It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?

narabanekeater

Electric heaters state on them /packaging how many KW they cost to run KW/Hour so you should be able to work out very easy how much your appliance will cost to run. It doesnt matter if its an old or new electric heater as a new one wouldnt be more effecient to run than an old one - it may just be cosmetically nicer

jediteacher

We have an oil filled portable radiator in my little girls room for the winter as we don't have the heating on as the boiler is by her head (in the wall obviously)!!! The room is small but the door is left open and we find that on the lowest setting it keeps her room at about 20c in the winter and this was when it was really cold and snowing. I have to say that our electric bill did not go up as a result of this although our gas did even though we used it less this year than last.:mad:

penelopedee_2

We used an oil filled radiator in the living area during the coldest months last year. It worked really well, made the whole room hot really quickly. Our electric bill wasn't as bad as when we used the our electric blower style fireplace heater and the heat is nicer (not quite so drying).

muffin_man_7

EstherH my kids have an oil filled radiator in the summer house they only use it in winter and its warmer in there than in my living room we also have an oil free radiator and that is really good its got a thermostate so it won't get too hot from what i can find out (i'm not that good on puter yet ) the convector should work in a similar way to my oil free one wish i'd known before as i would of got the connvector one instead way cheaper to buy To cost the heater its so easy 1 unit of electric for 1kwh of heat so if your electric was say 10pence you could have the heater on full 2kwh for an hour as cost of 20pence if you have it lower you just times the output by cost per unit all electric heating the same but the good bit is you can keep track of cost not like with gas central heating you don't know how much that is till you get the bill i will be using my elec heaters more this year for that very reason and with a timer you stay in control i hope this helps

crickett1234

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.

Went to movies last night with hubby (to see A Team and relive our youth! It was rather good actually!) and managed to save money using an Odeon Premiere Card. We used to go to the cinema a lot, and would always indulge in popcorn or sweets. We haven't been for ages, and when I looked at the prices of the stuff...good grief! I did not get anything. I refused a drink even! I was flipping thirsty when we got home, but I saved money!

Today I was slightly naughty...I went shopping for craft supplies. I got some sisal twine and some fabric to make scrubby mitts that I am going to hand make. My plan is to make "pamper kits" and put in a small bottle of bubble bath from somewhere, and a couple of tea lights and maybe one of those small bottles of wine you can get. I also got some cotton of double knitting weight which I am going to use to crochet a scarf for one of my friends who is allergic to wool. And I got two new crochet hooks (a girl can never have enough crochet hooks!). That all cost me a tenner.

I have also finished the Christmas cards for this year. I got all the stuff a couple of years ago, but never had the time to do anything with them, so when we were clearing out the main "glory hole" in the house (again!) I came across them so decided to get it all sorted early. I have done 50 cards so it should cover most family and friends and the odd "surprise"!

I am going to sit down and work out a list of presents for people for Christmas and get on with getting them or making them. I am feeling inspired!!

EstherH

Thanks everyone for answers on heaters. Should be better for DD with one this year than last when it was so cold and the heater in the flat didn't warm the rooms up.

lambanana

Just a quick suggestion for Wee_jo and anyone taking up knitting and looking for first projects, might I suggest a hat instead of a scarf. Scarves are easy in as much as you don't do any increases/decreases BUT you need at least your height to make a long enough scarf to wear and that's a lot of boring back and forth knitting! Hats don't use that much more skill wise and it's useful to learn decreases (which are easy peasy) and they're knit so much more quickly than a scarf. Good luck with your knitting!!

I've had some unappreciated hand made gifts and it does upset me and makes me not want to bother. I now only knit for people who I know will really appreciate it which for this Christmas includes two lace scarf/shawl type things made to order (for mum and MiL) and socks for my husband. As for other Christmas gifts, I haven't a clue what I'm going to do. The kids all expect so much and we can't give as much as the in-laws give them so if they get our presents second I just feel so cheap even though I know I shouldn't.

Been talking about buying a house with MiL today and whilst she said there's no rush I still felt a bit rubbish when she was saying how detached houses are better and we should get a place with two toilets...well maybe she's used to having that but I've only ever had two toilets when we rented a new build flat and you can only use one at a time!!! I've never lived in a detached house and the only people I know who do still complain about their neighbours and the others on the street so I don't see it can really be that much better than any other house.

gailey_2

Thanks everyone for thinking of me.

Looking ebay/paper for bed problem is most local pickup and cant fit it in silly tiny car.
might try asking if will deliver for petrol money.

plums -we lucky have several greengage plum trees round here and dads exited as think I found voctoria plums.
Obessed with picking as muc as possible.

school hols activities we lucky lots to do here free or cheap at church,libary and leisure problem is son wants to do all the expensive activities.

had drama today stepson complaining of chest pains hubby took im local hospital they did lots of tests can find nothing wrong so now hubbys wondering if wind up.

Also year 7 school report not great, his mam said better than she was expecting god knows what she considers bad.
Hes failing in most subjects, not sure about attendance but couple of tests hes got 0percent.

Most teachers say same think, lacks concentration, disruptive, does not follow instruction, try enough ect.
Also seems an issue with homework.

We knew hes behind in reading and maths which also affects his science but thourght in softer subjects like humanities, pe, rs, computing and music he might find a talent to shine at.

Dont know if everyone elses same but its split into sections and graded and despite strugglings hes achiving very poor score on effort and behaviour which I feel is something at 12 he should control. Hubbys really worried hes going to leave school with no qualifications at this rate and cant force his mam,stepdad to take more active role in education, feel a bit powerless.

Hes destroyed 3rd phone we brought him this year well broke the screen on it deliberatly.

The 1st one he deliberatly dragged across escalater in tesco which broke went mad as was expensive phone for his birthday, 2nd he dropped in river 3rds only very cheapy nokia as all these phones costing us fortune.
Hes obssessed with his i tunes anyone know cheaper alternative for i pod.
Despite saying we have to be careful with money hes still I want I want today.

re need advice over milk let baby have drop cows milk today shes 11months and huge but nhs guidelines say 12months but wondering if month huge difference..
She has plenty of other dairy cow milk products and has been exclusivly breastfed so far.

Chipps

On the subject of hand made gifts, I am blessed with a family that appreciates them (at least they say so, anyway!!!LOL) But one thing i have done, is to put labels on things. Years ago a friend and I had a small business, making & selling machine knitted jumpers etc. It wasn't a great sucess, we didn't make much (if any) profit, although we managed to break even once we sold the knitting machine! But I found that I still had the labels we had printed, with the name and washing instructions ("hand wash with love and care"). You can get the labels quite cheaply - they make the difference between "home made cheapskate present" and "hand crafted artisan gift" :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
just don't tell them you are the artisan!

EstherH

Gailey, when my kids were babies and the older generation said things like 'we use to...' it drove me mad, but to tell the truth, their children survived and some of the advise seems to go round in cycles. So for what it's worth - the advice then was cows milk after six months. I breast fed up to about nine months but added cows milk in solids from six months and my kids were okay.

As for stepson, could his problem be dislexia or ADHD or similar that hasn't been diagnosed?