Village living on a budget what NO ALDI!

brunettegirl

no never - the tank is full though and there are 2 coal fires - will that last me?

mardatha

If one of the fires is in a bedroom try this - my daughter did it when she was in a very cold farm cottage with 2 coal fires and no heating. Light the livingroom fire, and an hour before bedtime, use a shovel to remove half a doz hot coals, and carry it carefully through to the bedroom fire, which is laid ready with some sticks and small coals. Bung the hot live coals on top and there u have an instant fire

GlynD

I think village living is much better but there's no doubt you have withdrawal symptoms from the city. We get round it by going to Lidl once every 2-3 weeks. For top-up shopping we use our nearest filling station which is part of a grocery buying chain so while the prices aren't Lidl, they're close. We have some enterprising farmers wives who call at the door every week with produce and there are a couple of farm shops nearby too. Once you find out where all these things are you'll start to enjoy life so much. Good that you've got a full oil tank. That should take you through until April when the price will drop again although I'm not seeing it as too expensive at the moment. You'll learn to love your open fires. Coal is cheap as chips but you may want to buy some wood to burn too as it's even cheaper. Don't forget to check if your coal fires are linked into a dual heating system. If one or more of them are then there will be some nights you don't want to run the OFCH. At the moment we don't preferring the heat from the coal fire in the lounge and the ambient heat from the radiators elsewhere in the house. When it's really cold you can run both systems together.

Oh yes, country living has a lot going for it.

thegirlintheattic

We drive to ASDA which is about 22 miles round trip away but is much cheaper and has a much better selection than the local 'Spa' type shops. We also fill the car up there which saves a lot of money compared to the local expensive filling station. This means that overall we save more than we spend on the fuel. We have Aldi's and what nots in the nearest town as well but driving around to them all would waste more money than we save.

We don't have many long powercuts, although we do loose power for the odd hour and sometimes get spikes that interrupt things, so we buy lots of reduced meat at the supermarket and frozen veg in case we can't get out. We also brought powerpacks that give several hours battery power automatically when the power goes out and the stuff in the freezer will stay frozen after that for at least a day or so if you don't open the door.

Gloomendoom

GlynD wrote: »

Coal is cheap as chips but you may want to buy some wood to burn too as it's even cheaper.

Chips are not cheap! Coal is an expensive way to heat a house... and wood is even dearer if you have to pay for it.

GlynD

I live in Northern Ireland. We find coal a superb and economic way to heat our home. Wood is extremely popular at the moment becasuse blocks are so cheap. I'm not alone in this, I'm following a trend.

jackyann

brunettegirl wrote: »

no never - the tank is full though and there are 2 coal fires - will that last me?

It depends on the house, size & situation of fireplaces etc.
When we had only one coal fire in a cold house, I kept it in all the time during cold weather: I bought an expensive, but very slow-burning coke, and made up the fire twice a day: worked out much more comfortable for very little extra, and kept the whole house warm.
Talk to the neighbours about what they do, especially if there are similar houses, and experiment: if you can invest in one of those "in & out" thermometers (or get one for Xmas) it can help.
do make sure it is well insulated: check all the obvious insulation, look for draughts & consider draught excluders at doors etc (roll up an old towel or blanket until you have time to make one)
Look at your curtains: can you afford (or ask for Xmas) really thick curtains? If you can make them you can get cheap fabric on markets or the internet, and even consider interlining.
Where are your outside doors? I increased our comfort greatly in one house simply with an old-fashioned thick door curtain.
There's stuff on the "old style" thread about this.
I hope you enjoy your village

mardatha

House coal here is £15 a sack and smokeless stove eggs £17.50... we use 2 bags a week, not really cheap at £35.

Seanymph

We have an oil syndicate in our village - there are about 70 houses, and one person collates the orders, then phones around and gets the cheapest price for everyone to have deliveries at the same time twice a year. It saved us around £70 this time!

Wood can be obtained for nothing, we have a woodburner (fitted last week) and won't pay for any wood at all. We have however bought a chain saw and started telling people we'll clear wood for them

A breadmaker is a life saver - means you don't have to go out every day, and milk freezes fine.

You'll be fine. We are very rural here, and we never get powercuts. You won't get powercuts just because you are remote - and with two wood fires you won't freeze anyway...

jackyann

ITA about the breadmaker (another Xmas present?) & the milk.
Depending on how much flour you use, you may find it worthwhile to buy a sack (from a wholefood co-operative or even from the mill). We used to, and shared it between a few families, but it does have to be stored carefully.
Some scorn a breadmaker and make their bread from scratch, but I find the machine more reliable! I also keep a couple of packs of vacuum-packed part-baked bread in case I'm in a hurry.
Nothing beats word-of-mouth for deals locally. I have never managed to live in an area with a LETS or other barter system; we did live near a town that had one and it looked great, but we weren't eligible.
I also wonder if you are near enough to a Costco to make membership worthwhile: I know families who share a Costco run.