What else to save the pennies?

rigsby1967

PhGage wrote: »

I'm seriously considering making wall hangings and window quilts to reduce my winter fuel usage.

How do you make window quilts please PhGage? I have bubble wrap on my bathroom window as the curtains blow about in the wind, and on my patio doors i have velcro attached around the Upvc and hang thermal lining up in the winter once its dark but i've not heard of window quilts.

I have recently signed up to my energy online service, i was given just over £250 back about 2 months ago as i was in credit and am about £80 in credit again already but will leave that for the extra used in the winter months. At least i can see how much i'm in credit on a regular basis and keep a close eye on the bill.

I am just wondering if it's worth lining the underneath of my stairs with paper, the reason being, we can go from my kitchen into the garage via under the stairs through 2 doors, but in winter it is freezing in the garage and wondered if maybe some cold air is coming from the garage and through the carpeted stairs, also maybe lining the bathroom floor as the bathroom is over the garage, any thoughts on that please ?

Thanks

PhGage

rigsby1967 wrote: »

How do you make window quilts

I've been looking at a couple of tutorials, it looks important to choose material that allows light through. (Edited to add: just seen 415SanFran's post which recommends 'black out' for children Sounds very wise: for us, the light transmitting ones would be helpful as the house is on an East-West axis and it would be good to get some passive heat from the Winter sun.)

Lehman's Country Life: Making old-time window quilts

Bella: Make a window quilt to save on heating bills

Window quilts

I have some old sheets, old duvets and throws that I want to make into these. This weekend will be a good time to sort through the attic for suitable fabric remnants.

darkrev

Wow love the window quilts , thanks Phgage, they look really cosy, don't think i will have time to make them this year, but look forward to selecting materials for the future. x i've directed another forum on preps for winter to your post too as it may interest some more people x

darkrev

as seen on hduk

argos newspaper brick maker now £4.99

turns paper into bricks for fire
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3450688.htm?cmpid=COJUN&storeId=10151&_%24ja=tsid%3A11674%7Cprd%3A1546795&referredURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.argos.co.uk%2Fstatic%2FProduct%2FpartNumber%2F3450688.htm&referrer=COJUN

savingqueen

I wanna live for free

I_wanna_live_for_free wrote: »

My husband does this. When I'm cooking. I move away from the pan for less than 30 seconds to grab some herbs or whatnot and I come back and the ring has been turned off under what I'm cooking. :mad:

He's also turned off a joint of beef in the oven as he didn't realise it was in there so had a sunday roast of just veggies as I had the hissy fit of hissy fits when I found out after wondering why I wasn't smelling beef roasting and it had been in an hour already... :eek:

sorry to hear above I wanna live for free. :(Must drive you mad! I wasn't advocating turning off the oven whilst you're still using it! Just turning off from wall when not in use so you're not wasting leccy powering the oven/microwave clock.

sq:)

savingqueen

rigsby1967 wrote: »

Well i got a reply about the job interview i went for....i didn't get it....i'm well annoyed as ive been working their as a volunteer for the last 7 years and for the past 4 years for 3 Sundays in August i MANAGE the blooming place and they tell me someone with more experience got the job, my manager even gave me a glowing reference......well maybe i'll start my dream of having my own business and tell them where to go, this is the 2nd interview ive had with them and both times turned down......i'm good enough to be the unpaid skivvy but not good enough to be paid for my time!:mad::mad:

so sorry to hear that, so unfair rigsby1967. Similar thing happened to DH last year. He covered for a more senior post whilst still doing his current one without any extra pay or anything. Not even a thankyou! When the senior post was advertised, they told DH not to bother even applying as he wouldn't get it (wanted a graduate they said). They got their graduate who is very capable but that doesn't matter much as she is very lazy, doesn't pull her weight (guess who ends up helping her?!) and the big boss doesn't say anything.

Hopefully you will get your "break" before too long and find a better place to work (paid or unpaid) - somewhere you will be appreciated for all your efforts. Good luck and chin up me dear.:grouphug:

sq:)

frugaller

Hi,

We've been on JSA just two weeks now, and we're cutting back on everything, could you send me a copy of your 'Online Misers Cookbook' too please JackieO?

Rigsby, I feel for you, we're renting and that's stressful enough.

We're really struggling to make ends meet at the minute. We've been using up food in the freezer and I've been making jam with the last of the sugar and fruit from the freezer and some blackcurrants and raspberries from the garden and my mum's been making scones for us too :-)

We got low on electricity and so ate al-fresco using an old stove my hubby picked up from the recycling centre and burned old wood he got from there too. Kids (teenagers) love it and we've done it a few times over the last couple of weeks :-)

I've been reading this forum for a while now, picked up some great tips :-)

Frugaller

prepareathome

Jacko could I please, please have a copy or link to your misers cookbook as although I know I am fairly good at making things go further I know there is much more I can do. Thanks

debbiedebt

JackieO please could I have a copy of your misers cookbook I could really do with it. My DD is going back to college and her course fee is £1200. As it's not Uni there's no loans or anything. She is paying most of it but I won't be taking any "keep" from her but she should be able to get a decent job at the end of it.

Thank you.

Spendless

rigsby1967 wrote: »

I did breifly think about it but i really didn't want to go into debt with my mortgage.
19 years ago i nearly lost my house as i was in debt with the mortgage and 5 years ago i had to re-morgage for the whole 25 years again due to the endowment shortfall and i was 6 years of supposedly finishing the mortgage, so i just have tomorrows mortgage payment then next months then i go onto the variable base rate (i think it's called).

Ouch! Do you have ground for being mis-sold your endowment to see if you could get any compensation? I did this earlier this year and received over £1k. Don't pay a company to do it for you. I went on the Which website, looked up all the valid reasons for complaint and sent mine off. I've been on hol so hadn't seen this till now, did you manage to pay the last months mortgage ok. Sorry about the job- it's so rubbish looking for employment at the minute.:(