2014 Frugal Living Challenge

his_missus

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

As I sit here the house is quite cold tho, we have no doors downstairs and all the heat goes up stairs so it is a bit annoying to say the least.


any tips would be most welcome!

We have no door to shut downstairs off from upstairs but we're actually planning to get someone to knock down our porch and build a wall across the lounge so you'll walk into our house and straight upstairs or take the door on the right to enter the lounge. Hoping it keeps the heat in th elounge this way.

Goldiegirl wrote: »

At our infants school (1960's) we had a savings club, and took our money in each week. The older children (7 year olds) were allowed to take the money in and write the deposits in the savings book. I don't remember being supervised doing this, but I suppose we must have been.
.

We had a savings club at school too (late 70's) with a bank. When I was 18, they upgraded it to a current account and I still ahve an account with this bank today, though it's no long my primary current account. You'd think more banks would get involved if only to encourage future customers.

skintygerlinky wrote: »

Evening Frugalites xx

Had a quite a low day today to be honest

Have got a jar of dried Puy lentils which are in a clear jar and have been sat on my kitchen windowsill for about a million years. Well, around 18months I reckon! Do you think they'll still be OK or do I need to get them valued on Antiques Roadshow?

Hope you're feeling cheerier today, Skinty.
I'd love to see that episode of Antiques Roadshow:D

cw18

afoolwithmoney wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a food flask that keeps soup hot longer than about 3hrs please

I have one of these
When I was working as a cleaner at the gym I'd fill with boiling water to warm it up around 5:15am, then empty out and fill with casserole (heated until it was hotter than for immediate serving) at around 5:30am. I ate the casserole I put into it around 11:30 and it was fine, but I don't think I'd have wanted to eat much late despite it saying 24hours.
Might be a bit large for soup for one person, but probably a make it's worth investigating for a smaller model.

I also have a Decathl0n own brand one that I used for soup eaten at 9:30am with no problem (one of these), but haven't ever tried for longer than 4 hours.

kb_soma

DawnW wrote: »

NSD for me today :j
I am at work / commuting for almost 12 hours a day, so don't have the time and energy to do much in the evenings . I usually make a couple of bulk things for dinners at weekend for heating up though, and OH will cook the other days (but sometimes :eek:)

But OH isn't as good as me at using up things, so I made a concerted effort last night, and cut up left over white cabbage and onion and grated carrot for coleslaw - or rather the food processor did (OH uses many complex machines but for some reason cannot fathom out the food processor :rotfl:). I covered this up in a bowl and left in the fridge overnight. So all that was needed tonight was to put some spuds in the oven, grate some cheese, add some mayo to the shredded veg I had prepared last night, and we had lovely jacket spuds with butter, grated cheese and HM coleslaw

I also chopped up and froze some mushrooms that needed using.

Spendy day tomorrow though, as I am going for something to eat after work with some colleagues. Still, it won't be much, and I won't be drinking. I have found a HM readymeal (aka frozen leftovers :rotfl:) that OH likes the sound of, so that will do for him.

Hi Stinky, that sounds lovely. Hope you're feeling better today, I've had enough of the weather too! I definitely suffer from SAD. xxx

[Deleted User]

skintygerlinky wrote: »

Evening Frugalites xx

Had a quite a low day today to be honest

Few personal bits and bobs going on which are making me sad and although I'm not in any flooded areas (and my thoughts are with anyone that is) I think this weather is getting to me! Sick of winter now.

Sorry to hear you are feeling low. I hope you feel better soon.

Frugalsod

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

This is very tricky in my house - I share with my Mum who is currently abroad. When she is here we have it on from 5am till 11 at night at 21C. She is always cold, and likes the house super hot, I don't have the heating on in my room.


Now she is away I have it on from 5.30 till 8, then it comes back on 4 till 11.


As I sit here the house is quite cold tho, we have no doors downstairs and all the heat goes up stairs so it is a bit annoying to say the least.


any tips would be most welcome!

There was an article some time ago about the numbers of pensioners who lived in hotels in Spain over the winter and it was cheaper than living in the UK with the higher gas bills. I am not sure where to look but if you could send granny on a regular migration to Spain or somewhere else warm you could turn the heating right down.

I coped through one of the coldest winters recently without turning on the heating at all. My principle became to heat myself rather than the house. My gas bill was 50p for that winter. It is very extreme but not for everyone.

Frugalsod

This week has not been good for NSD for me, but they have all been very small spends. Though I have ordered some stationary to help me with a specific stationary so £2.80 is not a lot but does mean another day without a NSD. Today it is going to be cream but that is again around a pound but another non NSD.

skintygerlinky

Afternoon Frugalites xx

Cheers for lovely messages! Loads better today, dealing with stuff better!

At uni at the mo so catch up properly later xx

ellie-g

abby1234519 wrote: »

Npower forecast that I will use:

2949 kwh in elec
10086 kwh in gas in 2014

I do take regular meter readings so I'd have assumed this was accurate but then again I am relying on them!

Hi All

I am with Npower and my dd was £50 (dual fuel). All of a sudden they put it up to £75 on 'forecast useage' . I disputed this, searched for a better tariff as well and now I have gone down to £40 per month. One of things I did notice is that even though the electricity constitutes only 1/6 of my total energy use, the cost of the electricity is almost half the total bill!

I do have a small 2 bed house but always have the heating on at 20 in the evening and otherwise generally try not to waste energy, short showers etc. One of the things I might do is replace the electric kettle with a gas hob one as electric seems so much more expensive.

I have started to be a black belt frugal tightwad every time I renew anything like insurance, fuel etc. Takes time but always well worth doing a price comparison on MSE website. Thanks Martin!

nat21luv

Frugalsod wrote: »

There was an article some time ago about the numbers of pensioners who lived in hotels in Spain over the winter and it was cheaper than living in the UK with the higher gas bills. I am not sure where to look but if you could send granny on a regular migration to Spain or somewhere else warm you could turn the heating right down.

I coped through one of the coldest winters recently without turning on the heating at all. My principle became to heat myself rather than the house. My gas bill was 50p for that winter. It is very extreme but not for everyone.

I look forward to seeing you on an episode of Extreme Cheapskates soon!

his_missus

Thanks for the replies. I feel better now knowing I'm not being tight wad with the heating. Hubby did used to moan about being cold but I bought him a couple of fleecy jumpers at Christmas to keep him warm and the reduction in the DD has also stopped him moaning.

Mum's leftover curry from Saturday with YS naan breads (25p) and some leftover rice for tea.

Oh I read yesterday that 10mins of shivering burned as many calories as an hour of exercise, maybe we should turn the heating off