starting old style- tips?

katiesmummy

ok, i really want to get started with old style, being on a tight budget and all... i have been looking at the collection threads, and i really dont know where to start!

probably the best place to start is shopping cos thats where most of my money goes...

my son is on formula milk- i really tried with the breastfeeding but it didnt happen. i buy 2 tins of sma per week at 6.89 per tin, this is the cheapest i have found- if anyone knows of somewhere cheaper please let me know

nappies- i use huggies at the moment, am unsure about store own brands- any reccomendations?

baby wipes- i always buy boots own which have been bogof since my son was born

meat- is it cheaper to buy from the butchers? i mainly buy chicken (3quid from iceland) and mince (78p in sainsburys for 400g i think)

i know that the market is generally cheaper for fruit n veg & i do buy some fruit n veg from the market- why do market stalls not sell braeburn apples??

is lidl any good? there is one not too far from me, its a bus journey but for the sake of 90p bus fare i would be happy to go there if its gonna save me a bit of cash

i cant think of anything else at the moment

thanks in advance

melie3

katiesmummy wrote: »

ok, i really want to get started with old style, being on a tight budget and all... i have been looking at the collection threads, and i really dont know where to start!


probably the best place to start is shopping cos thats where most of my money goes...

my son is on formula milk- i really tried with the breastfeeding but it didnt happen. i buy 2 tins of sma per week at 6.89 per tin, this is the cheapest i have found- if anyone knows of somewhere cheaper please let me know

nappies- i use huggies at the moment, am unsure about store own brands- any reccomendations?

baby wipes- i always buy boots own which have been bogof since my son was born

meat- is it cheaper to buy from the butchers? i mainly buy chicken (3quid from iceland) and mince (78p in sainsburys for 400g i think)

i know that the market is generally cheaper for fruit n veg & i do buy some fruit n veg from the market- why do market stalls not sell braeburn apples??

is lidl any good? there is one not too far from me, its a bus journey but for the sake of 90p bus fare i would be happy to go there if its gonna save me a bit of cash

i cant think of anything else at the moment

thanks in advance

how old is your baby???. my daughter is 10 months and we use a tin of sma gold a week, and pretty much always have done. if he she is a hungry baby, have you tried the white, although my dd didnt suit. a cheaper place to buy could be your baby clinic. our clinic sells for somewhere round 50p cheaper.
i have tried own brands and sainsburys dont have a good fit. i only buy pampers and try to get on offer. asda is quite good for nappy offers.
wipes- i only buy johnsons extracare and never need any nappy cream, these are often bogof, and always £5 for 4 any other time.
i always want to try the butchers but puts me off when you ask for x amount of whatever and is double what you would pay. embarrasing.
fruit and veg stalls cheap and think of not buying all that packaging. not sure on your apple question?
if you are feeding baby jars, if old enough, this is v expensive. try making your own mini dinners and freezing. i do this for my lil un. she hates jars.
p.s i too am a mummy to katie lol and live in essex!!!

zombiecazz

Menu Plan is the biggest tip I can give you.
Then only buy what you need, cut cost and stops you wasting money by throwing thinhgs away
Cut out the bought in snacks and make your own (if needed)
make everything from scratch and freeze left overs.

Lidl can be excellent for lots of things, especially when they have veg on at half price.

Check out some of the recipe threads here for cheap and cheerful recipes like
tuna pasta, potato and sausage bake, Soup and homemade bread.

katiesmummy

melie3 wrote: »

how old is your baby???. my daughter is 10 months and we use a tin of sma gold a week, and pretty much always have done. if he she is a hungry baby, have you tried the white, although my dd didnt suit. a cheaper place to buy could be your baby clinic. our clinic sells for somewhere round 50p cheaper.
i have tried own brands and sainsburys dont have a good fit. i only buy pampers and try to get on offer. asda is quite good for nappy offers.
wipes- i only buy johnsons extracare and never need any nappy cream, these are often bogof, and always £5 for 4 any other time.
i always want to try the butchers but puts me off when you ask for x amount of whatever and is double what you would pay. embarrasing.
fruit and veg stalls cheap and think of not buying all that packaging. not sure on your apple question?
if you are feeding baby jars, if old enough, this is v expensive. try making your own mini dinners and freezing. i do this for my lil un. she hates jars.
p.s i too am a mummy to katie lol and live in essex!!!

