Preparing for winter II

suzybloo

We are in a small town on the edge of the scottish highlands, and I have been building up my winter stocks since July, due to a number of reasons. My hubby is self employed and last year due to the severe weather he had no work for a good few weeks as he couldnt get to the rural areas, therefore he had no income but still had overheads so every penny was a prisoner, having these stocks meant that we did not have to worry about housekeeping. What was left in the shops was not worth buying, and the prices had been hiked up so even going shopping was a nightmare. I also look on it as a wee holiday from shopping as I totally detest traipsing round tesco - I am intending having enough shopping bought so I dont have to go shopping from November until February.
Everyone has different reasoning in their shopping and storing structures and its unfair critisizing anyone, I have got to admit its not loo rolls or tinned tomatoes that is my downfall - its tea bags!!!! I must have near 2000 of the blooming things in the cupboard LOL! I reckon we only use about 6 a day as I drink coffee!
Another couple of things off the prep list - boiler was serviced and I have ordered 3 snow shovels - two folding ones for my car and DD1's car, as she is a nurse working shifts in a hospital 20 miles away, and a big scraper/shovel thing for the house.
Good luck with your preparation - we are all individuals but with a similar purpose!!

Good luck Red Doe with your fuel supplier - everything crossed here too!

jackyann

RedLass wrote: »

I started reading this thread when it started a few months ago and have read so many good tips, thanks to all of you who have been sharing your progress and ideas. Lost track a bit now though and find I'm something like 200 pages behind! Must read back because I'm sure to find answers to those niggles I'm not sure about.

A few things ticked off the to-do list, but still loads left. Some of them feel a bit of a mountain right now, like trimming all the bushes in the garden... while it's so grey and chilly the motivation to do these jobs is lacking in me a bit! How do you all muster up the puff to do it? I know that when I get around to it it will make me feel good, like a mini-achievement (even if it is just something we all have to do), but it's not appealing right now!

Done so far:
- Hats, gloves and scarves all picked up in the summer sales for me and OH.
- Bought two big umbrellas for wet winter days, hopefully strong enough to take a little wind too.
- Winter duvet on, summer duvet packed away.

Still to do:
- Buy curtains for the lounge!!!!! This is an absolute must - it's the third winter now without any at all and I am certain it will help keep the place warmer. We're in a rented place and I've been reluctant to buy curtains in case we have to move and then they won't fit in the new place etc.. but having been here a while now it seems less of a waste of money and more of a living improvement. I feel I should also get curtains for the bedroom, but I'm not sure we can swallow the expense of both right now - the lounge curtains alone will require a scrimpy month.
- Buy/find a heavy curtain for the front door. I don't really know where to start with this. Ideally I want something nice and heavy and thick but do people buy these as door curtains (specific), or do you all hunt round charity shops for a pair and just use one of them? I must admit that I have practically no experience with charity shop bargain hunting.
- Cut back all bushes in the front and back garden, and trim the tree in the front garden (this is an accident waiting to happen as it's small enough to be something I should do myself, but big enough that I'll need a step ladder and likely topple off it).
- Draught excluders for the back and front door. Back door is actually on the lounge so this could make a big difference to us. As always, looking for a bargain here.
- Sew missing buttons back onto coats/jackets and get the wool one dry-cleaned.
- Buy OH a warm winter coat. He is always reluctant to spend money on himself for clothes and shoes, so this one might take a little convincing, unless we can find a bargain.
- Stock up on screen wash. We get through a lot of this in winter because OH is a taxi driver and doesn't stop when the roads are thick with black sludgey snow-stuffs.
- Cover the shed roof (or what is left of it) before the rain really hits hard.
- Find some extra fleecey blankets to add a cosy feeling to the place.
- Candles, lots of them. And things to stand them in.
- New slipper boots for me (two+ year old ones falling to pieces).
- Medicine stockpiles.

Hmm. Looking at this it seems I've done far less than I really thought. Maybe it's just been on my mind a lot. Taken note from someone who mentioned that the clocks will soon change and it's going to be even darker... must get as outdoor stuff done before then.

