Your best food & heating saving tips

[welshbyrd]

Last few days, I have come across 2 threads about expensive food/gas/electric have become, a lot of Mnrs have replied to these thread, like me, are scared about winter food/bills shooting up

In my situation Im all ready stretched to the max, so really am dreading this winter in the UK, I have looked up a few weather predicting sites, they are all saying this winter is going to be worse, than the last four

From reading these threads I know Im not alone is being worried.Some very kind poster mailed me the £30 a week meal planner, I really am truly grateful
Has anyone else got any money saving idea/experience that can make mine and other Mnrs winter more bearable?

Good thread welshbyrd
I always put the dc's in the bath after I've had one to save water
Buy reduced items that can be frozen from supermarket
Look around the pound shops when I'm in town, save a lot on things like ketchup, orange juice etc
Make sure you put heaters off, as soon as we come downstairs in morning I put all heaters off upstairs even though they are on a timer

Cut down the dishwasher and the tumble dryer. All the other tips about heating and lighting. We usually let the heating tick over at about 16 all the time and sometimes turn it down a few degrees at night. Our heating bills for a large house are generally reasonable this way. Have a couple of cheap dinners every week - egg and chips, and use cheaper cuts. The other thing - is walking. I walk a mile and quarter to and from work every day and that saves £13 per week and keeps me fit. Am always surprised at how many people refuse to walk.

Marriedinwhite, I'm not sure about not using the dishwasher, I've heard it's actually more efficient than hand washing dishes.

d/w vs hand wash is the same principle as bath vs shower...more energy efficient acutally

Some good tips on here...didnt know about the 16 degree thing!

I would echo the wood burner if you can afford to get one, in the six months since we had ours installed we have saved £675 on heating (a shocking amount), meaning it will pay for itself in less than a year. We have also just completed a loft conversion and gone over the top with the insulation (we used kingspan which is a solid insulation board) it has gone in the walls, roof void and under the floor ( a pain as you have to put chicken wire in to keep it in place and avoid it dropping in the case of a fire), however it has made the loft rooms so warm that I need to open the windows even on a cool day and has had the added bonus of insulating the rooms below it.

Am thinking of buying a slow cooker, can you do jacket potatoes in them? We don't have a microwave or any space for one so what could be a really cheap meal becomes very expensive due to the cost of heating the over for 90 mins.

Oh yes I have stopped using the dishwasher (it needs new hinges but does work) and the tumble dryer as DH damaged the vent pipe when moving it and we haven't got round to replacing it, and am now adamant we can live without replacing it until the weather becomes horrific!

I disagree with keeping the heating on all day being more efficient! If you are going to be out for a good part of the day then it isnt - the larger the temperature difference between inside and outside the more heat you lose, warm walls means walls radiating heat to outside! therefore it is more efficient to have heating on when you need it.

Do you ever look at money saving tips and think "well if you're not already doing that then you're an idiot"?

The kind that say "give up your latte from Starbucks every day", that sort of thing?

I'm afraid "walk to work" (when it's only just over a mile) sounds like that to me. If you are going to work in anything that costs money (car, train, bus, helicopter) and it's only a mile and a quarter then you clearly have money to burn. Plus when you add in time to wait for bus or park it'll probably take longer. (Exclusions apply for disabilities, SN, or working on an island)

I don't mean that as being nasty to the person who said "I walk to work", well done for walking to work, but if you know people who would not walk or cycle that distance then they are clearly bonkers!

I know what you mean trillian when we lived in our old house there were people who drove yards to the school

Wish I could do without the tumble dryer tbh as it does use a lot of energy but have RA and hanging out washing in the cold weather is just not an option for me Although dh has put the new washing up so high I have to use a step ladder anyway

Will tell dh about the 16 degree thing and keeping it on all day - he is a great believer in putting it on at 25 degress for 2 hours each morning and night! (so we are boiling hot at those times and freezing the rest of the time!!)

Have moved house and the school (next village) is up a MASSIVE hill and ds2 (2) wont be able to walk that so will be driving at least until the petrol prices mean I cant

Its going to be a bad winter for a lot of people isnt it? I dont mean bad re; weather, I mean bad re; feeding theirselves and keeping theirselves warm

Bad kitten - My MIL used to use her heating exactly as you describe. Only putting it on when she got in from work, and then very minimally. When she got made redundant, she decided to try doing it 'our way' and having it on low instead so the house didn't become so cold, and the heating have to work so hard to get it warm enough. Her energy bills have dropped considerably since she did this, despite the price rises. 16 degrees isn't toasting the house needlessly, you would be surprised at the outcome. One pub I know of has a timer on his fridges, hasn't worked out that his thermostat does that job already and fridge just has to work harder to get everything cold again when he switches them on. (Alcoholic drinks, nothing to cause food poisoning!)

Also - have you fixed your prices for electric etc? See Money Saving Expert to make sure your tariff is the best you can get. I also do everything through a cashback site so that I get money back for things that I would buy anyway - electricity, internet, car insurance etc

Were giving up our second car next month and I'll cycle to work with a seat on the back so I can collect ds from nursery. A bit worried if it snows but dh works out and about so sure he could collect me if really necessary. It's quite a long way ( 5.2 miles!) but at least I'll get fit .

