All bills to reduce

emmad5689

Hello all I am posting here to keep track of what I am doing as much as anything else but if anyone has any pointers for me then that would be great.

As of 1 week tomorrow I will be a self employed childminder, I will of course therefore be spending more time in the house and of course this will mean higher bills such as water and heating.

I am taking a pay cut to do this and start out as self employed which is why it is so important to keep an eye on every penny.

I also need to provide healthy meals for my own children who are 3 and 6 and the 9 month old I will be taking care of along with an 8 year old one day per week.

I am going to shop around for the best deals and try and make use of what I already have in the house. I have fleece lined some curtains, am using candles for heat and have reflectors behind all the radiators.

Tomorrow I am planning on giving either toast or cereal for breakfast, a picnic plate for lunch which my girls love and then making some pasties with frozen pastry, potatoes and cheese. I will serve the pasties with new potatoes and veg.

nearlyrich

Good luck with the new venture I was a bit puzzled by your statement that you are using candles for heat?? Small children and candles are not the best mix.

emmad5689

nearlyrich wrote: »

Good luck with the new venture I was a bit puzzled by your statement that you are using candles for heat?? Small children and candles are not the best mix.

Just on an evening when there are no children here x

nearlyrich

That's OK then:)

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

emmad5689 wrote: »

...am using candles for heat...

I was about to say that I thought that was a waste of time but I decided to do some research (aka Google) first.

I was amazed to see that a typical candle could give out 100W or so, about the same as a human body. Colour me surprised.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=117206

meg72

I love using candles, I live in a small bungalow and find that my sitting room can be made quite cosy with just the flame effect on the fire and a few candles.

glitterkitty

we use candles for heat in our living room at this time of year its a small room, and the furniture is all black so the room is quite cosy anyway, but we have white fairy lights around the fireplace, and 2 big pillar candles and some tea lights on the hearth and within about 10 minutes the room is as warm as if we had put the heating on!

Good luck with your venture to go self employed! I would love to be my own boss full time, I bet it will be very rewarding for you

emmad5689

Thank you all, I find that candles make me feel warmer as well as actually giving out a bit of heat as I can see the flame, I hate our fire as for all it gives out lots of heat when it is on low you cannot see the flames so I struggle with feeling warm from it which seems really strange.

I am making more of a conscious effort to turn of lights, turn my heating down and think about what food we will be eating but still need to find more ways to cut the bills down.

I have my new mindee today for an hours settling in session so hoping that it will go a bit better than the last 2 as unfortunately she has never really been away from her parents so she cries a lot.

emmad5689

Change of plan have gone through the cupboards to see what needed using and have come across some tortilla wraps so we are now going to have fahitas for tea.

I plan on doing an inventory of what we have in later on today so would love if anyone could give me any ideas for meals other people often come up with something you don't see yourself after all xx

gayleygoo

I make mini pizzas with leftover tortilla wraps by spreading over some tomato puree and herbs/pesto and grated cheese. They take 5 mins to cook in the oven or just grill, and kids usually love them and can decorate their own for a quick lunch.

I do love candles too for making the room feel warmer, even if they don't give out much heat.

emmad5689

Right here is my inventory, I have more in than what I thought and plenty to make meals with but I would appreciate any ideas please as we get sick of eating the same things.

Frozen Pastry - Planning on using for mince pies and cheese pasties
Gammon Steaks
4 x Chicken Breasts
2 x Chicken Kievs - there is only me who will eat these
2 x packs of bacon - frozen
2 x garlic baguettes
5 x packs of sausages
3 x packs of mince
4 burgers
2 x breaded chicken steaks
Cheese
garlic and herb cream cheese - no idea what to do with this
yoghurts for deserts
salad
wafer thin ham
Plenty of tins of soup
chicken and mushroom pie - only I will eat this
2 pot noodles
Tinned Tuna
Tinned Fruit
6 x jars of tomato based sauces
2 x tins condensed mushroom soup - no idea what to do with this
small amount of pasta and rice
Packets of savoury rice
pasta and sauce packets
packet mixes for making chicken in a bag
packets of curry sauce
packets of Bolognese sauce
packets of sausage casserole mix

As you can see I have plenty in, I can buy extra bits in but would like to make this food go as far as possible and have a good clear out to have a good restock and start cooking from scratch with things. Any help would be great xx