The Friendly Frugaleers Keep on Chatting (and having babies!)

[WreckTangled]

New thread, everyone welcome!

fluffy that's exactly the sort of stuff that I would like to learn. Dishwasher stuff and laundry stuff costs such a lot and I don't like the smells that come with them so I'd much prefer to make my own. Is there any chance you'd give lessons on this? I'd be hanging on your every word. :-)

How do you store your laundry stuff Fluffy?

btw, I read a bunch of books about cleaning when ds was lap napping and they said we don't need to worry about sterilising surfaces, but just cleaning off the gunk that bugs could be hiding under or trapped in.

So I just clean kitchen surfaces with fairy liquid now, and am very careful with raw meat and fish that anything they touch goes in the dishwasher afterwards, and hands are washed before touching surfaces after.

It means I cut right down on bleach sprays and stuff which is meant to help with allergies and asthma. What do you think fluffy? I always wonder whether all these things are just fashion or what, and obviously I don't have the facilities to culture the bugs on my kitchen worktop, so I have no idea what's actually living on there.

I do limescale places with vinegar left on for 2 hours and then washed off with plain liquid soap, either fairy or Johnson's baby shampoo, depending on what's close at hand.

e-cloths are a big favourite here.

Guys ye are so chatty 😁
I'm going to have to go to bed early to catch up with ye guys.

Interesting fluffy Im now in charge of our house budget. Dh is instructed to provide all receipts for food and house related items.

We bulk bought tea last year when I was playing with subscribe and save. So we have approximately 3000 tea bags here. Earl grey. Camomile. Mint. Green and a catering pack of tetley (which dh was meant to post out to Bil in Aussie but couldn’t be arsed to so I opened it when I ran out of tea. They’d been sat in the living room for a year...)

I’d make my own laundry stuff but it’s storage that’s an issue for us. We just don’t have much. When we have a house with a garage or a shed though...

Ideally I want somewhere with a basement. Or a pantry. Or both. Oh the storage possibilities.

I just use washing up liquid too Sunny.
Do you ever watch CleanMySpace in YouTube? Somebody on this thread told me about it a while ago. Lots of homemade cleaning solutions.
I only use bleach if someone has a stomach bug. I worry about the impact on aquatic life.

I'll check that out Snuggly. It sounds good.

I am very sparing with bleach too because I read that it turned into something called dioxins that affect children's growth or something.

My dm used to use bleach all the time, but I think their generation grew up without antibiotics or vaccines and had very different challenges to deal with. (TB in the community and no heating in the house and so on.)

I have an issue with bleach. It makes me hyperventilate. Anything with a strong chemically smell makes me panic. I am very much not a work top cleaner. I'd put a pic of my counter top corners but you would all seriously disown me!

What I do is have a lot of plastic chopping boards, and use 3-4 each meal I cook. These get scrubbed and/or dishwashered. I use dettol multi surface (the one that doesn't really smell), but a bottle lasts ages as I'm a bit odd with using it. I do a lot of very hot washing up. And no unwrapped food is allowed to roam on surfaces and them be consumed, even fruit.

Heinz ravioli tastes just the same as it did when I was little! £21 in Sainsburys. But I filled the car and took a lot of crap to the tip.

Girlie that's a very brave decision. The right pet will come along for you but this dog isn't it.
Been to football today. Then sainsbury £90 but some of that will go back as things I various sizes.
£10 to poppy appeal.
Food wise I don't track but should. Probably up to £150 a week most weeks which is shocking for 2+2 with 1 on school lunches.
Sorted my cupboards and took some stuff to the food back along with left over party pop and sweets.

Chicken is in the oven roasting. I’ve ballsed up ds’ passport application (sigh put my details as dh’s...). So will have to grab another form.

We have settled in to watch the NFL on bbc. I think this match is at Twickenham. Love a bit of NFL. Don’t understand it (dh does) but I live how violent it is. And the snacks if you go to a live game. I had a nacho truck last time. And a corn dog. Mmm. And beers.

Ds is in his basket with us in the living room. I’ve popped some snuffly babe stuff on a washcloth and have put it near his basket. Hopefully it helps him.

