Category Archives: household

Mortgage Problems

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There’s something that has been bothering me for ages and as I’m in a whiny mood I thought I’d write about.

Basically my problem is with mortgages and the fact that no one takes into consideration the fact that for the last 9 years without fail we have been paying around £750 a month every month. If we went for a mortgage this would count for nothing.

I know we’re not the only ones. The other thing is normally people who rent no longer have any savings for a deposit.

The fact is banks would give mortgages to people based on what they earn and none of them had previous experience of paying out huge sums every month.

As things stand we’ve no chance of getting a mortgage as my wife works part time since we had children and that’s not going to change until they are both at school which will be another 3 years down the line. Again with this situation we have always paid our rent, tax, and every other bill that comes with a house.

On a side note if anyone’s got a spare £170,000 and we’ll sort out a repayment system.

New chairs the thrifty way

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After years of messy children and drinks being spilt it was time we needed new chairs for our dining room.

When we first moved into our house we didn’t have children so we picked cream seats which have now been trashed.

As we can’t afford to get any new chairs we decided to re-fabric the chairs.

In our loft we found some old curtains which we would never use so we cut the fabric up and used that.

All we needed was to take the seat part off which was held on by 4 screws and then staple the new fabric over the top an use a staple gun and bingo we had new seats.

BEFORE

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AFTER

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Zoflora Bluebell Woods Review & Offer Code

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I have to be honest when I was asked to review this product I was keen to find out what bluebell woods actually smelt like as I’m not sure I would have been able to describe it. Even now its difficult to really explain it, its not a bad smell and does make the house smell nice and spring like. (If only we had the weather for it).

This Zoflora product is a concentrated disinfectant and the Bluebell Wood fragrance is a limited edition to celebrate Zoflora’s 90th birthday. To read more about their 90th Birthday celebrations please have a read on my other post.

The product its self can be used all over the house to clean floors, work surfaces, baths, sinks, potties, drains and toilets.

We used this product in most of the above places but especially in places that always seemed to have a weird smell such as the bins and it cleaned them perfectly and also left a lovely smell which makes a pleasant change to the usual household cleaner smell. I also used it undiluted in our kitchen sink and again it left a pleasant smell.

This works as a brilliant all round cleaner and I found it works best if you dilute if down and use it in a hand sprayer.  As the bottle is 120ml you should be able to dilute it down so you get just under 5 litres of disinfectant which in our house will last ages.

To celebrate  Zoflora being awarded the Good Housekeeping Institute Approved logo for 2012, I have a lovely offer for you – 34% off a subscription to Good Housekeeping magazine! That means you could get Good Housekeeping for £29.99 for 12 issues – that’s just £2.49 per issue. To take up this offer simply go here and use the code AG72. Offer valid until 31 December 2012.

 

Zoflora celebrates its 90th Birthday with launch of a British fragrance

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Zoflora, the UK’s favourite* household disinfectant brand, is celebrating its 90th Birthday this year.
Known for its fragranced antibacterial disinfectant products, Zoflora is a British heritage brand still manufacturing in its Huddersfield factory, since the brand began in 1922.

A BRITISH FAVOURITE

Originally created for use in Britain’s dance halls, it rapidly became a household favourite, replacing harsh carbolic disinfectants with fragrant, perfume enriched Zoflora. Zoflora has been on trend with each generation of user appreciating the new fragrances added to the range.

Currently available in twelve fragrances including Cherry Blossom, Citrus Fresh and Lavender, Zoflora is clinically proven to kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses while neutralising odours and leaving a long-lasting, fresh scent throughout the home.

NEW FRAGRANCE TO CELEBRATE 90 YEARS

Zoflora is introducing a brand new, limited edition fragrance, to add to the patriotic mood this year. Courtesy of new Zoflora Bluebell Woods, a distinctly British flower, homes around the country will be hygienically clean and filled with a delicate, floral scent of early summer.

Nicola Hobbs notes: “We are extremely proud of the heritage and longevity of our brand and how far it has evolved and continued to innovate over the last 90 years. Our loyal Zoflora fans love new fragrances and what better time to introduce a new, delicate scent of British Bluebell Woods to the Zoflora family than to celebrate our special birthday.”

