Preparing for Winter V

dingdongsaving

We waited and placed our oil order over the bank hol weekend as there's always good deals on.

We were empty so got to maximise the savings/good rates on as many litres as possible. :beer: We had a £10 voucher, the bank holiday deal, and ordered from the communal oil site on the cheapest delivery time bracket possible (up to 2 working week wait) and got 1000l for under £282!!!! Lowest price we've had in 5 years of moving out to the sticks and being oil-only. :T

A tank lasts us 11-14 months (weather dependant), which is still cheaper than we expected when moving out here from the city where we thought we had a cushy dual-fuel discount. This home is very energy efficient and seems to cost less to heat/run year-round than our previous 120+ year old home.

We'll top up the tank again over the Aug bank hol weekend so we never pay the ridiculous cold weather rates for a refil. There's always discounted rates then too.

Toomuchdebt

I'm joining you here this year as I really struggled last year being on prepayment meters and not used to them. This year starting now I am trying to build up some credit on both gas and electric by paying in £20 a week on each, rather than the £10 I'm actually using. In winter I found the gas was nearer to £40 a week :eek: What would be a reasonable amount to have in credit? Is there a maximum it'll let you put on?

Baileys_Babe

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

I'm joining you here this year as I really struggled last year being on prepayment meters and not used to them. This year starting now I am trying to build up some credit on both gas and electric by paying in £20 a week on each, rather than the £10 I'm actually using. In winter I found the gas was nearer to £40 a week :eek: What would be a reasonable amount to have in credit? Is there a maximum it'll let you put on?

Morning toomuchdebt I have no idea regarding limits on prepayment meters. Really good idea to start putting extra on earlier to save the worry in the winter about how you are going to afford to keep warm. If you find out their is a limit, could you put the extra away in a bank account or credit union account or in a jar or under the matress and then it will be available come the winter. To work out how much credit you need to build up guesstimate/work out/decide how many weeks you are likely to need to spend the higher amount and when that is likely to start then you need to divide the amount you wish to save by the amount of weeks until you are likely to need to start using it.
As well as saving to pay for more heating in the winter is there any thing you can do to mean it is warmer/doesn't loose the heat so quickly, in our house our windowsills are over 30cm deep we have put blinds (blackout, thermal) close to the windows and lined curtains with extra fleece lining on the room side. In the past we have used bubble wrap (collected from the fruit and vegetable section of supermarkets, most seem very happy for us to take it away) to insulate windows and made blinds/shutters out of cardboard.
In winter we have blankets (ours are fleece) easily available so we can wrap one round us whilst sitting around watching telly, reading a book, on the computer, playing boardgames.
I will only put the heating on if everyone is dressed suitably (ie not in shorts and tshirt) in our house that is underwear including socks, trousers, vest, tshirt, long sleeved shirt, jumper and often we also insist on thermals.
Hth remember any prep we do is better than nothing, but the more we can prepare the better.

Emsky*

Hi Everyone, I'm going to be watching/following this thread closely looking for some tips to keep the house nice & warm (we live in a end Victorian terrace) this winter as we're expecting our first baby in September, we want to keep the house nice & toasty but at a small expense if possible

