As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

redlady_1

Got a copy! £1.50 plus £2.99 P and P. Dearer than 1p but a hell of alot less than £25!!!! Hope its worth it now. Thanks to everyone for their help.

The OH and I have been looking for a property with its own private water supply but no joy. I am quite lucky if it all goes down as I have the burner so could manage for some time. My plan is to preserve more than I freeze but we shall see. I still have to freez meat and thats the expensive stuff!

smileyt_2

scottishminnie wrote: »

Well it looks like my best money saving efforts have been spectacularly blown apart. We've had no electricity since noon yesterday and have just been told it's unlikely to be restored today.
I know i't hardly life and death but with 2 freezers full of carefully prepared meals I just want to sit in a corner and cry. Scottish Power say we aren't priority as it's only 5 households therefore it's an isolated case. It may only be 5 but we are in the middle of the country so I can hardly pop next door to boil a kettle:mad:
I'm so angry with myself for splashing out at the weekend on a trip to the theatre I now feel like I'm getting my come uppance for trying to be organised.

We have oil fired heating but it needs power to fire the ignition so there's no heat either and the house is baltic. I'm hoping to get to my local gym tonight so I can at least get a hot shower.

I didn't have the heart to inspect the damage in the garden before I left this morning. Goodness only knows how my veg in containers would have survived yesterday's gales.

Is there any way you can claim from the electricity company for the loss of food? I really don't know, so it is a genuine question. Especially if this is the latest in a long line of power cuts.

sistercas

scottishminie i hope your power is soon restored , how awful for you . my mum has power cuts often and she has resorted to calor gas ( i think) it costs her about £40 a cannister but it keeps the house warm and heats the water

greyqueen i hope your regrading goes ok x

mardatha

Red Doe, only the first cylinder should cost £60, after that you will pay £30 + the empty cylinder each time . I buy the big 47kg ones cos they sit outside my back door and the pipe goes through the wall to the cooker. The big one is £65 here, delivered, and that lasts me 7 months on the cooker. I take time connecting it and checking it with Fairy liquid for leaks, and I love Calor gas, its so handy.

kidcat

purple heather I am doing the same. Its time consuming but it is helping keep costs down.

starsandmoon

Major United Utilities rant alert :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

I asked to have a water meter installed as they want £32 a month for a 2 bed terrace with 2 people in it. Had a meter on a flat and it was much chepaer. They came out and said it would have to be installed outside. Came home last night after work to find a 6 foot hole and a load of rubble and no water! Rang unitied utilities who use a company called H20 for installing meters. Water was restored but not in the kitchen tap, had water upstairs so thought ok I can get washed etc and tackle downstairs tomorrow. Gets up this morning to discover pressure isnt enough for my boiler to work properly so a shower was rather cold.

Goes to work and the fun starts. United Utilities are blaming H20, H20 are blaming me, backwards and forwards until I blow bigtime. A plumber is coming out tonight to have a look and the dangerous 6 ft hole is being filled in today. Im not happy at all. I have contacted Trading Standards as I have been treated appallingly. Just thought I would have a rant (another one, been ranting in work too)

For all in Scotland who have had terrible gales and no power etc :grouphug:have a dodgy hug. I would have had a breakdown by now. My BF lost a full freezer of food a few weeks ago when the electric tripped. It was full of Whoopsies.

On the subject of drink driving. Drink drivers never seem to only kill/injure themselves, they take down innocent people/children and get a small fine and ban for a year and the other family get a lifetime of grief.

scottishminnie

Thanks everyone - still no power. Latest estimate 10am tomorrow morning:eek:

We may have to go down the generator route - I know they are noisy and smelly but we could run on red diesel (which we buy in bulk for machinery) so I'm not overly concerned about the running costs.

We did look at gas when we built the house however it would have been bottled gas and hubby was having none of it as he thinks it's not safe. Far less unsafe than him when he is welding in his workshop with lorries and machinery all around but then that's male logic for you!

We've been looking at a multi fuel stove since last year when the cost of filling the heating oil tank passed the £1000 mark. The challenge is that it really needs to be situated in the den which isn't a big room and the stove needs a fair amound of space around it so we've begun to look at building an external chimney and knocking through the exterior den wall, having a sort of ingle nook fireplace with the stove in. That's looking pricey due to the roof pitch so last discussion was maybe we could just add an extension to the den and utility room for the same money. Everything just seems to have a huge cost attached.

Where's tinkerbell with her fairy dust when you need her?:D

scottishminnie

smileyt wrote: »

Is there any way you can claim from the electricity company for the loss of food? I really don't know, so it is a genuine question. Especially if this is the latest in a long line of power cuts.

Apparently not, they have no liability whatseover. In fact even when you have no power they still levy the standing charge as one of my neighbours found out when she had no power for just over 4 days. It was only pounds but she was livid on principle that they can charge for something which doesn't exist.

mardatha

And according to the forecast on BBC Scotland, the rest of the week is going to be dire as well. Put the kettle on minnie, we all need tea and cake !

scottishminnie

mardatha wrote: »

And according to the forecast on BBC Scotland, the rest of the week is going to be dire as well. Put the kettle on minnie, we all need tea and cake !

I think I'll jump on the first flight out of here - oh wait there aren't any flights from Scotland because of the volcanic ash.

How the hell can there be any volcanic ash over Scotland with this weather - it should be somewhere about Malaysia by now:rotfl: