How are you coping?

Hi all, This might be a temporary topic, who knows. Energy bills, household bills, hyper inflation on groceries. How are you coping? An opportunity to share your skills, of how you are managing your own domestic economy. Are you one of the loads of folk struggling to make ends meet? Dinner or heating kind of thing. I know the wealth of craft that is spread amongst our members, I've benefited from such, often. What you share might just make all of the difference to another member who might be struggling. Coventry has long been associated with diversity of skills. Just because I do a thing a certain way, doesn't mean that I lecture every member to do the same, that's important, otherwise I'm preaching! So often in life, the way you do something might just fit like a glove into my scheme of things. Please be mindful not to share personal details. I will post this whilst I enjoy a bite of lunch.

Philip, I am all for saving on power, so cook enough for two meals. That way you have a free meal for another day. A roast on Sunday with another for Monday - easy peasy.

Oh I like peasy. Thank you. Most know that I live alone, but family always very near to hand. Even sharing that can be problematic for some. I've a couple of neighbours that keep an eye open for both me & my home. I do likewise for them. You might not be so fortunate.

Hi all, I've seen in the news that energy companies may offer incentives for using washing machines off-peak. I've a smart meter, which is one of the measuring tools that can monitor. I do my laundry now so that it is ready to come out of the machine in time for our morning sun.

It is a good idea Philip. I have been doing that for a long time. I am on economy 7 so saves money and yes, you can get the washing out first thing to take benefit of the sun or a bit of wind. I prefer to dry my washing outside. I do have a TD but have not used it for a while and days I can’t hang it out I put it on the clothes horse. How I wish you could still get the old wooden clothes horses which were much stronger than these modern ones. Wonder if Arkwright or Gupta have any left! Dreamtime, yes, that is also something I do, and if I make something like cauliflower cheese, I freeze half in flat pyrex dishes that come with sealed lids so I have a ready meal if I don’t feel like cooking. I also find it is cheaper to buy, say, bigger packs of mince and do the same with cottage pie or bolognese sauce. In fact I have instructed Roy how to make that today as he is still on the cooking at the moment (I saw my physiotherapist today and she said to tell him I was not up to cooking yet 😏)

What's upta, Gupta! Ours is a Hoover large drum washer & drier. Just washing for me, on sunny mornings I put mine on a metal rack, inside my snug. Well anchored so it doesn't blow over.

While it might be convenient to do things like washing off peak, anyone considering it needs to work out their base demand, eg fridge, freezer (including increased door operation at mealtimes), lighting, heating, portable house phones, hot drinks, making dinner etc. Peak use price will be higher and the saving might be small while the inconvenience might be large. Peak demand is also a lot longer than these articles are suggesting and can last from 6am to 10pm in winter. While they may limit the restricted hours for a trial run, long term the financial benefits may evaporate. Don't be tempted to do washes overnight. A definite fire risk no no. Most HCF are from eras where energy saving was the norm. How many times did your parents ask you if you were 'born in a barn' if you left a door open to the room with the heat? My childhood echoed to the refrain 'switch the light off'. We now have multiple things plugged in, some more necessary than others. We balance the convenience of leaving them on with the handstand getting to the plug to turn them off. There are devices that can do that by remote. The things I plan to do 1) Listen/watch more TV or radio on my laptop, rather than put the set on. The laptop is on regardless. 2) Do more batch cooking and reheat in the microwave. 3) Investigate turning down the hot water temp. 4) Keep the freezer frost free. 5) Remember to shut doors once the heat's on, even if I'm not going for long. 6) I've already mentioned a heated blanket for when it's not really cold but I need a temporary boost. I've used it already, just to take the morning chill off, without making the house hot.

When we lived in the Netherlands in the 80's there was a large discount on your electricity bill if you washed and dried your laundry between 9pm and 9am. It also worked for all of your electrical usage but this was the big saver. Long distance phone calls were cheaper in the evenings and weekends too.

I have just watched a man on BBC South News giving advice on saving energy when cooking. He stated that he had spent the last six months researching the issue and then spent three minutes advising us by stating the obvious. I could have saved three minutes of electricity by not watching the programme. Helen, you are wasted, your suggestions were far more sensible than his.

I hardly ever use my oven, I am not keen on microwave food but I do use it on occasions. I have one of those round halogen ovens, I have not checked but it must be more economic than having a full oven on and is big enough for meals for two. Yes, Helen, I often look out if the window and see houses with every light on. We usually only have the light on in the room we are sitting in.

I have a few lights normally on around the house in the evening. Decorative lights on the deck outside, porch light for safety, hall light to not trip over the dog and one reading light in the main room. They are all 240v mains led filament bulbs and consume a total of 12watts. I buy them on-line for less than £2 each (for a box of 10) and some fail prematurely but normally last longer than other types of bulbs.

Anne, sounds ok, but I have just checked my cost per kWh and electricity is three times the cost of gas. I suppose you are ok if the electricity cooking time is much less than gas.

Hi Argon. My hob is gas but my oven is electric so I have just assumed I am using less kWh with my halogen than having my whole oven on, but yes, if I had a gas oven, I would have to look into it more.

Hi all, It's me again. Dining out most of us enjoy. That's becoming an expensive game, yet whilst meeting friends in M&S cafe this morning, there was little shortage of custom in there, or the Tesco cafe. The Arena car park well packed too. I only had a drink but coming away for my bus, I passed Greggs. So I bought one of their steak bakes. Just enjoyed it with a drink at home. Now for one person, that made reasonable sense, for one thing I like them & very convenient.

The cost of energy! Our media is full of it, scary for some. At present I haven't a clue for the future. I'm on a fixed tariff for the remainder of this year, but I'm not trying to look through a storm with binoculars yet. The market is volatile, like a storm at sea. So I've battened the hatches down. The factors regards the price of anything is supply against demand. The world on the brink of depression, fuel oil prices are falling. Domestic gas suppliers are already trying to look good by donating profits to token adjust their prices. If an inter-supplier race starts between them, anything could happen. Please remember, BlimBlom Gas supplies do not make gas. They buy it like any other retailer, no matter what supplier you or I are with. Also, the UK remains a gas exporter.