Help would be appreciated pretty please..with sugar on

krlyr

We lived in a house without central heating for quite a while. Electric blanket for the bed! Stick on 20 mins or so before bedtime and you climb into a cosy, warm bed. We switch it off as soon as we get in as we're then asleep before it cools down (retains heat for quite a while, we use a blanket over it too which may help) so no need to waste electricity heating yourself while asleep. Sleeping with socks on helps too, and we'll PJ up when it's really cold.

Butterfly_Brain

A spare quilt or blanket under the bottom sheet will help to keep you snug in bed, we do not put the heating on at night, it gets too stuffy so this solves the problem of breathing easily and keeping warm. Heavy curtains at doors and windows help and as others have said you can pick good ones up at charity shops or you could do what I do which is buy cheap fleeces from ikea and safety pin them to the inside of your curtains.
Draught excluders are cheap and easily made and work on window sills as well as doors.
I totally agree with cake about bedsocks or buy the cheap little fleece slippers that they do in Primark (They were 99p a pair but I think that they are more like £2 a pair now )
I also think that having a freezer will help keep costs down.

A good store cupboard IMO would consist of:
Cereals (Cornflakes, porridge oats, rice krispies)
Bread flour
SR flour
Plain flour
Yeast
Granulated sugar
Caster sugar
Brown sugar
Mixed fruit
Sultanas
dried apricots
Instant custard
Chocolate
bicarbonate of soda (can be used instead of baking powder as well as for making other things)
mixed herbs and spices
suet
cornflour
Tea and coffee/cocoa/hot chocolate
Tinned and packet fruit and veg including Tesco 4p mushy peas, tinned toms, potatoes, instant mash, baked beans etc
Stock cubes/tomato puree/garlic paste in a tube/bisto
Tinned fish - tuna, mackerel etc
Tinned meat_corned beef, ham, mince and onions (surprisingly nice as is goblin stewed steak in a can)
Long Life milk/Evaporated milk
I know that you don't like it but I always have pasta, egg noodles and rice (LG, SG and risotto)
Jam, marmalade, lemon curd, peanut butter and chocolate spread
chinese and curry sauces in a jar
pickles, vinegar, table sauces and mayo

ginnyknit

Sounds like a challenge for you and you are going the right way about it. MSE will help you in lots of ways as it has me. Dont rush and spend all you cash, take it slowly, building things up bit by bit. I agree the hot water bottle and warm socks is a good start and maybe a scarf if the place is draughty. The market is a good place for your fruit and veg as you only need small amounts so you wont waste things.

Freecycle is another option, sometimes people clear out there cupboards of pots and pans and you can get a box of mixed bits and bobs which will start you on your new life - keep posting so we can give you encouragement and dont be afraid to ask anything :T

Goldblend_2

Very impressed butterfly brain :T

Thank you so much for the help and support.. I will keep you updated with how wisely I get on ..

:beer: cheers to everyone for the help.. Is much needed xx x

babyshoes

I'm sorry to hear you've had a tough time. You seem to be fairly upbeat about moving now, so hope it works well for you! Well done for saving up a bit to help you with the initial set-up costs. I assume you still have regular money coming in each month from salary or benefits? Remember you can always vent on various boards if you need to, or ask for help with even the smallest things.

There is a thread here on the OS board at the moment about improving a rented home which is full of tips such as window insulation, blocking draughts, adding rugs to cold floors, lighting a candle etc which will all save on heating costs. It may well be helpful for you to read it as you get to know your new home.

I would normally advocate buying the best quality kitchen equipment you can afford, as cheap pots/pans etc are a false economy - but as an intial set-up they are ok, if you accept that you may well need to replace them within a year. If you can find reasonable quality stuff cheaply in a CS or boot sale to start with, so much the better! Cheap cutlery has been our exception to this rule - the absolute cheapest set from Argos which we bought over 9 years ago when we were setting up home is still in use, though ready for replacement now when we have the cash as some of the plastic handles have broken.

