It was getting tough in 2006 and the workhouse still threatens us in 2011

kidcat

Our last washer/dryer was bought as a second hand refurb when we first got together, between my dad and I we managed to keep it going until we bought new super size beast two years ago. The refurb had done us ten years at least and had only needed minor stuff, new pump, door seal etc. New beast has had five engineer call outs and two very expensive parts - thankfully under warranty, but once warranty runs out repairs are going to be extortionate.

GQ- re your fridge - if you are repairing it and costing dont forget to factor in the electricity usage - your old one will be nowhere near as energy efficient. Saying that I have a Beko under counter freezer which we bought 15 yrs ago and I would try to repair before buying new.

In my case between my dad and I, older machines are fixable but new ones with fancy electronics we dont have a hope. My mum had an old bendix machine throughout my childhood that lasted 21 years on my dads repairs, it eventually died and was reluctantly replaced, my mum has never been happy with any machine since and in the following 14 years has had to replace her machine 3 times, and as there is only two of them they only use the things occassionally.

GreyQueen

I grew up in a household of fixers, too, and it was an abiding childhood memory to come home and find Mum in the kitchen with either our single-tub washer or the spindryer horizontal over a couple of chairs having a new drive-belt or whatever.

I agree with your suspicion that replacement parts are overpriced on purpose, which p*sses me off no end as waste appals me.

Re energy efficiency, Mr Beko is "B" rated and has an annual energy consumtion of 228 kwH whereas the new undercounter fridges I looked at in J Lewis yesterday were "A" rated and use, respectively; Bosch 230, Miele 240 and Zanussi 234 for the same cubic capacity and style of fridge (ones with 2* interior freezer boxes).

So a modern "A" rated fridge uses more leccy that a 12 y.o. "B" rated fridge to cool the same amount of space..........interesting.

At this point GQ frowns sternly at the screen and hmmmms to herself before deciding she really must get ready for w*rk but she will investigate this further, to be sure. Someone is pulling a fast-one with these energy ratings.

ETA; Whoops, cross-posted with you, Kidkat!

[Deleted User]

I see we are in for a winter of discontent, again. Mardatha has the right idea, full storage containers of heating and cooking fuel. Striking over pensions, pah!!! I get £370 a MONTH from my few years of teaching and it goes up year on year with inflation. I hardly had to pay anything in compared to my dh who has a private pension, he had to pay in much of his salary while we scraped along and even now the income is precarious. Don`t get me going on that one, who the hell do they think has been supporting all the gold plated pensions?

I`m off to costco this morning, it`s only once in a while as it is a 90 min round trip. I always look forward to it and I have had to do a major squeeze in the freezer

starsandmoon

Havnt posted for a while but have been lurking.

On the subject of will people fix things more rather than throw them away, I have noticed this happening with cars. Many people would just go and get a new car on finance when their "old" one was a couple of years old. One friend used to do this despite working a 5 min walk away from home and only ever covering 3,000 miles a year. Said she "deserved" a new car because she worked! These days people will keep cars longer and get them fixed. Im lucky as BF can do basic repairs so my new brake pads and disks cost £50 to buy and he fitted them compared to a garage bill of £200:eek: Friends who used to replace cars every 3 years have stopped doing so and are paying any finance off as quick as they can.

I need a car or I would get rid so I try to keep repairs cheap and not use it unless I have too. Bought a shopping trolley so on days off I take that to various local shops to bring the shopping back etc.

My wage cut takes affect next month so I have sorted mine and DD's winter clothes, bought a new 15 tog duvet, getting loft insulated in 2 weeks and started buying Xmas pressies. I use a portable gas heater instead of the heating while its a bit chilly of an evening as its cheaper.

Its getting more and more of a battle to stay on an even keel though. The food shop is like a militray operation that involves at least 3 shops to get the best deals. Luckily I live by a decent shopping area with H & B, Heron , Asda, Farmfoods and I can walk there.

smileyt_2

Raining here today. I think my wee Hepzibah henny is getting sick again because when I let them out of their house this morning she didn't want anything to eat, and normally they attack their feeder as if they've not been fed for days.

