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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To cut back on food to afford to take dd swimming and to soft play?

266 replies

Shortofcash · 08/02/2015 08:30

All our money is allocated each month for bills, there is nothing spare. Dd is age 2 and we have always done free activities like go to the park or surestart activities. All her clothes are hand me downs from my older sisters daughters. I would live to be able to take her to swimming and soft play, I estimate it would cost me about £10 a week. We currently spend £80 a week in a mix of aldi and tesco (mostly aldi - just go to tesco for bits I can't get in aldi). If I shaved £10 a week off our food bill I could afford to take her swimming and soft play (although soon we will have a dd2 so will probably be only be able to afford swimming for both and no soft play :( ) would I be unreasonable to cut back on food so my dd can swim?

OP posts:
Original poster
Shortofcash · 09/02/2015 11:52

I would be interested in what washing detergent is best for eczema if anyone has any ideas. I'm a bit stuck as if I don't use fabric conditnor our clothes are so hard

OP posts:
Feminine · 09/02/2015 12:18

Vinegar through the wash will work fine.
No smell either ;)

tinklykeys · 09/02/2015 12:18

This has been a really useful thread. Thanks!
Just a thought, if it is only you and your toddler at home during the day, could you only use one toilet? Then you don't need to clean the other 2, making your life a little easier..

When I clean the toilet seat I just wipe round with toddler flushable wipes. But I need that more as I hAve an older ds!

PiperIsTerrysChoclateOrange · 09/02/2015 12:40

I average around £30 a week. That's 2 adults and 2 children.

I shop around and bulk buy. Most importantly meal plan.

Friday was pizza with salad.
Saturday was egg and chips.
I find an extra large chicken is normally £1 extra. So yesterday I did a roast chicken dinner, today there is enough chicken left over to chicken mash and peas.
Tomorrow using the left over veg I will do toad in the hole ( home made batter) with veg.
Wednesday I will do a spag Bol. I make the sauce from scratch ( already made in the freezer) using the mince out of the freezer
Thursday as I will have 1/2 mince left over I will do a shepards pie and then using the rest of the veg up.

Breakfast is cereals, porridge or toast. DC have school dinners. Lunch at home is normally packed lunch things.

I bought my own spray bottle and use that for quickness with a cloth that goes into the wash. Then I buy all purpose cleaner both from the 99p shop.

I buy industrial size washing powder that is £18 and last me around 4-5 weeks.

Toothpaste, body wash and shampoo is bought from the 99p store.

imip · 09/02/2015 12:41

My dds all have eczema and I always used ecover non-bio, or another environmental non-bio.

I'm currently using ecozone non-bio. 1.5 litres was 2 for £6 a while ago and I really stocked up. I buy in bulk on ocado usually....

I also rarely soap the children unless they are dirty. No creams etc, except their eczema cream. My general policy not to use lotions on them, bubble baths etc has really helped maintain a good base for their skin. I find now that weather is the thing that affects their eczema most. All 4 have eczema, the worst is my oldest and while she hasn't grown out of it yet, she is way better than she was as a baby....

Original poster
Shortofcash · 09/02/2015 13:10

Wow £30 a week for a family of four is amazing. I like your meal plans. Do I make the pizza or is it frozen? I like the frozen pizza for the one night a week I don't want to cook, I noticed aldi do a 99p pizza I may try that, it will only save £1 but all this savings will add up!

OP posts:
NancyJones · 09/02/2015 15:00

Thank you, imip. I will try that this w/e!
Are must people here sahm? Or just far more efficient that me? How go you get time to pop to all these different shops. I've checked and nearest Aldi is 20min drive away. I'd be driving past 2 large tescos, a sainsburys and 2 waitrose just to get there. Would that be a false economy petrol wise? We have. 4 kids and a lot of expenses and I need to take a bit more control. You've all convinced me that I can slash shopping from £180 to £120 a week. I would love to put the difference into savings to see his much it adds up to after 6mths.
How not to run the washing machine twice a day as well...

SconeEater · 09/02/2015 15:15

Spot cleaning Nancy. And lowering standards...

NancyJones · 09/02/2015 15:38

Standards are already low! Grin I need to encourage the boys to wear their clothes more than once.

childlessormore · 09/02/2015 15:55

I definitely think that you could cut back with meal planning. I have just started doing this combined with shopping mainly at Lidl with extras from Tesco rather than all from Tesco and it has definitely made a difference. I got enough food for a month for approx. £140 including washing stuff and pet stuff (included bread and milk to freeze). May need a bit of top up milk/bread toward the end of the month and top up fruit but otherwise I am pretty done. It is just the two of us for most of the week but have added in food for family when they visit and my SS. Yours would be more but I think you could bring it definitely to £70 p/w if not less.