Also, ditto freegle/freecycle. You can ask for anything you need, and may be surprised at what you get. As long as you are polite and don't come accross as greedy or whiny people may be willing to give you all sorts of things. I was amazed to be given a vintage sewing machine a couple of years back, and have had all sorts of other useful stuff, from jars for jam making to fruit from gardens! In extreme circumstances you could even ask for food etc if you were desperate. I would certainly be happy to give things like spare mugs, glasses, an old but working toaster, hoover etc to someone who asked nicely and seemed to be in genuine need - without overcooking the request. Your tone in your OP is perfect - mention the tough times without going into a long sob story, then un-emotionally and politely ask for what you need. If you are offered anything, be sure to collect it when you say you will - and if it turns out to be unsuitable just discreetly dispose of it.

Try making a list of everything you think you need, then put it in priority order. Buy as much as you can from the top of the list with your £100, then try to get one more thing each month or so and review the list regularly. We slept on an inflatable mattress for a few months and saved frantically for the whole time to buy a reasonable quality bed and mattress, which we are still using now, rather than getting the absolute cheapest which we could have afforded immediately, as we both have back problems. The computer was balanced on boxes for ages until we could afford a desk. Boxes are generally available for free and make great temporary tables, especially if you cover them with something like a bit of scrap fabric / sheet etc so no one knows what's under the cloth!:cool: It was a great student trick I learned at Uni. We are still using some nice chairs we found in a skip - before that we had some nasty uncomfortable metal folding chairs which came with the flat.

If the place has a cooker but no fridge / freezer, washing machine, kettle, internet connection etc then those will probably need to be near the top of your list of priorities after food, a hot water bottle and fleecy stuff to keep warm. Somewhere to store clothes may also climb up the list after living out of a suitcase for a while! You can buy a bit more each month as you go along, and you may even find that things near the bottom of the list drop off it after a while of doing without them. We have never had a TV in this flat as initially we couldn't afford one, then we found we just didn't need it.

vickiem30

In terms of groceries, it may help to think in terms of both catagories of food and meal planning, and budget around that; here is an example of how you can do it:

Starches, you don't like rice or pasta so could be:
potatoes (2.5 kilo bag for a 99p)
bread (value wholemeal is 50p and often has less salt than other brands)
cereal ( can be purchased for 31p at tesco)

Protein, I don't eat meat or chicken and use a lot of pulses:
eggs (£1.50)
split peas (great for soups and stews and 49p at tesco)
lentils (gone uo to £1.10!))
tuna (54p)
milk (not sure if it fits here properly!, £1 for two pints)
tins of beans ( around 34p each)
tins of kidney beans (18p)
TVP mince (375 gms 1 pound 75p)
Value mozzerella (44p)
value soft cheese (50p)
creamfield gouda slices (95p for 200gms)

Vegetables and fruit
kilo bag of value veg (75p)
750 g bag of green beans (85p)
onions (99p a kilo)
Tins of tomatoes (around 34p each)
value tinned peaches (around 26p, nice for cheap desserts)
mushy peas (4p a tin at the mo!)
value mushrooms (97p)
apples (roughly 1 pound a bag, or free if you've got a tree!)
options from aldi super 6 (39p- 69p)

seasonings and spices, and oils etc
stock cubes (10p)
value curry powder (52p)
Value herbs (19p)
value gravy powder (20p)
value veg oil (£1,29
value totally buttery (89p for 500gms)

Baking items
flour 52p for 1.5 kilos
sugar 88p a kilo

Once you have the basics, you make tons of things such as pies, baked potatoes, crumbles eg. The initial cost may be high, but many of the items will last for ages ,such as spices and oils.

Breakfasts
cornflakes and milk
toast
scrambbled eg
french toast

Dinners
baked potatoes
soups
ommlettes
sandwiches
mushrooms on toast
beans on toast

teas
chilli
tuna bake
sheppard's pie
home made pies
stews
cheese and potato bake

desserts
home made peach crumble
fruits (stewed if fancied hot)

gibson123

:)Lots of advice on here about how to be all cosy in your new home, but my advise is develop an active social life and get out and about, the less you are indoors the less heating and light you will use. Now I am not talking off to the pub every night but look out for things that don't cost a lot, like walking clubs, local history, learning new crafts etc. Good luck in your new home, I hope it is a happy home for you.