Zoflora’s Bluebell Woods is the only early summer disinfectant that kills 99.9% of bacteria and viruses, eliminates odours and leaves a fragrantly scented room. The 120ml bottle makes 4.8 litres of full strength disinfectant, offering outstanding value. Simply add to water and use all over to make the home germ free; from floors to tiles, work surfaces to sinks, toilets and bins to make your home fresh, fragrant and ready for the summer. It’s even suitable for pet areas, litter trays and pet toys, just allow the surface to dry before you let your pet near them.

COMPETITION FOR ZOFLORA FANS
As part of their 90th Birthday celebrations Zoflora are also launching the ‘Zoflora Wipeout Challenge’ via their Facebook page from 1st May until the 4th June.

Wipe out bacteria and viruses to make our virtual online rooms fresh and fragrant for your chance to win 1000′s of prizes, , please visit www.facebook.com/LoveZoflora for more information.

AWARDED GOOD HOUSEKEEPING INSTITUTE APPROVED LOGO 2012

In this milestone year, the Good Housekeeping Institute (GHI) has awarded Zoflora their well-regarded approved logo on Zoflora Concentrated Disinfectant for 2012.

Zoflora Brand Manager, Nicola Hobbs notes: “We are extremely pleased to be awarded the GHI approved logo 2012, as 90 per cent of consumers trust an item which carries the GHI logo. We believe that the GHI endorsement demonstrates Zoflora’s proven efficacy as it measures ease of use, performance, design and instructions.”

www.zoflora.co.uk or www.facebook.com/LoveZoflora or @LoveZoflora

A review of this product will follow shortly

Our new way of doing the chores

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In times gone by we’ve kind of been a bit lazy on the household chores in this household.

It always just to be that on a Sunday we used to do

  • the hoovering upstairs and down
  • the dusting upstairs and down
  • washing the bedding
  • cutting the grass (in the summer)
  • the weekly food shop
  • cleaning the bathroom
  • cleaning the kitchen

Now as you can imagine this took up most of the day and considering this was the only day we got to spend together it meant family time was null and void.

To Laura’s credit she came up with a rota system which is simple but meant Sundays weren’t wasted and we spend some time as a family together.

Day Laura Darren
Monday Dust Upstairs Fold the washing
Tuesday Ironing Empty the bins
Wednesday Clean Kitchen Quick Hoover downstairs
Thursday Clean bathroom Dust Downstairs
Friday Wash the floors
Saturday Clean Kitchen
Sunday Hoover upstairs Hoover downstairs

 

Other jobs such as washing the bedding and towels etc are fitted around this rota but at least we have more time as a family together.

Gtech SW20 Review – Every house needs one!

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Gtech SW20 – Review

I decided to buy a Gtech SW20 power sweeper mainly because after mealtimes the children make quite a mess and sometimes it just too much hard work to get the vacuum cleaner out. After reading some write ups I decided that this was the one.

When I first started looking I had the image on the 70s and 80s version that my nan and mum had but things have moved on a lot since then.

The SW20 performs brilliantly over any floor surface and is so easy to use. It comes complete with an Eco-Charger which will charge the sweeper fully in 4 hours and then cut out so you can leave it plugged in without it using any more electricity. A full charge will give you about an hours full use which may not sound like a lot but we only use ours for 2-3 minutes a day meaning it will last for a few months on a single charge.

It even has a Germguard on the handle and bin – that’s an exclusive anti-bacterial compound that kills 99.9% of bacteria including MRSA, Salmonella and Ecoli. It’s perfect for a quick sweep round as it seems to collect all the little bits in its fairly large collection bin and as its only 1.6kg heavy it’s easy to move around with and steer.

This isn’t meant to get rid of your other vacuum cleaner but is perfect if you have messy children who enjoy crafts and cooking etc as you can quickly grab it and sweep quickly.

They do smaller models but we felt this was perfect for us.

Gtech SW20 has an RRP of £69.95 and is available from Amazon.co.uk

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