Turning Straw into Gold: Creating Long Term Security & A Solid Home

foxgloves

Oh, that is really unfortunate @MillQueen, especially as you were doing someone a favour. I hope it doesn't turn out to be an expensive repair. Fingers & paws crossed here for you.

MillQueen

Thanks @foxgloves, it was a right downer ending to a good day, as ten minutes before it happened I was saying how good everything was going and how I was getting on top of my finances. This is a set back I could have done without. I've made a using stuff up meal, since I now won't be getting groceries for the foreseeable future until I am sorted with these car repairs. Hopefully can book somewhere tomorrow to find out how much it will be.

I've cooked a pack of sausages and sliced them up. Mixed those with brown rice, a jar of chickpeas, and some stir fried sliced peppers and spinach. Served with some nutritional yeast, a sprinkle of sesame seeds and edamame on top. It was nice and there's enough for a few days. The sausages were only £1 from a previous yellow sticker haul and the veg was stuff stuff I had in the freezer. I have a few more bits of veg and fruit in the freezer, so I'll keep going and see where that takes me. Only 14 more days to the end of the month. I can always use the emergency fund for the car as this is what it's for, but it's annoying to have to.

I actually have £15 in the house in cash, so if I get stuck for food I can use that and get some yellow sticker stuff and Lidl veg, as I need to not buy anything because it's going to be £23 a day on the train to work until the car is fixed, so fingers crossed that's fast. It's also going to be difficult getting anywhere as I still can't really walk far since I tore my calf. Let's pray they fix the car fast and it's only a small cost like £100 🙏🙏🙏

MillQueen

I have booked the car in to be looked at on Monday, as nowhere has space today. So it's obviously a no spend weekend at home now, where I will read books and complete work and home tasks. I shall appreciate what I have today. I am currently loving familiar worn objects, like my two blankets that were free (gifts from a friend) to wrap up in while reading as it's a bit cooler in the house today. Which reminds me, I have someone coming to fit a new smart meter in a few weeks as it's not sending readings. I'm only going to put the heating on from November to Feb, but the new smart meter will help me optimise it to come on as little as possible. I'm going to watch some videos about frugal living now, and I need to make something with two bags of parsnips that I got for 12p each (yellow sticker from last week). I have arborio rice, so maybe parsnip risotto.

Rhyddid2026

Maybe do an experiment with the heating. When I moved to this house I tried not to use it much. My heating bills were extortionate. Then I realised the thick walls retained heat but took ages to warm up. Keeping my house at around 18 degrees cost me a third of the cost of turning my heating on and off. I'm hoping your house is the same and you won't have to suffer the cold 🤞

Oh! And also running the dehumidifier if the damp rooms overnight helped massively. Although my house is strange and only gets damp in summer. It was 87% humidity on those really hot days. Gross.

MillQueen

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82073665#Comment_82073665

That's interesting, thank you, I like that idea. I have only been here one winter and I didn't get to grips with the heating as the smart meter hasn't been working, so it just kept sending me huge bills at random rather than regular ones, and I am still paying those off now. It probably would retain the heat I imagine, as the walls are thick enough that they keep the wifi out and my phone doesn't connect well. I don't experience the house as being particularly draughty, so I think where it loses heat is that there are a lot of floors/rooms and high ceilings so it's a big space to heat. I considered keeping myself mostly in one or two rooms, keeping those warmish and using my heated pad and some blankets and layers, maybe even my woolly hat. I have an oil filled radiator that's nice to heat a room as well. When I lived in a house with no heating I slept in a sleeping bag and was toasty warm, so I could do that. I bought a little padded jacket a few months ago for £4.99 in the middle aisle as well, to see how long I could last with no heating if needed. It's going to need to be a frugal winter on heating, as I won't be starting it with any reserves in my energy account, as I am in a deficit of £750 still because of the smart meter issues. They have agreed to give me a new one, as it's been impossible to budget or see how much I'm using when I just randomly get a big bill and then nothing for ages.

foxgloves

A while back, I did an energy audit on our house. It was before we finally had central heating installed in 2020. Prior to that, we had old electric night storage heaters upstairs, an attractive but not very efficient living flames gas fire in the living room & an electric stove in the conservatory (our dining room). I went round every room with a clipboard, paper & pen, listed all the issues re energy saving & then annotated this with old-style solutions to try. Some of the most basic old-style things were surprisingly effective & our energy use did decrease. I still do many of them.

MillQueen

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82073756#Comment_82073756

Good idea! Well the biggest thing's probably the windows. They are floor to ceiling in every room downstairs and although they are double glazed, the size and height of them is likely to lose a lot of heat. Upstairs it's the loft as the rooms up there are not connected to the central heating system, so I guess the heat rises up to where it's cold up there. I have a couple of gas fires but don't use them and wouldn't be able to afford to replace them. I have no idea what the cellar contributes to the heating scenario, as there is a radiator down there, though I haven't checked whether it works and the cellar is damp and in need of work if I'm here in the long term. I am thinking the foil behind the radiators thing is probably the way to go in the rooms I use most, "heat the person" and just closing the doors to the rooms I'm in. Also I will sleep in one of the rooms with more internal walls.

It's already been renovated and sadly the fireplaces were plastered over, but at some point if I do any renovations of my own I'd probably do some extra insulation. I'd like to expose the traditional floorboards and get them repaired, so I'd take the opportunity to add some insulation, and I'd like to open up the fireplaces (not to use as that's incredibly inefficient and cancer-causing, but I'd add a chimney balloon in each). That's not likely in the imminent future or indeed at all unless the cost of living changes over the decades.

foxgloves

All good ideas, @MillQueen. Old houses can be such money pits, can't they? Ours is just a 3-bed semi - nowhere near as old as yours as it was built in 1936 - but we bought it as a 'doer-upper' in 2002 & it has pretty much taken us all that time from new windows & asbestos garage removal in 2003 through to a new roof in January this year. We have had to tackle things very gradually because of the expense. When we move, we are both agreed that we defo don't want another doer-upper. I don't mind creating a new garden but house-wise, putting in a new kitchen or bathroom is going to be the limit where renovations are concerned.

Your house does sound interesting though. I love old fascinating buildings.

MillQueen

@foxgloves, I know, a do-er upper is a gradual process unless you have serious money lying around, which most people don't. I watch loads of renovation channels on social media and I have no idea how so many people have so much money to spend. I had a renovation project last time and it taught me I am not the right person for renovating, as I ended up having to sell for less than I paid. I bought just before the costs of materials and trades kept going up and up, and I couldn't afford to do the things that needed doing. I don't have the skills and also no time or motivation to learn them, as I am always working and not DIY inclined.

Before I found this one, I had all but given up the search for an interesting house within my budget and was all set to buy a cheap and tiny terrace with a new roof and no work needed, which was 100k less than this one, but in a better location. That fell through and I had to start looking again, just as this one was reduced into my price range. I couldn't believe no one had bought it even at the higher price. Although some stuff needs doing, it had already been renovated and is very live-able, with a new kitchen and bathroom.

MillQueen

Today I have work tasks to do, and will make some food in between that. A no spend day.