Popperwell

Basically all of the above...most of my clothes are years old and the new ones from charity shops(luckily I have one on town that sells everything at 99p)how cheap is that?

Bed socks, hot water bottles, fleeces etc...to stay warm. I have thermals, PJ's and a Dressing gown.

Slow cooker as cheap as putting a light bulb on...some are big but for a single person(probably big enough)Wilksons and B&M do a small one for under £10.

You could consider a small combi microwave(if when money allows)If you want to avoid a cooker you could get a double hob. A small Geoge Forman Grill is under £20 at Argos. Many of us use a halogen oven...anything to avoid using electric or gas for too long...

In the Summer you can do more cold meals/sandwiches.
Considering stretching meals out so you get more than one meal out of something. Or if you have an oven on try and do a few items at once.

Don't dismiss own brands/low cost items as many are as good or the same as those advertised on tv that cost much more. Look out for bargains where items are on offer but they are only bargains if you will eat/use them.

If cold and you are say only listening to the radio/reading a book, dive under the duvet and keep warm.

I hope that you have some local shops nearby and can access some of the discount supermarkets like Aldi, Lidl, B&M, Poundland etc...

At the minute I have found the two supermarkets offering the biggest range of items at low prices to be ASDA and Tesco and if I had room in my freezer I would have purchased some yesterday in Tesco as they have introduced at least another ten products in their food range...

My supermarket has a good section showing all the deals in the main supermarkets http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/ and http://www.supermarketownbrandguide.co.uk/index.php is good too.

Can save time and money by allowing you to look at what is available without visiting all the supermakets in person...

savingqueen

:)Hello goldblend and a warm welcome,

sorry to hear you've had hard times but you can have a fresh start soon. Hope you'll be happy, organised and cosy in your new home.

The Indexed collections - sticky threads at beginning of OS board (think that's what they are called) are good to get started with OS cleaning, cooking, baking etc.

Lots of useful advice given so far, don't want to duplicate.

Making a list of absolutely everything you will/might need and then breaking it down into sections and order of priority is essential. Carry the list when you are shopping and have some paper/notebook to jot down prices when you visit different shops - take your time to research first.

Many places will refund your money if the goods are still packaged properly and you have the receipt - even some charity shops. If you spot someone with a better value/price, worth trying to get a refund on original and then buying the better item.

While you are building up your household items, see if something can have more than one use in the meantime. eg. a saucepan can be used to boil water for a cuppa instead of a kettle, a warm dressing gown doubles as an extra layer on top of duvet, a lamp can be be unplugged and used in living area or bedroom or even kitchen etc. Lots of thin layers or 2 pairs of thinner socks etc if you don't have thicker layers.

try and think of more later, not feeling too well so typing with with laptop balanced on my tummy/knees in bed whilst lying down. not the most comfortable of positions to type!

look forward to hearing about your new home and your OS adventures in the making

take care
sq:)

Callie22

Hello

I find cheap fleece blankets are brilliant for keeping cosy. Great to wrap yourself up in on the sofa, and you can even tack them to the back of curtains over the winter if you need extra insulation. If you like near an IKEA you can pick them up for very little, but I have seen them in pound shops too.

Also, I think pound shops can be great for some kitchen equipment whilst you're working out what works for you. I agree with buying decent quality knives and pans because you'll *always* need them, but if you're thinking about baking then they can be a great place for mixing bowls, scales etc. One thing I would say though is be careful there if you're looking at the cleaning stuff - often the same brands are cheaper in Wilko's but you get caught up in the 'it's only £1' mindset and spend more than you need ... Lidl is also good for cleaning products etc, and I've heard their washing powder is good.

Also if you don't have access to a car then a shopping trolley is a great investment. You don't have to have a tartan one!