If you're as accident prone as I am, a well stocked first aid kit will be essential in your household but if you don't have one or your attempt at one is half-arsed why not take a tiny bit of time out of your week to get this must-have sorted out? Let's sort you out a budget friendly, organised and realistic first aid kit.

Budget friendly First Aid Kit

1. Don't spend just yet
Before you go out and spend a small fortune take a look at what you already have around your home already. Go through your bathroom, kitchen and anywhere else which has for some reason, become a designated home to plasters and stretch bandages and corral everything together. Throw out anything which is out of date or dirty.

2. Categorise everything
I like to break down my first aid kit into categories. So all plasters/bandaids in one pile, bandages in another and so and so on. Once broken down I pop each group into a separate, clearly labelled zip-lock bag (I actually get the Poundland version, they're amazing), so they stay well organised and clean.

3. Storage and location
There is not much point having all the bits and bobs if you can't locate them in an emergency, so let's get them all in one place shall we?

I store my first kit in a clear plastic tub in a cool area of my bathroom (I also keep a few essentials in a small pouch in the kitchen and another in the car), it can be easily accessed, everyone can see it and because they can see plasters etc. inside they know just what it is - plus it is clearly labelled. If you're worried about people locating your first aid kit in an emergency something obvious like this stylish first aid tin could be a handy alternative.  EDIT - oooh I've fallen into an Amazon black hole, isn't this one oh and this one lovely?

Work out the best spot to store your kit, every home is different and used by different people so work out the best place to keep your first aid kit - make sure it is kept away from children as it may contain medicines and scissors. However make sure everyone who is old enough to use the kit knows exactly where it is. Maybe even pop a visible notice on a pin board or the fridge door?

4. Stocking the kit
My top tip is to buy something like this or this. These kits come with everything you should need plus they work out a lot cheaper than going out and buying all of the items individually. When we first moved in together I bought this St Johns Ambulance first aid kit and I've gone on to slowly restock what we needed as and when it ran out. When restocking I buy my stocks from shops such as Wilkinson, B&M, Home Bargains and pound shops because they work out cheaper than buying from a pharmacy or supermarket.

Essentials
- Anti-bac gel/wipes (I'm not usually into over using this stuff but it is essential when it comes to dealing with cuts, burns etc.)
- Plasters of various sizes, along with uncut strips
- Bandages in a couple of different sizes
- Sterile dressing
- Safety pins
- Microporous tape
- Tweezers
- Small torch
- Triangular bandage
- Stretch bandage
- Burns dressings
- Antiseptic cream
- Scissors

5. Keeping organised
Is this sad? Quite likely. I keep a spreadsheet for everything in my life of each item in our first aid kit. That way I always know when we're running low on something and I can add it to my shopping list. I'm hideously accident prone so running out of plasters could be a bit of a disaster.

It is essential to have up to date first aid training, you can find courses with British Red Cross and St John Ambulance.

TTFN,

P.S. I see a 'medical kit' as something a bit different and I didn't want to smush it into this post as an add on, so if you'd like me to do a post on that do let me know and I'll get to it soon.

P.P.S. This is the Wednesday task in my housekeeping blog post.

This page and all pages on this site contain links to outside sources including paid affiliates. A Thrifty Mrs is not responsible for the content of any third party website. Click here for my disclosure policy.

Charity Shop Shenanigans | Thrifty and Found

I think buying second hand goods must be in my blood. I have been bitten by the thrifty bug (buggus thrifticatus), and there is nothing to beat the thrill of the chase when you’re after a bargain. Every single one of the following items came from the same local charity shop in the small market town where I live.
Why buy new when you can re-home something from a bygone age, which has stood the test of time with its quality and charm?

First, we have a gloriously kitsch tea trolley. This sexy little minx had my name on it from the moment I clapped eyes on her. She was a steal at £10 and has found her mojo as a cocktail trolley dolly. Imagine Joan from Mad Men wiggling along on a pair of heels, pushing this little lovely. Ding, dong!

I was channelling my inner Margot Leadbetter the day I found this slinky vintage dress for £8. I wore it to a 1970’s themed dinner party and sashayed about offering people a ‘little top-up’ like Beverley from Abigail’s Party. As a 70’s throw back myself, I ignored the scratchy metallic fabric and anaesthetised myself with gin. I didn’t realise it at the time but the top is see through; hey, what’s a little cleavage between friends?!

Talking of wobbly cleavage, I picked this glass jelly mould up for £2. Lots of people collect them and charity shops are usually wise to this and charge upwards of a fiver. Traffic light jelly is always a hit at birthday tea parties and seems to bring out the big kid in everyone. My mum used to make a pink blancmange bunny rabbit sitting on a bed of green jelly grass for special tea time treats.

I spotted this sewing box across a crowded room and like Gollum with his ‘precious’, I had my eyes on the prize and made a grab for it. When I opened the lid I found that it was stuffed to the gills with vintage haberdashery, including seven pairs of Sheffield scissors.

