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

kidcat

Well I have done the dreaded deed and switched on the central heating was hoping to wait bit longer but it is so cold that I want to prevent damp after losing a whole wardrobe and contents to damp last year.
Have spent most of the morning twiddling with the settings and think I have settled on a happy medium assuming Ds6 doesnt come and twiddle when he gets home!! So its switched on with all radiators adjusted to about number 5 and the main dial to 16 at the moment, house seems warmer but will be easier to tell when kids get in if they notice its warmer or not!!

Fruball

Mine is on too - no way am I going to be cold... My house is well insulated (except from back door which is really rubbish, I will deal with that this week or next) and I have good double glazing so whilst I refuse to freeze, I hope to keep my bills down by having thick lined roman blinds at the windows, door curtains etc.

I have found it much more cost effective to have the heating on all day and all night, but on low. My thermostat is very dodgy (heating comes on at 8c and I know its not that cold!!!) so I just keep it low and the house stays 'unchilled' rather than hot or warm. That way none of the furniture or clothes etc ever feel damp or cold, and I don't get any nasty suprise bills

sammy_kaye18

Morning all

OH MY GOD its bladdy freezing here in my little welsh valley. Not nice and winter is quickly catching us, the trees have gone autumn colours and looks very pretty but by gum its cold!

On a good note

rang housing officer today about my letter and she was sympathetic and said as long as arrears were cleared and I was paying a little extra it would soon add up and not be cause for concern - in fairness though - we have no where else to go so they would need to rehouse us anyway - boyfriend not worried - story of his life as he never is - but I hate letters like that as I'm a natural worrier and its been bugging me all weekend now so ive barely slept. So have decided to pay rent to get us up to date on Wednesday and will pay an extra £20 on water - I had already budgetted £45 instead of the usual £37.89 so if I pay £65 I will be up to date and a month ahead of myself (bargain!) and I'll keep paying that as normal now so I will always be one month ahead there.

Have also put aside in 2 weeks time another £55 from my maternity which is a weeks worth of rent so we will at least be a week ahead of ourselves and if I manage to find any extra even a few quid - it can go towards that too.

Either way this month now I should be left with a grand total of £33 or £50 --- either way I need to start getting a few winter prep bits in so seen a nice rug for £24 in £stretcher but will make living room floor that bit warmer (plus something for boys to sit on instead of hard laminate whilst they play and something soft for holly dolly to wriggle on. Fingers crossed I'll have my curtains soon. Anyone have any idea of how I can cover a vent so air comes in but none goes out - the back of the vent keeps getting kicked off by little sh....:mad:....darlings so effectively leaves a giant hole in my wall with the vent cover on our inside wall behind computer.

Not even thinking about Xmas just yet as want to get my gas/electric usage sorted and doing all I can to prevent heat loss. which reminds me I must go and look in airing cupboard once holly dolly nods off to find old sets of curtains I had in charity shop to double up curtains with if I can find safety pins.

Got fleeces for the sofa - although these are material now so nice and warm anyway not like leather sofas last year! :eek: must put fleece back onto Ben's bed too.

plus may have a food processor coming my way too from sister in law who is a convenience food junkie and hates baking cooking point blank so woohoo for me!

things seem a little brighter today. x

sammy_kaye18

mardatha wrote: »

Please, to all the young mums in here, please dont overdo things re not using the heating. If its wet or foggy you need heating - one room is fine, one room is enough. But if your kids come home to cold unheated house after being out in damp weather then they WILL get chesty and ill. Heat the living room only - thats fine. And maybe even just until they have a nice hot bath, then they can snuggle up with jammies/fleeces etc.

well said mardatha.

we are in a two bed flat and have bathroom radiator on (its a small room so I stand airers in the bath to dry overnight and door open so heat leaks into hallway where the dog sleeps. He has a pillow under the sink too that he sleeps on if his hallway is too cold because his bed is near the front door) , living room ones as we spend 95% of the time in there) and bedrooms. Although our radiator is tempermental but does warm up. Ive set heating for an hour at 7pm until 8pm (so bath time and before bens bed time and for 4am until 5am which is in night and before Owen (and usually Ben) wakes up at 6am. think I may readjust them though as being on meters having heating on for a long time eats the gas but it gets cold fairly quick at night so think I will readjust to midnight until 1am and keep the 4-5 setting. Our shower is electric which we all use and I use it to fill hollys baby bath so we can use that but can always flick water on if a baths prefered i guess.

which reminds me holly needs a sleeping bag!

tiddles

Hi Sammy,

You sound a lot more positive now - I think you are doing brilliantly with all your juggling around! :T Tiddles x

LannyLee

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

Corned beef... Anyone have any recipes? I might try some... to be honest I remember my mum making it... isn;t corned beef REALLY salty???

