From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future

Fortune_Smiles

Greying_Pilgrim said:

Fortune - I am officially a prize parsnip!  We didn't see a firecrest at all 🙁  We saw a goldcrest - I don't think I have ever (knowingly) seen a firecrest myself.  I wrote goldcrest and then wrote 'firecrest' every other time 🙁  I have corrected my post - sorry for the confusion.  I've only seen woodpeckers here once - and I think they were the smaller, lesser spotted.  But isn't it grand to see such birdlife 😁

They are very similar @Greying_Pilgrim and both delightful.  Yes - such a pleasure to see wildlife.

Fortune x

badmemory

Re the dehumidifier.  Yes I wouldn't run one in the bathroom whilst it is being used for a shower.  Ours gets moved out into the hall while DS is having his but frankly my shower is so fast I don't bother.  But we do move it in after his shower.  I am sure once you have had it a while you will find that there is less moisture being collected.  Do you have a humidity meter.  We have several around the house, just to prove my analness.  It can be interesting to see the changes.  Even downstairs with the tumbledrier (no condenser & hose NOT out of the window) running rarely gets near 50% humidity

EssexHebridean

We too used to periodically stick the dehumidifier in the bathroom with the door closed when the room wasn't being used - it did have limited use of course because with the best will in the world there was a toilet and while you can put plugs in the sink and bath, not so much the loo! Still though, it helped a bit.  Now, what we tend to do is run the extractor while the bath or shower is in use, and leave it running for a short while afterwards too (ours runs on for about 10 minutes after being switched off anyway). And whenever possible we also pop the window open immediately after a shower as well even if just for a few minutes - it all helps! 

Goldcrests are glorious little birds and it is SUCH a treat to see one relatively close to! We had a similar experience a few weeks back when we were in the walled garden of the local museum and heard that distinctive squeaky little calls - then realised there were a pair of them hopping around in the tree directly ahead of us - just a magical few minutes watching! 

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon MFW'rs

After my shower this morning, I put the de-humidifier in the bathroom, when LG was safely away at school.  I have to say, that whilst the bathroom is now 'dry', I'm not convinced that it was any better than when the de-humidifier was located outside the bathroom door on the landing, so probably wouldn't bother again.  But worth trying these things whilst little people are safely elsewhere.  Our inline extractor fan is OK, and set to run for a period after the light has been switched off - or the EF switch is reachable to put on without the light - but only does 'so much'.  The de-humidifier does deal with the cold/damp walls much better.  

Mind, not that the de-humidifier has a fan in DH, who is now complaining that it is making the house 'too dry' and making his asthma worse 🙄  He claims that it was running all night - not true.  So if the house is cold and 'damp' he moans that LG has a perpetual cough/cold and if the house is warm and dry, he claims it feels like a summer's day..... at night  🙄 The de-humidifier is only set up to reach approx 60% humidity, I don't even run it on 50%.

Oh, and I forgot to add that I did use the de-humidifier to just 'finish off' the new clothes that I had 'quick washed' yesterday.  For some reason, the washing machine (2 months old 😬) had a head wobble and didn't spin the clothes (even on the spincycle) out.  And as one thing was a pair of jeans and the other was a top - with cuffs of extraordinary moisture retaining capacity - they hadn't fared as well as DH's clothes which had been put out to line dry as well.  I have to say, I was super impressed with an hours blast on laundry mode (not even in a particularly confined space), it definitely made the difference, and allowed the CH to complete the task of drying in the evening.   

I kept my composure this morning on the phone and sorted out (fingers crossed) the council tax fandango.  The finance person said that it was a glitch, and that it is to do with the fact that they are behind in sorting out accounts, that the computer can't distinguish between dormant but not signed off accounts and those that have become dormant due to payments ceasing for reasons other than 'moving house'.  Ho hum.  I've had assurances that it will be attended to.  Fingers crossed.

