2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Sweetlittledaydreams

Using the smart meter I can see that if I boil the kettle once - filled only enough for one mug,  and have a quick (but not timed so not sure how quick) shower, then leave the house at 6am and get back at 9pm and eat a cold dinner with the lights on for a total of around 90 minutes and TV for 1 hour -  then I am still using around  £1.50 - £2 worth of energy. So even with barely being there I'm going to be spending around £45-£60 a month, I moved here 4 years ago and remember my bills being around £28/ month. I prefer to shower in the morning to wake myself up but I'm seriously considering showering at work at night when I finish and maybe making myself a hot drink to take home in a flask and see if it will stay warm til morning. 

Primrose

Sweetlittledaydreams said:

Using the smart meter I can see that if I boil the kettle once - filled only enough for one mug,  and have a quick (but not timed so not sure how quick) shower, then leave the house at 6am and get back at 9pm and eat a cold dinner with the lights on for a total of around 90 minutes and TV for 1 hour -  then I am still using around  £1.50 - £2 worth of energy. So even with barely being there I'm going to be spending around £45-£60 a month, I moved here 4 years ago and remember my bills being around £28/ month. I prefer to shower in the morning to wake myself up but I'm seriously considering showering at work at night when I finish and maybe making myself a hot drink to take home in a flask and see if it will stay warm til morning. 

That's an interesting insight in how little energy we get for our money these days. Thanks you for posting.   It just shows how many of us have taken our oower supply rather for granted in the past.

i was reading in the Telegraph today how many communal house sharers are now going to have to sit down and have serious discussions about how they fund and share their energy bills, especially when members working from home are using more heating and power than those who work elsewhere. Could cause some difficult moments I suspect!

Sweetlittledaydreams

Primrose said:

i was reading in the Telegraph today how many communal house sharers are now going to have to sit down and have serious discussions about how they fund and share their energy bills, especially when members working from home are using more heating and power than those who work elsewhere. Could cause some difficult moments I suspect!

That's so true about working from home. I admit to having at times feeling jealous of people who work from home and people who got furlough but now I amabsolutly so thankful to be in work and have a job that I have to be on site for. It must just be so expensive to run a laptop for 8 hours a day plus extra heating, lighting and kettle and water use! And I think the social side of seeing people at work is going to be even more important this winter when people are going to potentially be colder and hungrier than we are used to, community might help keep spirits up a bit.

Floss

happydenial said:

Well, the converse website itself says they shouldn’t been machine washed, everyone will have to use their own judgement 😬

https://www.converse.com/uk/en/product-care/product-care-faq.html

That will be so they don't have to accept liability for those odd shoes where the insole detaches itself. Lots of clothes say "dry clean only" but are quite happy to be hand or cool delicates washed.

Primrose

Sweetlittledaydreams said:

That's so true about working from home. I admit to having at times feeling jealous of people who work from home and people who got furlough but now I amabsolutly so thankful to be in work and have a job that I have to be on site for. It must just be so expensive to run a laptop for 8 hours a day plus extra heating, lighting and kettle and water use! And I think the social side of seeing people at work is going to be even more important this winter when people are going to potentially be colder and hungrier than we are used to, community might help keep spirits up a bit.

The luckiest ones are those who are close enough to walk to work so  don't have any travelling costs, and enjoy free heating at work.    I expect the next interesting social economy debate may centre around the question "How do you deal with people  who turn up at your home and ask if they can use your electricity to top up their electric vehicles???  I can see this being an embarrassingly  tricky one unless somebody like the AA come up with a nationally agreed protocol that is accepted as the norm.    

(I do remember my Mum telling me that during the war, if people were invited out for a cup of tea in somebody else's home it was regarded as good manners to take a tiny screwed up bag of tealeaves to give to your host to help feed the teapot)  Probably not a major issue yet with few electric vehicles in circulation .

in_my_wellies

Primrose said:

 I expect the next interesting social economy debate may centre around the question "How do you deal with people  who turn up at your home and ask if they can use your electricity to top up their electric vehicles???  I can see this being an embarrassingly  tricky one unless somebody like the AA come up with a nationally agreed protocol that is accepted as the norm.    

I agree. My son visited an elderly friend, 93, for the weekend in a remote area. Needed to be back for the dinner she had prepared so no time to charge. After a day out his car needed topping up, around £8 to be safe, of course she wouldn't accept any money but he felt awkward. He bought her a present which would be used and useful. 

bupster

That's so true about working from home. I admit to having at times feeling jealous of people who work from home and people who got furlough but now I amabsolutly so thankful to be in work and have a job that I have to be on site for. It must just be so expensive to run a laptop for 8 hours a day plus extra heating, lighting and kettle and water use! And I think the social side of seeing people at work is going to be even more important this winter when people are going to potentially be colder and hungrier than we are used to, community might help keep spirits up a bit.

Just for info, running a laptop costs next to nothing, as does lighting - it's the heating that's the absolute killer for most of us. Something like 75% of our energy spend each year is in the three months from January to March. 

This academic year I can actually work from home much more from January than between now and December - but if energy prices aren't subsidised I'll be in the office anyway (luckily I can now walk there - my old commute would now cost me £100 a week). 

Soontobeoap

in the 70’s when power cuts were rife. I lived in, whilst working at a boarding school. I have many happy memories of everyone singing around the piano by candle light. Maybe some good can come out of it socially. I know that I will be at the social club more joining in with all of the clubs, singing, dancing, crib. Each one costs £1.00, we meet lots of friends new and old and keep warm into the bargain.

florianatwobob

My work laptop costs very little to run but I do charge it and then unplug when it’s battery is full. I do also have a separate monitor which is mine but deliberately chose an energy efficient one. 

Heating wise I’ve lowered the heating down to 16 during working hours and stick a big cardi on which keeps me toasty. I’m lucky in that I can walk into one of our remote offices from my house and can see myself doing that more often. 

Because I work from home (mostly) I’m also eligible for the tax relief. I also have to self assess so once my tax rebate comes through I add the tax relief to the house account (even through tax relief is actually applied via PAYE). 

Cheery_Daff

I work from home quite a lot, but it probably does work out cheaper for me because work is an hour's drive each way. My office at home is the coldest room in the house though, and in the past I've resorted to electric heaters, but that might have to stop this year. It would certainly be warmer with carpet (it's a tiled floor, with a rug) so that might be something to prioritise before the winter.

I do wear a big cardi and sit with a hot water bottle, but I can't type once my hands get too cold 🙄 Even with the heating on it never gets properly warm in there because it's so far from the boiler, and because it's open to the elements on 3 sides and barely gets any sun.

Maybe I need to swap rooms!