Toomuchdebt

I have lots of fleece blankets so that's one thing I am ok for. I do need to sort out the windows though. One room upstairs in particular is very damp top the point that black mould started growing on the ceiling. The landlord bought us a dehumidifier which was very nice but of course that uses electricity. I need to sort out curtains for the rooms-some have blinds which of course don't keep the heat in at all. There's also no insulation in the roof so that doesn't help. The windows are quite draughty-I can't seal them off though as we need to be able to open them and let the fresh air in, otherwise the house smells stale, especially with pets.
I'm going to top up the meter until I have £100 in credit on both then just top up what we use. The rest will be put aside in a box so I don't have to worry about going to the cashpoint as well as topping up..At the moment I'm saving £10 a week so I have £30 on there at the moment.When I top up it'll be £20ish so another £20 will go on and hopefully I won't use more than £10 etc etc. Last year we went down to 0 several times which doesn't matter so much for the electricity, but for the gas was a nightmare as the boiler is temperamental and would refuse to start up again for a few hours after because once you get down to £0 it cuts out as a safety precaution.
I'm thinking of buying a small freezer as I have very limited space in mine, so can't really batch cook or freeze fruit etc. My 18 year old will be going to uni in September so of course my money will drop so I'd like to stockpile a few things while I can.
With my health I'm not sure I'll be able to go back to work-I have a meeting next Monday to discuss it. the trouble is it's really hard to predict when I will have a good or a bad day. On a good day I could just about manage working. On a bad day I struggle to get out of bed and walk down the stairs, and so far no painkillers help with the pain.There doesn't seem to be any pattern at all. Sometimes I'm bad in the morning, sometimes it's the evening. If I could find a job that I could do from home in my own time I'd be OK. Obviously calling in sick plays havoc with staff rotas.
I'm trying to pay as much off my debt as I can but also save some in case of emergencies. I've never had any money saved which is why I've always had a debt problem.
I need to buy a rug for winter to put in the living room-we have laminate floors which are fine in nice weather but come winter it makes the room so cold!
I need a door curtain too as the front door is draughty.
I am determined to be nice and warm this winter! I was not warm last winter at all and hated it.

muffin_man_7

Hi too much debt prepayment meters have a limit of £249 hope this helps I have prepay for gas, after reading your post I think I'm going to try and put something aside for winter I don't want to put it on the meter as i may be moving before winter

One of the things I found over the last four years is if i put say £20 on it would be gone before I was able to top up again so if you do top up a lot ahead of winter be careful and use the timer for the heating if you have one if not set a reminder on amobile i do both

pin a fleece throw to your curtains it helps a lot

Toomuchdebt

muffinman7 I top up £20 a week now regardless of how much is left on it and luckily the shop is just down the road

muffin_man_7

That's good if you have a balance left I spent many a day under the quilt when the gas ran out not nice being so cold especially when you're in pain most of the time the cold makes it worse I'm not sure what to do for this winter yet if I'm still in this house i hope its gonna be a mild winter if I'm moved no idea what to expect
I have been adding more warm clothing items from the sales at £2 per item I couldn't not get them I've been looking over the things I've done since I found this site its surprisin how it adds up over time the list looks never ending to begin with now I'm on my own all 7 kids have left home the list is not so big now from September I will begin to restock for winter as difficult to get out I lol start with things for cupboardsale and some cleaning and toiletries frozen will be last this year as easier to move with an empty freezer however I will start to to put a little aside ready the only thing I'd like to get sorted is an electric blanket or throw and maybe a memory foam topper

Hope you find this thread as helpful as I have

UnluckyT

Hello all.
My mother and I have a Christmas fund, we both put £5 in every 4 weeks and covers 3 adults for Christmas dinner plus anything extra we would like for Christmas day/eve and boxing day.
I'm going to try and put something aside myself for Christmas and winter each time I'm paid along with extra for the meter's set aside.

parsniphead

Hi everyone

This is my favourite thread on oldstyle and I love the ideas.

My winter prep is not as full on as some as I live in a town, near to shops, etc. I do have a cold Victorian terrace which is single glazed and will be for a few more hours years until I have the funds to get them replaced.

Every year I say I'm going to get prepped as much as I can and then promptly forget. Before I know it the cold weather is upon me.....not this year.

I'm another one with prepayment meters and I usually reduce what I spend during the summer months. This year I'm continuing to buy the same amount each month and have been building up a buffer to head into autumn and winter with.

I have washed the fleece lining for the curtains and they are ready to go back up when needed. I also need to check all the door frames for draft excluder. It will need replacing this year.

One big job to do, if it ever stops raining, is to rub down, fill and paint the windows. Some of them really could do with changing but a bit of remedial action will be needed for now.

I also have a gap in the kitchen where the fireplace once was. That needs blocking up and skirting needs putting in the kitchen. It is such a cold room and I need to do all I can to try and sort it for this year. I do have quarry tiles in there and the bathroom, which I love but they are so cold. I may have to get some lino put down. A thermal blind at the window may help a little too.

I think I'm going to be busy for the next few months.

I love autumn, it's my favourite season but I hope we have some dry summer too.