2022 Frugal Living Challenge

ladyholly

DawnW said:

@cw18 I am not really sure how much kinder to the environment it is to buy new things, however much more efficient, than to simply keep your older ones. Not only is there the energy / material use / pollution involved in making the new thing, but also in disposing of the old one. Personally I prefer to hold onto 'old' stuff as long as possible tbh.

That is an argument very relevant to electric cars. Which is better for the environment. A brand new EV with all the manufacturing costs including using rare earth elements for the batteries or, as we have, a  20year old diesel car which we can run with approx 25% vegetable oil in the summer (it goes too thick in the winter).

Floss

RTE look into insulated plasterboard for that wall

Chrystal

RateTartExtraodinaire said:

We have 2 bedrooms, gas central heating (old boiler) and gas hob. Electric shower but used sparingly. Washing machine/ Tumble drier, but never tumble dry as it's pegged outside or hung indoors. We have a fridge freezer, with a small freezer section that is packed to the max usually.

Gas usage in the last 2 years has come down from 9000 to 7000 KWH Gas.
But the electric usage has gone up from 1850 to 2400 KWH. 

The increase in electric usage is definitely due to my partner working from home permanently now. I was working from home too, for a while, but stopped in December 2021. 

The reduction in Gas usage is definitely being more mindful, lowering the thermostat setting and limiting the hours the heating is used.
I'm going to see if we can get the gas consumption down more this year (and electric) with batch cooking, boiling the kettle less often with help of a thermos flask, plus I've put curtains up to cover the front door.
Planned for 2022 is some redecoration which may help the heating costs. I've noticed that one sections of the downstairs outside wall at the back of the house had plaster removed to put in damp course and then previous owner put wood paneling up over the bricks and never plastered. I'm sure some plasterboard over the bricks would stop the draft that I can feel around there. All the heat from that room is seeping out that wall. It was so cold working in there from Oct to Dec, I was wearing a scarf and gloves.
My partner got first dibs on work from home and uses one of the bedrooms upstairs. It is lovely and toasty in there all year, he keeps the curtains closed to stop screen glare so that must help reduce heat loss too.

I have a fan assisted electric oven and no microwave. I considered buying a microwave as a more cost effective way of heating and cooking. Especially now I am batch cooking and need to reheat dishes. Also I make my porridge in the morning. At the moment I use the gas hob.
I've cleared a spot on the worktop but haven't taken the plunge yet. I've had bad experiences with microwaves in the past breaking down. Wondering if it was because I went for the cheapest options

 Anyone really happy with their microwave can recommend one?

It would need to be a stand alone model. I've seen mention of combi ovens and I'm curious would that be more cost effective than my main electric fan oven for most things?


 

Regarding the oven I'd get a cheap microwave and a Halogen oven (they are brilliant and if you look around can get them really cheaply)
These would cover all your cooking needs and are massively cheaper to use than conventional ovens or cooking/heating on the hob.  That's without mentioning the time that they save, as cooking is so much quicker (and the halogens are SO easy to clean.. just put some water and a tiny bit of washing up liquid in, turn it on for a minute, and it's done!) 

spudsmum

cw18 said:

spudsmum said:

I just looked at some average power consumption tables, and was really shocked to see average gas consumption listed as anywhere from 8-12,000 kwh per year. We don't even use 4,000.

Our heating is gas (and our 20 year old boiler is probably very inefficient)

I'm seriously impressed with your gas usage !!!!

Like you, I have a 20 year-old boiler.   It was 'condemned' a few years ago, but only in so far as it's much too old to be sure of being able to get spares for it.   

Yes my gas is very low - I only use a few KWH per month through the summer and the bulk of our usage is winter heating. I wish I could get my electricity down a bit more but no matter what I try to do it always seems a lot more stubborn. 

I  had similar with the boiler  - the last time I had it serviced the plumber said that it was coming to the end of its life in terms of being able to get parts, risk of water leaks etc. 

I'm presuming it's only 20 years old as that was the plumbers lower estimate - it was already an old boiler when we moved in over 10 years ago so don't know exactly.