Her trim little figure indicates she’s circa 1950’s; my husband gave her a makeover and now she looks fresh and contemporary. A super little addition to my sewing room for £15.

Finally, I am back on the booze again with these vintage champagne glasses. It was £8 for the pair and as I have a little collection of them, it would have been rude not to. I like to imagine myself getting squiffy with Leonardo DiCaprio on the set of The Great Gatsby when I use these.

Thanks to my local charity shop, the legacy of these beautiful things lives on and brightens up my world. I never pass a charity shop without nipping in for a quick look as you never know what little treasure is waiting to be claimed by you.

Sharon is 49,  from Kent and a mum of 5 who blogs about thrifty finds, sewing and baking on her lovely blog called A Saucy Stitch. 
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A huge thank you to Sharon for sharing her charity shop finds with us, if you'd like to guest blog on A Thrifty Mrs read my submission guide here.

This page and all pages on this site contain links to outside sources including paid affiliates. A Thrifty Mrs is not responsible for the content of any third party website. Click here for my disclosure policy.

A washing machine is an expensive bit of kit usually dumped in a kitchen or utility room and used and used without much care or attention until one day it dies in a spectacular fashion usually involving holding your clothes hostage in smelly water. It's pretty easy to ruin a washing machine and here a few ways you're potentially doing so.

How to ruin your washing machine

1. Wash your underwired bra (or heavy zipped items) in the washing machine
Why not throw some barbed wire in there too?
Look, one day the wire will get caught and it will get stuck in the drum and you will have to pay the repair man a daft amount of money to remove it whilst you stand there with a bra with one intact boob cavity and the other looking like a balloon which has been mancathandled by a kitten. Of course if you don't want to ruin your washing machine you could hand wash your bras or use these mesh bags.

2. Overload it
Go on stuff it full, slip a sleeping bag in there (why ever not, it's basically an infinite black hole for your crap, non?) on top of your regular wash too if you really want to ruin it. Really make sure the washing can't move around and forces the drum to jostle around inside the machine.

3. Never clean out the drawer
Don't remove the powder and liquid drawer and certainly never give it a rinse. If you really want to allow your washing machine to die allow a powdery crust to build up and keep plonking more powder on top with every use.


4. Make sure not to run maintenance washes
A washing machine washes things right? Why on earth would you want to wash the machine? Some people (ahem me) recommend a monthly wash at 90 degrees with vinegar in the drum and powder drawer (also chuck your cleaning cloths in too) to rid the machine of limescale, clear out gunk and keep the drum fresh but if you want a stale, stinky washing machine skip this altogether. You've got £300+ to chuck around right?

5. Don't use the correct settings
Do every single wash on the same setting. All clothes are the same right? And washing machine manufacturers obviously just put those other settings on for a laugh.

6. Never empty the filter
Why not allow the festering dirty, gunk to build up inside the filter until it ends up filling up the drum (oh no we didn't come back from holiday in 2008 to have our washing machine filled with water at all)?  Great way to beat this is opening the filter and emptying the water, it is usually a kick panel situated somewhere along the lower portion of your machine. The first time you empty it do it slowly and bit by bit as a lot of water will come gushing out but after the first time try to keep on top it once a month. Obviously if you really want to bump off your washing machine pay no attention to the detail above.

You might find useful:

Cleaning with vinegar

My cleaning kit

30 second cleaning

TTFN,

P.S. Do you look after your washing machine?

P.P.S This is my second post of the day, you can catch the first one here.

This page and all pages on this site contain links to outside sources including paid affiliates. A Thrifty Mrs is not responsible for the content of any third party website. Click here for my disclosure policy.

Sales, Discounts & Bargains | A Thrifty Mrs

Remember last year when I shared sales, voucher codes and discount details on a Saturday? Well lots of you seemed to really enjoy those posts and find them useful (I've had a few emails asking me to bring them back) when you needed a code to save you some cash on a purchase so I'm bringing them back.

I'll be posting every Saturday with an overview of sales, discount codes and bargain finds, plus you can share yours in the comments of that post (also feel free to tweet me during the week with details of any sales or codes you want to share).

During the week I'll be updating the discounts tab, which you'll see at the top of the page or here, as and when I can and for more regular updates I'll be sharing each and every discount, sale or bargain I find here. That last link is a tumblr account, so if you're not down with tumblr and da yoof don't worry because all of those updates will automatically go to my Twitter so you can stay updated that way.

TTFN,

P.S. Have you found any bargains, sales or discounts recently? Share the details in the comments section below.

This page and all pages on this site contain links to outside sources including paid affiliates. A Thrifty Mrs is not responsible for the content of any third party website. Click here for my disclosure policy.

West Kirby is one of our favourite beaches in the north west of England because it is clean, pretty and easily accessible so when our days off coincided last week we drifted off to The Wirral for a stroll along side the sea with the puppy.

That Housekeeping post

Right, shall we get on with getting your house in order? Good.

These posts aren't about the 'basics' of cleaning your home but about things which help it tick over or maybe even rarely get done.