Useful money-saving tips for Winter 2022

I have used my microwave for poaching eggs for the last ten years at least. I do have a small 2 egg container - think they cost about two pound to purchase (The Range, Dunelm, etc).

Do remember to prick to the yoke with a fork before putting in the microwave. Cook on a low heat (450), and a little bit of trial and error to find out how long your eggs need in your microwave. Mine are about 1 minute 50 seconds. Quick, easy and cheap. Just a warning, no matter how experienced you are with this, the occasional egg will decide to explode. Just put it down to experience, and remember to clean the microwave immediately, so that nothing sticks in it.

My favourite lunch is half a tin of reduced sugar, etc baked beans (supermarkets own make), on two slices of toasted nimble bread, topped with two poached eggs, plus a large mug of tea. Time to prepare from scratch three minutes, cost - under a pound, nutrition = excellent, - calories about 300.

Anybody on these threads, (or it maybe someone that people know), who are on certain benefits (incl Pension Credit), can obtain a special deal from BT which will give them their landline rental plus broadband for just £15.00 per month.

Just need to insert a word of warning. People seem to be very intent on going along with the idea of cutting back on home heating and using things like hot water bottles, heated throws etc. etc. All very good BUT, particularly for those of us who are older, and less mobile - sitting around breathing in cold air can be very, very harmful.

So, it is important to ensure that any room in which you are likely be sitting for some time (say an evening). the air is around eighteen degrees. No point in desperately trying to make extra savings and ending up in hospital or worse!!!

Do think most of these ideas are just tinkering - after all no matter how much you save (use candles to heat a living room??) you will still be having to pay the ridiculously high standing charges. Hope people will put as much effort in letting government know their feelings about this - and not be put off by the on-going 'newspeak' that it is duke to the Ukrainian war. Amazing how other countries in Europe are managing to keep their charges down (mainly by nationalisation).

I have noticed, seeing out of my upstairs windows when I go to bed. Always in the past, there were some lights on, maybe outside lights, a few house lights. From a week or so ago, nothing, no lights on by any house. I am not alone

Yesterday I finally switched large appliances off at the socket, except the microwave switch, which is in the back of a cupboard near the ceiling

It is getting cooler day by day, not when the sun shines in but the bedroom at night. I have a thermometer/humidity sensor in there. I am still wearing nightwear for a hot summer but bit by bit my body has to adapt and I have just re-made my bed with one extra layer, which will enable me to get to sleep faster

Getting up today, I felt cool but persisted with my very thin cotton gown on top. I cannot adapt unless I allow my body to feel the cool step by step. I saw the comforting woollen housecoat with a hood, wool washed and hanging on my door, not to wear yet. I could not find a decent woollen housecoat with a zip. so I made one. I cannot bear fleece, I saw and felt sparks every time I wore a fleece dressing gown. No sparks from wool

I don`t think there is anything else I can do, just need to allow my body to adapt and it will and it will then cope better with the cooler but not cold, temperature in my home, which I am certain will kick in from october. I have set every thermostat to 18 day and night. I will use savings rather than risk my well-being.

I’m avoiding using hot water, washing hands and animal bowls in cold. Washing machine is at 30 degrees, dishwasher on Economy. Switching plugs off at the wall. Not charging devices overnight. All cooking done in microwave or toaster. Shop in market. My only supermarket is Waitrose so looking always for reduced items but their own-brand instant coffee is horrible.

No idea Suzique, I think you'll have to experiment.

Thank you.
Any idea how to adjust times to cook 4 poached eggs at once?

I've two steamers, one electric which has one or two layers but the other is just like a double pan which goes on the hob.

Potatoes go in the lower saucepan part and vegetables go in the top a bit later to be steamed.

It would be interesting to find out which is most economical.

Suzique, it's here on the website.

www.egginfo.co.uk/recipes/microwave-poached-eggs

I often combine vegetables in one pan. Start cooking the potatoes and then add the cabbage at the last moment. Easy to fish the potatoes out and then strain the vegtables to serve.

Sorry to hear that you were widowed 5 years ago.

I wish I had thought of cooking stuff together earlier!

I will do that more from now on.

I have just cooked all my veg and pasta on one pan, I add the greens later than the pasta, green beans and carrots. It is really nice, ten minutes in total. I have been doing this since I was widowed 5 years ago

How do you poach an egg in the microwave?

I always poach in water, but actually takes time and costs to heat the water on the hob.

Does anyone know if it’s cheaper to cook vegetables in an electric steamer or on a gas hob?
Obviously, it depends on tariffs, but in a general way?

Also, I have just boiled potatoes and carrots together in the same saucepan, using one burner instead of two. Does anyone else do this? Could save some money over time.

I've just made my first poached egg in the microwave, in 45 seconds! Feeling pleased I've got a new snack option.

Most heating appliances have a plate on the back of them somewhere giving basic technical information, including their output in kilowatt hours (KWh). Electricity is charged in kilowatt hours, so if you know your unit price you can work out a heater's cost.

For example, according to the various figures the current (before 1st October) average price per kilowatt hour is around 25p.

If you have a fan heater with a dial labelled '1' and '2', it is likely that the 1 setting says that the heater is using 1 kilowatt and 2 means 2 kilowatt, so the cost per hour for having it on setting 1 is 25p and setting 2 is 50p. Having a heater like this on for 12 hours at 2 will cost £6.00

Oil filled radiators usually consume less than 1 unit an hour.

However the plate on the back of the heater should tell you how much power the heater uses and then multiply by 25p, but remember on October 1, the rate is going up a lot.

