If you're trying to save some money....

[JamSandle]

Tell me your tips. I've decided this winter I want to save as much as I can.

Any advice on how to keep going? I've already decided to limit social media so I dont get jealous if I see people doing things im not. There are things I've planned so my winter isn't without its fun. I just want to prioritise saving a much as I can this winter.

Anyone else doing the same and want to encourage each other?

Crumble and eves pudding this time of year too.

My only thinking on this.abd I'm not a professional (of heat whatever that is haha)so I obviously don't no.but the turning off radiators in the rooms you don't use thing? Is it beneficial. I'm.just thinking when our broke in the downstairs room the whole side of that house was effected and felt freezing.even with the heat on in the room above.it just didn't circulate.and it's the same when we turn the heat off when we get the turkey out at Christmas! It really effects the heat of the house.
Now I no youd put up and shut up with that if you have no choice.
But is it in fact counter intuitive to not heat certain rooms because it's making other rooms feel worse as there is no circulating heat?
Hence why we now have central heating to each room instead of ye old days heating setups.
This could be absolute rubbish so don't jump on me.😶

I don't really understand the science behind the radiators either,all I know is that thanks to all the cost of living talk and bill increases,I feel guilty flicking the thermostat over 20 and have limited myself to ten minute blasts here and there.

Your boiler uses up the same amount of energy however many radiators it has to heat, but by turning some of them off, your boiler will work more efficiently, meaning the rest of the house will warm up sooner so the boiler switches off sooner, and you'll save money because you're using less gas

a quick google produced the above explanation @Laalaapopo
I turn off the rads in my bedroom and the spare bedroom. I would overheat with the room heated and have the window open most nights. I keep the doors shut mostly, obviously as my bedroom window is often open and the spare room I just open the door occasional so the rooms gets the hot air rising effect and airs through.

I'm definitely going to keep a few radiators turned off plus my towel rail too then,until it's freezing cold. If I just leave the living room one turned on when I need a quick blast plus the one in my 12 year old 's bedroom for the meantime.

There's no time limit to use the code,as many people as want to,can use it and there is no p&p.You just pick the 4 boxes you want to try.You do input your card details as it is a subscription service,but you won't be charged anything unless you choose to have more boxes.It's just a matter of cancelling after you have had your free box and it literally takes 10 seconds to either cancel,take a break,change your frequency of boxes,order one for a gift,etc.

We have completely given up any drinks,snacks,food etc outside of the house.If we go anywhere,we take a picnic,drinks with us etc.and just use cash,we don't take our cards with us to avoid temptations.

Brilliant thank you.im so stupidly excited to sit down and look through,pick tomorrow.day made especially no p&p!😄
Do you cancel as soon as once the box comes?

This has actually gone out of the window for me a little bit. I've had to take a bit of a hit...course, filling and some other bits. My new goal is to accept the loss and strive to build back up.

Hope my fellow savers are managing well.

I’ve stopped eating UPF (ie ready meals/ sauces/ processed breakfast cereals) and started bulk cooking with cheap veg boxes/ Lidl specials and less meat/ fish than before.
Freeze in meal-sized portions Use the microwave to reheat so save electricity on oven/hob.

It’s been a win-win and I’ve lost 8 kg in 3 months with no calorie or food-type restrictions so far and am back into the healthy BMI range as well as saving around 50% of our grocery bill so around £200 per month (yes we ate a LOT of industrial crap!)

It also makes decision-making at the supermarket so much easier as 80% of what they sell is industrialised ‘food’ crap with few nutrients.

It was a conversation with a chef in Italy who had lived in Glasgow for a few years that was the epiphany. He simply pointed out that unlike in Italy, UK supermarkets are horrendous and full of industrially processed crap which makes fat profits for the global companies. He just shopped around the edges.

Giles Yeo explains it well.

Oh and when everything else seems so crazy out there it’s nice to be able to at least trust my own body and my appetite again! Quite grounding tbh.

We also switched to ‘whole amount’ monthly direct debit for our energy bills. This doesn’t save money per unit kWh (is same price) but means we’re not giving the energy company a free loan and hang on to our money until we actually use the energy.
Unsurprisingly the energy companies don’t seem to be keen to advertise this as an option!

www.edfenergy.com/for-home/help-support/direct-debit

(Scroll down to ‘whole amount direct debit’)

Eon-next it’s called ‘Variable Direct Debit’ instead of ‘Fixed Direct Debit’ - the terminology is confusing as it means you pay for what you actually used the month before every month:

assets.ctfassets.net/gmgnreshss7h/73aJWQiTaT96SpbScmbqGF/fba74e6de590b0093ae13c89a73b1d96/20201215_External_Comms_ManagingYourDirectDebit-v4.pdf

The British Gas version (variable monthly direct debit):

www.britishgas.co.uk/help-and-support/bills-and-payments/setting-up-a-direct-debit

Me too. I won't get any richer by saving 10 quid on toilet roll.

@VictoriaWoodwasfab
Especially the kids / baby aisle! Absolutely atrocious the marketing that goes into all this 'baby food', which is mostly processed and sooo expensive!

My little one has just eaten the same as us ever since he started food at 6 months.

People can and do live just as healthily big cooking from complete scratch. Everything is processed.even your average carrot. The "wellness" brigade took that word and demonized the f out of it.abd it's unfair.food goes through processes to keep us eating.we are in an era where we need those processes for lots of foods to keep us stocked,safe and satiated. It's ok to have jar of sauce and a few ready meals.ots about balance.
It's ok to have fried.or nuggets or non fresh.ceresls are great and fine as part of an overall.and some foods pre prepped are often people's only option.for many reasons.
We need to encourage and support adequate nutrition not demonize certain food groups or methods.
We need to make food about coming together about enjoyment.we need to make it all accessible. We need to make it so people can afford to eat both in time,effort and cost!

Simple one - when oven is in cooling down mode, open the door and let the heat out. Warms the kitchen and saves energy as the oven cools faster.

Just used your Simply Cook code,thanks very much😊

I have made draught excluders using old clothes and fabric,and put them in each room.I have really noticed the difference,especially when you move them away from the doors,you can really feel the draughts.I am thinking about getting the insulation tape for the windows,next.

I have been using my slow cooker a lot,there are loads of things that I wouldn't have thought to do in there before,like shepherd's pie and lots of puddings etc-there are loads of recipes on YouTube and lots of ideas.

I strongly recommend (if you haven't already done so) at least look into getting a water meter.
I'm in the SE and for years my bills have been rising and until I got one were around 51.00 pm . As soon as I got the meter it went down to 30.00 pm. After 6 months I got an accurate bill and my payments have gone down to 11.00 pm! 😯
This is over 8 months. I'm so pleased. I was scared I'd end up paying more but was assured it was very unlikely.

Forgot to add I also got 100.00 refund. Result!