Aibu to not buy a cooker if I have a child to cook for?

[Jojorichards]

I split up with partner a few months ago and just moved into our house just two of us.
I won't lie its cost a fortune and just paid £800 for carpets.
At the moment I can't afford a cooker so I've bought a mini oven with grill and 2 hot plates all powered by electricity.
Both of those was only £65 and I can cook a roast/cake/fry a egg/pasta ..basically everything you would want to cook can be done.
My partner came around to collect our child and sneered at me for not having a cooker,as if I was neglecting our child.
Please tell me I'm not being stupid?
Il try and upload pics of what I have.
So far I've cooked a roast ,Victoria sponge,fried breakfast,pasta.

Ignore him, you can cook decent meals on it. We have an oven and hardly ever use it - we're vegetarian and so don't do roast dinners; most of what we eat is done on the hob or in the slow cooker. Do look at getting a slow cooker, ours is worth it's weight in gold.

£800 was the cheapest carpet.
My rooms are huge living room is 6x6.5
Altogether it was 70 m2 of carpet and that was with underlay and fitting.
I wanted it to be nice with carpet,it was concrete floors and I couldn't live like that.
I knew I could get a mini oven etc that can tide me over,it was only after Exs comments that I started to doubt myself

I could afford a cooker but would leave me struggling for other things.
I want to get my daughter nice curtains /duvet etc
Plus saving for Christmas presents

£800 is not an excessive amount to spend on carpets for an entire house, and means it is warm, welcoming, clean and feels like your own home having got rid of the smell of previous owners' dogs, cats, cigarettes, takeaways, bicycle oil or whatever else they were in to .

hose little cooker thingies are fine - we used one for months when we first got married, then DS took it when he moved out (25 years later). When he got a "proper" cooker, he gave it to a friend of his and as far as I am aware it is still going strong. (After nearly 40 years). We even had a teeny-tiny yorkshire pudding tray to squeeze into it.

There are only two of you - that chances of you needing to cook a 58 lb turkey are pretty remote.

Your ex is being a tosser - as others have suggested, tell him that if he is really worried about your daughter's nutrition, you would be delighted to accept and brand new shiny proper-sized oven from him on her behalf. Othrise he can go and do one.

The odds are he feeds her chips and Gregg's pasties when she's with him anyhow.

The wanker.

(How are you managing for furniture BTW? It's just that there may be other MNers local who have stuff they are replacing but which is decent, and they may be able to help. Best of luck to you and your daughter anyway. Your are better off without such a snide man in your lives.)

Have some

Tell your ex that he is very welcome to buy you a cooker if he feels your child is missing out.

The landlord at our last house wouldn't replace the oven which never really got hot and it actually broke down completely at one stage so we bought a mini oven. I used it for 8 years, along with the hob which did work. It broke last year and I replaced it with another (not so good) one because it is much easier to use than a normal oven. I also have a slow cooker and 3 rings of the hob work.

We do have a normal oven, but that stopped working a while ago so I use it for storage.

There is nothing wrong with using a mini oven.

We have a big range cooker and a mini camping oven. 9/10 it's the mini oven that's on, DD soung something in it at the moment.

sounds fine. do let people know you are after a cooker. where i worked last it was amazing what people had just waiting for a good home. when one girl lost everything in a fire, basically her entire kitchen was replaced with stuff people had! several cookers offered where they had been replaced and the old one shoved in the garage!

If you can stretch to it op, I recommend getting an Instant Pot too. It's an electric pressure cooker/slow cooker. I've completely changed how I cook since I got one a few months ago, I barely use our oven now. There a loads of old threads on here about how great they are.

I got a second hand sofa which I've covered with a throw.
Got new beds only £99 and £69 each with mattress (bargain)
The only thing I don't have is a headboard and vinyl floor in bathroom /kitchen but il get that with next months wages.

Those mini ovens and hobs are fine. I coped with just a steamer , slow cooker and a microwave (I had 2 DC) while I was saving for the real thing.

I was shocked how hot they got if I'm honest.

Stop overthinking it OP. Neglect would be getting a massive tv and no carpets or cooking facilities. You are doing fine, stop doubting yourself and letting him get under your skin.

And you are very sensible not to financially overstretch yourself unnecessarily. Your daughter will get more benefit from having things she loves around her in her room than she would from an extra two hob rings and a bit more oven space.

Hope you both have a wonderful magical Christmas!

My tv is so tiny you need a magnifying glass ha ha but we have tablets which we use instead and downloaded showbox so have all the movies to keep us entertained anyway.

The urge to snuggle and watch Christmas movies is starting to take over ..it's only October

Your Ex is being a dick!!
What you've got is perfectly fine, I can't think of anything you wouldn't be able to cook on there.
You sound sensible OP, Not leaving yourself skint by splashing out on things that aren't completely necessary at the mo.

Your Ex is a dick, presumably why he's an ex in the first place!

Sign up for freecycle, and keep an eye on the freebies section of Gumtree for your area - if you have access to a car/van you can pick up some lovely things.

Sounds like he will criticise everything so just ignore him

"Thanks for reminding me why you are an Ex.."

My 6 ring, 2 oven range cooker broke the day before Christmas Eve, I went and bought one of these from Argos.

I cooked Christmas dinner for 8. I did a roast chicken, a roast beef, pigs in blankets, three veg, gravy, stuffing and roast potatoes on mine.
Admittedly I did have to do a lot on Christmas Eve and reheat on the day, but there is nothing you can't do on one of these.

Tell him to sod off.

There was a woman here recently whose microwave was broken and so couldn't cook for her child because she only ever gave them microwaveable meals.

In comparison you are a master chef. Ignore your ex.

Many TV chefs do fancy meals on one or two rings outside - or even just a grill - how you cook doesn't matter, what you cook does.

If it helps your anxiety over his rubbishing it (and poss reporting balh blah blah) then keep a diary of the food cooked so you can be clear that your DC is getting properly cooked hot meals etc. Many food bank users don't have any cooking facilities, barely even a toaster.

Your ex is a complete plonker, obviously.

I'd like to bet your cooking is leagues above his, with or without a stand alone cooker!

He's a git. That's why he's an EX. Pay no heed to his stupid comments (unfortunately there will be plenty more to come!). Still, anytime you're unsure, here is a great place to get some reassurance. Living with that prat must have dented your self confidence a bit.

I think you have organised & prioritised perfectly. New beds, second hand sofa, new carpets, nice bits for DD and a perfectly good hob/oven.

New carpets win over a bigger oven any day. Especially with a child.

If you are happy with it, you needn't buy anything else just to 'do the norm'. My friend has an Aga which they turn off over spring/summer as it's too hot - then they have 2 hobs & a small combi/oven/grill microwave thing - and that's perfectly fine for 5 of them. Her Mum keeps going on about getting 'a proper oven' - when K asks why, all her Mum can say is 'Well, you should have one'. No actual reason 😂 My friend is a fabulous cook, hosts dinners, parties, lives in a huge house & has plenty of money. It's a choice and doesn't spell out neglect or poverty FFS. The man us an idiot 😂