Live on £4,000 for a year - 2009, Part 4

Kittikins

NYK and Mooloo - I have one of the freebie gas monitors and its great for me, apart from being powered by mains electric! Its helped me be far more conscious of the energy I use by switching the oven on etc. I now use my Remo$ka far more and sit by candlelight most evenings if not reading. It also has a thermometer, my sitting room is 15 degrees, nice and toasty

the_cat

Once you have finished going through the house like a mad thing finding out how much energy each thing uses, you might find there is still a decent second hand market on ebay for these.

Quite by accident I found out as I sent off for a free one from a newspaper. It came but was the type you have to wire into your fuse box and with our elec system being very old (and me being too chicken to mess with the electric!!)
I couldn't use it and so put it on ebay.

Boxed with instructions, it fetched about £20:T

Savvy_sewing

Well I have decided to resurect my MicrosOft Money programme,and start a new budget. It is currently with the money I have coming in. And I will alter it, and do forecasts as things change. We still do not know when DS will start, or how much he will be contributing to the budget. But at least it can play around with cash flow forecasts etcetc. I just have to now remember to use it daily and keep it up to date.! mmm
DS is not coming home, so I have had to go and get my wood in, and put the bins out. Think the wind just sent it flying! (the bin).
Its too dark, and I dont have any outside light so I am chicken, and I am not going out there again tonight. It will have to wait until tomorrow.
Not really in the mood for cooking the mince if its only for me,so I will probably just have an egg on toast or something simple and save the mince for tomorrow.
Now I am going to light the fire. My toes are cold enough now!

grandma247

jtb we have a condensing boiler and we leave the heating on 24/7 in winter once it is cold enough. It on very low,just past the first dot (6) in our case as it does not have numbers on it just dots at 12,3,6and 9. like a clock. By having it on all the time the stone walls and furniture absorb the heat and throw it out into the room. We used to use loads more gas till I started doing this. A night costs about £1, daytime is a bit more because of water usage and the cooker.
What I did was read the meter every hour or so for the first day I did it just to see how much it would cost. We still have to wear proper winter clothes but we are not freezing.

shaz_mum_of__2

for anyone who hasn't got a water saver you can make one from a 1 pint milk container filled with water and popped in on the ballc0ck side of the cistern

Had a frugal veggie curry for tea with jelly and mandarins(12p a tin last year) for dessert made extra pilau rice for the freezer (4 portion) and 2 portions of leftovers for lunch for hubby total cost of the lot £2 for 7 meal portions and 4 rice only portions and 5 dessert portions .........................if only everyday was so cheap

cw18

I got some freebie 'bricks' for our cisterns from one of the water companies (one down south as best I recall - certainly not a local one though).

Thanks for the link Nyk - I already have a couple of monitors and one shutdown gadget, but can always use more Let my application through, so hopefully they'll arrive OK

Another busy shift at work today - and another late clock-out too !!! Need to keep track of the extras, as if I hit a 4 week period that averages at least 30 hours/week I need to call Tax Credits (and will get extra WTC for those weeks as well as the extra pay )

savingfortravel

Bails-Good luck for your interview!
Shaz-Thanks for the great free water saver idea. Will definitely be trying that one. We have very low bill using the metre. However I do have a bath every morning which I know is very unMS. Well done on the frugal food too.
Andan-Great to hear from you!
Nyk-Great money saving!

sft

Kittikins

SFT - you can always redeem your MS ways by bathing with Mr SFT In a sad way I do my bit for the environment by sharing with DD every couple of nights!

Blairweech

Hi all,

Done a 12 hour shift today so I am sleepy. Having chilli and jacket potato for tea, and slung an extra potato in the oven ready for beans, sausages and cheese for lunch tomorrow I have just over £10 left to last a week, then I will hit my GC target for the first time ever!!!!! So, am determined to do it.

Edit: OH let slip today that he is likely to buy me a black Wii for Christmas....lovely, but very expensive - tbh, its more than I feel comfortable him spending on me. Should I tell him to get me something different or just be grateful? Plus, he does not know what he wants, so I dont really want to spend the equivalent on him if its something he doesnt want. And its his birthday in Jan.

savingfortravel

Kittikins-Sometimes Mr SFT will use my bathwater afterwards...if its not too dirty. :rotfl: sft