2022 Frugal Living Challenge

maisie_cat

Effician said:

Elisheba said:

zafiro1984 said:

Want a laugh...........

We do have electric but no water after the storm.
Checked with neighbours - just in case the problem was on our property - they also had no water.
Rang the water co to report it. Apparently the power is out at the pumping station. Obviously they are working flat out to restore the power.

Now for the laugh.... When I told them just how many animals we have on our property, they were concerned. I told them we would be ok for today but tomorrow having no water would become a problem even a welfare issue and could she suggest who I got in touch with. The woman said (and I'm not joking) "We advise our customers to buy bottled water from a supermarket!!!" 

Obviously not used to dealing with anyone with smallholdings, farms etc. 

Suprised anyone with a smallholding would not be storing several 1000l of water in ibc's

I have to admit that we have 800l of rainwater and 16l of bottled water and we have no animals apart from the cat. 

RateTartExtraordinaire

I can't help thinking if I were that call centre worker, I would have passed the question up to the line manager. Then I guess it depends on whether the line manager is any better! Sheep, cows and pigs drinking posh bottled water gave me a laugh. But seriously @zafiro1984, hope you get the water back on soon.

I was lucky yesterday. We were in the red alert zone but no fence panels down (concrete posts on all sides) Feeling thankful I had the fence replaced 2 years ago and my next door had their fence done in the summer. Some trees down in my area but none close by.
 
With the bad weather I've been concentrating on the house. I cleaned the fridge out and I'm going through my herbs and spices. I have some quite old spices, but I'm giving them the sniff test. Most passed the test. 

Work has picked up, which is great and good for my mental health. I'm feeling less panicky about not having enough money. 

Frugal things done. On Monday I ordered some 'past best before but still good to eat' food and some toiletries from Approved Food and used the MSE code for extra 10% off. I got a job lot vegan mayo my partner likes which was going for 50p, a max of 10 jars.. The labelled vegan food is so expensive and it has all gone up in the last few weeks in the supermarket. Even cans of chickpeas have gone up. We checked the ingredients and it doesn't have any fresh ingredient that will go off. He gets through two jar every three weeks. We have 10 jars coming so we should have enough for 15 weeks! Just got to find room to store them! In the same order I found some make up and toiletries at least half price, I found my regular hair dye, some face cream with SPF, make up basics which I'm running out of. Very happy with that and it will save me money later in the year.

Have a good frugal weekend all.
  

Treasurequeen

Storm hit hard where I live resulting in total loss of power, water and heating, no call alarms or emergency spot lighting as the back up batteries in them all failed. I live in a building with people who have long term illnesses and disabilities. Most people were trapped in their flats as the  lifts were out.  Main Front doors at entrance were wedged open so those walking could get out. Was a nightmare luckily my parents managed to take my fridge and freezer food to theirs as it was a long time until power came back. 

It’s all made me think though to prepare more; I’ve gone to supermarket this morning and got bottled water which I will store for said emergencies. I’ve also invested in a double sleeping bag which I can use over my duvet and around house if I lose heating again. The thermos I made up before power cut was still warm this morning so lasted a good 19 hours. I’ve picked up some 2 in 1 coffee sachets today for emergency coffee supply. Instant milk is sold out in my local shop as was hot chocolate so I think others are thinking the same thing. As they could just be added to hot water from flask. I’ve already got a corded telephone for emergencies. I’m not sure whether to invest in a power bank to charge mobile in a power cut has anyone else got one? 

Picked up a few items for store cupboard that can be eaten straight from tin and used my club card vouchers so only had to pay £9.00. Was very busy in shop fridges and freezers had been raided as the power cut covered 246 homes in my area. 

joedenise

We use a power bank to charge mobiles when we're away in our motorhome without electric.  It's definitely worthwhile getting a decent one, not the ones from the £ shop, those don't work very well.  We paid about £15 for our from Am*zon.  The main thing is to remember to cheap the power bank charged up ready for emergencies.

We also have a rechargeable torch which we can charge from the power bank too as it's also recharged by USB.

DawnW

@Treasurequeen it is scary to think of disabled people being trapped in their flats with no water

What on earth would happen if there was a fire and the power went off? It seems ridiculous that this can't be over ridden.

Floss

Treasurequeen said:

Storm hit hard where I live resulting in total loss of power, water and heating, no fire alarms or emergency lighting as the back up batteries in them all failed. I live in a building with people who have long term illnesses and disabilities. Most people were trapped in their flats as the electric doors wouldn’t open and couldn’t be overridden.  

The building management team & local council environmental health team need to be made aware (if they aren't already) - that is a massive H&S issue for a building for vulnerable residents, and potentially illegal.

zafiro1984

Treasurequeen said:

Storm hit hard where I live resulting in total loss of power, water and heating, no fire alarms or emergency lighting as the back up batteries in them all failed. I live in a building with people who have long term illnesses and disabilities. Most people were trapped in their flats as the electric doors wouldn’t open and couldn’t be overridden. Was a nightmare luckily my parents managed to take my fridge and freezer food to theirs as it was a long time until power came back. 

I have to say despite putting our animals first in this household, people matter more especially vunerable/frail people. I gather your power is back on, our water came on about half an hour ago so all is well here.

We have lost more trees than anticipated, the saddest one was a rather large copper beech, there's quite a hole in the skyline. 

Primrose

Treasure Queen.  Being trapped in a building with electric doors which don,t open in a power cut is a disaster waiting to happen if there,s a fire or somebody needs an ambulance.  I,d contact your local fire service and council and ask for immediate action to rectify this.  Don't accept No for an answer and if necessary contact your local newspaper. Adverse publicity sadly is sometimes the only way to get those responsible  to take action.

Ask. for the Fire Service to do a health and safety inspection.  The landlord of the building should be responsible for ensuring these issues are checked regularly 

cw18

joedenise said:

We also have a rechargeable torch which we can charge from the power bank too as it's also recharged by USB.

I have a wind-up torch, so I don't even have to worry about keeping a power bank charged in order to have enough light to find my away around the house

Treasurequeen

Yes power came back on in the evening yesterday was all out for 8.5 hours. We had emergency lights in flats but they failed after 2 hours. The stairwells were dark only the exit signs stayed on. Someone got stick on lights and placed them around but was still dark. What was worrying was that the main front doors were open and anyone could have walked in. We were all given a sandwhich but no drinks by on site staff. 3 hours later they got water from somewhere but you had to go down and get it. But if your in a wheelchair how could someone go downstairs to get it. Ridiculous. We all had a meeting a few years ago when we all lost everything and we weren’t taken seriously by building management. Surely a building like where I live should have a back up generator or put as a priority. I am registered with priority services so got some warning and was able to fill up bottles of hot water and cold. It was more the fact the care alarms weren’t working so if someone had a emergency they couldn’t get help. Not everyone has a mobile. My Fire alarms were on battery packs and were ok but in some flats my neighbours said there’s weren’t working. It was also frightening for some as they didn’t know what was happening. 

Thanks cw18 I forgot about a windup torch my parents had one and I loved winding it up. Off to look for one now. I’ve got some nectar points to cash in which could pay for one.