I have done the money shuffle today, so February's bills should be paid. The water company has actually (unaided and without recourse to a safety net), managed to collect our DD this month!  Only 4 months after I informed them we were moving house........  🙄

LG's school has finally got around to telling us how much the school trip will cost....... less than a month before the kids are due to go 🙄  Anyhoo, the good news for Team Greying is that all our saving of pennies, tuppences, 5p's and 10p's is paying off, as the 10p collection - which was a 'bonus' as it had been 'kinda' forgotten - which we bagged up during the school holidays and I put into my bank account a week or so ago, is enough to cover the costs of the trip - WHOOP!  So that has been 'money shuffled' too, so that LG's name is on the list 😁  A packed lunch needs providing too, but that is now normal for a school day anyway.  I am just so pleased that that is one less thing to think about and it's sorted - phew!  Back to concentrating on the 'C4C' pot now! (oh, and 'pounds 4 panes' too, natch 😉).

Tea last night ended up being a curry plate, as we were all too stuffed from our lunch to warrant a 'sunday roast'.  All i did for lunch was to make a soup from leftover HM tomato sauce, diced mixed vegetables, veg stock and some green speckled lentils - which was really tasty and filling (served with some YS'd wholemeal baps).  The curry plate was just some l/o coconut, chickpea and cauliflower curry, lentil dhal and boiled basmati.  There was a portion of dhal over to freeze for another day (I broke into my new stash of red lentils).  Clean plates all round.  Tea this evening will be green lentil bolognese and pasta.  

Don't think there is anything else MSE-wise to add.  

Fingers crossed for Cheery that her day is going great 😁👍

Ta for popping by and reading.  Appreciated.  

Greying X

Cheery_Daff

Aw, thank you 😊😊 I am home and very ready for bed already 😂😂

Well done on funding the school trip! Excellent work! 😊😊

badmemory

About the dehumidifier.  We only use it in the bathroom with the door closed & at present it is easily going down to 30%, words have passed about leaving it on for an hour which it used to need before we had the new bathroom bits.  There has it turns out been a leak for all 6 years the last one was fitted so it needed a new floor.  The rest of the house is normally down in the low 40s unless I run the tumbledrier without opening the window.  It tends to be a little higher in summer as the windows are open longer & the weather is still often wet.

Greying_Pilgrim

badmemory said:

About the dehumidifier.  We only use it in the bathroom with the door closed & at present it is easily going down to 30%, words have passed about leaving it on for an hour which it used to need before we had the new bathroom bits.  There has it turns out been a leak for all 6 years the last one was fitted so it needed a new floor.  The rest of the house is normally down in the low 40s unless I run the tumbledrier without opening the window.  It tends to be a little higher in summer as the windows are open longer & the weather is still often wet.

We can't get the de-humidifier into the bathroom, running and have the door any where near closed due to space, the length of cable, position of the socket etc etc.  Our landing isn't that big and I don't want cables running all over the place - even if I am 'home alone' when it is running.  We do have a leak in the bathroom - we've inherited an over the bath shower and the screen is old and shonky and allows water to pass between it and the bath top, and has been dribbling down the side of the bath and under the panel into the contiboard flooring.

We know what has got to be done - a new screen at the least, but whether it could be fixed and be absolutely water-tight is another matter.  Does DH try to do it with his perfectionist tendencies, which would probably take more than a day to achieve, or do we hire a plumber who will do it quicker, but because they have no investment (it is not their own home they are trying to keep leak free), might not make it water-tight?  Decisions, decisions.  At the moment I do not have a hydrometer (?) and the de-humidifier does not display the humidity.  I am going by the overall 'feel' of the house and the state of the windows each morning.

Greying X

MatyMoo

As a short term fix for the leaky shower screen here I was able to replace the plastic/rubbery bit at the bottom. The old one was tricky to get off due to the build up of limescale etc but the new one just slid on after I had cleaned the glass. It was very cheap to do 😉

EssexHebridean

I suspect there would be very little difference between using the dehumifidier on the landing outside the bathroom, and inside it Greying - they are all rated to clear spaces far larger than a single room, after all. Keep on keeping on as you were, I would! 