Connor is 16 weeks today -and he is a total piggy! he is already on the sma white and has been for a month or so. he normally gets through a tin and a half per week. my baby clinic doesnt sell milk. my dr said to try and get him to drink some cooled boiled water before giving him milk but the little pest wont take it! you put the bottle in his mouth and he drinks a bit then spits it out! he's not on solids yet, but gp said i can try him on a bit of baby rice from 17 weeks. once he is established i will be doing the same thing i did with katie- making in bulk and freezing. i only ever used jars for my dd if i was caught short for some reason/
the butchers that is in my local shopping area seems to be really expensive. they do sell packs of meat 3 for a fiver- but they all have big labels on them saying do not refreeze. i'm not feeding an army so this is no good for me!

think i will give lidl a try next week (already done shopping for this week) and see how it is. i'm gonna try really really hard to go old style!

katiesmummy

sorry, should also have added that i'm in london, not that far away from you!

charleybabes

how come you are buying 2 tins of formula a week love?? how many ounces is your little one on..
we had to swap to the farleys milk for hungrier babies as our little boy was on about 6 ounces at about 5 weeks and it just didnt do anything for him
it worked out well though as it was a lot cheaper than the other brands aswell
we have used the asdas own brand for nappies but asda do really good deals on the pampers so we tend to buy one week a bumper pack for £8 which can last us 2 weeks but when we have been really short we have bought a bag of smartprice napppies for £1.48 and filtered them in with the pampers so just changed his bum a lot more in the day and put him in the pampers at night this has worked well and has meant we've been able to last to the end of the week when my H gets paid
i dont always think the butchers is cheaper but for what you are getting the quality is a lot more so you dont need as much and tastes so much better
i think the market would be a lot cheaper for fruit and veg and also have you tried the farmers shops.. they are sooo much cheaper and obviously fresher!!

i have had to meal plan now but this really helps us as we arnt nipping to the co op any more and spending a small fortune when we just popped in to get some milk
hope some of this helps .. keep asking on here for advice and tips .. its really helped me..until new year i hadnt cooked for years and now im slowly becoming a domestic goddess.. ( ok maybe i woudlnt go that far !! )

katiesmummy

zombiecazz wrote: »

Menu Plan is the biggest tip I can give you.
Then only buy what you need, cut cost and stops you wasting money by throwing thinhgs away
Cut out the bought in snacks and make your own (if needed)
make everything from scratch and freeze left overs.

Lidl can be excellent for lots of things, especially when they have veg on at half price.

Check out some of the recipe threads here for cheap and cheerful recipes like
tuna pasta, potato and sausage bake, Soup and homemade bread.

thank you, am gonna try and get dd involved with the menu planning- she will enjoy that!

katiesmummy

charleybabes wrote: »

how come you are buying 2 tins of formula a week love?? how many ounces is your little one on..
we had to swap to the farleys milk for hungrier babies as our little boy was on about 6 ounces at about 5 weeks and it just didnt do anything for him
it worked out well though as it was a lot cheaper than the other brands aswell

he has around 8 oz every feed!! he is only 16 weeks and hes like a little marshmellow man!

is it ok to just switch brands? my ds is on sma white but i have noticed that the farleys is cheaper- could i just swap him over to a different brand or would that make him ill?

melie3

katiesmummy wrote: »

Connor is 16 weeks today -and he is a total piggy! he is already on the sma white and has been for a month or so. he normally gets through a tin and a half per week. my baby clinic doesnt sell milk. my dr said to try and get him to drink some cooled boiled water before giving him milk but the little pest wont take it! you put the bottle in his mouth and he drinks a bit then spits it out! he's not on solids yet, but gp said i can try him on a bit of baby rice from 17 weeks. once he is established i will be doing the same thing i did with katie- making in bulk and freezing. i only ever used jars for my dd if i was caught short for some reason/
the butchers that is in my local shopping area seems to be really expensive. they do sell packs of meat 3 for a fiver- but they all have big labels on them saying do not refreeze. i'm not feeding an army so this is no good for me!

think i will give lidl a try next week (already done shopping for this week) and see how it is. i'm gonna try really really hard to go old style!

hi again,
sma white wasnt any good for my lil un, made no difference hunger wise, just blocked her up, so went back to the gold. i they say to wean at 6m, which i did with last 2 girls, and they seemed more willing to eat than when i weaned my firstborn at 4m. maybe speak to health visitor, not sure if you can switch his milk brand. is he sleeping during night?? maybe try him with some baby rice but quite sloppy see how he goes

melie3

katiesmummy wrote: »

he has around 8 oz every feed!! he is only 16 weeks and hes like a little marshmellow man!

is it ok to just switch brands? my ds is on sma white but i have noticed that the farleys is cheaper- could i just swap him over to a different brand or would that make him ill?

lol...
my dd is having 8oz 3 bottles a day. i doubt it would make him ill changing, they may all be the same who knows??? i think you need to do something though, not just financially, but he doesnt seem satisfied enough. does he sick any up? is he content for a good 4 hrs?

katiesmummy

melie3 wrote: »

hi again,
sma white wasnt any good for my lil un, made no difference hunger wise, just blocked her up, so went back to the gold. i they say to wean at 6m, which i did with last 2 girls, and they seemed more willing to eat than when i weaned my firstborn at 4m. maybe speak to health visitor, not sure if you can switch his milk brand. is he sleeping during night?? maybe try him with some baby rice but quite sloppy see how he goes

i spoke to my dr when i took ds to see him last week and he said the same thing as you- try sloppy baby rice, but not till hes 17 weeks cos he cant digest it before then apparently. hes not totally sleeping through the night yet- sleeps from about 11 till 5 then wakes up has a bottle and goes back to sleep till about 8 or 9. he doesnt sleep much during the day, tends to catnap for about 10 mins at a time!