I'm going to spend the day sewing curtain rings onto my new blinds so that I can rig up a pulley system to pull them up and down - I'm too short to tie them up like they're designed to be. Then I will be cutting up cardboard boxes, sticking emergency blankets to them, and shoving them down the back of the radiators. I am determined to keep my heating bills down this winter. A little knitting may be on the horizon, too. Not a bad way to spend a day; I feel as if I need something quiet and steady to do as I'm feeling a bit low. I don't think the suggestion of VAT on food has helped :eek:! Oh well, worse things happen at sea!

Mardatha, is your heating fixed yet?

taurusgb

HariboJunkie wrote: »

Thank you Mardatha, WMF and Kittie. :A

It's very hard not to feel guilty. OH has enough on his plate without taking on the household chores and as I treat being at home as a job I feel like I'm slacking if I have a day/afternoon off. I have been trying to do paperwork for our business in the mornings so that doesn't fall behind but then the housework is left until I'm too tired to see straight. It doesn't help that I'm a control freak either. :rotfl:

Great news about your sister WMF. :j I live too far from my sister, and my brother and Dad and StepMum and lovely nieces and nephews but sis and I talk on the phone daily. I just need to get her on Skype so I can see if she's dressed yet when she phones. :D

Talking of convalescence... Are you around Taurusgb?

Thank you for thinking about me Haribo. I'm here but I'm reading more than posting (unless I see a post where I think I can help someone) as I have very little energy and need to sleep/rest a lot.

I saw my consultant yesterday. My spleen is now a huge 23cm and taking up a large area of my abdomen rather than being fist sized and hidden safely under my ribs. If the (nasty) tests scheduled for 21st don't give a conclusive diagnosis, then I am likely to have to have my spleen removed. I know I can live without it, and people keep telling me it will be a price worth paying if it means my current health improves, but I want to weep when I think that most of the plans DH and I have made to spend time travelling when we retire will no longer be possible, because they are mostly trips to areas I wouldn't want to visit with the compromised immune system that spleen removal will leave me with. To be honest it's not really for me I mind, I'm happy to camp in Dorset :rotfl: but visiting some other Countries has been a dream that has helped my DH keep going when times have been tough, and I feel completely and utterly miserable that it would be because of me if it doesn't happen. I wouldn't mind him going alone but that isn't the dream, the dream is sharing it.

I know how you feel about your DH working hard and then helping out with household chores. This is currently our position too. Makes me feel useless and guilty. Not that he ever moans - he is wonderful and I love him to death.

On an OS front, DH is now a dab hand at baking bread and cakes and has also had a go at pastry this last weekend. I had a stumble round Sainsburys with him after I'd been to the hospital and was highly amused (hid it well so as not to upset him). He never used to know a thing about what food cost, just relied on me to do what I thought was the affordable best, but after being in charge of shopping for the past couple of months he now walks round the shop tutting, sighing and shaking his head at the shelves. Very amusing to watch.

GreyQueen loved reading your posts about your holday and newly learned skills.....I'll try not to blame you if the laughter you inspre causes my spleen to rupture :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

smileyt_2

Taurusgb, fingers crossed for a diagnosis for you and hopefully treatment that will get you better.

maryb

To be fair, the Institute of Fiscal Studies is generally more in tune with Labour than the Tories, although they are not affiliated to any party. But they tend to be dominated by left/liberal leaning thinkers. In the past you could work out what Labour's tax policies were going to be by looking at the most recent IFS think tank report.

This is just a think tank report, NOT a government/civil service commisioned one, and they recognise themselves that there would be political difficulties in doing what they suggest - it's just that it would be more coherent. Along with moving to indirect taxation on expenditure they would simultaneously reduce taxes on income. Cynical moi thinks, yeah, right, but it is true that merging National Insurance and Income tax and hugely increasing personal allowances would make income tax more genuinely progressive. There are lots of 'steps' in the system at the moment when the extra tax and NI you pay if you get a bit more income and move to another band means you are paying a huge effective rate of tax on that extra slice - more even than those of the rich who do pay UK tax .

