Half term on a budget: Make an Easy Peasy Bird Feeder

In this post, Becky from Baby Budgeting shares this great idea for making bird feeders Perfect for little hands to get involved with, and great for bringing wildlife to your garden.

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To make a pine cone bird feeder you just attach a pine cone to a piece of string and dip it into melted vegetable suet before rolling in wild birdseed. If your child  does not have a nut allergy this alternative may be easier for them to be involved in – using a palette knife, you could apply a coating of peanut butter to the pine cone, again before rolling in wild birdseed or peanuts.

Great fun for the kids to do. You could set up a little production line and make quite a few! The pine cones can then be hung out ready for the birds.

This idea is an extract from my ebook . For 49 more Autumn ideas on a budget with your little one you can click through to purchase. The ebook is just £1.50. happy half term!      

I went to a Swishing Party last night …..

In this post, Becky at Baby Budgeting explains 'swishing' for the uninitiated!

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I really think you should hold a Swishing Party and definitely go to one if you are invited. They are basically swap it parties. I am not suggesting you take along your partner and trade them in for a new model  or indeed swap your baby (even if they are giving you sleepless nights.) No,  these are parties where you swap your ‘stuff’. One thing those of us with little ones seem to have  is a lot of ‘stuff.’

My sister had decided on a baby and children's clothes as a them for her Swishing party. She sent out a little invite asking if we would like to go along, bringing any baby or children's clothes we no longer needed  with the opportunity to gain some we did – for no cost! She would provide coffee and cake.  Now I do like a night out, I love cake and I love something for nothing too so I was more than keen. I grabbed some kids clothes I was intending to eBay and off I went.

The whole point of a Swishing party as these swap parties are called  is to give and to gain.  We all laid out the clothes we had bought in the playroom and went off to the kitchen for a a gossip then …..we went shopping without needing a penny! We just helped ourselves to whichever clothes we wanted. Brilliant. I filled a little bag with PJ’s,  a fake lather jacket, a football top, a lime cord skirt, a colourful dress, a party dress, a white long sleeved T and various other fabulous goodies for my two children. Oh and I picked up two perfect snowsuits for my good friend who has just had a baby. Marvellous.

Any clothes left there donated to charity or taken home by the bringer.

We had a good laugh, decluttered, caught up, spent nothing, did a bit of recycling and got some beautiful clothes for our children. What a fab night out! Variations on the theme could be books, children's toys even adults clothes.

I talk about swap it parties in my book  ’How to afford time off with your baby’ and I do believe these are a really budget conscious way to add to your child wardrobe and socialise.

Have you ever been Swishing?

50 ideas for a super summer; fun on a budget with under 5’s

Becky from baby budgeting had just released her final fun a on a budget ebook and it’s all about fun in the summer. 

It is full of ideas for arts and crafts, books, songs, recipes and play. You’ll never be bored again. Aimed largely at under fives lots of these ideas can be adapted for older children too. They will cost nothing or very little and should really inspire you . 

Here is a little taster from the ebook:

 

 Ladybirds and Garden Snakes

Painting stones is a lovely thing to do it involves walking and exploring, collecting and crafting it and can take hours all of it filled with lovely togetherness. Flat stones are the easiest to paint and fairly large ones too but don’t let that stop you. Do let your child pick whatever they wish they will soon learn which surfaces are easiest to handle. 

Here are some tips

1. Clean your stone well or your paint won’t stick and let it dry.
2. Make sure its standing on lots of newspaper!
3. Decide which animal you want and make a plan.
4. Have a paintbrush for each colour (always the easiest option)
5. Keep it simple.
6. Varnishing when you have finished will preserve the paint.

Ladybird

Intricate detail is hard for little ones and hard on stones. I’ve tried adding googly eyes in the past but they don’t stick to well  a white painted circle with an inner blue or black blobs works great. A ladybird is simply red with black dots and 2 eyes

Garden Snakes

Garden snakes, 5 small stones attached by tape underneath painted green with eyes on the first stone look fab. You could also paint a little twig red and use it as a tongue.  You could place this in the grass and scare visitors!.

A lovely ebook indeed!

Click to buy and download now £1.50

Book Review - Becky Goddard-Hill’s How to Afford Time off with Your Baby – 101 Ways To Ease The Financial Strain

If you are a new mum, old mum, stay at home mum or working mum, you will know that raising a baby is an expensive time in your lives; well I have a great book for you.

Becky Goddard-Hill’s How to Afford Time off with Your Baby – 101 Ways To Ease The Financial Strain is pack full of great money saving tips and ideas, starting with pre-baby all the way up to 5 years old and beyond.

Becky a mum of two gives advice on how to save money so that you can stay at home with your children, but to be honest this book is ideal for all parents working or not working, it’s a wealth of ideas and knowledge.

There are 12 Chapters plus a resource bank, the Chapters include:-

Having A Lovely Pregnancy – Fantastic tips on how to save money and look after yourself.

Weaning, Walking and Wearing You Out (6-24 Months) – Which has been a great, help to me

Earning Money While Staying Off Work – Ideas for making money and all the legal information that you will need

Special Occasions – From Christenings to how to afford baby number two!

This book has been a great help for me, I thought I was pretty good with money saving but Becky has given me some great ideas. I have even given a copy to my best friend whose daughter is 7 weeks younger than BG.

I would highly recommend this book to all parents; It can be bought in many shops but on Amazon at the moment its £4.93 with free p&p

For more information on Becky and extra money saving ideas pop over to her blog, Baby Budgeting. 

NM X