Preparing for winter II

CH27

I've been busy:D

We have filled all the cracks in the bathroom & redecorated.

We have decorated the lounge & dining room. I've put new lined curtains up & i've made new throws for the sofas.

All the guttering has been cleaned out.

I've used all the chives that i've grown & made chive butter & froze it in small bits.
I'm going to do the same with the basil this week.



I've bought lots of tins of soup & stock up on drinking chocolate.

This week's job is washing all the winter coats & scarves. I also want to air the winter quilts if we get a nice day.

Rainy-Days

bargainhunterss wrote: »

bit of a random question, we're thinking of buying net curtains (purely for privacy reasons) but I was wondering if they make any difference in heat insulation? We've got pretty good windows as the landlord's just had some new ones installed, but it was just a thought!

ta folks! xx

It would be nominal and not anything that would notice a difference in the heating costs. The main difference will always be a wel insulated home and windows and good quality thick fabric with a substantial lining. That is where your money and heat insulation lays!

Caterina

Hi all

It was today that speaking with another OSer I remembered about this thread. I was just telling her that I have recently received a letter from our gas supplier informing us that they would put up their prices by 19.6%, why not say 20% and be done with it? They are among the cheapest on the market, too, so there is no hope to get a better price. And they are the only "ethical" gas suppliers so I would not want to change in any case.

This means that I need to think about how to further reduce our gas bills in the winter and that's when my OSer friend mentioned this thread. I had seen it before and even post on it occasionally but now I think it is a good time to rejoin this savvy crowd of winter preppers, if you don't mind having me among you!

My winter preparations have not really started yet apart from having a great big stash of wood that I managed to buy very cheaply from some tree surgeons a few weeks ago (we have a wood burning stove in the living room). Heating the living room helps warm up the whole fabric of the house and often I cook on the stove. Red lentils, porridge oats and pre-soaked grains as well as soft veg cook very nicely overnight after having been given a good shot of high heat on the cooker first.

One thing I really need to buy is a storm kettle, it is so useful if there is a power cut and it only takes a few sticks and a bit of newspaper to bring to the boil. I have a thermos flask and if I heat up the water first thing in the morning I could have tea made for the rest of the day in the flask.

I need to sit down and think about all the winter supplies I shall need but as I am in and out of my home for a few weeks (various holidays coming up!) it is not practical to order anything for the time being.

Hope to catch up with reading more posts here, such a useful thread!

skintbint_2

have started thinking about stocking up and how to reduce the bills over winter as also recieved a letter informing us that the gas and electricity is due for a big hike in september - so i have got a diary and started taking a note of the readings on the electric - £5.98 since thursday!!!! - i have no idea if this is good or bad, i am now on the look out for heavy curtains as a few of the windows only have blinds - stupid bint that i am its all the north facing windows!
so here is my list for the next 6 weeks
1)Lined Curtains for the back of the house
2) Decorate hall
3) Freshen up Bathroom ( paint over where DD splatered the wall with hair dye!)
4) Shampoo the carpets
5) lift and dry/dehydrate onions from allotment
6) plant up the cabbage etc
7) lift the tatties from the allotment and find out how to store properly
8) make as much jam as possible with my rhubard and try to find a source for plums, apples etc (probably put an add on freecycle)
9) clear a shelf in the linen cupboard for tins/pulses etc (have nowhere else i can think of!)
10) make a list of supplies needed
Pips mum-argos clearance had slo cookers down from about £20 to 6.99 - http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4207490/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CKitchen+and+laundry%7C14418476/c_2/2%7C14418476%7CClearance+Kitchen+and+laundry%7C14520894/c_3/3%7Ccat_14520894%7CSmall+kitchen+appliances%7C25096888.htm hth

Pips_Mum

skintbint wrote: »

Pips mum-argos clearance had slo cookers down from about £20 to 6.99 - http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4207490/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CKitchen+and+laundry%7C14418476/c_2/2%7C14418476%7CClearance+Kitchen+and+laundry%7C14520894/c_3/3%7Ccat_14520894%7CSmall+kitchen+appliances%7C25096888.htm hth

Thanks!:T I had seen them, purely by chance, but they are out of stock in mine at the moment:mad: so hoping they come back in stock before the offer finishes.

skintbint_2

i always check the argos clearance site first now as its a minefield if you go into the shop knowing what you want but dont have the number- did that with this and couldnt find it listed anywhere in store but knew they had them as had checked the stock first - ended coming home and ordering online!