For me swimming is so so important especially when children are very young and still have some natural ability. If you can go once a week that will make such a difference for them and is well worth the effort to meal plan. I think you are amazing just for recognising/thinking about changing around food shopping to make way for activities for your children and you sound lovely.

ArcheryAnnie · 09/02/2015 16:07

There's some great ideas on here - and I'm another one who takes my hat off to you, OP, for rejigging your food finances for the sake of activities for your daughter.

(Though - tinkleykeys - flushable wipes are flushable in theory, but in practice usually combine with other waste to reinforce giant fatbergs in the sewers, which cost a fortune to hack out, thus putting up the water bills. If you use wipes, however much they claim to be flushable, it's a really good idea to put them in the bin, not down the bog. Saves on emergency plumbing costs too, if they clog up your own pipes. I have a lined bin in my loo for these.)

slithytove · 09/02/2015 16:09

Have you enquired about kiddy activities yet?

I have a rising 2 year old and a 5 month old

We do:

Rhyme time at library (free)
Playtime at c of e church (£1) includes kids snack
Toddler time at the childrens centre (free) includes kids snack
Swimming (£4.80)
Playtime at Methodist church (£1.20) includes kids and parents snack
Soft play (free)
Soft play (£2)
Soft play (£1.50) includes kids and parents snack which is so big Ds doesnt need lunch

So we get a heck of a lot for our tenner, and there are even more free groups I could go to if I wanted! All are suitable for both ages too which was hard to find.

I don't always go swimming though as struggle to manage both kids on my own so need to go with a friend.

slithytove · 09/02/2015 16:10

I see these activities as very important btw, not just for Ds but for my socialisation and mental health. It forces me out the house every day too which keeps us all happier.

BikeRunSki · 09/02/2015 18:05

I very much agree with slithytove about parent and baby groups/activities being as much for the parent as child.

Original poster
Shortofcash · 09/02/2015 19:31

It's funny that I thought we did not eat any ready meals, I had forgot things like tin soup and fish fingers etc. I'm not sure I would have time to make everything from scratch with two little ones as I'm not the best cook but I will give it a go.

OP posts:
Original poster
Shortofcash · 09/02/2015 19:32

For those who shop around is it very time consuming? At the moment I go to aldi and then tesco on a Saturday morning with dh. I'm worried we will spend all our time shopping if we add in more places!

OP posts:
PiperIsTerrysChoclateOrange · 09/02/2015 19:43

Pizza is a frozen delight from Iceland < classy>

MomOfTwoGirls2 · 09/02/2015 19:48

Soup definitely best from scratch rather than tinned. Much more nutritious as well as much cheaper.

But cook up triple the amount you need and freeze 2/3s. (It can take a little experimenting, my first few attempts were edible but not great. Now I couldn't go back to shop bought soup).

Also, mix loads of veg through spag bol, chili, shepards pie. Also much healthier as well as much cheaper. I do about 50% veg 50% meat in these meals. It started as a way to get DC to eat veg. Now it is what we all prefer.

PiperIsTerrysChoclateOrange · 09/02/2015 19:53

My freezer is well stocked up with meals that I have cooked and frozen.

When I use my oven I don't tend to stick 1 pizza in there, I use it at full capacity. Then freeze. This also saves on the gas bill.

NancyJones · 09/02/2015 20:18

But how do you all find the time? I will have maybe 1.5h an evening and during that time I need to
Get the older boys hw done whilst holding baby a seeing to a toddler. I think I need to take time management lessons from you all as well as cooking and budget lessons.

tinklykeys · 09/02/2015 20:24

Ooh thanks archeryannie that's really helpful advice!

slithytove · 09/02/2015 21:52

Nancy when we batch cook we just do it at the same time as normal cooking. So if DH is making a curry he will triple the quantities, same for me and any of my dishes.

Rarely we will do a cooking day and fully stock the freezer.

bigkidsdidit · 09/02/2015 21:55

I just make double when I make anything. Anything! Mashed potato, cheese sauce, pasta sauce, cottage pie. All doubled and put in the freezer.

ohtheholidays · 09/02/2015 22:27

Op we spend about 90 minutes once a month.Usually Asda,Iceland(sometimes)Lidl.We bulk buy our bread items,clover,cheeses,milk and freeze them all.

Weekly all we have to pick up is fruit and veg.

Were lucky Asda is only a 15 minute drive away,Iceland is only 5 minutes away from the Asda we use and the Lidl is only 10 minutes from our house.

andsmile · 09/02/2015 22:41

OP - I posted way up thread and I would like to add that while £80 is a lot it's not a huge lot like some. I posted my food shop was £50 but it used to be much higher than this, don't be put off by others amounts - we've all got to where we have for different reasons.