would love to be mortgage free!

coldcazzie

Yes that's another thing we don't do that we should... I'm sure I can concoct a lovely long list, but mostly I'm wondering how I can get him on side, as it were. If he's unwilling to even try it'll be like pushing an elephant up a hill. *ponder-y face*

coldcazzie

That's a good idea Peonie - will try that definitely.

coldcazzie

So, last night while eating dinner (just the two of us ) we discussed how we could reduce our leccy bill. We've agreed to:
- Turn the microwave off at the switch when not in use
- Turn the surround sound off at the switch when not in use
- Unplug our phone chargers when not in use
- Stop using the dehumidifier in the garage: it's not making the blindest bit of difference and is costing a bomb to run*
- Try not to have both computers on at the same time
- Sort out the bathroom asap, which will include the lighting (when we moved in there were 2 huge 100w light bulbs in there, we took one out to save money, but when we redo the bathroom we'll put new more efficient lighting in)
- Redouble efforts to find a replacement fridge for the kitchen (we're currently running integrated fridge and freezer inside, plus our old fridgefreezer in the garage. Not ideal I know, but the inside ones are incredibly small and the fridge door doesn't close properly. There's nowhere to put the ff inside so we're stuck until we do the kitchen. If we can find a replacement fridge on a short term basis that'd be great.)

I'm also going to:
- Drop the tank lights in the living room down to 7 hours from 8 (no live plants so light is just for our enjoyment)
- Try to use the extractor fan in the kitchen less
- Try to find an upright airer with splayed feet that I can put on the bannister to lean over the stairs - this will be good for jumpers or bedding to dry on

I already:
- Stopped using the tumble dryer as much by drying socks on my peg rack thingy suspended over the radiator in the living room, and I bought some radiator hanging rail things to hang smaller washed items on
- Nag the kids something chronic about turning their lights off when they leave the room

*on this bit he was probably right - it uses 400w an hour, so in a day that's 9.6 units :eek:

He wants to drop our usage to 12 units a day. I think we can do it. I'm going to set a reminder in my phone to read the meters every month so we can keep an eye on it better.

coldcazzie

Have just listed another 31 items on ebay :T:T fingers crossed a good number of them sell. If some of the clothes don't they will be put into the charity shop bag instead of re-listing.

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi Caz, DH has spent a little time recabling things during the weekend, so for example, 4 items often left on standby can now be turned off using the main switch on the wall, as they are plugged into an extension block - no idea whether that would help you but you never know.

How's your little one faring today?

Tily x

coldcazzie

Hi Tilly, she's completely back to normal - bouncing off the walls and causing a ruckus as usual :rotfl: her lip looks much better now than when she did it. I hope it heals well and she's not got too big a scar.

As for cabling etc, I will ask him whether anything can be improved. We have our TV plugged into one of those plugs that turns it off at the mains as the actual TV doesn't have an on/off switch, only standby. Not only does this not waste energy, but it's actually made the TV less temperamental as well. The place I think could definitely use improvement is my computer. I'm considering one of those switches that cuts power to printer, monitor, and anything you want to plug into it when you turn the computer off? I shall have to research their cost.

Sepa74

I have one of the boards that has 6 power sockets, all of which are fused for computers, and a power switch. It's great, one flick of the switch and everthing is turned off immediately.

This is the sort of thing http://www.directron.com/bp10820006.html

I think I probably got mine off Misco.

I've also rewired so the TV and everything turn off with one switch, and the only thing I leave running is the wireless router. Most phone chargers these days have a very low drain on the battery, so I only turn them off if they are easily accessible (if they are cold to touch when they are turned on they are draining a minuscule amount of leccy) and fortunately most of my kitchen appliances don't have digital displays, with one exception... you'll never guess what it is...


Give it a go....



It's my toaster! It's a Br3v1lle and I am never buying another one in protest at having to turn if off at the wall every time I've finished with it!

coldcazzie

:rotfl: that's one top notch toaster! Ours is pretty swanky...but not digital display. Our microwave has no clock on it so we reasoned we wouldn't lose anything by switching it off.

I shall discuss it with him, probably at bedtime. We're currently watching Spiderman

coldcazzie

So, today I need to do all my jobs for tomorrow as well as today as tomorrow will be full of stuff that takes me out of the house. I've been taking inspiration from the Flylady threads on the OS board and am really trying to get into a good routine of doing a little every day.

[STRIKE]- place order with butcher
- decluttering in living room
- 240L w/c
- hoover sofas
- sweep & mop kitchen/dining room/living room floor
- clean hob, grill pan[/STRIKE] & oven
[STRIKE]- wash up & clean sink/worktops[/STRIKE]
- HHE
- recorder practice with Squish
- check over shopping list for tomorrow

J'raff [strike]appears to be[/strike] is definitely coming down with whatever Lumpy had last week

coldcazzie

While I was cleaning I found the kids Amazon giftcards which they got from my aunt and uncle. Just popped on the website (via Nectar to get the points ) and got them 3 films I know they like but we don't have on DVD yet, plus The Chronicals of Narnia in paperback which Squish has been itching to read since we saw Voyage of the Dawn Treader at the cinema.

Also, today is payday! :T :T :T plus a quick log on to online banking says that the money I transferred from Paypal to cover postage costs last week has also arrived, so now just waiting for eBay's fees to be paid.