People may think I’m a tight, terrible mum as I give my son filthy toys I find on the street – I don’t care, he’s happy
MANY parents may struggle to buy toys for their children due to the ongoing cost of living prices or how expensive they have become.
However, that hasn’t stopped some parents from getting nifty with seeing what they can get their kids on a budget.
That’s exactly what Finleigh Powell did when she found a toy car on the side of the road.
Taking to TikTok, she explained her young son Rex had wanted a toy car for a while and so she snapped up the opportunity to grab it.
After taking it with permission, the West Midlands-based mum took to TikTok to share her find and how she fixed it up.
“I found this filthy car on the side of the road and my first thought was ‘you’re coming home with me,'” she begins in her video.
“Now, you’re probably gonna think I’m a terrible mum for this, but my two-year-old has wanted one of these for the longest time and what is better than finding a freebie on the side of the road that just needs a little spruce-up?”
She goes on to joke the toy “probably needs an MOT” because it was “absolutely disgusting.”
“There was everything you could think of inside and out.
“There’s bird s***on it, there was a snail family, it was just absolutely honking.
“But hold off on the judgment and wait until you see it at the end because me and Rue did an absolutely cracking job on this.”
She then explains she used a carpet brush to clean it as she couldn’t get in the shed to get a bucket or hose.
She also used her indoor cleaning bucket, the carpet brush, and some fairy liquid to give it a scrub.
“I’ll tell you something though, my arms were aching at the end of this. I think I scrubbed it with that brush for about half an hour.
“It was an absolute pain in the a** to do because it kept rolling away, but after my lengthly workout the main bit was done.”
She says she then doused it with water and got to work on cleaning “every nook and cranny.”
She then addressed the division the clip may cause.
e can now spend that money doing something else, and this also saves this car going to the tip and just being waste landfill.
Finleigh Powell
“I know this video is going to divide opinions whether I’m a tight a** mum or whether I’m in the right or the wrong, but I really don’t care.
“We were going to buy Rue one of these and they’re about £70.
“That’s not the issue, we have the money to buy it, but why would you buy something if there’s something perfectly fine on the side of the road that just needs a clean?
“We can now spend that money doing something else, and this also saves this car going to the tip and just being waste landfill.
“So one we’ve saved the planet, and two, I’ve saved my bank account, and three I’ve still got a happy boy at the end of it all.
“And that is all that matters. What does it matter where it came from? My son is happy and that is all I care about,” she concluded.
She said she was really happy with how the car had turned up and her son was “over the moon” in his “secondhand car.”
Taking to the comments, people were supportive of Finleigh’s move.
One person penned: “Sustainable queen!!!”
Another said: “Teaching sustainability, saving money, and teaching your son to take good care of things [clapping hand emojis] job well done.”
A third said: “This also created memories and that is priceless in itself!!! ‘Mummy, remember when we found that car and cleaned it?'”
Money saving tips for parents
WE'VE put together six top tips to cut costs, nab freebies and to make sure you're not fined.
- Free prescriptions and dental care – Prescriptions cost £9.15 a pop in England, while NHS dental costs vary by location. You can get both for free while you’re pregnant and for 12 months after your baby’s due date. Ask your doctor or midwife for a maternity exemption certificate (MATEX) to claim the free care.
- Free milk, infant formula, vitamins or fruit and veg – Under the Healthy Start programme, you may be entitled to the freebies if you’re at least 10 weeks pregnant or you have a child under four and you’re on certain benefits, such as Universal Credit.
- £500 free grant – In England, Northern Ireland and Wales you may be entitled to a Sure Start grant of £500 if you’re on certain benefits and expecting your first child or expecting more than one baby – such as twins.To claim, you need to fill out the following form on Gov.uk and get your doctor or midwife to sign it.
- Register the birth in time or face a £200 fine – You need to register the birth within 42 days of your baby being born with your local registry office. This costs £11 in England and Wales.
- Update a will or update it – If you don’t have a will, in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, where one parent dies, children will only inherit cash if the estate is worth more than £250,000 – otherwise all the money will go to the surviving spouse. If you don’t want that to happen, you need to get a will stating your wishes.
- Consider getting life insurance – No-one likes to think about death but if something happened to you, could the family survive without your salary? If not, you many want to consider life insurance. Use a comparison service to find not only the cheapest, but the most suitable cover for your needs.