Useful money-saving tips for Winter 2022

When I had a spell of being very poor my house was unheated for a whole winter as I couldn't afford to buy a new boiler. Had a baby at the time and he slept in a sleep suit - like a sleeping bag with sleeves - not sure if they have them today. I lived in a fleecy tracksuit in the house with knitted Swedish footwear - they were a mixture of heavy knitted socks but with a leather sole! Woolly hat and fingerless gloves! All my clothes came from jumble sales (not sure they exist any longer) or friends. When my son went to school everyone in the road contributed something - I think the only thing I bought were his underpants! I was in the middle of a protracted and difficult divorce at the time! We ate a lot of jacket potatoes and baked beans. No car so I bicycled everywhere which was excellent exercise. It was quite a challenge but I was young so I don't remember being unhappy and it makes a good story now!

Chardy, I bought the same air fryer, really like it!
Electric throw is my suggestion for winter, had one years ago when I worked from home in a big drafty house (since moved out of said house to a smaller, warmer place thank heavens - ten years ago my heating DD for a year was £180 a month). Anyway, a heated throw and electric blankets keeps you and your bed warm fairly inexpensively. We only use an electric shower most of the year and don't heat any other water except on an ocassionl basis. I do have concerns though, if you turn the water heating off there is a small risk of things like legionnaires disease, and turning off all the heating means cold but well insulated homes can easily get moldy. I think it's a potential problem these days as we're told to block up drafts but there's too little emphasis on other sorts of ventilation.

Just thrown all the leftovers from the past two days plus some tired veg and seasoning into the instapot to make soup. Let’s see what happens ?

Bought my first "all in one" - onsie from Dunelm yesterday as I get a claustraphobic type feeling with blankets on me. As many other have, we have just bought an air fryer and thin fleece blankets on sale to use as curtain linings. Put tealight holders in each room etc Struggle with layering up due to fibro and M.E and hate feeling constricted at all. Got thermal sleeveless vests but not sure I could cope with leggings under jeans. Happy to hear any suggestions?

Have an oil fired boiler for hot water and c.h. also used for cooking. I normally have it working from mid September to beginning of May. The cost to fill my oil tank with sufficient oil for that period is currently more than twice I paid in August last year. Although it keeps the kitchen nice and warm for the animals and the radiators are only on in the sitting room for a few hours, I am considering not ordering oil until the price drops. Luckily I have plenty of logs for my log burner - two huge trees were brought down last winter - so had someone fill my woodshed.
I don't know if they are still available, but I have an electric hot water bottle which is lovely during cold evenings.

Stop ironing! If you're careful to shake out and line dry most items don't need it. For anything that's badly creased, (thinking mens' shirts) pop them in the tumble dryer for a few minutes. Cheaper than running an iron for an hour. Also has the advantage that a lot of fluff (I have 2 long haired German shepherds that shed constantly) sticks to the door, not the clothes. And just think what you can do with the extra time.

The following link gives costs to run various household appliances.

www.cse.org.uk/advice/advice-and-support/how-much-electricity-am-i-using

Few years ago I brought a electric throw and it used to cost me pennies to use. I tell everyone to buy a electric blanket will be cheaper than using the electric itself to heat home I bought mine from QVC but you can buy them anywhere this year I think more ppl will buy them. I bought my youngest daughter inlaw last year after she came out of hospital and even she said it will be handy this year.

Some posters have mentioned that the younger people won’t manage.
Have a look on MN and really see what what good ideas these younger people are coming up with: I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Kevincharley
Your link shows that a tumble drier is more expensive than an iron.

MerylStreep

Kevincharley
Your link shows that a tumble drier is more expensive than an iron.

But you use an iron for far longer ironing, say, half a dozen shirts than you'd use the tumble drier for. 5 minutes is all that's needed.

I live on a narrow boat. I have no central heating...just a multifuel burner. Coal has gone up by £4 a bag. I have started foraging for wood already. Locally trees have been cut. I bring light weight logs to my boat on my wagon and cut and split. I have numerous hand made patchwork quilts that are layered on bed dependent on temperature. I cut my immersion down by 15 minutes a day last winter...that was noticable on electricity bill (I have a landline). Layered cotton clothing, two pairs of socks, a cosy blanket over knees. It is really not that difficult to keep warm. I was brought up before central heating and double glazing...one learnt how to adapt back then.

Use a cooker top steamer.
One ring to cook several items. Cheaper to purchase than an electric steamer, easier to clean and takes up less space for storage.
Can't find a cost to run comparison which implies they may be expensive. Or am I being too suspicious there?..

