Winter "Wake & up save the pennies"

[Deleted User]

While the winter veg are at their cheapest and best use them to make great vats of assorted home made soups which are the very best lunch or starter on raw cold days when it's wet and windy outside and a fantastic thing to have ready to warm up in a mug when you go back indoors from a winters walk with frozen fingers and noses. So much variety of flavour at this time of year too leek and potato, carrot and ginger, broccoli and stilton, cauliflower cheese, sweet potato and coriander, curried parsnip, winter veg broth, tomato and red pepper, French onion etc. etc. etc. all delicious.....

darrannah

Great thread, hope the cold/flu gets better soon Shropshirelass.
My tip would be to put tin foil behind the radiators to throw back the heat when putting the heating on.
Also (it’s probably been mentioned before but) batch cooking to cut down on electricity and adding extra layers before putting the heating on.
I look forward to reading more tips from you lovely lot ��

Primrose

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

While the winter veg are at their cheapest and best use them to make great vats of assorted home made soups which are the very best lunch or starter on raw cold days when it's wet and windy outside and a fantastic thing to have ready to warm up in a mug when you go back indoors from a winters walk with frozen fingers and noses. So much variety of flavour at this time of year too leek and potato, carrot and ginger, broccoli and stilton, cauliflower cheese, sweet potato and coriander, curried parsnip, winter veg broth, tomato and red pepper, French onion etc. etc. etc. all delicious.....

And don,t forget to save all your loaf crusts in the freezer until you have enough to cut into cubes, drizzle with oil and chopped garlic on a tray in a hot oven for c 10 mins to make free crispy garlic croutons to serve with the soup. Delicious, and they store well in an airtight container.

monnagran

Someone has already mentioned bedsocks, but don't forget that most of your body heat is lost through your head, so wearing some sort of woolly hat keeps you warmer - even in bed. Those Dickensian characters with their nightcaps were ahead of their time.

On the subject of bed, ( and where could you be more comfortable and warmer on a cold winter's nigh?), always have as many bedclothes underneath you as you do on top.
I sleep in a single bed and have an old double-bed sized duvet folded up under the bottom sheet. Bliss.

So there you are in your wyncyette jammies, fluffy bed socks on feet, handknitted beanie on head, cuddling your HW bottle, all tucked up in your duvet sandwich.

The only problem will be forcing yourself out of it in the morning.

Oh, and you can probably kiss goodbye to being featured in any magazine article about what the well dressed elegantsia are wearing at night.
As if you cared.

Shropshirelass

Monnagran yes to keeping you head warm, in the worst of my cold this weekend I slept in my trusty old fleece with the hood up. So cosy!!

Much better today, have been to stock up and feeling confident again. Had plenty of lemon and honey. Also needing Blistex, which I find best for cold sores.

YorksLass

Loving this thread, thanks Primrose for starting it off. :T

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Bed socks make an awful lot of difference to a good night's sleep.
Pull the curtains in rooms you use as it gets dark and keep what warmth you've generated in the day in as it cools outside.
Put a throw on the back of your armchair and snuggle in it if you cool off sitting still.

Bed socks - another yes here. No, they might not be glamorous but who cares if you're warm.

Yes to closing curtains. Even better if they're lined. If not, you could add your own linings. Curtain lining is relatively cheap from market stalls or fabric stores; alternatively look for lined curtains in charity shops. You can detach the lining and re-use on your own curtains, then use the curtain fabric to make cushion covers, bags etc. Even an old bed sheet would do the job.

Throws - we have several and I'm currently knitting one from oddments of dk yarn I've amassed over the years. Nothing elaborate, just garter stitch strips 50 stitches wide on 4mm needles to whatever length you want. Knit with one colour until it's used then join in another colour and so on. Join the strips together (sew or crochet) then crochet around the edges to finish off.

Primrose wrote: »

And don,t forget to save all your loaf crusts in the freezer until you have enough to cut into cubes, drizzle with oil and chopped garlic on a tray in a hot oven for c 10 mins to make free crispy garlic croutons to serve with the soup. Delicious, and they store well in an airtight container.

I use mine to make dried breadcrumbs, always useful for making hm fishcakes, fish fingers etc and as a crunchy topping on mashed potato. Can't remember the last time I bought a tub of ready-made crumbs.

YorksLass

Separate post with a few more ideas to keep your home cosy.

If your kitchen floor is cold (like mine) consider using small slip mats in the places where you stand a lot eg sink, cooker. I get mine from our market, £1 for a small square one and £2 for a small rectangular one, so cheap enough to swap out when they get grubby. I think they probably come from carpet sample books.

Check under your sink - is there a gap where the outlet pipe goes through the wall? If so, fill said gap! Sealant or expanding foam would do the job.

Is there a gap between your skirtings and the floorboards allowing in draughts? This can be filled with wooden quadrant beading that's reasonably cheap from DIY stores. Even novice DIYers can manage this one (ask me how I know ).

smeeth

If you have interior walls that are exposed to the elements on the outside (e.g. end terrace or non-attached side of semi-detached) hang fabric on them to keep your heat from escaping into the brick. I have a mandala tapestry from Amzn (fleece blankets etc would work just as well) on one of the bedroom walls for this, and it made a difference last year. {Command hooks and a piece of string are all you need}

TravellingAbuela

This involves a cash outlay at the outset with but worth every penny! Following recommendations on OLD STYLE last winter I treat myself to a heated fleece throw. It costs pennies in electric to run and saves putting the fire or heating on when you are sitting reading or watching tv. I could not believe how warm it keeps me snuggled up under it. I got mine from Lakeland but available from quite a few other retailers.

MONNAGRAN I love your idea of putting an old duvet underneath your bottom bed sheet. I have a couple of surplus ones in the airing cupboard and one of those will do nicely!

lessonlearned

smeeth wrote: »

If you have interior walls that are exposed to the elements on the outside (e.g. end terrace or non-attached side of semi-detached) hang fabric on them to keep your heat from escaping into the brick. I have a mandala tapestry from Amzn (fleece blankets etc would work just as well) on one of the bedroom walls for this, and it made a difference last year. {Command hooks and a piece of string are all you need}

You can take this a stage further and line the fabric, tapestry or whatever with Mylar, the stuff emergency space blankets are made from. It's pretty cheap. You can also put it on the back of large canvas artworks to hang on cold spots.

I am currently decorating my bedroom - north east facing, single brick, no cavity wall. It's a very cold room. I am putting up Walrock insulating paper to the two outside walls. Never used it before so can't really vouch for it yet but it does seem to make the wall feel warmer to the touch. Cork has the same insulating property. Both can be painted or papered over.

There are several types of thermal paper, Walrock is the most expensive but it had the best reviews. And although it isn't cheap it's permanent (well until you remove it) and, if it does the job as well as they say it does, it should also help keep the room cooler in summer, as well as warmer in winter.

I think I will try cork too in one room, see which is best and then will work my way through the house, insulating each room as I decorate.

I know it won't be as energy efficient as stripping off the plaster and putting in insulation and then replastering but that would be a huge and very expensive job and I just can't afford it at the moment so I'm just trying some quick relatively inexpensive diy fixes for now.

Determined to be both cosy and try and tame the energy bills.