Escape to the country & living off savings

MovingForwards

Have you got individual trip switches on your elec board? The previous owner may have marked each one up.

My long lined curtains were from an Argose sale, didn't cost much. If you've a porch type area and your door doesn't open straight into a room, you can be a little less selective about colours. 

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks MF, I never thought of looking at argoose 🤦‍♀️

I have seen a door curtain in the sale half price £15 & it’s machine washable. 

My “front” door is at the side of my house (I am an end of terrace) and opens straight onto the stairs. The closed in stairs divide my living room and dining room and both rooms have doors onto the staircase. The dining room tends to be colder as it is open to the kitchen extension on the back, even though it has a large radiator. There is no radiator in the tiny hallway so I am hoping the curtain will help. I also need to get curtains for the large window in the dining room & possibly the back door & kitchen window. 

thriftylynny

Wow some thought provoking ideas on insulation SYA , must admit whilst I love the look of wood/laminate flooring i'm very much a carpets girl ! I have a little extension off kitchen too which houses a tiny boot room(sounds posh !)  , backdoor & cloakroom wc , it's double glazed but like stepping into a freezer out there don't think builders insulated that area at all & it's 1990's built .Also loft lagging inadequate, i should have thought about that before the new central heating  plumber laid pipes randomly across it ..I'm scared i'll do expensive damage up there taking up boarding !!! 
Going back to heating costs I intend to build up an energy 'pot' for nxt winter like you do stead of paying as I go,  such a good idea ..see i'm learning from you ! Upset today I missed an energy saving sesh last nite ..I've noticed you on there SQS !! 

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks MF and thriftylynny 😊

The cooker isolation switch is a big white surround with a red switch & is in the cupboard above the double (wall?) oven so above my line of sight 😆 It’s separate to the fuse box. DF showed me where it is & changed the oven bulb for me. We got a replacement at b n m £2.99 for 4 bulbs.  I didn’t even realise they sold oven bulbs but was so cheap compared to everywhere else I could find online. 

I also collected my new curtain at the same time from argoose. DF put up the curtain track which I had in the shed (salvaged from the living room when I moved in and kept just in case!) and it made a noticeable difference to the temperature in my tiny hallway / bottom of stairs last night. Not such a cold blast of air when I come out of the living room door. Just the dining room window to measure up now. Popped round my friend’s house after for cuppa and lovely chat. 

I plan to go to aquafit later this morning & will pick up a hot roast chicken on the way home. I have a pack of liver defrosting for dinner tonight & extra portions will be frozen. 

Heating will come on soon & probably be on most of the afternoon when I get back as we have cold frost again today. It is supposed to warm up a bit over the weekend but bringing rain with it. I’m glad I don’t have to scrape off the car for the early morning commute to work. Hopefully the ice on the windscreen will have melted by the time I go to aquafit. 🤞

SuzeQStan

Curtain sounds fab they do make a difference when we got ours the thermostat which used to be in hallway (but now in lounge) went up by average of 2 degrees!

im also glad you don’t have to scrape the car for commute to work 🥰 have a nice time at Aquafit  and 🤞🏻 not cold water! Xx

SuzeQStan

thriftylynny said:

! Upset today I missed an energy saving sesh last nite ..I've noticed you on there SQS !! 

Aw don’t worry there will be many more to come- I think there’s at least another 7 upcoming for this winter xx if you like I’ll mention it on here next time xx

Skint_yet_Again

Is that just for customers of 🐙 ??

SuzeQStan

There’s a lot of them dojng it SYA - if you look up ‘savings sessions’ and the name of your supplier you should be able to find out pretty easy.  We used to be with Sh@ll and they only used to enter the participants in a draw but there are savings to be made if you are with a supplier that passes along the money per kWh being offered by DFS (not the sofa people lol)

SuzeQStan

One thing to mention is that I believe you need a smart meter enabled for 1/2 hourly readings to participate but I might be wrong.

One of the ways to make a savings if you are participating in the session is to do the majority of your electric heavy use activities (washing machine, dishwasher, cooking etc) regularly between 5-6:30pm on daily basis in run up to the session.  

Then when a session is announced and you are opted in you cut back use much as you can during the session (am guilty of getting the stepladders out to switch my fridge freezer off at the plug lol) - move leccy intensive tasks to earlier/later outside the session times.

Some suppliers pay those opting in as much as £3 per kWh and up that they save compared to normal usage. It sounds like a faff I know but I’ve found it worthwhile xx 

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks SQS

Have just had a look and my supplier contacts you if you are eligible and you must have a smart meter, which I haven’t. Feel free to mention your sessions here hopefully it will help others. 

My house insurance documents have arrived (finally!!) and my old policy expires at midnight. The renewal for my old policy was £218. I took out a new policy as a new customer online and it was £168. Saving £50. I have double and triple checked everything is correct and there is no change to the cover. I didn't think they were allowed to offer cheaper prices to new customers any more but it appears that is what has happened in my case! I am just thankful as my car insurance was up £110. My breakdown cover documents have also arrived. (Last year was £64.65, renewal quote was £97.44 and managed to get it for £63.84 by threatening to leave). I will now check all my annual bills and make sure £100 a month savings is still enough to cover everything. 

Aquafit was ok today, not as cold. I picked up a cooked chicken on the way home plus belly pork rtc 500g from £3.49 to £2.23 and kickin chicken chunks down from £3 to £1.68. Plus I will admit to carrot cake £3 🤦‍♀️ My friend is coming round for a cuppa tomorrow so she can help me eat the rest of the cake 😬

Towels are washed and out blowing on the line.