Living Well, Living Solo

As soon as a renewal invitation arrives for my home or car insurance, I spend an hour at the computer seeking quotes on several comparison websites. With those tabs open in front of me, and double-checking the level of cover, excesses etc are the same, I ring my current insurer and invite them to beat the cheapest alternative quote for the same cover. If they refuse to lower their price I renew with a different insurer.

For the last four years I’ve bought either car or home insurance, or both, through Confused.com, and have been given an immediate £20 Sainsbury’s voucher for each policy, plus a monthly reward for one free coffee a month from Greggs, redeemed through the app. I fill my car once a month and the petrol station shares space with a Greggs!

Oh, and one year I rang AA Home Insurance after comparing their renewal price with alternatives, the lovely lady on the phone said she couldn’t offer renewal at a lower price but she could offer me a “goodwill gesture” of a £30 One4All gift card if I renewed at the price they offered, which made theirs the better option.

I think standard ice cube trays are 2 tablespoon size Cariad. I've been eying those up too as I want to keep my original for ice cubes. I buy quite a few certified fodmap friendly jars but I cant use the stock (which is excellent) quickly enough. It's measured, for use, in tablespoons so a two tablespoon one will add to my war on waste!

I have taken out home insurance now with Tesco. Very easy to fill out most of the info on line. I did query the renewal increase with J Lewis and after a bit of tinkering brought it down by about 20.00. Not enough. Their customer service dept came back to me to say basically tough! So I voted with my feet. Tesco 200.00 cheaper hopefully for an adequate cover.
As we all know loyalty to a company means nothing now.

If you don’t already have an on line supermarket delivery I’d recommend setting it up. It’s perfect for the heavier or more bulky items such as potatoes, tinned food, loo rolls etc. An occasional delivery keeps you in stock of non perishable items. You can always go out and choose your fruit, vegetables and meat.

I decant soups and sauces into small resealable bags which I freeze flat. Saves space and they defrost quickly. I take mince out of the supermarket packaging and put it into larger bags, using a rolling pin to flatten the mince out to fill the bag. Again space saving and quicker to thaw. You can also break bits off if you just want a small amount of mince.

If I’m going away I freeze any milk I have, putting some in an ice cube tray. One cube equals one cup of tea which will keep me going while the rest of the milk defrosts.

Lathrylus3 I'm interested in your "sliders" as I have heavy furniture, at least it is for me, to move about on the carpet. Would appreciate any info.

I've lived solo for many years, but 3 things stand out for me on this thread.
Lathyrus - your garden trolley seems a great idea.
The stopcock switch - never knew there was such a thing
The handyman Services - though I am guessing it probably doesn't exist in my area but can look into it.
Really good thread!

Such good tips.
I expect everyone does mine. I buy sausages in packs of 6 and freeze 2 sausages each in smaller freezer bags.
I halve bags of mince and like PP above squash them flat in smaller bags to freeze.

This is a good site to compare supermarket prices. It may be of help to some of you.

www.trolley.co.uk/

Just done a quote for a micro camper I may be buying( a Berlingo) went on Martin Lewis filled in the form etc then waited for the quotes (I've just gone 70).

Cheapest that came back was around £890!(they said my supermarket job was ermm " high risk" !

Then went on compare the market theirs came back £470.

My current car insurance with Saga is around £300 but that was done just prior to my 70th.

So deff shop around for any kind of insurance

Scribbles, brilliant idea, our stopcock is down in the cellar and you have to crawl, I'll see if I can get this divorce put in the kitchen! Thanks ☺️

Jess20

Scribbles, brilliant idea, our stopcock is down in the cellar and you have to crawl, I'll see if I can get this divorce put in the kitchen! Thanks ☺️

Haha, always divorce in the kitchen!

I live in a Anchor Retirement home here in Brackley , being a local person as well with roots in the town and area .
My Independence despite having a location manager on duty during normal day hours , I do go out meet others I know plus go on go trips .
If anything goes wrong health wise I can pull a cord , which connects to the company HQ in Bradford as to say a heart problem and they will get a ambulance to take me to a A & E , note my prescriptions as well depending whether its accessed as a emergency .
Mick

Michael, your post reminded me of a scheme run by the Lions Club here whereby you put a list of your meds and other important details in special green bottle to be stored in your fridge door. Then there is a notice to put on inside of front door to let anyone who needs to know that you are using the scheme. Very helpful for anyone living alone that might have medical emergency. Ambulance crew would know to look out for same.

