What have you done to cut back on spending ?

[Kindnessproject]

Interested to know what people are doing to make ends meet from a reducing outgoings perspective plus looking for extra ideas!

here is mine:

energy bill:

• heating on 15 during day and 10 during night (used to be 18 and 12). keep warm as have fleece bedding with extra blankets, an electric radiator in room in if needed, electric blanket if needed, warm drinks, layers, oodie, double socks
• barely use tumble dryer
• use air fryer instead of oven
• Turn all plugs off when not using
• rewearing clothes more so washing them less
• hoovering less often
• only putting enough water in the kettle for the No of cups I’m making

food/drink

• buying supermarket own brands or value brands instead of more expensive brands for items such as coffee, weetabix, tomato sauce, shreddies, crisps, squash
• buy much less fresh meat/fish
• buy much less treat food
• given up alcohol
• making hot drink to warm up

beauty:

• Using home dye rather than hairdresser
• New toiletries and make up ban (I have loads so will use all up first which should take months)

household

• changed from tabs to washing powder

entertainment :

• cancelled Netflix
• Strict one meal out a month only
• strict two coffees out a month only

other

• cancelled dds to charity :(

I never have heating on overnight. I wfh but refuse to use heating during the day, so just have warm clothes and a heated throw over my lap if it's cold.

In the evening, when dc are home, I turn on the heating for a few hours if its cold. The maximum temperature set for heating is 17 degrees. Some people may find this too cold, but once used to it you hardly notice.

Making treats rather than buying, e.g marshmallow crispies using up neglected cereal.

Reduced heating costs same as many on here. Think I've acclimatised to between 15 and 16 degrees rather than 21 last winter!

Invested in a good flask rather than hot chocolate at a cafe (at DC activity) saving £7 per week.

We've used Lidl and Aldi for a long time but I've been checking out online deals in times that I do need a delivery, rather than use Asda or Tesco so first time customer gets £15 off £60 shop kind of thing.

We were already pretty careful, shopping around for deals on insurance, mobiles etc.

I have WFH a lot less in winter, taking advantage of the office heating, electricity and free tea/ coffee. Yes there is a commute but with the £2 bus fare it is still better than me adding to my gas and electricity bills.

Check for draughts round windows and doors. Check the loft hatch fits well and has insulation on the back of it. Block up any chimneys. Check anything that comes through your external walls (pipework, tv or data cables etc) and seal any gaps you find. We found the tv cable had moved so the seal was no longer stopping air coming straight into the living room. Unbelievable amount of heat loss fixed with some six quid caulk.

Close curtains at dusk but make sure any south facing curtains are open when the sun shines to maximize solar gain.

Thanks but I do all of these. It's a new build so meant to be very energy efficient already. Just seems odd to me that other people's houses don't drop below 14 when mine is B rated and does. It was 11 this morning, so a 3 degree drop over 12 hours, but has been 8 in the morning before. Yet my bills are relatively low. I don't understand how someone can have a house is so well insulated it doesn't drop below 14 yet their bill is £400.

It does depend on the external temperature, where I am it’s still 6/7 degrees overnight and the house does drop below 14 despite being well insulated. When it’s 10/11 degrees outside it maintains a steady 14 inside.

Mine maintained at 14/15 and I don't think the heating came on when it was a very warm week recently, but that hasn't been the norm for winter. It's now March and it's still coming on.

Those whose heating would not come on at 14 are you in a mid terrace? If you turned the heating off would it still be above 14 in 24 hours time?

@tornadoinsideoutfig mid terrace, 1903 build with double glazing. in the midland near open ground/river.
our house maintains 18 deg for 12 hours and steadily drops another 2 degrees per 24 hours thereafter. This happens only when the outside temperature is 10 degrees or higher.
If it is freezing temps ie below 4 deg outside, then it’s he inside temperature drops at a rate of 4 degrees per 24 hours.
Hooe this answers the question.

@Alphabet1spaghetti2 That's what I'd expect, that the temperature would steadily drop. So if it was 4 outside and you set your heating to 14, the temperature would eventually drop to that and the heating would come on the same as mine does?

@tornadoinsideoutfig yes, and it would keep it at 14 deg, switching on and off as required by the room thermostat. (Which is portable, but tends to live in the sitting room. Communicates to the boiler by a localised WiFi network)

We never have the heating on at night.
I use water butt water for flushing, along with keeping bath water for the same.