Living Well, Living Solo

Always up for any handy tips I don't know yet..

That's what made me think it could be useful CariadAgain. Because of someone else's suggestions I am now looking into smart lights and a garden wagon/cart.

Mine would be: ensure you understand your finances if you are in a marriage where your husband has always dealt with them. Try to understand the practical things in your home like knowing where the stop cock is, reading your gas and electric meters. Have contact numbers for an Electrician, Plumber, Carpenter or Gardener who may be able to help. I am sure there are many more things that others will think of and I look forward to seeing them. An excellent post DaisyAnneReurns thank you.

Make sure you have enough food essentials in your cupboard/fridge/freezer in case there are days when you can’t get out, eg if unwell, if the weather is bad.

Yes a good thread. I am not living solo but DH no longer instigates any decisions, although I run most things past him, and is pretty well bed bound. So I consider myself solo.
It's draining to do all the house admin etc but if I were not married I would have to.
I look forward to reading any tips and will have a think of what I can add to the thread.

We are paying over the odds for our house and buildings insurance and this spring I need to review it. Currently its with John Lewis...very expensive. Any recommendations ?

HelterSkelter1 for your house insurance I’d recommend using a comparison site such as comparethemarket.com . Enter your details and within minutes they will email you a list of best deals. Like wise for car insurance and broadband deals.

I am careful not to let anything auto renew. I start checking 4-5 weeks before the end of any contracts and have reminders in my phone of what’s coming up.

Just yesterday I contacted Virginmedia about their renewal email. They planned to increase my broadband and tv package by £15 a month. I asked to be put through to the retentions team and politely told them I couldn’t afford it and was shopping around with other companies who were offering better deals. Within minutes my current package was reduced by £12 a month instead of the proposed increase of £15 😊

DaisyAnneReturns I live alone and thanks to my son I’m a recent convert to smart lights. I currently have smart bulbs in my living room and bedroom. I operate them via the Hive app on my phone or I can “speak” to them via my google mini speaker.

If I’m out for the evening I turn the lights on via my phone so I’m not arriving home to the house in darkness. I can do the same with the heating .

They can also be used as security timer lights to come on and off at set times via the phone app if I’m away from home for a few days . They just operate as normal lights unless you want to use the smart function.

I put all my larger or heavier items of furniture onto glides when I was fit enough to do it.

I’m so glad now that it just slides with a bit of a shove.

I love my garden trolley😀

What is your garden trolley like Lathyrus3? There are all sorts and prices on line.

One of the best tips I've ever been given was to have a Sure Stop fitted to turn off the mains water.
Instead of having to remove everything from the cupboard under the sink and more-or-less crawl inside to wrestle with the reluctant stopcock, there's a neat blue switch over the kitchen worktop and turning off the water should you need to is as easy as turning out the lights. Costs less than £100 and worth every penny!

www.screwfix.com/p/surestop-plastic-remote-stop-cock-22mm/57455?msclkid=1e4d1a9f8d5f1aff8a5f7319b91738a3&gclsrc=3p.ds&gad_source=7&gad_campaignid=22478593832.
(Other retailers are available 😄)

That’s interesting Scribbles and thank you for sharing. It’s not something I’d ever heard off and will definitely be looking into it.

I never knew there was such a thing Scribbles - went off for a quick looksee.

How does it get "powered" so to say? and would there be any drilling into the wall to fix it in place? I'm wondering whether I should mention it to that plumber I'm seeing about at the moment - given she's going to have to turn up again soon....especially given the comment she made about being surprised there was only one turn-off thingie under the sink and she said there's normally one per tap (though I don't know if there's a difference for a monobloc tap like I have now)

I'll add to Ziplok (Fri 06-Feb-26 17:17:14) if I may. If you move to something smaller or just more manageable try not to downsize your freezer or fridge space. They help you manage the odd week when you're not feeling so fit. Also, it's worth investing in a self-defrost freezer if you can as that's one less "heavy job" as time goes by.

I'd never heard of the trolley until recently Lathyrus3. Here’s Amazon's offerings HelterSkelter. www.amazon.co.uk/s?ref=nb_sb_noss_1&crid=XQUERUEKPH7M&sprefix=trolly+wagon%2Caps%2C903&k=trolly+wagon&tag=gransnetforum-21
I live in a flat and my thoughts are that I'll keep it in the car, popping the shopping bags in it when I get home. That will mean I don't struggle getting in and out of doors while carrying several bags.

