaint and most big cities have charities that distribute or sell at low cost second hand furniture and appliances.

You can build a proper collection of stuff as you get settled - good luck and I'm am certain you will get tons of support on here

Broomstick

You need to be safe, fed, warm and dry, clean, able to have a good night's sleep and so on. This list is about absolute minimums in my book - you can build on this and get things sorted room by room once you have moved.

So... wherever you end up needs, in no particular order, to be:

1) OK safety-wise (door/window locks, safe floor-coverings on floors and stairs, smoke alarms, plug socket covers, stairgates if you use them, curtains at windows for privacy, a kitchen that is safe to prepare food in with small children around, a means to contact the outside world in an emergency ie phone or mobile etc).

2) Able to make meals which is not the same as cooking. If you have cheap, easy-to-get-to local shops, and given that it's the summer, you could get by with cold picnic food for much of the time. You can manage without a fridge if food can get eaten up quickly and if you can buy food at sensible prices in small quantities. Milk can be kept cold overnight wrapped in a wet cloth and standing in a bowl of water. Next step up would be a means to heat and cook meals. Hot water for drinks can be done in a pan. I've managed in the past with a single ring tabletop stove well out of the reach of small hands. You really don't need much cooking equipment and just enough crockery and cutlery for the three of you to eat off. You may need to adjust recipes to camping-type easy cookery if you are limited in this way, but that's OK. You can sort out a more sophisticated kitchen in stages. You'll need some simple containers to store dry food in away from insects as well.

3) Warm and dry: Warmth isn't a problem now but make sure that, by the time the cold weather sets in, you have the means to keep warm enough - make sure your central heating (if you have it) works properly sooner rather than later. If you have to get curtains for your new place get warm ones if you have a choice. My son is currently using cheap IKEA fleeces as curtains in his bedroom. Your landlord should be responsible for ensuring that the house/flat is dry!

4) Cleaning... You'll need the means to keep the place clean enough which may mean a vacuum cleaner if you have fitted carpets. You'll need things for washing up and somewhere away from the children to store any chemicals. If you have a child in washable nappies then it is difficult to manage without a washing machine, otherwise you can manage by hand washing everything (hard work but possible - been there, done it!) and doing the occasional trip to the laundrette for the most daunting stuff. Get a washing line and pegs if you have an outdoor area and drying racks for indoors for when the weather gets worse. You may also need access to an iron and board, especially if you are handwashing and wringing clothes out by hand, but you could maybe borrow these from a friend once a week.

5) Sleeping. Depending on what suits you, you will need matresses at a minimum and bedding to go on them. You can always add bed-bases later if you want them. I spent the first 6 months of my oldest son's life with both of us sleeping on an inflatable double mattress. I put an old duvet on it and just made the bed up on top of that like an ordinary bed. It was tremendously comfortable. I replaced it with a proper bed when I could afford one.

You don't need loads of furniture if you have young children - it's fun for them to have the space to run around. You can live out of packing boxes and suitcases, make temporary low shelves out of cardboard boxes for books and toys. If you need to hang up your own clothes rather than fold them, you can always make do with over-the-door hooks for a while. Treat the whole thing like an extended camping holiday but indoors!

B x