It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

sammy_kaye18

I have been watching TV this morning and they have had segments on the rising cost of living lately and it has definitely gotten me thinking today that I think I can find a few more ways to cut back on things in our home or to make my usage of electric and gas more efficient. 

To be honest our gas is only used for heating and water. Our shower however is Electric and so is our cooker so if we didn't have gas at all then we could still wash, cook etc and we have a small fire in the living room (again electric that we could use in short blasts to take the chill off if it ever got that cold but like I said previously my family are use to using blankets/slippers etc and with 3 dogs - we keep pretty snug. 

Husband had his start date for new job yesterday so hes going over on the second week of April. He's near a cafe so he will be able to get food but I'm hoping I will be able to do leftovers from our meals and freeze portions so I always have a meal on hand that I can heat up. I don't own a microwave though so that makes things difficult but I guess I could chuck it in the slow cooker in the morning and by tea time it would be re-heated if it was something like chilli or curry etc. 

littlemoney said:

I reduce use of the washing machine by having my at home clothes and going out clothes. The at home clothes can be worn for much longer before washing even if they are a bit dirty or smelly as there is no one else to be impacted by this. My going out clothes are removed as soon as I get home and hung up to air. After several wears they become my at home clothes. I don't go out and see people very often and have no visitors at home.

I am the same. I tend to either stay in a lounge suit that my husband brought me from Shein or I live in leggings, a strappy top and a jumper. Like you I dont tend to have anyone home in the day until about 3pm when my daughter gets in and I will generally jump in the shower about 5.30 before husband comes home and whilst dinner is cooking. That way then it means husband can come home and have food and a bath without having to juggle round me and the two kids. 

London_1

How good are we all becoming at streetching the pennies out its something we will all have to aclimatise ourselves to over the coming year, and probably next year as well.

My interesting meal today for lunch is a couple of frozen pizza slices cut and frozen individually from a yellow stickered pizza Not something I would normally have bought but at Christmas this stuffed crust pizza was reduced to 25p so it was bought portioned and frozen. They will go into my Remoska for reheating and crisping up, and I will have them with a small bowl of HM carrot and coriander soup. I made two litres yesterday from a kilo of carrots, and I still have some carrots in water in the fridge to use in some batch cooked sheppards pies The carrots cost 39p so I shall get a good few servings from them.

Only two more days then a new month I have only spent £36.55 in total this month in the supermarkets so have a good amount to roll over to Aprils budget. 
I am just doing my essential shopping list at the moment for Friday shop. mainly its fruit and veg as I am now out of fruit and only have three quarters of a head of broccoli and 5 large potatoes left in the veg box. Though I do have around four good sized carrots in water in the fridge and have found a bag of brussels sprouts in the freezer left from Christmas so not too bad. I have about half a lettuce and three tomatoes to use up as well.

I had my yearly MOT at the Drs this morning, and felt pleased that I had walked through the precinct, and never went into any of the shops on the way there or back strong resolve this morning 

This afternoon I am going to put on a rice pudding in my slow cooker and use up a tin of evaporated milk, so that will be a few desserts fro the rest of the week. I had a basket full of small jars of various jams as one of my Christmas present so a bowl of rice pud with a dollop of jam in the middle will take me back to my school days

I also have a reduced bag of granulated sugar to whizz up in my blender to make some caster sugar with.
It was reduced to 13 p for a 2lb bag and its been sitting in my cupboard waiting for my caster sugar tub to empty out  a bit, so thats another small job off my to-do list I only use sugar for baking cakes or biscuits as I have never taken it in drinks or on cereals.

Onwards and upwards chums, tuna salad for dinner tonight as I seem to have a good few tins of that in the cupboards as well. 

JackieO xx

maisie_cat

QueenJess said:

Has anyone ever used one of those meter things you can buy which tell you how much energy the device is using based on what you plug it into?

Were there any surprises? I briefly thought about getting one, but feels a bit pointless as I’m pretty sure I know what the big users would be.

The way things are going, someone should set up an energy reduction challenge on one of the boards. I think I’ll be keeping a close eye on mine.

We have 4, one each on washer. dryer. fridge freezer and chest freezer atm. I have moved them around, establishing that cooking in the multi cooker, breadmaking and TV/SKY etc don't use that much. The big items are washer, dryer and dishwasher as expected, luckily weather has changed so clothes drying outside or the conservatory now until at least autumn. FF uses about 0.65 KWH per day and chest freezer in garage around 0.35.

sammy_kaye18

London_1 said:

How good are we all becoming at streetching the pennies out its something we will all have to aclimatise ourselves to over the coming year, and probably next year as well.


This afternoon I am going to put on a rice pudding in my slow cooker and use up a tin of evaporated milk, so that will be a few desserts fro the rest of the week. I had a basket full of small jars of various jams as one of my Christmas present so a bowl of rice pud with a dollop of jam in the middle will take me back to my school days

Onwards and upwards chums, tuna salad for dinner tonight as I seem to have a good few tins of that in the cupboards as well. 

JackieO xx

Hello Jackie! I wondered where you had got to! I hope you are well! 

Rice Pudding with a dollop of Jam is still one of my favourite desserts and a stable in our house for dessert. I really should learn how to make it in the slow cooker. Your jam selection sounds like a lovely thoughtful gift too! I generally only make bramble jam but Im hoping this year to get some strawberries planted and some rhubarb and maybe Ill ask for a small apple tree for my birthday so I can make some yummy concoctions with them as well. 

I really wish I liked Tuna too - its something I could never get my taste buds to accept! 
Well done on your low spend as well this month. 