Reverbe

GreyQueen wrote: »

Have you got a 99p store? Mine has the twin packs of foil blankets, expect they will disappear soon as the season changes. HTH.

no sadly not nor Poundstretcher, Home Bargains , B&M etc..

muffin_man_7

skintbint wrote: »

have started thinking about stocking up and how to reduce the bills over winter as also recieved a letter informing us that the gas and electricity is due for a big hike in september - so i have got a diary and started taking a note of the readings on the electric - £5.98 since thursday!!!! - i have no idea if this is good or bad, i am now on the look out for heavy curtains as a few of the windows only have blinds - stupid bint that i am its all the north facing windows!

skintbint wrote: »

so here is my list for the next 6 weeks
1)Lined Curtains for the back of the house
2) Decorate hall
3) Freshen up Bathroom ( paint over where DD splatered the wall with hair dye!)
4) Shampoo the carpets
5) lift and dry/dehydrate onions from allotment
6) plant up the cabbage etc
7) lift the tatties from the allotment and find out how to store properly
8) make as much jam as possible with my rhubard and try to find a source for plums, apples etc (probably put an add on freecycle)
9) clear a shelf in the linen cupboard for tins/pulses etc (have nowhere else i can think of!)
10) make a list of supplies needed
Pips mum-argos clearance had slo cookers down from about £20 to 6.99 - http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4207490/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CKitchen+and+laundry%7C14418476/c_2/2%7C14418476%7CClearance+Kitchen+and+laundry%7C14520894/c_3/3%7Ccat_14520894%7CSmall+kitchen+appliances%7C25096888.htm hth

Skintbint some ideas,

i had a similar problem too the electric was way too high and even with the monitor and reading the meter i still couldn't get the cost down, then one day i read the meter and every time i switched on something i would read the meter again and i realised its not just what you use it's how long you use it as well, my electric cost per day at the moment is £2 including paying 60p a day for arrears, in the winter it was between £4 and some days as much as £6 it got to the point i didn't want to turn things on, then i phoned up supplier and asked about options i decided i'd go for pre pay meter now some people say they are expensive but it has helped me so much i wish i'd done it sooner we put £15 on meter a week £4 goes to pay arrears leaves us with £11 and most of the time we have a bit left now when it gets colder we will use a bit more but we can decide when and how much
i've only had the meter since february but have managed to stick to my weekly amount most of the time paid nearly £100 off arears only £300 to go and teenage kids were leaving things on all the time:eek::mad: one of them is more carefull the other still forgets but improved when we ran out leccy one and only time and when it went dark they were not too happy they thought i'd turned the power off we managed to borrowed some cash and we had power again now they are learning but still a long way to go

Check you have turned everything off and only have them on when
being used i even turn telly box off in day kids only watch at night

Keep track of what you do each day, for us wash day = more units get used i don't have a T D but i do have a dehumidifier cost me just over 50p for 24 hours and got 3 wash loads dry but at T D x3 loads could be as much as £1.50 do you see the difference
i always washed on 40c now i use 30c if not dirty and i use quick wash or time save depending whats in the load it will take time but its worth it

i had a combi microwave the kids and me used it on the pizza setting i'm sure that now we can't use it ( door broke) that has saved a lot of electric

you get to the point where you want to use something but you want to do it the cheapest way possible and still good results.

kids now use gas oven and have to remember it does not switch itself off so they have to or burnt pizza not good thereis a site i found useful for working out the cost by minutes or hours i will try and post it in a bit need to work out how i did it last time i'm still learning i hope this is of some help

Money_maker

Been perusing the argos clearance site - they have reduced the 10pk of dinner candles to £1.49 now. Also Regatta Sweetheart fleeces in limited sizes to £4.99. Curtain linings are £5.99 size 66 x 90 (not thermal but may help someone).

Discovered the best way to keep warm at the laptop - kitten in the lap! Had to push her off cos getting too warm.

Molly41

I was out yesterday evening for a trundle with the doggies and noticed a decided nip in the air. Also the conkers on the chestnut trees and acorns on the oaks and made me realise that autumn is just waiting around the corner.

Im mostly ready as I followed this thread this time last year (much to Kids Dad's amusement) but he wasnt laughing when the snow came early. Luckily I had put together a snow kit for his car and bar the consumables, such as choccy and cola, it is ready to go back in at the first whiff of a frost.

I think I have said it before that it pays dividends to get organised early, and not just for this year but for years to come. I just need to get my kids some gloves and decent winter shoes (easier said than done with fashion conscious teens) and then I am organised again.