Right, we are already at the bone, HOW can we afford 3 kids, and a car to transport them in, on one income? HOW?

[fillyjonk]

We are bascially breaking even every month

We hardly have extravagent lifestyles.

We cook everything from scratch, though I accept there could be less strawberies and more reuse of leftovers.

We buy 90% organic

All kids clothes, and most of ours, are handmedowns or from ebay/charity shops. Ditto most toys etc.

We use reusable nappies etc.

Holidays-camping, or with grandparents

Have already shopped around for cheapest utilites / insuance etc - ta Martin's Money Tips

I want a very safe car with 3 x ISOFIX seats, this is non negotiable, I am utterly utterly neurotic about car safety. This looks like the fiat multipla and whoa they are expensive.

Plus also-there WILL be another mouth to feed, clothe, etc.

leave my hot meal alone.

We don't buy organic fruit and veg anymore. We have a no frills green grocers very near to where we live and buy everything from there. The man who runs it can tell us where eveything comes from. The good thing about it is everything is ready to eat. No waiting a week for the pears to ripen.

also good shoes can be passed on. dd wore three pair of ds' old kickers

The cheapest place to buy very decent secondhand baby clothes is NCT neary new sales. The racks are overflowing with 0-18 months clothes that have hardly been worn. Cheaper and less hassle than using ebay.

fillyjonk

On the organic fruit and vegetables I clipped an article a couple of days ago in 'The Metro' (cr*p paper but you can be confident that they got the info from somewhere else) about if you buy only 10 things organically, these are the ones to buy. If you're interested, I'll find it for you. This concept that some fruit and veg are more impacted by fertilisers and pesticides than others is endorsed by friends of mine who have multi-million organic superstore empire in Canada. IIRC - grapes are right up there in needing to be organic.

Seriously, if both children outgrew their new shoes in 2 weeks, they weren't properly measured or no growing room allowance was made.

Chances are it was one fitter who measured both your children and they need pulling up on this. Can you get back down to the Clarks shop saying you've thought about this, asked other parents about their experiences of children outgrowing their shoes so quickly and you and your dh are most unhappy and looking to involve trading standards.

You need to be saving money or reclaiming what you can now, not just when the baby arrives.

Have you previously outed all of your baby equipment ? I find car boot sales cheaper than eBay.

By the way, I'm 'Issymum' as was.

FJ - what car do you currently have?

Well if you want that bike come get it and if not suitable flog it- just sitting at abck of shed atm

Grow your own organic beg? We only have a few things- gooseberries, currnats, a couple of apples, blakcberries but I do manage to get quite a lot of jam etc out of these, and freeze tarts etc when things are seasonal.

Mum manages to grow all their own fruit and veg in their council house garden LOL!

We got our car off Ebay, we amde sure we saw it etc but it got us decent deal tbh.

Shoes- my boys have a pair of crocs fro summer and nothing else (and you can get cheap versions anywhere now). Their school shoes come from Woolies, I realised they actually alst just as longa s they trash anyhow LOL! School shoes awfully messy now, but who cares- only a few weeks left of term anyhow. Woolies do a version of doodles for £4 LOL!

Working whilst studying is fiddly- student finance allow a student to woprk as much as they wish and don't take that income into account BUT WTC do tkae it into their sums.

This is somthing we're going to have to address soon, I suppose, as I might be taking a year out to HE ds3 (HE'ing alongside Uni next year). The baby thing doesn't seem to want to happen atm though, but who knows for the future.

If there's anything we can do (lends etc) please do let us know.

And take that bike- seriously, its been there 3 years and its still in the box LOL! I'll never get round to flogging it!

We do cancel the veg box when we're a bit strapped tbh, we see it as a luxury.

One thing I did learn with ds3 is that the babies get MUCH cheaper as you go along- the novelty of baby stuff wears off, and you have so much left over (and can borrow anything you don't have).

Issy that article priginates from The Times I think (they alls ahre don't they?) so pretend its that LOL (only know coz Dh gets The Times free at work so we dont bother buying anything else)

also good shoes can be passed on. dd wore three pair of ds' old kickers

I read that as KNICKERS several times

oh ta peachy, let me think re bike as not sure how to get THREE kids on a bike...am tempted for ME.....aarrgh let me think!

re the HEing-do you want info re local groups? There is one in monmouth and one in newport and also one in ponty. mail me if you want.

right all the stuff re foood is good, my prob is that EVERT YEAR I try to grow stuff and EVERY YEAR I fail

I do need to go and Interact With My Children now because they are getting a bit feral but shall return.

