OK So where do I start?

Primrose2004

I remember when I was 16 or so and wanted to shop for my own clothes without my mum that she gave me a monthly allowance. It was the child benefit money and if I remember correctly it was around £60 a month. Other than that I had to pay for my own things. I always had a part time job, from around age 14 I worked in some form or another so I think giving your daughters an allowance is a good idea.

It hasn't helped me learn though:o(see signature) although to be fair to myself I was always fine until I had 2 dc so I'm not going to be too down on myself:rotfl:

Good luck x

thrifty_fifty

Hi Jack

Although I can't say I'm an angel, I have to say the following advice has saved us no end, and meant that we are eating more healthily too.

1. Grab a cheap chest freezer (if you don't have one already, and one with good efficiency to keep the bills down)
2. If possible get yourself on an allotment waiting list, or find a scrap of space in your garden, pots or anything else that comes to hand, and grow your own food. It tastes better, you get the satisfaction of seeing real results, and goodbye to all those nasty chemicals.
3. Batch cook and freeze everything.
4. When shopping in the supermarket stock up on cupboard essentials-bags of mixed beans, things like that. These can be put to a wide variety of uses from soups to stews, and you'll find that you get more creative in the kitchen as a result.
5. If you have any countryside near you, go foraging. You can get all sorts of treats from mother nature-right now blackberries, rosehips, crab apples, and sometimes even regular apples (although check with the landowner first), it's free, it's out there and it tastes great.

Best wishes

Thrifty

Jack_Bannerman

Thank you for the replies....

Ah! That worked.

Sorry I've done 2 long replies and the software wouldn't let me post so I'll go again another night.

We do have and do many of the good things you've highlighted but probably not with the care and conviction needed. And I think we have been doing a lot of the bad things as well.

SCowley88

Suprised no one has suggested but what about scraping your daughters' clothing budget. I graduated last year and have been paying for all my own clothese since I was 14. The only exceptions were for a yearly pair of trainers, school uniforms and a coat. I could occasionally con my mother in to helping me buy something but we're talking once every few months and even then it'd only be about twenty quid. My parents rarely buy themselves new clothese and made it clear that they expected us to do the same or pay for it ourselves. I've had jobs since I was 14, baby sitting, paper rounds, life guarding and am much better at budgeting than my friends.