Ah that makes it easy for me, thank you.

It’s the Panama Heavy Duty Trolley £54.99.

It’s metal because I wanted to transport 4 watering cans at the same time and was worried the fabric ones would rip at the seams with the weight.

I was worried it would be a bit heavy and unwieldy, but the tyres are so thick it bounces over uneven ground and the swivel on the handle means you can turn it in small places effortlessly.

The tip up is an extra feature that I didn’t pay much attention to but it’s proved it’s weight in gold transporting manure from the heap to the beds and unloading bags of compost.

Because it’s metal I can just swill it out too.

I am really, really pleased with it.

Oh I see you want it for shopping. Ignore my gushing. It’s not at all suitable for you want🙄😳😳

CariadAgain, the Surestop is operated via water pressure. Operating the switch closes a valve and shuts off the mains water supply to the property. You can read about it here: surestop.co.uk/about/

Every home will have its own arrangement for hot water, depending on whether you have a Combi boiler, an instant boiling water tap or a hot water storage tank but operating the Surestop will prevent used hot water being replenished.

Mine was fitted when the kitchen was rebuilt and before the plastering and tiling were done so it sits neatly beside the power sockets over the worktop. Howrver, if you don't want to mess up your decor by drilling into the wall, it can be fitted discreetly just inside a cupboard with minimal disruption.
Your plumber should be able to fit one; mine was installed by the kitchen fitter who built and installed the cabinetry.

I rather like the look of the sack trolley. That would take the bags of gravel and compost from the car to the back garden. Or heavy plant pots. Although I am changing my heavy plant pots for smaller matte black plastic pots.

Which trolley are you looking at DaisyAnne.?

Not Panama - Panana

Lathyrus3

Oh I see you want it for shopping. Ignore my gushing. It’s not at all suitable for you want🙄😳😳

Maybe not but the small one is. It's not really for shopping - just for moving things to and from the car. It's interesting that what works one way for one person works another way for a different person. I like that. Someone told me they are popular with festival attendees!

HelterSkelter1

Yes a good thread. I am not living solo but DH no longer instigates any decisions, although I run most things past him, and is pretty well bed bound. So I consider myself solo.
It's draining to do all the house admin etc but if I were not married I would have to.
I look forward to reading any tips and will have a think of what I can add to the thread.

We are paying over the odds for our house and buildings insurance and this spring I need to review it. Currently its with John Lewis...very expensive. Any recommendations ?

I use Policy Expert for combined structure and contents insurance. They have fours levels of cover: basic, bronze, silver and gold depending on rebuild costs and level of content cover required. Then you can add on extras e.g. specific items, key cover.

Three years running they have come out top for me on price comparision sites.

I have never had to make a claim so I can't vouch for how easy they are to deal with should that be necessary.

I won't say what I pay as that depends on so many different factors. Suffice to say, my neighbour with an identical house pays three times as much as I do because she refuses to switch from the insurers she has been with for years.

Also take MoneySavingExpert advice - The cheapest time to get quotes is 15 days ahead of your renewal date – cover gets more expensive the closer you get.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/how-to-get-cheap-home-insurance/

Ooh I need the stopcock switch too. Thanks for recommendation.

Thank you. What a useful thread. I'm very interested in the surestop. I've lived on my own for twenty years so always keep the fridge freezer and food cupboards stocked up.
I also make sure I have plenty of painkillers and other common medicines in stock as I don't want to have to go out if I'm not well.

Lots of useful ideas here, thank you, some I shall look into.

Not very original but my tip to those who think it is not worth cooking for one is to
i) batch cook and freeze in individual portions for another day
ii) buy an air fryer as it saves putting the oven on for one portion.

I’m sure I’ll come back and think of some more to add.

HelterSkelter1

I rather like the look of the sack trolley. That would take the bags of gravel and compost from the car to the back garden. Or heavy plant pots. Although I am changing my heavy plant pots for smaller matte black plastic pots.

Which trolley are you looking at DaisyAnne.?

I think one of the smaller ones HelterSkelter. Although my flat is about the same size as my previous house, I no longer have a garage. All that storage space- gone