There is also the home alert device to summon help if needed via a pendant or bracelet. Three people can be nominated to take a call on your behalf or emergency services.

The above scheme can be linked to a key safebox located outside the house. This has a 4 digit code that you can update/change anytime. But the code could be provided to trusted people even workmen to enable access if you were not home or unable to get to the door easily.

I am a believer in 'iron rations' having been raised by parents who lived thru the shortages of WW2. I would have a stock of soup etc to fall back on but can be embarrassed by the dates on same! I am afraid my present freezer is quite small. The interior space of new ones seem smaller nowadays to comply with higher insulation

I remember those bottles Vintagegirl. We had one for my mother as she got more vulnerable. She stayed at home, in her bungalow, for 15 years solo, after my father died, until she was 98 when she was so frail she had to have full time care in a home. I'm trying to work out how (when I'm in my late 90s) I can avoid the 'home' bit

Another recommendation for the Surestop, we had one fitted when our stopcock, hard to reach right at the back of a ground level cupboard, jammed completely and was impossible to turn. It’s located higher in a cupboard and so simple to operate.

Hi , I’m new to the platform and just started trying solo travelling . I still have my husband who has poor health so he’s happy for me to do trips that he cannot manage .
I think it’s healthy to try some independence whilst he is still with me then if something changed I wouldn’t be trying solo travel newly bereaved.
I’m starting small with day bus excursions. To see how I get on .
I’d love to hear other experiences and interesting places to visit
My first booked excursions are Stamford, Bridlington and Scarborough . I can at least walk along the sea front paddle in the sea and enjoy some fish and chips .
Looking forward to to new ideas

I'm glad you felt happy to join in HazelBr as I worried a little that the title might exclude some who were, in someway or another "living solo" while not actually living on their own!

I need to brave the buses as none of us will be able to drive forever. I have a neighbour who does two to four coach holidays a year. They are two to four days and they break up the year and give her something to look forward to.

HazelBR - I don't know where you live but I went to Skipton on a day trip. I went with a friend but could happily have gone alone.
It's a lovely little place. We incorporated a canal boat with afternoon tea and sat with a really nice lady and her daughter and chatted to them. We really like the place and the lovely little shops. Plenty of cafes etc also, we are thinking of going again this year by coach but just doing our own thing.
I have also been abroad by myself several times and enjoyed it. If you do a tour you can either mix or do your own thing or a bit of both

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've been on my own for five years now. I use UKinsuranceNET they are a broker but this year my insurance went down.

Practical tip .... Boiled too much water in the kettle when making tea/coffee. Save it in a thermos flask for your next one.

If going on eg a day trip by bus in this country, does one have to buy health insurance? I am at the age and stage where I am uninsurable at a price I could afford.

Re that Lions Scheme - I've known about it for a while and put that bottle in the fridge with my instructions in it "in case". Those instructions being "If I have that family heart attack that is so very prevalent in my family - do NOT resuscitate me" and added a sticker on the front of my fridge to indicate there is that bottle in the fridge.

That's as far as I personally am going to go to indicate there is such a bottle in the fridge.

It's my understanding that - if it comes to it - ambulance crew are supposed to be trained to "look on front of fridge door" to see if there is that green sticker. Do they not do that? as I wouldnt want to put a notice on my front door - as "each to their own" but it's my personal decision not to have any disability signs of any description anywhere in my house and it was "pushing it" for me to decide to put that green sticker amongst the stuff to do with my body up there on my fridge door.

I understand other people will add visible disability indications to their home - but each to their own and it's not something I would ever do personally and hence I wouldnt put a notice on an exterior door where anyone could see it. So they would need to look on my fridge door to be aware I do have that bottle in the fridge or they'd miss knowing that fact.

@ Charleygirl5, - no, you don't. If you were taken ill or had an accident on a coach trip in this country (whether 1 or more days), you'd simply be ambulanced off to the nearest A&E or urgent care centre in the same way as if you collapsed in your local corner shop or public library.