Preparing for winter II

mardatha

This is going to sound dead peculiar but since I'm among friends and yur all dead peculiar too, I will mention it
We have a fancy spotlight in the loo with 4 bulbs in and I'm trying to cut down the elect... so I dug out out of the shed a lovely paraffin lamp, tall one. I'm going to light it in the toilet every night instead of using the spots, and see if it makes a difference to the number of units used. (we started checking the meter daily when we started to cut down and it's become a habit now.) The window vents are open in there for the steam so it shouldn't smell.
And in the kitchen I've stopped using the fancy spots in there and just use the boring old fluorescent strip light. I wish I'd known how much elect these spots burn before I got the bloody things. But we are looking at LED bulbs next.
It's got very cold the last few days and I've given up on summer 2011. Been & gone & hardly noticed !

toottifrootti

mardatha these halogen spots are really hard on the leccy but you can now get energy efficient ones - ofcourse they are more expensive but it should still be better in the longer term
tootsx

Prudent

Goodness this thread is costing me a fortune! I have been trying to push to the back of my mind that I will need some decent boots too.

I ordered a 25 kg bag of rocksalt on ebay. Other than the fridgefreezer (need to renew my car insurance before I can decide if that is affordable), the house and car are just about sorted. My bedroom could do with some warm curtains, but I am really struggling to get a pink pair to fit in with the colour scheme. Also trying to put away some money towards the fridge freezer.

Since rejoining this thread a week or so ago I have:

bought a big plastic tub for salt and grit £3.99
bought a snow shovel and folding snow shovel £26
looked out and updated car box (made last winter after reading this thread) £0
sealed gaps between double glazing units and window sills £5.99
ordered rock salt £14.99
floored and area of the loft for stoarge of winter items £5.99
identified some large lidded plastic boxes with stuff in that could be decanted into plastic bags. These will be for food storage.
Bought decent screen wash £3.99

Total: £60.95 :eek:

Edit: forgot -

Primark fleece pyjamas £7
2 packs of fluffy socks (for wearing around house in the evenings) £4

At least most of these are things that will last for years to come. Only the screen wash and possibly the rock salt will be annual.

I am going to start stocking up on food and household items gradually. I keep quite a tight food budget by keeping the money in a separate purse.

I haven't bought myself many clothes for a few winters as I have been saving hard for the new central heating system and cavity walls being filled. Now will need to think about decent clothes. I am not used to spending much on clothes, so expensive boots will be a shock!

Uniscots97

toottifrootti wrote: »

mardatha these halogen spots are really hard on the leccy but you can now get energy efficient ones - ofcourse they are more expensive but it should still be better in the longer term
tootsx

Do you know where I can get these (is it GU10?), I have these in kitchen and bathroom. Are they expensive?

toottifrootti

unixgirluk wrote: »

Do you know where I can get these (is it GU10?), I have these in kitchen and bathroom. Are they expensive?

Hi no I cant remember how much they are and i suppose they will vary - I am sure I have seen them in asda but also homebase, maybe even tesco - probably most places with DIY stuff - sorry I cant be more help I just remember seeing them!!!!

Justamum

mardatha wrote: »

And in the kitchen I've stopped using the fancy spots in there and just use the boring old fluorescent strip light. I wish I'd known how much elect these spots burn before I got the bloody things. But we are looking at LED bulbs next.

We are renting and the kitchen had these spotlights too. We went through loads of bulbs as they blew frequently. Luckily my DH could get them from work. Once he brought back some LED ones and they were utterly useless. They don't give out light like a normal bulb, - it's very weak and too dissipated (I think is the word) so if the light is shining from behind you, you end up casting a shadow over what you are doing, which isn't good when you are chopping.

We got so fed up with it that when a fluorescent strip light was being removed at work (and thrown away) he brought it home and we've put it up instead. It's much, much better!

I honestly wouldn't bother with the LEDs at all.

smileyt_2

mardatha wrote: »

This is going to sound dead peculiar but since I'm among friends and yur all dead peculiar too, I will mention it

How very dare you! :rotfl:

Could you get one of those stick-on lamps or bulbs (sure I saw one in poundland the other day) to stick on the wall near the spot lamps and use that instead? Battery operated but may still work out cheaper.

I really need some kind of snowboot. Trouble is, I'm only a size 2. Do any of you mums know of a decent boot? I have hiking shoes for walking the dogs in which are OK in most weathers, but for snow and really heavy rain I need something else. I do have wellies but it hurts to walk any distance in them as it sets my plantar fasciitis off.

Confuzzled

Prudent wrote: »

My bedroom could do with some warm curtains, but I am really struggling to get a pink pair to fit in with the colour scheme.

perhaps you could employ my cheapie solution... buy a duvet cover or flat sheets in the colour you need. with a duvet cover it's really easy. you can them simply fill it with an old blanket or fleece and some space foil if you like then sew on header tape and hang, or you can cut it in half and make a pair, this will involve sewing an extra seam but that's easy enough even by hand, they don't have to be perfect.

with a flat sheet you double it, so basically cut it a little more than twice the width you need, turn it inside out, sew a seam then fill it with fleece etc, tack it in place sew the header tape on and voila curtains! you can even sew one side and the bottom seam, fill then leave the open end to have the header tape (no one will be snooping that high up to check your seams!) just depends on how picky or lazy you are (i lean towards lazy myself )

for summer curtains you can take a sheet, unpick the seams at the top and slide a rail in, or make them into tab top curtains... i know very has been doing sheets cheap lately, or you could try ebay or argos, also tesco has been having a lot of sets on sale for less than a fiver for duvets, far cheaper than buying the material alone a lot of time;)

anguk

I got 2 of the free Ikea duvet sets (I had to buy 2 magazines) just so I could use one set to make matching curtains, even taking into account the cost of the magazines it has only cost £6.80 for a double duvet set and matching curtains, bargain! (It's only one per customer per transaction so I went through the till with the 1st voucher then my daughter went through with the 2nd).
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/discount-voucher-codes/ikea

I've already got separate blackout linings on the old bedroom curtains so I'll use them but I think I'll also take your advice Confuzzled and add a fleece too.

Prudent

smileyt wrote: »

How very dare you! :rotfl:

Could you get one of those stick-on lamps or bulbs (sure I saw one in poundland the other day) to stick on the wall near the spot lamps and use that instead? Battery operated but may still work out cheaper.

I really need some kind of snowboot. Trouble is, I'm only a size 2. Do any of you mums know of a decent boot? I have hiking shoes for walking the dogs in which are OK in most weathers, but for snow and really heavy rain I need something else. I do have wellies but it hurts to walk any distance in them as it sets my plantar fasciitis off.

Have you tried Amazon? I had a look for snow boots, but couldn't find any decently priced ones in my size. There were some great bargains on small sizes.