MF at last! Now for the £300,000 'Mansion' Fund.

gallygirl

Brodiebobs wrote: »

stickle bricks are good too, he'll like to chew on them and pull them apart, DS got some for his 1st birthday and still plays with them almost everyday, as does DD who's seven, bis had the wheels to make cars!!

I loved stickle bricks .

When he's a little older check out the local play centres etc. Ours used to sell bags of scraps they got from local factories for £1 - things like teddy bear material, sequinny material, lace, string etc. Buy a roll of wallpaper (lining is cheapest, or look for 50p bargains if you're not too proud for people to think you may want it for your walls :rotfl:) & the ELC glue & you've got months of fun .

And when it's been raining a lot go out in the garden & jump up & down in the mud with bare feet & let it ooze between your toes (or was that just me )

earthgirl

Wow great suggestions michelle brodie bobs and gallygirl - I will use them all!!

Re the wallpaper, I regularly get free smaples from shops and use them for all sorts of things - but mostly wrapping presents, so I will syphen some off for crafting.

I will ask for sticle bricks for his birthday.

Suppose I have the rain for the mud but I might give it a miss today!!

Today we have emptied and filled hundreds of spare gift bags, played music on pots and pans and made rice glitter and bead shakers, and played with lots of different textured fabric which was fun and easy to clean up. Off to make some hand puppets now its nap time!

Ooops forgot to post about the money saving thing, which is supposed to be the topic of this thread (but never seems to be)!!!

I have sold about 6 items on ebay today. An old sewing machine sold for £47 which really surprised me! I will post the ones I have been paid for tomorrow. I won a raffle on Friday at work and got a bottle of wine. It was my birthday but most people forgot as it was so many peoples leaving day etc. and I always organise the cards and presents, but it doesn't matter I got cards and pressies off my nearest and dearest.

Off for a relaxing sunday with the family and a curry tonight.

cha97michelle

Happy Birthday hon.

And don't think all of that post was money saving as to how you have cheaply entertained your little man today.

earthgirl

Thanks, I often go off on a different tack but still try not to spend the pennies - speaking of which, pay day not too far away, and I have some tutoring money to pay in today.

I am unsure whatto do with my electricity supply. I am currently on a fixed deal with a low price that is ending at the end of september. I am worried that when I come out of the fixed deal I will have to pay more as prices are rising. I will have to pay £35 charge if I come out early, although I will get £15 cash back for switiching, so that will be a £20 penalty. I could also try to complain about this as they put me on the wrong tarrif originally and then I had to complain for months to finally get switched over and they never sent me the paper work.

The new fixed rate (the npower one) has already been pulled. I think I might just go with it, and risk the £20 penalty.

Edit: Since I started writing this post, my original company have phoned me back and offered me another fixed deal at a higher cost, but with no penalty. Now I am really confused.

CathT

Happy belated birthday.

I have been wondering what to do about gas and electricity deals aswell. I am with British Gas on their market monitor deal which I went on to avoid me switching again as in theory they will be the cheapest.

twinklie

I'm on a fixed deal until July 2012 so I'm digging my head in the sand for now.

It's so cute how you are spending your time playing with DH. Is it wrong that I put similar thought into how to make sure Belle is kept amused?

DonnySaver

CathT wrote: »

Happy belated birthday.

I have been wondering what to do about gas and electricity deals aswell. I am with British Gas on their market monitor deal which I went on to avoid me switching again as in theory they will be the cheapest.

My Father-in-law has the same question. He's on the Market Monitor tariff which should come to an end in October 2011. He's just received a letter saying that the prices on this tariff are changing and they are wanting him to sign up to a new tariiff by August 13th. I dont know the exact details yet as I've not seen his letter but (in theory) if British Gas are changing the T&C's of his current deal then isn't he a free agent to go elsewhere??

MummyEm

Hi Earthgirl


Just wanted to say I am in awe of everything you have achieved.

We have an enormous mortgage of just under £300,000 and would also like to extend our house as kitchen is so pokey. Unlike you, this will be our forever house (not the beautiful period forever house of my dreams!!), unless we win the lottery!! We are at a point of not really knowing whether to pay off the mortgage or extend. We don't have the money to extend without borrowing more which is just too much risk so we have a big amount to save up!

I have subscribed to your diary and am starting through your old one too. I will watch from a distance quietly picking up tips along the way.

On the child entertainment front, I have a 2 yr old DS and a 4 yr old DD so I have been writing a list of summer hol activities for a few weeks. I think you have most of the ones down that I have, but if you want a few more -

-picnics park or garden will do or even inside if the weather isn't too great
-den building
-waterplay (he may be too young for this at mo) using empty spray type bottles filled with water perfect for hot afternoons (if we ever get any!)
-make some gloop - mixing cornflour with water and add some food colouring if you want too. put it in a big basin or bowl, add toys if you like, and get messy!! Great fun. Dries kinda crusty hard onto clothes and so very easy to wash out too!

Don't forget, young children really enjoy 'helping' mummy and daddy
with everyday tasks. we find them boring but they love to immitate. My little ones loved helping with washing the most around this age-pulling clothes out of the machine, playing with the pegs etc. My 2 yr old enjoys following me around with a duster and one of the hoover tools and 'hoobering' ! And then there's gardening ....


enjoy the summer x

gallygirl

MummyEm wrote: »

Don't forget, young children really enjoy 'helping' mummy and daddy
with everyday tasks. we find them boring but they love to immitate. My little ones loved helping with washing the most around this age-pulling clothes out of the machine, playing with the pegs etc. My 2 yr old enjoys following me around with a duster and one of the hoover tools and 'hoobering' ! And then there's gardening ....

Yes, child labour is much underestimated . Make the most of it cos once they hit their teens you'll get nothing out of them :rotfl:

MummyEm

gallygirl wrote: »

Yes, child labour is much underestimated . Make the most of it cos once they hit their teens you'll get nothing out of them :rotfl:

If only I could hire them out that might help with the mortgage OP's