Preparing for winter II

toottifrootti

tugrin what about asking on freegle/freecycle for any carpet or rugs or vinyl? I got a whole room size carpet last year when I was broke - it wasnt wonderful but it made a huge difference to the flat I was in then

you could use newspapers under it as well

as for old doggy - what about disposable bed pads or a washable waterproof sheet where he lies most - with old towels or blankets he wont slip about on it and it will be easily washed up

annie123

tugrin rag rugs would be good:

http://frugalmoneymanagement.blogspot.com/2007/01/make-rug-from-old-t-shirts.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGr-LiPboEY&feature=related

and loads of info on google

myway_2

Yay just got my new freezer:D. Will be busy freezing veg from the garden this weekend. Is it better to dry mint or can you freeze it?.
Will put my list up when i have time. I'm not the fastest on a keyboard:o

abwsco

Can anyone point me in the direction of dark coloured flanelettte bedding for my nearly 21 yo DD please that won't break the bank. We're sorted as we got a woolen duvet last year but we can't afford one of those for her at the moment:( Needs to be double as well. Thanks

Rainy-Days

tugrin wrote: »

Hi
I have had a panic attack about all this!!! Two things I really need advice on -1- I have a completely useless onpen fire with pathetic back boiler. Meant to heat up 3 radiators but doesnt get more than lukewarm and isnt even connected to water tank so have to have immersion on anyway. This year Im thinking I will just block the chimney and use my electric radiators. After all coal is £20 a bag and I used a bag in 10 days + electricity last year.
2 - I only have painted concrete on kitchen and living room floor - needless to say cold at the best of times. Am absolutely broke and some more (am on a DMP but its proving hard work) Any really thrifty ideas for having something warm on floor(pref washable too due to incontinent old dog)

What a nightmare! I remember years ago now when I got my first home waiting on my mums old 3 piece suite to be given to me and I was sitting there on a garden reclining chair. I have a laugh about it now, but you know tough times and when you are skint everything seems so expensive.

Tooti is right about freegle and freecycle, they are really good places to start with. I actually spotted a multistove on ours - I bet they were inundated for that! It sounds to me that you could possibly have air in your radiators which is stopping the heat from getting through and the hot water from circulating around the pipes. You can bleed them yourself quite easily with a plumbers key, youtube have something on their place to show you how to do it.

Our local tip has a shop attached to it and you can buy some half decent things in there for next to nothing, it might be worth it (if you are not too far away) looking in and seeing what they have. Have you approached any charities asking for help? Don't be too proud because they may have some resource to help you. Your local council may be able to give you assistance as well with the heating and insulation through a grant scheme. They do still have some schemes where you don't have to pay anything if you are so beyond your means. If you are a pensioner then Age Concern and the Council would be and should always be your first port of call they can and should help you.

Gigervamp

Gosh, this thread's moving fast!

Tugrin, hello and welcome! I'd be inclined to use the fire as local heat, don't block it up. You can get free wood in lots of places. On my local freecycle group there is a business that offers pallets. When companies need to dispose of pallets, they have to pay for the disposal, so most are more than happy to give them away because it means less costs for them.

We've been using our immersion heater this summer and I was surprised that it didn't bump up our electricity costs. I put it on for an hour in the morning and the same in the evening. I have a kitchen timer to remind me to turn it off after boiling incidents! (I don't think our immersion has a safety cutout.)


Today I cleared a cupboard out to put my Winter Emergancy food Stores in. I think we may end up farting a lot as there are 20 tins of beans!
But it's looking pretty healthy, although I was wondering about getting some instant mash and tins of potatoes for those times when rice and pasta just don't *do it*!

Need to stock up on cat litter, (ran out one time and tried using the woodchip bedding that we had for the chickens. The cat's were not impressed and ignored it, prefering to use the floor instead!) salt, loo rolls (waiting for Lidl to do the offer on Charmin as that's what we use).

We have loads of blankets (proper wool ones thanks to my Nan and charity shops) and I've found that although I like the lightness of a duvet, in winter I prefer the heaviness of a blanket on top as it kind of wraps around you.

We still haven't sorted out our fireplace. It's a bit of a bone of contention between hubby and I. Actually, it's a big bone in my eyes!

tugrin

Thank you for the very quick replies. Its wanted Wednesday on our freecycle so I will try that now (dont know wy I didnt think of it myself ) THink I will also have a go at rug making although not sure where to get rags from as our CS are very expensive now (£2.99 - 3.50 for t shirts in all three of them!!
Rainy Days you sound like a really kind person!! I have furnishings in my cottage and the reason I,m so broke now is becase of rash and sometimes silly decisions in the past plus I'm still trying to help my daughter get throught uni - (she's been tarred with the same brush as me credit wise) Trouble is on paper I look as if I should have plenty but the debts are enormous so cant go to any charities -Sorry this is all of topic.
Wonder if I could make a decent floor type rug with all these cheap fleeces/

Rainy-Days

Tugrin - have you spoken to any house clearance companies there are some in your area there must be! Sometimes they auction stuff that is decent off, but with carpets etc they can't always do that. Tell them you are in dire straits - lay it on a bit thick if you have to - and they will probably give it to you for free, in fact they may even deliver it to you as well because as Gigervamp says they have to pay to dispose of waste. Also ask at carpet shops as well, because sometimes they take old carpets away and see if they would be prepared to let you have some underlay (which is cheap anyway) or some off cuts of carpet. You have to lose your pride a bit but we are all in pretty straightened times these days - all of us! I even got elbowed tonight in Tescos for a reduced punnet of strawberries!

I have an almost new big roll of carpet up in my loft, if you lived nearer to me I would gladly let you have it for free no problem!

ghp

Tugrin, how about one of these? Maybe using fleeces?

http://www.ragrugcafe.com/toothbrush-rugs-complete-video-instructions-part-1-beginners

Prudent

Turgin I can so relate to your heating situation. I have finally got a new system in after nine years of saving. Last winter the house rarely got above 13c! Do watch the electric heaters as they can be expensive. My fiance's heating broke down last winter (we don't live together) and he had an enormous bill from using elctric heaters. I live with DD (19) and we kept warm last winter by changing into fleece pjs and thick dressing gowns and sitting under duvets in the evenings. When we had the deep snow and it was -15c outside, we had to wear old fleece jackets in the house. My top tip would be electric blankets. We bought two double ones for £7.99 each and when it became unbearably cold we would sit in bed and read, use the laptops or watch tv.

On the flooring - Poundland has a pack of adhesive vinyl floor tiles. I think there are six in the pack.