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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
lemisscared · 08/02/2015 18:55

We are in a hard water area and dont use a fabric softener, but what is this about soda crystals??

I would definately not budget down to go to soft play (or swimming, but that is because i personally hate it). I think that your dd would get far more fun out of a M&T group and you will meet other mums (unless of course the plan is to go with other mums). I was really lucky in as much as i was able to go to a different play group every day, some of them charged a £1 entry but for that you got a few hours chat and play and a variable cup of tea :)

Don't rush into soft play - the novelty SOON wears off Grin

I think its lovely that your DD will have a sibling soon - you don't sound too hard up to hae your family set up, you just sound very sensible actually.

hiccupgirl · 08/02/2015 18:59

You really don't need to use branded fabric conditioner - we live in a very hard water area and I use supermarkets own and about half the recommended amount. Everything comes out clean and soft.

Def cut back on things like micro rice and ready made pizzas. It is much cheaper to just boil some rice or make your own pizza - you can make up the dough and then freeze portions ready to use. Last time I made some the recipe made enough for 4 large pizzas from 1 small bag of flour.

Notrevealingmyidentity · 08/02/2015 19:02

You can buy branded fabric softener from the pound shop I think.

WrappedInABlankie · 08/02/2015 19:17

You can buy lanor from the 99p shop or pound land.

You can't by comfort though (that's the one I use). You can sometimes get finish dishwasher tablets and persil in pound land too

Isetan · 08/02/2015 19:22

I use white vinegar to clean everything, its cheap as chips and does a far better job than the stuff that costs four times the price. It has anti-bacterial properties, cuts through grease and removes limescale (add two cups to an empty washing machine and run it at 60 degrees once a month to keep it clean and scale free). I also bought a steam cleaner (get a good one, I have a yellow and black german) and you will never buy cleaning products again as the steam does all the work, spray some white vinegar on the surface before you cover it in steam and you will never break your back scrubbing ever again.

Meal plan and batch cook.

Keep your receipts and make a list of what food you throw away and why.

Buy veg and fruit at the greengrocers, it lasts longer.

Buy plain yoghurt and flavour with mashed fruit, crumbled home made flapjacks or honey.

Cooking rice is easy. Place rice in saucepan and add enough cold water so that when you place your thumb in the pan, the tip of your thumb just touches the rice and the water reaches the thumb joint closest to the nail. Add salt and cook uncovered on a medium heat until you see little pot holes appearing in the rice, as soon as you see the pot holes, put a lid on the pan and turn the heat down to the lowest setting and cook for a further 10 minutes. Leftover rice is perfect for fried rice the following day and gives you the opportunity to use up any leftover veg that is still hanging around the fridge.

Don't buy oven chips, wash potatoes and cut them into wedges (don't peel them), add the wedges to a ziplock bag and add a couple of teaspoons of oil, salt, cayenne pepper, garlic and onion powder and dried herbs. Give the bag a good shake so that everything is covered in the oily seasoning, spread the wedges out on a baking tray so that they are not touching and bake in a pre-heated oven at 220 degrees for between 30 and 40 minutes (depending on the thickness of your wedges).

Limit the times you visit the supermarket and make a list before visiting.

Stop buying mini cartons of juice, buy reusable water bottles and fill up from the cheaper larger cartons of juice.

Buy washing powder and often used non-perishable stuff in bulk and when it is on special offer, I buy washing powder twice a year. This is going to sound sad but I know what I am willing to pay per toilet roll and per wash load, sometimes I'll see what I think is a bargain only to realise that once I've done the calculation, it isn't (I like Ariel so I only buy it when its at, or below, a certain price).

Grow your own herbs, strawberries, peppers and salad veg etc.

Make your own dried herbs for the winter months (see youtube).

Cut back on the snacks. I have home made snacks in the freezer (spring rolls, biscuits etc) and I eat less of them because most of the time I can't be bothered baking them.

Processed foods are generally nutritionally inferior (frozen veg and canned tomatoes are an exception), more expensive and have more salt, sugar and fat than is necessary.

Expand your cooking repertoire, cooking is an important life skill you should pass on to your kids and given the rising rates of childhood obesity, it could save them from all kinds of life limiting conditions.

NancyJones · 08/02/2015 19:27

I have never bought fabric softener in my life! I am amazed at how much cleaning products you all purchase.
I clean with kitchen surfaces with cloth and hot soapy water. I do have some dettol anti bac wipes but one packet lasts about a year. Bathroom cleaned with cif and domestos limescale squirty stuff for the loo. But I must buy each of those once it twice a year at most.

NancyJones · 08/02/2015 19:34

Can I genuinely ask where you all find the time for batch cooking and seeking out all the bargains? I'm asking seriously as I really would like to cut our bill down. I'd also like us to eat a bit more from scratch-we probably eat from scratch about 4days a wk. I'm back at work almost full time and will be full time after Easter. I teach so after Easter I'll have stuff to do at weekends too. I have 4kids from 11 down to 10.5mths and DH works ridiculously long hours and is in the US for one week a month.
I'd love (a) to cut back on the weekly shop to about £120 and (b) make sure 6 out of 7 of their evening meals are healthy.

WrappedInABlankie · 08/02/2015 19:36

Isetan
This may sound dumb but How do you work out a toilet roll lol? I only used Andrex quilted so how much is that a roll?