The timer is a bit hit and miss so sometimes we have to switch it on manually but, as long as it remains safe, we see no reason to replace it. We hope to have a new kitchen at some point when the debt is cleared so ideally want to do it then and move it from its current awkward location.

It's a big old boiler too - designed for a larger house so a replacement would be at least £4k - it would take aeons to break even on that in terms of increased energy efficiency so I don't see the point.

Whoever was asking about microwaves - I don't seem to have much luck with them - it seems to be the one appliance that never lasts long here. I've bought value ones and I've bought expensive premium brands thinking they might last longer but they never did so I've gone back to value again.

I AM currently interested in an air fryer though - I see a lot of good reports about those so I'm considering it - only trouble is, as a family of 5, we'd need a high capacity one - often doing several different meals too with having a Veggie and a child with a restricted diet.

Trying to work out if it's viable or if it would just be another ornament cluttering up my worktop. 

If anyone has any info/wisdom I'd be pleased to hear it. 

ragz_2

Just delurking to share my airfryer love. I have this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/COSORI-Electric-Temperature-Reminder-Function/dp/B07N8QY3YH

We are a family of 5, and it's used 3/4 times a week. Massively cuts down on oven use and it cooks everything quicker. Fab for 'freezer foods' like pies and sausage rolls, sausages, bacon, chicken portions, steak. Good for wedges and veg but I'm not keen on it for chips, however we have a deep fryer filled with dripping for those. Chips in it are still better than in a proper oven, just need to shake them a few times. 
It can even cook a whole chicken, or 'boil' eggs and you can also bake cakes in it. The basket is a good size and easy to clean. I spent months researching them and reading reviews before choosing this one, partly for the basket shape/design and the capacity. 

We don't have a big kitchen at all, but it has definitely earned its keep. Bought it over a year ago and the novelty never wore off. The teens love using it as well, they make pizza toast/bagels/pitta or toasties in it. 

Debsnewbudget

My living room has always been cold, often I have had to use an oil filled radiator to keep it at a reasonable temperature.
We had a new boiler fitted a few weeks ago so we had another radiator fitted in there. As we are having a new carpet at the end of this week I am currently sealing up all the gaps in the floorboards with that silver foil tape, and also running it round the edges of the room. 

I am determined to warm the room up ! 

cuddlymarm

I’m another one who loves my airfrier, as there’s only the 2 of us most of the time.  When the microwave goes I’m thinking about not replacing it cos I could use the space.
I also tried Too Good To Go last week. The Morrison’s ones near here go really quickly so I thought it was worth trying. Some stuff I wouldn’t normally buy, but now I’ve enough garlic to keep me going most of the year, loads of bread, a big bowl full of satsumas, 2 big bags of carrots, 2 big bags of peanuts ( which made OH happy cos I only tend to buy them when we’ve guests coming ) and some dried dates. I was slightly disappointed cos there was no cake 🍰 but the satsumas would have cost what I paid for the lot so I was happy. I’d definitely try it again when I’ve room in the freezer.

Annies_too

I also tried a Morrisons Magic Bag last week for the first time. I was disappointed to only got fruit and veg, no bakery products. It was mostly yellow sticker produce which was fine except for 2 items - a box of sweaty, smelly, mouldy mushrooms and 2 small egglplants over a week past their date which were dried up and wrinkled so those 2 items went straight into the compost bin

newlywed

I got a morrisons magic bag last summer and was disappointed that it was pretty much white bakery! two white loaves and one small white loaf, some sugary corn cereal in a damaged box, icing sugar in a damaged box, monster munch and some wilted chopped salad.  There was loads for the price though.

Everyone has different food preferences. Mine might have been perfect for families. We did use most of it - bread pudding was on the menu!

cuddlymarm

True. I would have preferred mainly fruit and veg  as we don’t eat much bread but this will last a couple of weeks and has filled the gaps in the freezer. It’s meant I will only need milk and salad this week so the weekly shop money can be knocked off a credit card.
As I have been off work for nearly 2 weeks with COVID and I haven’t a clue whether or how much sick pay I’ll get this week it will allow me to stretch what I’ve got until I get a full wage again too.