I use a teabag twice.
Cut the toothpaste tube in half to use remainder.
Halogen heaters.
Use newspaper (free weekly) rather than plastic for lining small bins.
I’m going to use candlelight in the evenings.
Small things and thanks for the tips.

I really feel the cold and last winter indoors I wore m&s thermals (extra warm, tops & bottoms under trousers), a long sleeve t-shirt, 2 fleeces & a hat. I used microwaveable hot 'water' bottles to warm my hands. I also bought an oodie- or kuddly-type thing from QVC (60 day money back guarantee) which was better than the 2nd top fleece as it also kept my legs warm. Throws are okay if you're stopping in one room & not moving much but when you leave the room you leave the warmth behind! Dunelm have them for £16/18 but I saw them online, no idea of the quality.
B&M had a half price airfryer this weekend (£25), I use mine all the time (the oven is used for storage).
I'm going to properly use my instant pot, currently just used for rice as I'm a bit scared of it ?. Apparently its great for pulses which are still cheap at the mo.
I have a heated airer for the washing but rarely put the heat on - I've found it actually only dries what it touches. If you are getting one (sorry, I've forgotten who!) I'd suggest getting the cover, presumably it keeps the heat in.
I only shower weekly, no need for more & top layers are washed once (or twice) in a blue moon. Quick wash, lowest possible temperature.
I use a water heater for drinks &/or boiled water, only heats what I use.
Think that's it. My plan for this winter is to stay in bed longer, tho that usually causes back pain ?

I’m going to get OH to make one of these for his man cave.
He spent a lot of time in there in the winter with an electric heater on.
Looks pretty impressive.

www.google.co.uk/search?q=make+a+heater+out+of+clay+pots&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#kpvalbx=_W7QMY_DpI4-hgAby-YqADg_26

I have just bought a combined air fryer/slow cooker so will be using that more instead of my oven and hob to save money.
I have a wood burner so will be stocking up on logs and will shower at the gym.
Have bought some solar lights which I put outside or on a window sill to charge up and then can use them inside instead of lights sometimes. Candles are also good as they give off a bit of heat as well as light.

Some lovely tips ladies.

I have had separate slow cooker, airfryer and pressure cooker for years and wonder if I should replace them all for a 9 in 1 multi cooker. There are just the two of us. Interested to hear your views.

We have 2-3 spare duvets wrapped up in the attic, so if needs must, plus already have hot water bottles. Other than this…. Hibernate ;)

Thank you HousePlantQueen and others, they’ve been pre warned.

When I was young I used to cook rice until it boiled and wrapped it in a sleeping bag to be left until we got back from our hikes. The pot of rice was done by the time we got back. Nowadays they use this technique by using a Wonderbag which was invented in South Africa because they have many power cuts. One can also get a stew or soup boiling and and put it in the Wonderbag to finish off. The Wonderbag looks like a pumpkin made of material pockets stuffed with insulating material and the bottom is a cork board. The whole thing is tied up and left to cook for hours. It takes a bit of getting used to and one has to experiment. For hard root vegetables I recommend cooking in the microwave before adding to stews and soups. I believe a haybox works on a similar principle.

For pasta and veg, bring to.the boil till lid ispopping, turn heat off, go away for the time it would normally take and it's cooked when you came back. Doesn't work.if you take the lid off at any time during cooking. Works for a chicken, but then you leave overnight. Has been on another thread but worth repeating.
Cut down on washing clothes. If worn once they just don't need it.

Twopence

I have had separate slow cooker, airfryer and pressure cooker for years and wonder if I should replace them all for a 9 in 1 multi cooker. There are just the two of us. Interested to hear your views.

I wouldn't bother. I did that and don't like the PC function on the multi-cooker. The multi ones are BIG and heavy, so unless you plan to get rid of the existing appliances you will lose worktop space. If I knew what it was like before buying I wouldn't have. I just wanted the AF function, as I already had the other things, but anyway prefer the oven type air fryers to the pot-based ones.

When we were first married and broke, we lit candles each evening - they really warmed our living room up. Now I'm a beekeeper I might go back to them, but with my own wax. Pound shops have cheap candles, but make sure you have them on a dish or plate for safety.

I have a gas AGA which is turned down to its minimum. Have thought about turning it off for the summer, but do not have any other means of cooking. When I receive gas bill it is not as expensive to run as I thought, when it is on at its lowest setting. But it heats the kitchen does all the cooking and dries the washing. So what would I do without it.