I have been cutting out meat from our diet and we generally only seem to eat it once a week now. I cook a chicken on sunday and its stretched as long as I can make it go! 

Brambling

sammy_kaye18 said:

Husband had his start date for new job yesterday so hes going over on the second week of April. He's near a cafe so he will be able to get food but I'm hoping I will be able to do leftovers from our meals and freeze portions so I always have a meal on hand that I can heat up. I don't own a microwave though so that makes things difficult but I guess I could chuck it in the slow cooker in the morning and by tea time it would be re-heated if it was something like chilli or curry etc. 

I would try and avoid letting hubby getting into a habit of cafe lunches or it could work out expenses  if his work doesn't have a microwave for staff a food flask is a good investment.

My mum would reheat my dad's dinner on a plate over a pan of boiling water but not sure how that tasted.  If you are reheating chilli or curry and allow to come up to room temperature it should take long to reheat in a saucepan on the hob? even if you have froze with rice you could mix the rice in like a biryani as long as you ensure the rice is reheated probably.  

sarahj1986

littlemoney said:

I reduce use of the washing machine by having my at home clothes and going out clothes. The at home clothes can be worn for much longer before washing even if they are a bit dirty or smelly as there is no one else to be impacted by this. My going out clothes are removed as soon as I get home and hung up to air. After several wears they become my at home clothes. I don't go out and see people very often and have no visitors at home.

I wear my pjs at home then stick on joggers and top for going out walking/collecting my daughter. I wear these two “outfits” 90% of the time. I change them 2-3 times a week depending on usage. Tops I wear a clean one every day. My daughter has clean clothes everyday cause she can get quite dirty 

littlemoney

sarahj1986 said:

littlemoney said:

I reduce use of the washing machine by having my at home clothes and going out clothes. The at home clothes can be worn for much longer before washing even if they are a bit dirty or smelly as there is no one else to be impacted by this. My going out clothes are removed as soon as I get home and hung up to air. After several wears they become my at home clothes. I don't go out and see people very often and have no visitors at home.

I wear my pjs at home then stick on joggers and top for going out walking/collecting my daughter. I wear these two “outfits” 90% of the time. I change them 2-3 times a week depending on usage. Tops I wear a clean one every day. My daughter has clean clothes everyday cause she can get quite dirty 

As I am totally on my own unless I go out I have been known to wear the same clothes for a week. Shock horror. It saves on clothes washing. When I was young clothes were not washed on a daily basis as if was a lot of work, not the easy least automatic washing machine where you put it in the machine and walk away.

Happy_Sloth

littlemoney said:

sarahj1986 said:

littlemoney said:

I reduce use of the washing machine by having my at home clothes and going out clothes. The at home clothes can be worn for much longer before washing even if they are a bit dirty or smelly as there is no one else to be impacted by this. My going out clothes are removed as soon as I get home and hung up to air. After several wears they become my at home clothes. I don't go out and see people very often and have no visitors at home.

I wear my pjs at home then stick on joggers and top for going out walking/collecting my daughter. I wear these two “outfits” 90% of the time. I change them 2-3 times a week depending on usage. Tops I wear a clean one every day. My daughter has clean clothes everyday cause she can get quite dirty 

As I am totally on my own unless I go out I have been known to wear the same clothes for a week. Shock horror. It saves on clothes washing. When I was young clothes were not washed on a daily basis as if was a lot of work, not the easy least automatic washing machine where you put it in the machine and walk away.

I'm onboard with this.... 

Ok Confession Time ....  i don't shower everyday! ... i don't even shower every other way.  Honestly i get one "Full wash" a week... the rest of the time i just wash in the sink.   

Clothes wise i wear PJ's/Onesie/Joggers around the house.. all week, sometimes only changing them once every few days. 

However i do have friends visit on a Saturday so before they arrive i have a shower/bath and put on proper clothes so my friends don't think im a slob haha..  

Honestly i think changing clothes everyday/showering everyday is a very modern thing. I didn't grow up showering everyday and while some professions are dirty work and do require more frequent washing however i work in computing at a desk.. it's not strenuous physical or dirty work so i honestly don't see the need.  As long as i wash in the sink regularly i think im fine.   

sammy_kaye18

Happy_Sloth said:

littlemoney said:Happy_Sloth

Honestly i think changing clothes everyday/showering everyday is a very modern thing. I didn't grow up showering everyday and while some professions are dirty work and do require more frequent washing however i work in computing at a desk.. it's not strenuous physical or dirty work so i honestly don't see the need.  As long as i wash in the sink regularly i think im fine.   

I agree. 

I remember talking with my sister the other day and she mentioned how Sunday was our ‘bath and hair wash’ night and unless we were absolutely filthy coming in from playing then we never bathed - we just had a quick face and hand wash. 

When we got older and became young ladies and got our TOTM then we bathed more regularly but it was only shallow baths and no longer than a quick in and out. 

I have to admit I haven’t had a Bath in about 10 years now - I much prefer to shower. So does my son. 

It’s only really my husband who likes to have a bath , he works in a tool hire shop and can get quite dusty. 

My daughter likes baths too but has an aversion to having water on her head.

sammy_kaye18

Brambling said:

My mum would reheat my dad's dinner on a plate over a pan of boiling water but not sure how that tasted.  If you are reheating chilli or curry and allow to come up to room temperature it should take long to reheat in a saucepan on the hob? even if you have froze with rice you could mix the rice in like a biryani as long as you ensure the rice is reheated probably.  

I do think a food flask is going to either be a good investment or at least see if he has a microwave that he will be able to use. 

I think taking food out in the morning and reheating on the hob will be my best bet.