Pigpen's DFW diary..

lauren_1

Turn the dial to quickwash and sellotape it in place.

Do you have to tumble every load of washing?

Clothes airer can be moved around from room to room and put in the garden to dry quicker (i do this as i often can be bothered to walk the extra 6ft over the mud to the washing line) or give any older kids their own airer in their rooms.

Have you looked at getting an industrial washer? just kidding

Towels and jeans (or any bulky items) can be freshened easily in a bath of shallow water and 1 washing tablet with the little kiddies stomping up and down with their wellies on, i bet that makes up around 20% of your loads.

karatedragon

id hate to see your laundry backlog mountian if your machines hiccupped for a bit

*zippy*

Pigpen I notice you are paying your abbey and american express off first. Have you checked the APR's on the storecard and catalogue. I know for example Next aprs are very high (from experience of course!) just thinking it might be worth you targeting these first.

bandraoi

Definitley look at the tumble dryers if you're using those for every load of laundry.

Pink_butterfly_3

I would usually agree about the tumble dryers but when your doing washing for 10 people can you imagine the amount of airers you would have to have about the place!!

lauren_1

Even part drying them first can save a hefty bit on electric.
If its raining/freezing we have ours on rotation, wash, air, tumble although we wont be using the tumble again until the winter.

bandraoi

The average tumble drier costs something like 24p an hour to run in terms of electricity. If at all possible I would try to rig up an outside drying area and a set aside area in the house too.

My grandmother (8 kids) used to have a rack made up of four long slats which hung from the kitchen ceiling. It was raised and lowered by a rope which tied off on one of the walls. It was out of sight and not noticeable, and because it was high it would catch the heat rising. Something similiar might work quite well.

http://www.dirtworks.net/Laundry-Air-Dryer.html it was a bit like this.

pigpen

KD.. if ONE WM breaks I am in trouble!!! I end up shipping some to my mothers!!

Lauren.. no I don't HAVE to tumble every load.. and I do put a lot on the radiators.. but if it means going out in the garden in the freezing cold and mud I admit I am very naughty and don't. In summer I hang everything out, because it dries so quickly and the doors are usually open anyway. My line goes right down the middle of the mud! the older have tiny rooms and the rads don't work in one of the rooms.

Most of our washing is pj's and school uniform I think.. and socks.. I HATE SOCKS!!! If on the odd occasion you get 2 socks back out of the machine you can pretty much guarantee 1 will be pink, or blue or grey instead of white!

I do 4 towels loads a week. When they bathe I have 3 children to one towel.. they are, supposedly clean when they come out of the bath.. although that is sometimes wishful thinking if hubby does them.. he seems to forget they have grubby feet and faces and hands!!

I have an airer in the kitchen which I dangle the woolly things on. Dresses and shirts go straight on hangers and work and school trousers are folded neatly and hung on the radiators... then hubby complains the air is damp! I do water the plants with the water from the condenser though, hubby thinks I have lost the plot.. so I do it sneakily while he is at work! Ssshhhhh

I have cut back our food budget from £600 to around £350 now.. which some much smaller families struggle to achieve so I am quite pleased with that. It does mean all my food matches.. tesco value everything. I buy stuff in bulk as well which saves a few pennies usually. I cook in bulk then get most uppity when we have extra children for dinner and they eat my freezer portions.

I will also admit I have cooked much more from scratch since I joined here, not always. I also make my own bread for roughly 1/4 the price we pay in the shops!!!

My friends and family think I am turly loopy to try to save every penny this way.. but I NEED these debts paying off, they are taking over now. I even struggled to pay for my glasses this month and I don't want to do that. I am also fed up of NEVER being out of the over draft.

I am in the process of claiming back my bank charges as well, approximately £6000 from what we can gather. That will clear the overdraft and at least 2 of the larger debts which I am looking forward too.

pigpen

bandraoi wrote:

The average tumble drier costs something like 24p an hour to run in terms of electricity. If at all possible I would try to rig up an outside drying area and a set aside area in the house too.

My grandmother (8 kids) used to have a rack made up of four long slats which hung from the kitchen ceiling. It was raised and lowered by a rope which tied off on one of the walls. It was out of sight and not noticeable, and because it was high it would catch the heat rising. Something similiar might work quite well.

We used to have one of those airers too, it was constantly full of things on hangers and eventually brought the ceiling down.. I am banned from ahving one now.. I did love it though.

We have 3 6ft radiators I use and a large airer.. they just take so long to dry on there they can't keep up.. and I have loads of little things like socks and vests and pants and t-shirts etc. In summer, or as soon as the weather is decent, only the socks and pants get tumbled.. everything else goes on the line.

Trying not to use the dryer so much is something I should do, and something I know I should do.. must try harder!!

Tustastic

Hi pigpen, I see you're branching out from the Flylady thread!
With all those children and music and dancing lessons, you guys are obviously the Von Trapps and should go on the stage!
Seriously though, maybe get some gigs at local care homes etc - your kids doing 'My Favourite Things' would bring the house down....:T
- also find out where busking would be legal in your area and think about having a couple of the children do short stints there in the better weather, under supervision of a trusted adult of course.
Well done for getting the debt down since your LBM!