how are you preparing for October?

[nickthefox]

When prices are set to rise again and temperatures are going to plummet. We are buying curtains and have got some fleece throws second hand. Got in lots of easy and quick to heat 'meals' read tinned soup and noodles but I'm afraid it won't be enough.
We have recently moved and in our old flat ot was cold but at least we had people above and below us and to the side, we were insulated by other peoples flats. Now we are in a house ans last winter was freezing and we have lots of drafts in the windows, single glazing and no carpet!

I have been stocking up on tinned food and long shelf life products over the summer where costs are lower to try to keep the shopping costs down in the winter when the electricity will be shooting up again.

I have hot water bottles and a few thermoses (is? 's?) too.
What else can we do?
We are a family of six by the way so, food is quite a big cost anyway.

Burying my head in the sand. Not very practical!

Martin Lewis had an article last week suggesting it maybe good time to consider price fixing energy bills.

Not the point, but winters aren’t that cold any more and don’t usually kick in till December I’ve found lately?

But to answer your question: I will be investing in an Oodie. I lao have a lovely down sleeping bag I will use in bed if needed to stay toasty. I plan on batch cooking.

Insulate everything. Money saving expert has a lot of tips, from the old-style thrift boards (foil behind radiators and draught excluders for the doors) to Martin's modern guide on heating the human. For example if you boil a kettle,then keep the rest of the hot water in a thermos. Batch cook in a slow cooker and reheat in the microwave if you have one.

I tend to suffer in the winter as DH and DCs are thermonuclear humans who prefer a cold house, so I cuddle up jumpers, double layer socks and fleeces. When I got really desperate, I stuck a hot water bottle in sleeping bag and WFH in that!

Going to be honest, I thought this was a thread for fellow Halloween lovers and got excited there for a minute. 😅

@TheABC I like the idea of sitting in my sleeping bag with a hot water bottle while working! Don't want the heating on when it's just me home!

I'm making savings now where I can eg cancelling subscriptions etc.
Buying Christmas things as early as possible.

I've bought and stored firewood as it's cheaper.

You can cellotape cling film over single glazed windows to stop draughts.

Try getting some rugs in the summer sales.

I live in a cold house and we bought an electric heater for the DC's bedroom to heat before bed instead of the whole house.

Look for summer fruit bargains that can be stewed and frozen. Same for blackberry picking in autumn which is free ( depends on where you live though).

Last winter was pretty mild but I don't think I could say that's typical in huge swathes of the country including my patch of the N.E.

We rearranged our home improvement plans and brought forward installing solar power and a home battery to this year. We still need to add kingspan insulation in the tiny bit of roof above the window (I suppose there's a proper word for that?) in the living room. And we bought an air fryer to save firing up the oven for small amounts. Oh yeah, and back in January I reduced the flow on the combi boiler and that made a real difference - so I'd recommend that if it's an option for you.

oh wlyes we already batch cook and heat the human but when I say it's cold I mean freezing, and not having carpet really does make that much of a difference.
I don't have a microwave, when it broke we never replaced it but I wish we had now.
a slow cooker is a good idea I am going to borrow my sisters and batch cook in that. we usually reheat bolognese or chilli or whatever it is on the stove. warms the kitchen up

I’ve bought a heated throw, they are cheaper this time of year and it’ll save me putting the heating on when I’m working from home or the DC are in bed. I need to do more though.

@FourTeaFallOut how much is that solar panal and battery going to set you back? we were looking Into solar but it costs a pretty penny.

@nickthefox

Are rugs an option? Or you could get carpet off cuts bound.

I bought wool duvets with 25% off code for my twenty something DC who live in rented flats
I’ve bought heavy wool jumpers for family on eBay in May when prices are low
Everyone has a wind proof stretch hoody to use as a layer
We got five single glazed windows refurbished as double in April.
Now run out of money

It does cost a lot and we sold our caravan to pay for it. It cost us £9k but because we use heaps of electricity - electric car/shower/everything in the kitchen, it should pay for itself in about 8 years, based on today's cap.

Haha! I have two DC in their 20s. Not 20 kids 🤣

This thread is making me feel cold 🥶 brrr

You're fighting a losing battle if you have single glazing and no carpets surely? I'm not sure a hot water bottle will make a whole heap of difference when there are freezing temperatures? I'm guessing there's nothing you can do about that though?

It might be a good idea to transfer as much money as you can spare into savings. Even if it's £10 a month, it's £70 by January so could help a bit for bills.

I thought this thread was going to be about fall baking or Halloween.

Other than trying to do as much overtime as possible, I'm not sure what else we can do to save.

I’m being mildly cold now (well, up to now. I was freezing in February!) and building up credit so I’ll hopefully only be mildly cold in the winter.

I think I’ve done most things. Already have hot water bottles and electric throws and lots of jumpers. Beds are always warm, although I might get some fleece bedding if I see any. Turned the boiler flow down, draught proofed everywhere I can. In the habit of batch cooking and only using the oven when I can fill it. Redeployed all my existing smart plugs to keep things off stand by. I’m buying extra flour and oil and things when I can. I have smart radiator valves so can heat rooms individually.

I’m really hoping things will improve enough for me to have a wood burner fitted this year with a small windfall, which will hopefully make the sitting room warmer by removing the horribly draughty gas fire. And I think the loft insulation could possibly do with a top up. I’m also planning to replace the radiator in the sitting room which is pants. I might get a small battery set up for my campervan which I can use for some things inside.

Now is the right time to sow winter veg, and I’m really concentrating on winter harvest and things that will store easily. Normally I don’t really bother with much winter stuff, but I’m trying to be on top of it this year.

Laundry is worrying me. Previously, I’ve bunged the lot on an airer in the spare room and it’s been dry in 24 hours, and just chucked the bedding in the dryer. But I don’t heat the spare room now, so it won’t dry. Now, it’s all going on the line or on the airer with the window open and it’s fine. But it won’t dry for days in the winter like that.

Laundry is worrying me. Previously, I’ve bunged the lot on an airer in the spare room and it’s been dry in 24 hours, and just chucked the bedding in the dryer. But I don’t heat the spare room now, so it won’t dry. Now, it’s all going on the line or on the airer with the window open and it’s fine. But it won’t dry for days in the winter like that

Could you get a dehumidifier? Like electric blankets, it's one of those things people don't think about in the summer much so they don't command the winter premium in shops and they are cheaper to pick up second hand on gum tree and the like.

I'm hoping to get some curtains and I was going to try to line them myself. I can't afford the really thick ones unfortunately.

no way I can afford new windows, maybe a cheap rug. certainly feels like I'm winning a losing battle.
I rearranged the furniture so the radiator is covered, so I won't be tempted to just put the heating on.
we do have electric blankets that are fairly cheap to run, the heated throws are quite a bit but maybe I can borrow one of the electric blankets from the beds upstairs and bring it downstairs for the sofa. My children have to be forced to sleep in their own beds anyway, they always want to share a bed.

Wouldn’t you be better getting double glazing and carpets? You can get some cheap carpets which I’m sure would still make a difference.

Dehumidifiers cost a fortune to run!! Avoid avoid!!!

Look up secondary glazing. We used to have it when I was a kid and the big sheets of clear plastic would go up every winter, guessing a lot cheaper than proper glazing but it does make a difference.