Well done on the school trip, too! Will you be putting in a note making the point that telling parents the cost of such a trip so close to the actual date of said trip makes budgeting very difficult? Although you have sorted it out, there may well be other parents out there for whom there just isn't the wiggle room - so a politely worded "making a point" email could do others a favour - and help you for the future too.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning Afternoon MFW'rs

Maty - you're a star!  You made me THINK and I have taken some action.  Right, so the shower screen is a c0ram brand, the type is still in production, the measurements online match the one we have (although I suspect ours is some years old), spare parts are available and a plumbers merchants nearby stocks c0ram products.  I have enquired and they are getting back to me re: availability and pricing etc  However, in the meantime, I was looking at the installation guide online, and it occured to me that our shower screen is incorrectly affixed 🙄 (ask me why I am not surprised).  But....... I've looked at it and had a think, and it looks like it is (possibly) an issue with the location of electrical cables/switches and the need for long screws/secure fixings - and it all being in the same stud wall.  No point in worrying about it at the mo.  Will wait for the price/availability info and have a chat with DH about the best way forward.  But we do at least have one potential source of repair - so thanks Maty!

EH - I agree, and think that the clearing of the moisture in the bathroom/bedrooms is 'good enough' by having the unit on the landing.  I think that is the preferred location going forward.  If we ever have a 'Leak' leak to clear up, then I think a rethink would be in order to get the unit at 'suckage central' 😉 Yes, it had occurred to me that the school weren't really 'reading the room' as regards parental finances - not just for family Greying - but there was a fandango at Christmas time over the school booking activities with the very real expectation that the ' Bank of Mum/Dad/Carer/Grandparent' would cough up the finance, no questions asked.  When it became apparent that there was some (justified) resistance, the school got their fingers burnt a bit.  The trouble is, the school serves a 'relatively' affluent area.  And despite a change of personnel at the school, they haven't taken account of the prevailing economic climate, changing circumstances for folks, inflationary pressures etc etc.  If you 'kick back' you're either flagged as 'not being interested in your child's future' or directed to the council ex-covid community welfare fund 🙁 I have no problem with your suggestion (and believe it to be what the school should do as a matter of course), but suspect the school might have....... I don't want LG to be highlighted as the child of T.H.A.T. mother...... 🙁

Right, I have bought the last of the groceries that I am going to buy for January - even if we have to go without before Thursday!  I need to amend my siggie, but January's total is £191.03 - so £8.97 can/will wing its way over to the 'C4C' pot.  That will give LG a total of the £30 they need for their deposit, which has to be payable by the end of this month, and a couple of pounds 'seed' money to start off February's collection - we will need £15 by the end of Feb, so saving can't start too soon!

Although LG is still young, I think they are 'getting' the idea about saving for what you want and how to look for creative ways to conjure up savings from here and there.  Whilst i know that we are imparting valuable life lessons, I'm not so sure that society in general thinks like that, and LG is encountering much criticism for the way we live our life - principally around all the 'stuff' we don't have 🙁 Needless to say, close encounters with fluffy goldcrests or cycling double-digit mileage around a local reservoir hold no candle to your peers getting a 'fruity' brand eye-phone or spending weeks on end at sun-kissed, theme parks where everyday is just like being in a movie.........  ho hum.

My credit card bill has just arrived in the post.  No nasty surprises - and the bill will be funded from ring-fenced savings.

2 loads of washing out on the line.  Not got the wall-to-wall sunshine that the beebeecee forecast, but there is a near constant decent breeze, so the clothes should dry reasonably well.  I do prefer to dry as much as possible outside if I can - although it's not always possible - and sometimes you just need the clothes, don't you?

I can't think of anything else MSE related.  so I shall shuffle orf.

Ta for joining in the convo and above all for making me T.H.I.N.K.  Appreciated.  Greatly.

Greying X