Help me have a frugal february please!

[Nooneelseisallowedafergus]

It is my last month on maternity leave, I have no more money coming in until my first payday back at work at the end of march.
We are starting the month (after putting aside money for our mortgage / bills) £500 into our overdrafts.
So what I need is damage limitation.
My husband will be spending £50 per week on fuel to get to and from work.
I always massively overspend in the supermarket.
We have my son's 3rd birthday on the 22nd of feb. I want to get him a scooter and make him up an art box as he loves Mr Maker. We are also hiring a hall for his party (£60), and I am doing the usual sandwiches etc birthday food for him and 15 friends. I need party bag ideas and any other clever party ideas.
It is also my SIL and FIL birthdays. SIL 32, FIL 70.
Help Mumsnet. I need wise frugal advise!!!!!!!

[FogClearing]

I would like to join you.

[Nooneelseisallowedafergus]

Please join fogclearing but what we need is advice! Come on mumsnetters, educate me!

[CuriousMama]

If your son's only 3 buy the scooter second hand. He really won't notice. There'll be some good ones going as a lot of dcs have more than one. Put an ad in local newsagent/supermarket. He won't need a trick one at that age so you may get one for very little.

The poundshop have brown paper lunch bags that you can fill with party food. Make them each up a small gift from same shop and a piece of cake. I make 2 rectangular birthday cakes decorated with bright icing, jelly tots ect and have one cut up ready but you can just do one. Then empty paper bags and fill with small gift from a lucky dip and a piece of cake. For an activity you could have them decorate the bags with glitter crayons etc.. then bring the bag and choose their sandwich biscuits etc..? If you do the paper bag thing there's less waste. Get spare bags for the ones that get wet. For art box The Works or The Range are good. Homebargains too.

As for birthdays can you not tell SIL you're skint and offer to make her lunch? Or say you'll get her something when you have cash? Or even visit charity shops? I get lots of gifts from them. Or maybe you have a dvd/book/gift box in the house? She won't mind. For FIL let your OH sort that out. Or if he's into gardening maybe get him a pot plant or something for the garden? Or whatever he's interested in? Again charity shops can be good. Ask him if there's anything he needs? He might need a new jumper or something?

[CuriousMama]

Example of scooter. There'll be some in sales too.

[Nooneelseisallowedafergus]

Thank you curiousmama.

I vaguely remember seeing the sandwich bag idea on superscrimpers and thought at the time that it was a good idea, giving each child an individual lunch rather than doing a spread. I would massively over cater otherwise.

[stressedHEmum]

I second the individual party lunch bags. It's much cheaper and you aren't left with hundreds of sandwiches. Just pop a couple of sandwiches, a cupcake, a packet of crisps/puffs and a drink into a bag for each child and that's you done. Kids like it as well because it's kind of exciting finding out what you've got in your bag.

SIL - I usually bake something for my family members, sometimes even just a loaf of lovely milk bread with some homemade jam. A wee box of decorated cupcakes in a nice gift, too.

FIL - second charity shops or again bake a gingerbread or something similar. My dad loves to get a homemade gingerbread.

As far as food goes, you need to simplify. Eat mostly vegetarian; make soup and have it with bread and then rice pudding; simple pasta meals like pasta with caramelised onions topped with a little parmesan or pasta with olive oil, garlic, chilli and parsley; filling things like hm cheese and potato pasties; use lentils and beans in things like lentil and potato curry, bean chilli, shepherdess pie; make quesadillas using spicy mashed sweet potatoes and cheese or cooked and mashed kidney beans and cheese and serve with salad leaves and a spoonful of sour cream; make a big pan of mushy peas and eat them with jacket potatoes one day, as soup the next and then turn any leftovers into dahl using fried onions and curry spices. These are all things that we eat regularly in here. It's not very exciting but it is cheap.

[CuriousMama]

Good ideas stressedHEmum.

Dp's been making bread by hand at home. You can make cakes and stuff at the same time to use oven heat. Really lush bread too and non gets wasted. Any that is left is made into breadcrumbs and frozen.

[CuriousMama]

My dcs like veggy shepherd's pie more than meat one.

[crypes]

What about making sil and fil a birthday cake each. I know someone who does this for friends and relatives birthdays and it always goes down a treat. Adults usually forget to have a birthday cake themselves.

[Nooneelseisallowedafergus]

I'm already making them a cake (they share a birthday).
FIL is climbing the O2 (millennium dome) for his birthday so I am attempting a cake like this. http://www.laurieevans.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/milleniumf.jpg

[Nooneelseisallowedafergus]

www.laurieevans.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/milleniumf.jpg

[CuriousMama]

That cake looks great, won't that be enough?

[stressedHEmum]

Surely that cake will be enough?

[BornToFolk]

I always massively overspend in the supermarket.

Try shopping online. The downside is that you miss out on some of the "woopsied" stuff but it's much easier to avoid impulse buys and compare prices (e.g. tinned toms from the "ethnic" aisle can be cheaper, but you might not always look there in the actual supermarket)

Look around the t'interet for the best deals on online shopping. Most supermarkets off a discount for first time shoppers.

Before you shop, look through your freezer and cupboards and meal plan based around what you already have.

If you've got a Wilkinson's nearby, see if they've got any of their Christmas arts and crafts stuff left. I bought a sew your own felt decoration set for 25p last week and they had other things like that. If you bought a load of sets you could take them apart for the components and make up an excellent craft box!

[FogClearing]

The party bag idea sounds excellent. Like the cake.

[ISingSoprano]

Instead of party bags to take home just do a lucky dip.

[CuriousMama]

Great minds ISS