I've started shopping online so I can set a budget and not go over it. If you get it delivered in the evening it's £3 from asda and I'd probabely use that in petrol to get there.

Also gonna keep a blanket by the sofa instead of turning hearing up and will try the 16 degrees thing

I'm trying to hand wash dishes rather than dishwasher but dint really know how much difference that will make.

Soups in winter are king and add a baked potato and pudding if you want it and easy meal. Again as others have said just make more and freeze.

We've found living in mid terrace house is also useful, there are only 2 outside walls to get cold!

Only start putting the heating on in autumn when it's really necessary, if it's just a bit cool put a jumper on.

Hot water bottles are great they don't cost much and unlike electric blankets are not dangerous, although it can be a bit soggy if you forget to put the stopper in tightly :o

definitely better long run to have heating on low all the time 16-17 if it is below freezing outside may need 18 it may be unrealistic for everyone to wear coats and hats indoors but definitely in winter not just t shirts bare feet and leggings and then saying i'm cold get slippers and socks or keep shoes on
also if have option of open fire for logs /coal get chimney swept now also boiler serviced as cost goes up in october/november when everyone suddenly needs it done
when collecting wood remember you can not just collect anywhere so check, some fallen wood is rotten and wet and does not burn well.

check the geographic phone number site to get normal numbers for ringing 0845 etc numbers use prefixes like 18185 to get free daytime landline calls
give up sky and just use freeview or freeview+
if a sky sport or film addict can you just buy that and not whole package
check whether it is cheaper to use landline or mobile most landlines free in evenings so get your friends landline number also check do you use your mins/texts allowance if not reduce package or go PAYG as lots of PAYG have free stuff with vodafone after 7.30pm get 59 mins for price of 3

food fruit and veg normally cheaper at ordinary market ( not farmers market which can be premium price) clothes, envelopes etc. eBay just got brand new this season mothercare 3 pack of sleepsuits for £5 instead of £14

stop washing things every day change underwear daily but most other stuff does not need washing after 10 hours wear unless heavy manual work don't wash towels after using once etc make sure you have a full load

50mph is most economical speed and drive smoothly start in first gear pull away slowly at traffic lights don't rev engine let the boy/girl racers beat you, slow down slowly not slamming on brakesand going from 5th to 1st gear

For those hand washing instead of using a dishwasher, no need to worry, I did a bit of googling to confirm/deny what I'd heard: www.treehugger.com/files/2005/08/dishwasher_vs_h.php

As long as you fill it up efficiently, the dishwasher is likely to be better anyway.

1 - Blankets - either old ones, but I got a couple of ends of fleecy material in teh sales for about $10 which is about 7 pounds at the moment. They are huge, but light, and we use them all the time - on the sofa in teh evening, on the beds if it's really cold. also, no hemming, and a doddle to wash at low temperatures (and relatively child resistant).

2 - Heat packs instead of hot water bottles are safer for children, and on 30 secs/1 min no time/electricity to get them warm.

if you don't have heat packs, you can make them quite easily (depends how self sufficient you're feeling!).

3 - Hot drinks/soups are v. useful for adults - when you get into the house, to take up the road, in the car. Talking of which,

4 - Car - take a hot drink, keep the heating on low/enough to de-ice the windscreen/whatever you can put up with, and make sure you are rugged up as if you were going for a walk in the same weather.

Also - check out the moneyexpert's guide to more efficient fuel use - can save from 20% a year just by making sure you're not dragging excess weight, overusing the aircon, keeping tyres pumped etc etc...

I bet you didn't know these sorts of tips would be necessary in Sydney?

Some of you said that it is more economical to heat the house on constant at 16 degrees. We have a fairly warm house, especially upstairs (bedrooms) and we put the heating on for 1 or 2 hours in the morning and then 2-3 hours in the evening when we are out during the day. If we are in, e.g. weekend we have it on for another couple of hours during the day. Our heating bills seem quite reasonable, and I can't imagine it being more economical on constant.

Is there any more info about that somewhere?

I guess the only real way to know is to try both and do readings.

I can across this site last night...

Great for avoiding 0845 numbers and a little beauty of a gem in there to as regards the Tax Credit Office

www.saynoto0870.com/search.php

When you have had your oven on for a while, open the door when you switch it off and it will keep the kitchen warm.

MSE is a godsend and there are so many great tips on there.

LoveBeing... - Yes, that might be a good idea, try it for a week or two. The outside temperature may still change, but we could try it on seperate occasions.

I agree gabid. We have heating on around the same as you timewise and set at 18-19 degrees. Sometimes put fire on in the living room in the evening if it gets cold. Even on the very coldest day (-12 last winter) the internal temp only falls to around 14 degrees overnight so we are only raising by 5 degrees at most. I suspect this is based on houses where the heating is set much higher when it does come on eg 22+ and therefore obviously having to work much harder and will take longer to get to the set temp.