At this time of the year I go out with fungi specialists who instantly in the field differentiate between much desired, often expensive to buy, specimens and their virtually identical highly toxic ‘twins’.
On occasion people who want to forage (Joe Public and restaurant owners ?) deliberately tag along and ask the inevitable, and irritating, question. The answer is yes, any fungus can be eaten once but possibly not again. A pregnant pause always follows.
For many years people picked brown roll-rim, Paxillus involutus, believing if it were properly cooked it was fine. In fact it contains deadly toxins which stimulate an autoimmune reaction. This causes the body to attack its own red blood cells often resulting in death. My info is from the Woodland Trust.
Paxillus involutus forms ectomycorrhizal relationships with a broad range of tree species. It reduces a tree’s intake of heavy metals and increases its resistance to pathogens. It’s not just P. i. which is doing a brilliant job. Other fungi work in partnership with trees, provide significant benefits. We value trees as they absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. An average tree emits the oxygen required by 2 people.
Here’s another consideration. Without fungi we’d be knee-deep in debris. They are nature’s recyclers.
I’ll get off my soap box now, take a couple of coins to the supermarket and buy a box of ‘shrooms for me brekkie.

If you have access to The Food Warehouse shops the Tuesday 10% discount is available there as it’s part of Iceland. They tend to be large shops and in addition to frozen foods they have cheese, cooked meats, fruit and veg, bread, breakfast cereals, cleaning materials, loo rolls etc

I use my bus pass for ID but they barely look at it. A glance at my wrinkled worn out face seems to be sufficient ?

Charleygirl5

Chardy did you have to produce ID to show you were of pensionable age or was it a case of, without being rude, one look and in you go.

My freezer is packed but when it has more space that is an excellent idea. Even if you do not buy food, loo rolls would be cheaper. Did you have to spend a minimum amount?

This week I offered to show my bus pass, the assistant said 'That's fine'.

On one previous occasion, the woman at the till was asking most older folk 'Do you have a bus pass?' I went to get it out while she said 'It's so I can give you a discount'.

During the heatwave, I blocked the bathroom and shower room windows with polystyrene slabs (saved furniture packing). I've kept them to put back up when it's cold. I run a dehumidifier for a few hours a day in the winter (to keep the house nice and dry) rather than use the heating.

Casdon, it would depend on the heater kWh, so (assuming the heater emits the vast majority, e.g. a fan heater) a 2kWh would be about £1.04, the same as an oven. Still, many heaters (and ovens) switch on and off, according to their set temperature or thermostat. My little luxuries, an electric blanket and underfloor heating in the shower room, are just 60 watts and 300 watts, so fairly cheap to run.

I just saw this on Sky News, may be useful:

MoneySavingExpert has collated data based on standard appliances and worked out the cost using the upcoming 1 October 2022 price cap charges for electricity (51.89p/kWh).
Here's a list of some common household items and how much they cost to use per hour:
Oven (2000W) - £1.04
Kettle (1,800W) - 93p
Electric hob (1,700W) - 88p
Hoover (1,400W) - 73p
Microwave (1,200W) - 62p
Iron (1,100W) - 57p
Slow cooker (225W) - 12p
Washing machine (700W) - 36p
PlayStation 5 (201W) - 10p
Sky Q box (45W) - 2.34p
TV (30W) - 1.55p
Fridge (28W) - 1.45p
Phone charger (5W) - 0.26p
Unfortunately this list doesn’t include heating appliances, if anybody has seen a list of costs for those could you post it please?

karmalady

I had a couple of spare woollen throws so I turned them into a warm dressing gown, thigh length and can be used as a housecoat over anything

I also finished making knitted woollen socks, they are so cosy and I will use older ones as bedsocks, they make me sleep better. I have at least 8 pairs now

A word of warning as some will not have heating on at all this winter, please be aware that pipes can freeze and then they burst on thawing. I lived through that time as a child and parents used very basic paraffin heaters

A good many years ago our house had a downstairs loo and wash basin, but there was no radiator in the little cloak room. One particularly cold winter the taps to the basin froze. I used a broad based candle, in a deep metal pan to slowly thaw out the taps. From then on I kept a candle burning in there. It really warmed up the room and the taps never froze again. It's perfectly safe, as long as you keep the candle away from anything flammable and it is in a metal container large enough for the job.

Codyodo

Martin Lewis suggested a heated throw, bought one for my daughter who is thrilled with it. Managed to get 2 in the sale for my husband and I. Heat the person not the room. ?

thanks for this suggestion. I've just ordered one on Amazon

Unfortunately my boiler died on me last January and it cost me nearly 4500 to replace. To be honest I could manage without the central heating but six weeks of boiling kettles to wash was ridiculous. Live in a biggish largely open plan house where the central quarter is double height glass. Glorious but bitterly cold in winter. I only have the central heating on for three hours a day from Nov till early Match (and live in chilly rural Scotland), wear lots of layers, have a heated throw and hot water bottle. I collect wood for the wood burner which heats the two upstairs sitting rooms. Wash at 20 degrees and dry on a pulley and washing line on the garage. And going to dig out some curtains to hang in the two sets of French windows in the kitchen as it is always the coldest room. At the moment there are fairy light strung along the curtain poles but they will have to go. Always worth looking on freecycle as have had four lots of free wood from my local site. As long as the shower room is warm and my bed is toasty I am fine. Only worry is cold really affects my arthritis but simply cannot afford to heat my house.