Want to be a mfw but worried?

golfiematt

if i were you i would get someone to have a look at your radiators. have you got your house properly insulated? I think these dark cold days of december can make you feel a bit fed up. Just think its not far off xmas, look at the positives , you got a nice house 3 kids and job , which is a lot more than some have. Good luck with getting your heating sorted , on the plus side the cold weather is supposed to go by thursday

cha97michelle

I just hear Thursday as well for the cold snap ending. Fingers crossed.

Sorry to hear so many problems. Maybe better to have the heating on low to aovid the frozen pipes and get the heating serviced? Don't know.

I feel like i am coping alone a lot, but I have DH to bounce things off. Hopefully we can be there like that for you and help you feel better. xx

Spiggle

Hi ally,

It's just a thopught but do you pay your council tax on a 10 monthly or 12 monthly basis? I only ask because it was very easy to change mine from 10 to 12 months - just a phone call to the council - but it made my 12 month budget smoother and reduced the monthly outgoings. However, I know that some people like to have the two month 'break' from paying it. It was just a thought.

I hope you manage to get warm in work and feel a little lighter. You are doing incredibly well. Good luck.

All the best,
Spigs

ally18

Hi all,

Thanks for your comments, please ignore my moaning, I think it was just the worry and feeling cold this morning. I know I'm in a much better position than some and should be grateful, which I am, don't get me wrong, it was just a down moment.

Anyway, nice and warm at work and going home at lunch time to check on house and open up a tap (just in case). I've put my queries on other parts of this forum and people have given me advice so will be trying to find my cold water tank tonight.

Thanks spiggle about the tax advice. I pay over 10 months at the mo and like it that way as I'm looking forward to the two months of saving. It feels like I have more to put away then, iykwim.

I may have to start and leave the heating on more I think Michelle, there's only so much economising you can do. Much rather pay the £10 per day for heating than what it may cost for burst pipes. :rotfl:

Golfie, I plan to have thermostatic valves put on all my radiators next summer and maybe a bigger radiator installed in my front room to stop the cold. Hopefully, I won't have the same problems next year then. The trouble is I had a plumber booked to do the valves this year at £180 but ended up needing the money for something else. Hindsight eh!

ally18

Hello all,

Another week starting after having the most wonderful weekend ever. I was whisked away to London for a night and sightseeing which was absolutely fab. Saw everything lit up at night, the eye, tower bridge, houses of parliament and got to go into Harrods which I haven't been in for over 20 years so I did end up buying a couple of little things like a jar of jam for £4!!!!! but it was a gift for someone.:eek: So have spent about £30 this weekend but as it was a fab time, I don't mind a bit. This will come out of xmas budget.

Back to mundane things now, shopping last week was £23, no other spends I don't think.

So..
Jar total - £7.60
Shopping - £71/£210 for Dec so far

A

GeorgieFTB

ally18 wrote: »

I'm fed up to be honest, fed up managing on my own, worrying about job security, worrying about everything else on top and not having anyone to talk to. :sad:

I'm in a similar position, two kids on my own, just bought a tumbledown house that needs some TLC, the problem is I never feel like I have enough time for anything.

I have moments when I fell like you did, mostly I've found having a good whinge really helps , whinging is under-rated as a coping tactic and I want to bring it back into the mainstream... well that and chocolate **which now I come to think about it might be why I'm starting to not fit into some of my clothes, mmm gym tomorrow**

Everyone needs to let off steam, if your diary is where you choose to do it then so much the better!

Gx

katsu

Hi Ally,

Thanks for responding with feedback on my suggestions. You can tell I'm not a parent with my reduced Christmas costs :rotfl:

I can't think of anywhere else you can save, so looks like you have it all covered.

Our radiators have no TSVs but we do have a central thermostat in the hall. I can empathise as our front room radiator is pants - cold at the bottom and warm at the top. I assume it is full of gak as they are old radiators and the previous owners didn't look after the house at all.

I bought a roll of foam backed foil (currently in Lidl for £5, cheaper than B&Q at around £7) which I cut into strips and stuck behind the radiators using sticky pads. This reflects heat back into the room. It only helps a bit but "every little helps" as Mr T says.

ally18

Hi Katsu,

That foil sounds a good idea, did you take your radiators off the wall to do this. I'm not too brill at that and tbh wouldn't like to mess around with mine at the mo bcos of the bad weather coming back. I just know I might cause problems but I will plan on doing that in the summer months ready for next year.

Hi Georgie,

Thanks for the comments to do with my whinging, I'm glad I'm not the only one who succumbs sometimes. Have to admit, I pigged out on chocolate as well that day :rotfl:. Its the best invention ever.

Well today, I have gone and done my figures early for this month as I wanted to see some success.

Jar total - £7.60
Money in savings act for o/p on m2 next year - £180
Car loan down to - £2503
M2 now just below the £17k mark as of this month

A

katsu

Ally,

No need to remove the radiators. What my DH did was measure where the brackets are behind the radiators and cut the foam backed foil into narrower strips so rather than one big length of foil with slits in it to fit over the brackets, we have a small bit between the left hand edge and the bracket edge, then a bigger bit between the two brackets and then a small bit after the right hand bracket up to the edge of the radiator.

So if your radiator is 100cms wide and the brackets are at 30cms along and then 60cms along you have:

strip 1 - 0 - 29.5cm (or 29.8, these are rough numbers to show you what I mean)
strip 2 - 30.5cm - 59.5cm
strip 3 - 60.5cm - 100cm

Alternatively you could measure it really well and cut one length with slits in and slide the slits over the brackets but DH said that would be too fiddly :rotfl:

I stuck sticky pads to the top and bottom then when the foil was in place just pressed them to the wall and they are staying stuck OK

It really was easy.

ally18

Hi Katsu,

Sounds like I can do that no probs, will see if I can get hold of some soon.

I have now done my sig, found I made a mistake on my m2 balance so have less to find this year which is good for my 1st target.