Our house is heated by economy 7 storage heaters and we can never find the right balance. The last couple of years I've tweaked the room temp dial to be lower which I think is supposed to let the heat out more slowly across the day? But it still feels stuffy warm in the morning when we get up, and far too chilly in the evening when we're eating dinner. We're wondering it it's worth investing in one of those oil filled radiator things that you plug in. I don't know how expensive they are to buy, or how expensive they are to run. Or even which sort is the best sort?!

Does anybody have any extra tips for making a place feel cosy? Is it all soft furnishings and candles? I'd like the house to be a welcoming refuge this year, rather than it feeling colder INSIDE somedays than out!

Charity shops & freecycle are indeed good places for curtains. Also consider that a blanket can make a nice thick curtain if the right size (they often are). Look on market stalls for cheap fabric, or trawl the internet. I can't list all the fabric sites I have found, but these are worth a look: http://www.fabricland.co.uk

beautifylife

Does anyone know where I can get cheap dark wood curtain polls? I tried looking in Dunelm and Home bargains but too much around £10 upwards, looking for something around £5? Might need to go back to freecycle!

Also going to try to stock up a bit if budget allows recommendations please on the following:

I want to stock up on a few basics

Loo rolls - I usually buy A's SP 6 rolls for £1.60 (400 sheets) where's the cheapest?
Washng powder - cheapest reasonable quality that doesn't bleach out colours - I found A's own bleaches colour (I used the sensitve as skin itches otherwise).
Softner - again cheapest and best? I like comfort better than Lenor as seems to go further.
Washing up Liquid - best I have found at homebargains Fairy prof £1.39 1ltr last ages - other thoughts?
I also need to get some reasonable fleeces, want to pay around £5 each - went to charity shop and got one £4 brand new - it was an M & S!
Cheapest frozen veg/fruit?

Aldi doing cheap thermal hats 69p my best bargain to date!

Thanks everyone.

lovesabargain123

Where are you all buying shovels from? That's next on my list :-)

bluebag

Just for the record I am as urban as you can get, and I mean URBAN, but my online grocery delivery was cancelled 3 weeks running.
Some of the main roads were gritted, but the side roads were awful as they have quite a bit of traffic which slushed all the snow up and then it froze solid in great big ruts. It took me and DD 30 mins hanging on to gates and fenceposts to walk to mr T's for bread and milk, normally takes about 5.

My poor old mam who lives in an equally urban area didn't set foot outside for 6 weeks as she was terrified of fallling and breaking a hip. Good job she was well stocked up with enough food, toilet rolls and long life milk to last.

You country folk have my sympathy, it was bad enough here!

sparrer

beautifylife wrote: »

Does anyone know where I can get cheap dark wood curtain polls? I tried looking in Dunelm and Home bargains but too much around £10 upwards, looking for something around £5? Might need to go back to freecycle!
.

I buy a piece of dowelling from the local hardware emporium. They cut it to the exact length I want, then I varnish or paint to suit. To paint one of the small match pots is ample for a couple of coats.

sparrer

lovesabargain123 wrote: »

Where are you all buying shovels from? That's next on my list :-)

I got my folding shovel fron that well-known auction site. it has one serrated side (useful for cutting blocks to make an igloo? )and folds into its own pouch. A man asked me only yesterday why I had a shovel in the boot - presumably he was somewhere hot last winter

Jolaaled

cydney65 wrote: »

Hope this helps http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290608842670#ht_500wt_1287

Very easy to cut and shape to fit radiator. Go through topcashback and get cash back :T

What is the best way to fix these in position?? (sorry if this is obvious!).
Do you need to fix them to the wall with something (??), or do they just sort of 'rest' on the brackets?

THANKS

LadyDee

The stores are selling leg warmers again! Haven't seen these since I was a teenager. Time to get the knitting needles out I think!

rosieben

Sunnyday wrote: »

... don`t EVER feel the need to explain yourself to other peeps! ...

Truest words! :T:T:T