That's why I haven't eaten it in 8/9 years!!!

Thoughts?

I make corned beef hash in my own little way - dead cheap & easy peasy!

1 tin corned beef
2/3 potatoes - depending on size
2/3 carrotts - again dep on size
1 onion

Chop everything up into 12 dice, put in a pan, cover with plain cold water, as a pinch of salt.
Bring to the boil & simmner for 20mins, or until potatoes are soft.

The startch from the potatoes & the corned beef seem to 'melt' inot the water to make a great gravy, yummy with thick bread & butter.

Plus complete bonus, only 120 cals a bowl (not incl the bread)

gailey_2

Hubbys being toght with heating. I have had fire on most of day.
last nite took hot water bottle to bed.
got balnket on sofa to keep warm.
got hot water on for baths later.
our heating bill was bad last year.
I can well belive this winter be cold or colder than last.

I have hats scarfs and gloves.
could do with extra hot water bottles thourght about prewarming kids beds.
I need to make daught exluders
but biggest thing is we need new curtains in lounge as they letting cold from patio doors come in the curtains move in wind, ites mean to be double galzed upc doors and they awful.

xmas was planning lots of hm goodies.
was hoping just keep stockpiling stuff foraged and hope im better in 2nd trimester to make them.
Would prefer to get few 2nd hand goodies from carboots, nct and ebay but thats takes much more time up than buying all new.

Am going to try make my girls rag dolls and quilts.but need a trip down ikea first.

The baby is so grumpy today just out down for 2nd nap of day.
hoping it wont rain on school run later but just too cold.

Not sure what time hubbys home.
done no housewwork today as shattered will hoover later and couple loads of washing but decided to slow down a bit , the babys hard work at the moment and full on forgot how exausting running round after 1 year old is.

sammy k glad things brighter for you.
we rent private and we picked the date which is hubbys pay day.but its hard when pay fluntuates.

you mention maternity pay will you be going back work soon as childcares so blooming pricey unless you have family nearby.

kidcat, thanks for kind words im a worrier I like to plan and make lists and feel like im behind on lots of things.

whats hard is not announced preg too family freinds my mam just thinks im being lazy!
might get early nite today and let hubby do bedtime.

Kitcaboodle

I learnt another down-side of the place getting damp with no heating this morning. Heating went on yesterday and the nappies that had taken five days to dry finally came off the horse and made space for the pile of DS's clothes and sicky cloths, the longest of which had been there for six days...

Lurvely mould cultures growing in the middle of the pile - ick!!! Gave them a 60 degree wash with non-bio and a shed load of vinegar but it didn't shift them so I've just washed them with a good dose of biological gel (which thankfully worked!) and am washing them again to get rid of the biological gel so it doesn't aggravate his skin. Not a very MSE result, would have been cheaper to have the heating on a few days earlier!

pennywisepoundstupid

Its bloomimg freezing today up in Lancashire, i've got the woodburner roaring away so it should be nice and warm when kiddies get in from school and have just filled the airer up with wet washing so hopefully that should'nt take too long to dry by the stove.

Checked the fridge out and have decided we are having leftover meatloaf for tea with fried eggs and potatoes.

Also want some help fro you guys, i have a little terrier who is getting quite old, he does sleep with our other dog and has lots of fleecy blankets to sleep on but i worry about him getting cold he only has a short coat, i was thinking of getting him a little coat/jacket but to be honest they are silly money was wondering if anyone had any ideas about making one, i was thinking out of fleece fabric, it would need to be really simple as not the best at sewing, any ideas would be gratefully recieved.

redlady_1

Pennywise - thanks for the tips about keeping the burner in all night. I have been banking it with an anthracite type stuff and shutting the bottom vents but leaving the top open. That will stay in from about 10 pm until 6.30 am when I get up and then kick it back into life. But I will certainly try it with the logs. I am a bit disappointed with the last batch to turn up in May as they were not well seasoned. The problem was everyone ran out last year so we will see if they are any good this year. I will shut the whole thing down, including the top vents so hopefully it will be warm when I get up. Plus, if that works then I dont have a problem shoving 4 or 5 logs on before I go out to work and shutting it down again so at least the cat wont have frost bite when I get home! :rotfl: