Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

South_coast

Govt advice is to set at 18 degrees for rooms you spend a lot of time in: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keep-warm-keep-well-leaflet-gives-advice-on-staying-healthy-in-cold-weather/top-tips-for-keeping-warm-and-well-this-winter

Fan heaters are horribly expensive to run (and make you feel freezing the minute you move away from them 🤦‍♀️!), it's definitely worth doing a comparison with the central heating

daisy_1571

They arexalso only warm whilst on, as soon as you switch them off tge room seems to instantly be cold again.   They are great at a quick boost for a room you are only in for a few minutes or to start heating a room while the heating is warming up,  

An oil filled plug in radiator will give you more warmth for your buck as it continues to radiate heat out whilst clicking on and off.  Its possible your cental  heating though is effectively cheaper as you are getting the while house heated.  This stops all the air in one place getting cold and damp and all the heat rushing out/cold air rushing in when moving about the place.  Its not great for rooms to sit unused and unheated,  they will start to feel damp which makes it feel colder.

I know its not great but I think sometimes we need to just put the heating on, its not a waste, its keeping us warm, its keeping the house warm, its maintenance of the house and its certainly maintenance of the people inside! 

Have you looked into renting a room or two out?  You can get Monday to Friday people who usually appear after work on a Monday and go away straight to work on a Friday so you get most of Fri, all Sat and Sun plus most of mon to yourself.   You can earn several thousand tax free under the rent a room scheme.   Or I think you won't be using your tax allowance so you can earn more than that, (having said that have you transferred the allowed bit of your allowance to dh?  Its not much but every little helps.)  If you don't mind them being around more then obviously you'd get more money for a 7 night a week person.   Tillys old diary had info on this.  She had 2 different lodgers a lot of the time and cooked for them too as it kept their costs down as she could cook a portion of the family meal for less than they could have got a meal outside so they saved money as well.  She was paying down a 6 figure mortgage and it all helped.   Even if it only covers your heating costs you get company and free heating for the winter.  Might as well get the house making its own money 😀 

Dxx

Bargainhunter30

Would it be worth considering downsizing now to a nice, small, warm house?

newgirly

Thank you for the comments guys 🙂 I’ve not gone full on heating yet as I’ve been in and out the last few days. I’m using the little electric fan heater just when I’m in the bedroom, like going to bed or having a shower up there, it’s not on that much really. At least I have the app now with eon and can see what the daily estimate is easily as I’ve unplugged the little digital tracker  (I forget what they are called 🤣) that tells you what you have used. I did buy a new furry large blanket yestday in primarni reduced from £16 to £10 , we have lots of throws but they are smaller and not as thick and it’s made a big difference last night, I didn’t bother with the heated throw at all. I have started opening the windows for a blast first thing upstairs at least, it supposed to get rid of the dampness from your breath and circulate the dry air, its cold though! 

My in-laws used to have lodgers and to be honest it’s not something I would choose to do unless absolutely necessary, I’m the kind of person that jumps up and noses out the window if I hear a noise outside, I think it would put me on edge. Bargain hunters suggestion of moving somewhere smaller is more likely. I think this is something we may well do but not for a couple of years at least, just to make sure it’s the right decision. That may sound daft as we have been here 24 years but the kids have only just left and my knee jerk ration was move away as the house is empty now 🥲 I think we need time to adjust, and decide if we will spend money here to make it better or change it around a bit - maybe getting rid of the conservatory, new windows etc. or whether to cut out losses and downsize. This is tricky here as it’s a smallish suburban town and basically it’s full of big expensive houses 😆 our is a three bed 50’s mid terrace with a loft conversation, so there’s only a handful of smaller houses around unless we go to a flat which I would consider but dh won’t really. Ideally there’s a row of three cottages nearby that are perfect but obviously not up for sale, I’m waiting on one of those 🤣

Big shop done at L!dl today, I hate supermarket shopping and we have been surviving on what we have for too long now, so off I went early and rushed around, smashing a jar of pats sauce all over the floor as I did, so embarrassing! I offered to clean it up but this was declined, need to update the challenge now and I fear I’m am almost if not over the budget 😩

Queen_of_the_Hive

newgirly said:

Thank you for the comments guys 🙂 I’ve not gone full on heating yet as I’ve been in and out the last few days. I’m using the little electric fan heater just when I’m in the bedroom, like going to bed or having a shower up there, it’s not on that much really. At least I have the app now with eon and can see what the daily estimate is easily as I’ve unplugged the little digital tracker  (I forget what they are called 🤣) that tells you what you have used. I did buy a new furry large blanket yestday in primarni reduced from £16 to £10 , we have lots of throws but they are smaller and not as thick and it’s made a big difference last night, I didn’t bother with the heated throw at all. I have started opening the windows for a blast first thing upstairs at least, it supposed to get rid of the dampness from your breath and circulate the dry air, its cold though! 

My in-laws used to have lodgers and to be honest it’s not something I would choose to do unless absolutely necessary, I’m the kind of person that jumps up and noses out the window if I hear a noise outside, I think it would put me on edge. Bargain hunters suggestion of moving somewhere smaller is more likely. I think this is something we may well do but not for a couple of years at least, just to make sure it’s the right decision. That may sound daft as we have been here 24 years but the kids have only just left and my knee jerk ration was move away as the house is empty now 🥲 I think we need time to adjust, and decide if we will spend money here to make it better or change it around a bit - maybe getting rid of the conservatory, new windows etc. or whether to cut out losses and downsize. This is tricky here as it’s a smallish suburban town and basically it’s full of big expensive houses 😆 our is a three bed 50’s mid terrace with a loft conversation, so there’s only a handful of smaller houses around unless we go to a flat which I would consider but dh won’t really. Ideally there’s a row of three cottages nearby that are perfect but obviously not up for sale, I’m waiting on one of those 🤣

Big shop done at L!dl today, I hate supermarket shopping and we have been surviving on what we have for too long now, so off I went early and rushed around, smashing a jar of pats sauce all over the floor as I did, so embarrassing! I offered to clean it up but this was declined, need to update the challenge now and I fear I’m am almost if not over the budget 😩

To be fair I don't think I could live with lodgers either, am a home bird that loves my own space. My place is a terrace and its cold right now.... brrr! Getting a log burner is on the wish list amongst other stuff. Have a good day

Bargainhunter30

Could you do the Kirsty and Phil suggestion and post a note through at the cottages to say if you are ever thinking of selling, we would love first refusal?

South_coast

What if you really hate it once you see inside, though. Now that would be embarrassing 🤣!

Bargainhunter30

Omg could you imagine - how do you get out of that 😂

newgirly

That’s not  a bad idea if we do decide to sell 🙂 I did have a nose last night on rightmove sold prices as you can see previous sales details from the past to get an idea. I much prefer viewing empty houses, it’s so awkward when people are home 😩