Escape to the country & living off savings

SuzeQStan

Ah feeling for you with the oven cleaning SYA - have you got a razor blade scraper by any chance?  They work brilliant getting baked on grease off glass. Can find these scrapers for circa £1-2 at the local discounters. 

Outdoor rug sounds like a good intermediate (& less costly!) solution to the cracked concrete 

Tresinia511

Good luck with oven cleaning sya, it's not the nicest of jobs which I imagine,  like me,  it's easy to put off! Don't forget to avoid the fumes, they can really catch in the back of the throat.  I use a mask now,  one from the shed with a little valve in,  feels a bit more protected

doingitanyway

Oven cleaning is yucky but SO satisfying when done...or is that just me then  

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

Probably best to get someone in to do. £40 very well spent in my opinion. Life is too short to worry about cleaning ovens. 

Organgrinder

Skint_yet_Again said:

Thanks Doris, Tresinia and Suze 😊 Sorry to hear you have / had flu Suze sounds like you are getting plenty of rest hope you feel better 😘 

Ive been looking at outdoor rugs as a possibility for covering the cracked concrete outside the back door as a cheaper/ easier option. Also looking at click together pvc / composite deck tiles. My friend is keeping an eye on visage volume marketplace (😂 love this Suze) for me

Aquafit this morning then looking forward to seeing niece and little lad. I have a bag full of toys from my other sisters decluttering (her child is 18!) including a tea set so we may end up in the garden with water getting wet! Warm sunny day so far. Tomorrow I am cleaning my oven. I have been putting it off but I’ve had one of those shelves in a bag cleaners for months and bought some muscle spray for inside and the glass door so hopefully should be fairly easy. Famous last words and all that 😉

I use Oven Pride or the equivalent one in Home Bargains.

For £5 or less it does a great job. Just be patient and follow the instructions and it works a treat.

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks Suze, Tresinia and dia. I will look out for one of those scrapers Suze. I presume they don’t scratch the glass. 

TBH I can think of better things to spend £40 on Oy_U lol. That’s a weeks shopping or nearly a full tank of petrol to go see family. I’d rather do it myself and it’s not hard, it’s just one of those things it’s easy to put off. I sprayed the glass door last night and within 30 minutes most of the grease wiped off with kitchen roll. The shelves just go in the sealable bag with the cleaning liquid and a few swishes and then left overnight and they just rinsed off and are gleaming 🤩 I am just going to spray the inside of the oven then close the door and leave it for 30 minutes then the inside should wipe clean. It’s a built in wall oven so no bending or kneeling. Quick, easy and not sure why I put it off! 

The sun is just making an appearance. It’s very warm already 25 degrees indoors. All the windows are open for a bit of air but not much breeze. I am mostly resting today & sketching or reading a book. Tomorrow it is supposed to be cooler and I will be cooking a roast in my clean oven for DF for Father’s Day. We are going out to the country park (with restaurant and garden centre) on Monday and meeting niece & little’un. Tuesday is aquafit, tip run, then I’m going round to my friends for a cuppa. 

SuzeQStan

Hey SYA - well done on getting that oven sorted 💪🏻💪🏻 - I’ve never scratched the glass with the scraper before - I prefer the scraper to using fumey chemicals but generally end up using both. 

Big hugs to your dad for Father’s Day - he deserves a lot of treats he’s one in a billion 😍

Tresinia511

Your weekend sounds perfect sya. Give your dad an extra hug, I lost mine 5 years ago and miss him x

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

I guess I just believe in making my life easy lol.  If you have your oven cleaned once a year properly that only works out at saving just over £3 a month. The net price is probably less after deducting cost of materials.

I also send all towels and bedding to a laundry twice a month cost about £50 depending on whether or not relatives have stayed. Again net cost is probably less after allowing for use of electricity especially during the winter and other materials. Lovely to have hotel like sheets to put on the bed every time they are changed. No way am I washing large sheets and ironing them ever again.

The only other service I pay for is the window cleaner, once a month for £30. Not bad considering the house is fairly large and he also does the conservatory. So monthly the cost of those services is about £85 a month which in the scheme of things is not much at all, especially when you take into account the time saving, fewer cleaning materials to buy, and lack of effort involved.

I do wash my own car because it is something I do enjoy doing at the moment. However, if I was ever pushed for time or not feeling 100% I would take it to the hand wash centre.

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks Suze and sorry to hear about your dad Tresinia ❤️