Dh had a bath earlier with olbas oil in it. Ds and I sat outside the bathroom door and breathed in the steam for a bit. Ds is super snuggly today. He’s settling only when asleep on either me or dh. He’s warm too. He does have a bit of a temperature. But dr the other day said to let him ride it out. Only give calpol if his temp goes over 38 degrees. And if he’s not settling at all.

He slept for good chunks of the night last night. Between 1030 and 230. And from 330 to 6. This is fairly normal. And he’s feeding well. So not too concerned. Am concerned as want to make him better. But if it’s a cold we just have to ride it out.

Bleach in the loo occasionally. I had to buy some dettol yesterday for vomit bowl other wise hot soapy water. 60 degree wash for towel, sheet and cleaning cloths.
Zoflora once a week on the kitchen floor.

My sister is weirdly completely opposite to me, and uses a lot of bleach. Her kitchen used to make me gag, and as for the high chair. I think she used to wash fruit in a bleach solution too. She can't believe that we will eat leftovers! Uneaten food goes straight in the bin. We don't get on so well.

Asthmas been linked to the dirt hypothesis so too many anti bacterial products would be bad if you subscribe to the theory. I've always quite liked the dirt hypothesis.

Laundry gloop is 2 bars soap grated in the food processor, not lemon because it smells dirty in gloop, 500g soda crystals & a small bottle of Zoflora again not citrus.

Using a saucepan on the hob Mix the soap until dissolved into 2ltr boiling water, when it's dissolved add the crystals. Fill a 10ltr bucket with water out the hot tap half way. Add the mix to the bucket & stir. Fill to top with more hot water. When it's cooled down stir the Zoflora in.

I haven't got a lid for our bucket so I cover it with an old dinner plate.

I use a cap off a hairspray can to dose it out, two per wash. It doesn't work well under 30c.

The bucket lives in a cupboard near the washer.

I'd love a pantry too. I could have everything decanted into labelled jars & brew beer in there. It would be a room of awesomeness.

What is zoflora? I have seen it but never read the blurb on the box. I'm very tempted to give gloop a go fluffy I buy pink surf, huge boxes, but it's still probably £50 a year (guess). Don't use fabric conditioner or tumble dry sheets anymore.

The Zoflora is optional btw. I just like it.

I think stomach bugs go airborne.

It's just very concentrated highly perfumed disinfectant. It's not tested on animals, or it wasn't last time I checked.

Soft water areas can get away with no softener.

That's fantastic Fluffy. I don't think I'm brave enough for that tbh. I'm impressed that you do it thought.

Lonely I have the same hyperventilation thing with smells. I'm also a keen gardener and quite slim like you. Interesting!

I dream of making all my own cleaning stuff (and fragrancing with essential oils too) - that's an aim when we move.

Seriously need to sort out our DVD storage. Getting out of hand.

I managed my injection myself today. Go me!!! Need to ask for a replacement though as I broke the first needle when I snapped the cap off but I did the injection.

Well done Cag!

I think I'll have to pass on the laundry gloom until we have somewhere to store it. Especially with 3 lots of little hands into everything!

Laundry gloom! Now that's a Freudian slip and a half 😂

DD2 is too sleepy to latch on 😰 I am now glad I kept the syringes as I'm trying to express a bit for her. Possibly the weirdest thing I have ever done 😂

Will she not feed in her sleep cag? If you can manage to just squash it into her mouth?! 😂

I’ve got a chicken roasting too. Will have with roasted veg. I could do roast potatoes too but I can’t really be bothered. I should though shouldn’t I?? Blah.

Pumpkins done. We have one Harry Potter and one jack ‘skellington’ (thanks google!)

Roast spuds are always worth the effort (says she who has virtually never made them because DH does it)

Her mouth is too tiny! They did say she doesn't have a tongue tie as she can stick her tongue right out but for some reason when I try and latch her on she doesn't stick her tongue out.

I just posted a photo on a BF group and they said it's changing from colostrum to regular milk so hopefully in the next day or so it'll be in properly. Never thought I'd be photographing my own boob

Sorry, but Cag at the boob FB post. I know it's hard but you made me smile.

Came 4th female in my race, go me! Got £30 for my efforts. I've spent it already on Fairy Non Bio for Fluffy

Ah when I was exclusive expressing it was amazing seeing the different types of milk through the days! I had loads of trouble getting ds to open his mouth too it was just so tiny. I also think the saying should be top lip to nipple rather than nose to nipple as that does not work

need. Well done