If things get tougher?

ceridwen

dubgirl wrote: »

Hi, I have been following this thread from the start, but not posted, well cant remember that I have!! Ceridwen, I do admire what you are trying to do and I hope you succeed, god knows what it will be like when i come to retire in about 20 years time. I doubt my private pension will be anywhere near enough to live on. Also love the blog. I dont think that there is anything wrong with second hand pressies or second hand anything else for that matter. I think people make such a big deal about always having "new" things, yet most kids wouldnt know whether a present is new or not, certainly when they are young. Most of my DS toys and presents are second hand and he hasnt a clue.

Thanks for that....confess to being a bit astonished that anyone would want to read my assorted ramblings on "me blog"...but people obviously do...judging by the comments they leave...Do feel free to join in with the commenting.:D

[Deleted User]

lots of hugs ceridwen. I know a bit about the fears because we went from salaried to retirement last year, until 2012 we are living off my pension plus savings but the upside is that we are finding that we don`t spend as much so we manage fine. It is scary but is another of those passages through life

I have been trying to find out if water from a combi condensing boiler can be used for drinking and my own inclination was that it could. It comes off the mains and straight to the tap and our plumbing is new so I am going to link dishes with drinking when I can. Water costs us 2/3 as much as our energy bill, so it is a double wammy

I have started to switch off our bedside lights !!! clock during the day. One light was taking 14 watts throughout day and night and I have worked that out at £4 a quarter. In my mind that is uneccessary usage

I am loving using the moosewood veggie cookbooks that I treated myself to from amazon. They are mostly second hand but in good condition. The upside is that veggie is much cheaper than meat or fish

mummysaver

Morning!

Ceridwen - what is the diff between a halogen heater and any other sort please?

Maz - did amazing roast pork with fantastic crackling in the remoska yesterday, cooked really quickly and stayed very moist! Will be trying meatballs in tom sauce in it later.

Sarahsaver

Got my logmaker from ebay today so hopefully later the boys will be helping me make paper logs Thing is to save money we dont get newspapers! i will have to pick up free ones whenever I can LOL;)
The new waterproof washable pads have been ok on the boys beds but DS1 wriggles so much he needs something underneath still, but its saved on washing. have caved in and used the drier today cos I have v painful hips (8 months pregnant) and both boys peed the bed

mummysaver

Sarah - would your neighbours be happy to donate their old papers to you? Bet the boys will love making them, I can remember doing it when we were little at my nan's - the more I think about it the more I realise I seem to be trying to live like she did! I'm drawing the line at an outside loo though!

maz1964

oh thanks to you all, have had a few laughs today

thanks retiredlady - marion and mummysaver

im really impressed now rack of lamb and pork with crackling, i cannot wait now, off to check the budget and see if i can borrow a bit from somewhere and get it ordered.

you both use only the standard size? im still thinking of the larger size one, for when my daughter has her mates round and also being an italian family, lots of stews and tomato based concoctions, lol

anyway thanks to all other posters for your varied info , great reading,

ciao for now have a fun day will come back later

MAZ

Valli

kittie wrote: »

I have been trying to find out if water from a combi condensing boiler can be used for drinking and my own inclination was that it could. It comes off the mains and straight to the tap and our plumbing is new so I am going to link dishes with drinking when I can. Water costs us 2/3 as much as our energy bill, so it is a double wammy

This water problem has really got me thinking. For instance, when we flush the loo we don't NEED to use water which is of drinking quality. And having had my water butt for only 2 weeks now I have been using it to water my garden - pots and grow bags - ever since. I haven't had to use tap water and the butt is virtually full. So there is a saving there just in the fact that I am collecting water which is unpurified. I don't pay for water as such - so I'm not saving me money but I know its greener. The water authority aren't purifying water unecessarily.
What I was wondering is can we not store enough rainwater to use for flushing toilets? I know this is done in new build 'green' houses but is there a retro fit to use in a bog standard semi?

retiredlady

maz1964 wrote: »

oh thanks to you all, have had a few laughs today

thanks retiredlady - marion and mummysaver

im really impressed now rack of lamb and pork with crackling, i cannot wait now, off to check the budget and see if i can borrow a bit from somewhere and get it ordered.

you both use only the standard size? im still thinking of the larger size one, for when my daughter has her mates round and also being an italian family, lots of stews and tomato based concoctions, lol

anyway thanks to all other posters for your varied info , great reading,

ciao for now have a fun day will come back later

MAZ

Hello Maz - I use the standard one and find it big enough for us. I have seen the larger one (called the Grande) and it is very large!! I am sure the voltage/wattage or whatever it is called is higher also so it would us more electricity too! For everyday use the standard is fine, the only times I wished for a larger one was to reheat frozen or chilled pizza's - which I shouldn't be eating anyway!

As someone else on here mentioned do be careful of the lid as it does get very hot. It is just a matter of getting used to putting it somewhere to cool down where it won't burn you or your stuff. I have a wooden breadboard that I use exclusively for this. I reckon everyone who has a remoska has at least one burn - sort of an initiation rite really!:rotfl::rotfl:

Charis

ceridwen wrote: »

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Errr.....but have to confess that its just as well that not everyone lives so simply - as the Government would start looking at cutting the State/Serps pension even further than they already have:cool: (the bit they "whipped" already from me is viewed by me as "theft I couldnt ask my insurance company to compensate me for":mad: )

Never mind Ceridwen. At least we'll get a pension albeit slightly later than we were led to expect. My DD will have to wait until she is 68 before she is pension age. At this rate she won't get one anyway because, having found it impossible to get a job, even with the 'New Deal' scheme (Raw Deal more like :mad: ) she won't have paid enough stamps to qualify. She's only 26 but I can't see how she will ever get employment at this rate.

Charis

Valli wrote: »

What I was wondering is can we not store enough rainwater to use for flushing toilets? I know this is done in new build 'green' houses but is there a retro fit to use in a bog standard semi?

Yes, if you've got a grand or two to spare.

Or you could fill a watering can and leave it by the loo.

http://www.cat.org.uk/information/catinfo.tmpl?command=search&db=catinfo.db&eqSKUdatarq=20020925160005

Lots of info on rainwater reuse on Aussie sites - Google retrofitting to use rainwater.