I also use one persil colour/normal per wash, a scoop of vanish and some comfort jojoba in the draw. I do pour some about 1/4/1/3 in an old bottle then fill up with water so I get more out of it

WrappedInABlankie · 08/02/2015 19:40

Nancy for meat could you take it out the freezer in the morning/night before so it defrost then cook.

Tonight I had grilled pork chop, potatoes and veg boil the water add potatoes and start the pork, add veg half way through and then it's done. Took my 20 minutes and was fairly mess free as I put tinfoil in the try for the pork and add the veg to the water with potatoes.

Same with chicken wrap in tinfoil 30 mins in the oven add to salad, or chop it up throw it in the pan with some mushrooms and shallots, do some pasta add sauce to the meat at the last 2 minutes and you're done take about 15 minutes.

Smile
DrinkFeckArseGirls · 08/02/2015 19:57

Eh? That's to whoever said that people spending £130
Per week on food must be overweight. No, it's the people with limited budgets that are buying cheap carbs that are overweight. Those well off are slim buying organic meats, fish and veg, etc.

We spend £100 per week, DD and I, and we certainly are not gluttons Hmm or well off for that matter. We eat no junk food, certainly no sweets, crisps, ready meals or take aways. I've asked friends and everyone seems to be spending similar around here.

DrinkFeckArseGirls · 08/02/2015 19:58

We also eat no caviar and drink no champagne.

WrappedInABlankie · 08/02/2015 20:07

Eh?

People who eat more than their body needs are overweight! Your shopping bills isn't an indicator!

I spend 40 max my 9 stone 28 inch waist dp would argue that he's nowhere near overweight, in fact he's underweight Hmm

DrinkFeckArseGirls · 08/02/2015 20:14

someone posted saying that it's not surprising people are overweight if they spend that much on food. My reply was to that.

Gothgirl78 · 08/02/2015 20:19

£80 a week is not a lot. We spend far more than that but can afford it. I work full time and am hopeless in the kitchen. The competitive frugality and judginess of people who spend more than themselves is a mums net thing. I also think some people fib and spend more than they let on.

Try church groups and council run activities.

Good luck op.

Shortofcash · 08/02/2015 20:20

I checked swimming and for the cheapest pool which is council run it's two children under 8 per adult

OP posts:
BMO · 08/02/2015 20:22

£80 isn't a lot if you can afford it, but if you haven't got a spare £5 to go to softplay then spending more than that on juice each week isn't really necessary.

Shortofcash · 08/02/2015 20:25

I'm interested in the bleach spray someone mentioned. How much bleach and how much water do you put in the spray bottle? Also for those of you who don't use antibacterial wipes, what do you clean the loo with? We have 3 loos that I clean every day, would I have to use a new cloth everyday Nd then throw it away? Or do you wash it buy itself on a high temp, wouldn't that be expensive? I'm probably being dumb and there is a better solution out there than antibacterial wipes?

OP posts:
Fairylea · 08/02/2015 20:29

I don't use wipes. For the toilets I use good old fashioned cheap thick bleach, chuck a load of that down and use a cheap loo brush to give it a good scrub before flushing. If you buy the cheapest toilet brushes from tesco (£2) you can replace them reasonably often so they don't go horrid (I know mumsnet seems to have a phobia of toilet brushes but they do work well).

Shortofcash · 08/02/2015 20:31

What about cleaning the seat and lid?

OP posts:
NancyJones · 08/02/2015 20:34

Thanks, wrapped!
We usually only eat chicken, turkey or fish. I would never get DH to agree to each a chop. I sometimes buy a packet of beef meatballs and feed the kids those with spaghetti and a homemade sauce that DH makes in big batches and freezes in small tupperwares.
I'm sort of trying to do all this whilst wondering how to fit cooking and eating food and homework and down time into the time between getting home with them around 5.30 and little ones bed at 7.30. Then bigger ones school night bed at 8.30. Maybe I need to start a new thread asking how people get everything done .

bigkidsdidit · 08/02/2015 20:40

I would try to cut your food bill down to £60 but just do swimming, because soon you'll have to pay for nappies and wipes for the new one, which will be at least a fiver. More, if they poo as much as my newborns did! You could put some money aside for that now.

NancyJones · 08/02/2015 20:41

We have 4 toilets in the house. I squirt a small squirt of the bleachy squirty stuff in each twice a week. Leave it to drip down for half an hour then quick scrub with loo brush (the ones that sit in their own bleachy stuff) the loo brushes are £2 from tesco and I replace them every 2 months so after 4 uses each. I wipe around the loo seat once a week with one wipe so I guess I use 4 wipes a week. Maybe I seem slovenly to you but I don't think it's common to clean your loo every day.

Vvvoom · 08/02/2015 20:42

Do go to the soft play if lots of mums you know go - your mum friends are invaluable.

Fairylea · 08/02/2015 20:43

For the seat and the lid I use very cheap bathroom sponges from the pound shop and use these with bleach to clean round. I then rinse well with hot water and give the sponge a very good rinse out - I keep one sponge just for this job and chuck regularly! No one has died yet...... Grin

NancyJones · 08/02/2015 20:44

I really think the answer is not to feel you need to clean your all 3 of your own loos every day when there is only you, your DH and your toddler living there.