(and my god the ONLY new clothes dd had were from friends etc desperate to buy dresses. aside from that her big brother's hand me downs,

Have you thought about writing reviews?

I use Dooyoo and Ciao and have made about £80 in the last two months. I write one or two a week and can choose amazon vouchers or a cheque (dooyoo) or bank transfer (ciao). I post my reviews on both sites so double my money for the extra effort of posting it and rating other people's reviews on both sites (some people wont rate yours unless you rate theirs).
Ciao offer you the option of filling in surveys for cash as well. THere are several other good survey sites as well for cash and vouchers for very little effort.Its not much but it all adds up.

oh gosh interesting

do you choose your own thing to review?

do they have to be voted for or summat?

amazon vouchers v helpful, we are home edding

Will email you re the groups ta (was hoping you'd know )

IME fruit and veg easier to grow in tubs etc but opretty much anything can be turned into one- and grpw things you'lla ctually use and are easY! Loads of lettuces / carrots / tomatoes in grobags- anyone can grow pumpkins I promise- skip the fancy stuff.

Have you got PYO place near you? Pick, preserve and it'll last all year- doesn't ahve to be jam: tarts, cheesecakes, chutneys (which after all make a meal of bread and cheese and so dave loads)...

Aren't LIDL about to launch a foartrade range now?

Yes, you can suggest pretty much any products and the categories are huge, books, toys, airlines, household appliances, food, shops, attractions etc. I usually review children's books and toys.

On Dooyoo you get 30 miles or 3p per person who rates your review. If it is particularly well written you get nominated for a 'crown' which means you get an extra £1.50 for that review. I usually get about £1.50 for each basic review, more obviously if it is crowned. You do have to spend some time reading and rating other people's reviews but this is quite enjoyable as there is a real community.

You can get a cheque at 55,000 miles (for £50 as they take £5 for admin) or you can cash in for £10 amazon (no charge-10,000 miles).

Ciao-you earn 0.5, 1p or 2p per rating as certain categories earn different amounts e.g phones and electrical stuff is usually 2p, kids stuff is 1p. You earn double for the first month if yours is the first review. If your review is rated exceptional you get put it to win some of the Premium Fund-I got another £2 this way. Payment is by transfer into your bank account. If you sign up for surveys too and fill in your profile you get a couple a month.

Hope this helps, I really enjoy it. It takes me about an hour to write a review and then I spend 2/3 hours rating other peoples reviews on ciao and dooyoo

Filly, I do not mean to be flippant about this, but you are already a SAHM?

The only thing that is going to change is another child coming on the scene?

If there is some way you can keep the car, things don't change very dramatically at all. Assuming you are going to breastfeed and wash nappies, how much can a little person cost in the first year, before shoes become an issue?

A little tweaking of the budget and I'm sure you'll get round it

And when the shoes become an issue, get in touch with Franny for some bark sucking tips and that should pay for them

I wouldn't skimp on make-up BTW

Clinique Bonus Time is a pretty good chance to stock up for a few weeks - for 20 quid you can get a lot of basics - or you can buy wholesale stuff on Ebay

more important than shoes

no point being poor AND ugly

Does Clinique make one pretty?

more than Clark's does

Oh, DingALongCow, you've reminded me re Ciao - will have to write more reviews.

Filly, you've had some excellent suggestions on here. I am too scarily bad with money to make any further, except perhaps to get a piggybank you put stray coins into and hope there's a veritable host of cash in their come Christmas.

See how optimistic I am?

[not a financial advisor]

this is kinda - we are skint but living the lifestyle we want to - re: organic, holiday, general lentil weaveryness.

hardly chips and beans 3 times a week

custardo I think it does also depend on your housing

owning a house can be V expensive

We have had 5k in repair bills this year (1960s house) and there isn't much we can except pay

It has buggered us up on the lifestyle-we-want front becuase the life-style-we-want also involves no buckets in the children's bedrooms when it rains GRR

That's for sure, MP.