And while you may not be paying VAT on food at present, every time they raise employer's National Insurance costs, Mr T, Mr S et al immediately pass that cost on in higher prices - so you are effectively paying tax on the food you buy

shegar

wmf wrote: »

GreyQueen - thanks! Have saved it now and will make it again v soon. I've made it twice and really enjoyed it the time I added bits of cauli - they really soak up curry flavour!
Sunny and bright out there - good for the soul. DH off to work in a mo as he's in a bit later today, then it will be dog walking for me.
Need to defrost the freezer at some point so I'll have a tidy through of it and see what can be used then just get on and do it.
Had a better night with these painkillers but they didn't work as thoroughly as I'd hoped and had to take another 2 at 2am. Still, that helped me have a better few hours of sleep than I've had for ages. I'm another one who has seen quite a few folks with extremely healthy diets and lifestyle become ill or disabled. While I know it's good to eat as well as you can, exercise or keep active etc, and I do also believe in the power of positive thinking (to an extent), I also believe a lot is pot luck. Stresses of jobs, being in jobs you hate etc all take their toll. A good friend of mine is really struggling this past year with what looks to be diagnosed as M.E. All this talk of no tablet taking has made me want to give a big (((hug))) to all of us who HAVE to take them for various reasons:).
Take care all
W

Yes doctors and experts do blame a lot of illnesses and diseases on lifestyle, but as a example I was young,fit, 18 yrold, weighing 7 stone and id just had my first baby boy he was 2 months old and I went downhill very quick, lost weight that I didnt need to lose ,thirst etc, ended up with type 1 diabetes, not a nice disease, as you get older im 53 yrs old it tell a tale on your body, had my eyes lazered 4 times, joint problems etc .............and that wasnt in our family genes, my lifestyle was good before the diabetes.........................

My hubby worked hard all his life, never had high blood presure , cholestrial, weighed 12 stone, never smoked, only occasionally had the odd can of lager, very active and fit man had a major stroke at 49 yrs old, left him disabled, with hemiplegia,epilepsey,can only walk a few steps, and I care for him 24/7 and a carer comes in once a day....................................and that wasnt in his family genes........so its either one of those things which happen or its bloody hard luck.......................we are both pretty much knackered now at 51 and me 53 , but we keep waking up everyday so thats a plus point id say.......:D.......

Doctors always try to find a reason why major things happen to our health but its not clear cut is it...?brain surgeon told me that they have no idea why gary had such a big stroke, he had a CVA stroke, which is a bleed on the brain, and he had a 5 hour life saving op but the surgeon could not find where the bleed came from........its always on miy mind whether he could happen again when?where? if.......you have to live with it, and take each day as it comes.....:)its the only way to go, people say to me "oh I couldnt inject myself 5 times aday", well if I dont then id bloody well die, so you just get on with it and dont whinge,:eek:,,theres folks out there hundreds times worse that us two................we are supported with good Drs etc, and we are both happy people, so no lifestyle is not always to blame for health................................

Beautiful day here again , sun shining, slight wind, got 2 load washing out, ive been out front and jet washed the whole of the drive all block paved and disabled ramp, it soon builds up a bit of green algie so we dont want that slippery :eek:................I always get wet when I do a bit jet washing but I love that dirty job..................and when I was doing the drive I decided to jet wash the windows, there quite big 7 foot windows, so I had a good splash around out front today, it all looks super clean now................................:D

Oh I do love housework:D well in and out really, its nice when your done and everything is gleaming in the sunshine....:D.....

Well im off to make a lovely salad sandwich for lunch now , then im going to put a glass mirror up on the wall, when I find the plasterboard wall screws that I put safely in the shed...........When all of you say what youve been making, pickling,chutney, etc that put me to shame cos I really dont like kitchen work, in fact id say I hate cooking, I do sometimes cook from scratch, but if I can buy something you bung in the oven thats me..:eek:...........................hope your all having a good day and catch you later....:D

Mrs_Chip

General hugs all round, I thinks we could all do with some in one way or another.

It is very chilly here in SE this mornng, but there has been some sun and the garden and the back of the house is now lovely and warm, unlike the living room at the north-facing front of the house which is very cold. The sun due to stay until the weekend, then it all goes pear-shaped - typical, we are off to Cornwall for a week, our holiday weather troll is packing his bag as I write!

I have a 5kg bag of onions - 99p at our local Turkish supermarket (I will SO miss these shops when we finally ship out to westerly parts).

Apart from chopping and freezing (no freezer space) or bottling (no bottles!) has anyone got any good ways of using these up?