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If things get tougher?

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  • jennyjelly
    jennyjelly Posts: 1,708 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    Primrose wrote: »
    Could cut back on wine

    :eek: Anything but that!!!! It's the only thing that keeps me sane about all the other things we are cutting back on!!! :eek:
    Oh dear, here we go again.
  • dronid
    dronid Posts: 599 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker Photogenic
    You can find some guides to Solar Cooking (amongst other things) on this website. The place is based in Almeria, southern Spain and they've gone for every alternative they can.

    http://www.sunseed.org.uk/downloads.asp?sid=Information%20Leaflets

    Solar cooking works in the UK - all it requires is sunlight. The Solar Slow cooker is probably the best for our climate as it doesn’t require really strong sunlight.:D

    I could make it better myself at home. All I need is a small aubergine...

    I moved to Liverpool for a better life.
    And goodness, it's turned out to be better and busier!
  • emmie1234
    emmie1234 Posts: 237 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Hey everyone, havn't been on the old style boards for ages... been mega busy with one thing or been reading this thread with interest as I've been shocked lately with the rate and speed of the rising food costs..:mad:

    I used to be able to do a weekly food shop this time last year for my ex,myself and our little girl, dog AND cat, including cleaning products etc for around £30 (with careful planning) this year I'm looking at more like £45 a week, with less coming in.

    With the rising costs of gas/electric too, I'm looking for ways to cut back further otherwise this winter I will be in Dire Straits.......(not the band either) he he....

    I've banned the gas fire and central heating for now when the nights are a little bit nippy and everyone has to stick on a jumper or get a hot water bottle if they're cold...

    Tumble Dryer has done one too.... line dry or clothes horse only

    I have prepay meters for my gas and electric which I know costs me more anyway..but they help me budget. This last winter, I was paying around £30 a week :eek: into the gas meter and about £15-20 per week into the electric meter so something gotta give what with the price hikes looming.....

    At the mo, I'm getting by on about £6-7 per week for the gas (hot water only) and about £12 per week for my electricity. We've got rid of our bath and only have a shower now too which seems to have made a huge difference too.

    I've swapped all my light bulbs for energy saving ones and I'm hoping to invest (or get through freecycle) some thick thermal curtains before winter looms upon us again....

    I'm going to start filling a flask in the morning too with hot water for my coffee's during the day too.

    I've started working as an Avon rep too to get in some extra pennies.

    always looking for extra ways to cut back.

    Anyway, loving this thread, its given me some great ideas.

    Em
    Marriages are made in heaven, but then again so is thunder and lightning!!!.....getting divorced lol :j

    :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
    Trying to "up" my income and rookie oldstyler
  • Sarahsaver
    Sarahsaver Posts: 8,390 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    after reading this thread I have cooked most of our tea in the oven, and am making stock with the chicken bones from yesterday. Made meal no.2 with leftover chicken today, tomorrow will be no. 3 then 2 batches of stock cos its extra tasty being free renge :)
    Extra pennies I do mystery shopping, shopandscan and surveys, as well as using cashback sites.
    I will get my mending bag out and mend some clothes too!
    Member no.1 of the 'I'm not in a clique' group :rotfl:
    I have done reading too!
    To avoid all evil, to do good,
    to purify the mind- that is the
    teaching of the Buddhas.
  • ceridwen
    ceridwen Posts: 11,547 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    elona wrote: »
    What about the old idea of "hay box " cooking?

    Get a pot of stew or soup etc really hot at the start of cooking then put it in a cool box lined with polystyrene- or wrap in a blanket with a "space blanket" on top, tightly bound - eave for about six or eight hours and it should be cooked.

    It is like a non electric slow cooker.

    We have been having a couple of power cuts where we live so I have ordered a set of 10 solar lights from Woolworths (in the sale at £19.99 instead of £80!) The lights can charge up outside then be taken inside as nightlights if needed. Should be cheaper than torches and batteries and safer than candles.

    I was wondering about doing that - but the ones I was studying earlier today didnt seem to have an on/off mechanism. They looked like they were just plain going to stay on until the "battery" had run down. Do these lights vary? I could do with a bit more info about them.
  • katieowl_2
    katieowl_2 Posts: 1,864 Forumite
    emmie1234 wrote: »
    I've swapped all my light bulbs for energy saving ones and I'm hoping to invest (or get through freecycle) some thick thermal curtains before winter looms upon us again....
    Em

    Em, a great alternative to thermal curtains is covering your windows with bubble wrap (I'd say more effective too) you might be able to find that on Freecycle too - although some DIY type places sell it by the metre too.

    My windows are wooden sashes so I drawing pin each corner in place, and then seal it with masking tape.

    I've done this to my daughters windows nearly every winter since they've been in that room, and it makes one hell of a difference to the temperature, their room is one of the coldest in the house (and it has the cellar under it which doesn't help) If you are careful about taking it down, you can re use it for several years too.

    If you have net curtains up you can't really notice it from inside.

    Regards

    kate
  • Tashja
    Tashja Posts: 1,214 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I am going to be going through this thread and getting some ideas together.

    Also is there a link to the Dervaes website - I love reading things like that !!!

    T xx
  • katieowl_2
    katieowl_2 Posts: 1,864 Forumite
    Here you go Tashja....

    http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/

    They update it every day, so try and find the little CNN film clip from a couple of days ago.... it was Brill....

    This link might work:
    http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/06/15/gutierrez.urban.homesteaders.cnn?iref=videosearch But CNN kept puting me back to the home Page, in which case if you search on Urban Farmers it comes up....


    Regards

    Kate
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 12,492 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I have been using a plug in TCM energy device that works out the cost of energy used and today I made a sandwich organic wholemeal loaf in my panasonic breadmaker. The programme took 5 hours and the total cost was 5.2 pence. (ebico swalec rate of 12.72p/kwh). It took 14 oz of flour and a few small bits and pieces, which I haven`t added in but they must cost only pence

    I have been working out the rough cost of an equivalent loaf, using the same programme ie flour cost + energy cost
    examples using:
    tesco white bread flour = 19p
    tesco stoneground bread wholemeal = 21p
    doves farm organic wholemeal = 51p

    I have been pleasantly surprised at the low cost of the energy used and am also pleased that I bought quite a lot of doves w/meal flour when it was going cheap in tesco. The rate I used for the above calculation was £1.68 a bag from goodness direct

    Nice to know there is another grade down I can go re bread, if I have to
  • katieowl_2
    katieowl_2 Posts: 1,864 Forumite
    kittie wrote: »
    Nice to know there is another grade down I can go re bread, if I have to

    With a loaf of something half decent costing up to £1.40 I'd have to say that your grade down is something of a H U G E jump!!!! Not to mention how much nicer the loaf will be!!! Plus it's organic, and you know exactly what went into it.

    Thanks for posting that costing....I was wondering if a bread maker would be a good addition to my summer cooking devices.

    Regards

    Kate
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