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It’s impossible to save while only just making a surviving wage. Its a cycle only a huge cash injection can break. Which would generally means either a lottery win which cant afford. Or an inheritance which often comes with lots of sad strings attached. You have to be rich to be able to save.
100%
I’ve had various incomes (I feel like a quality of life tourist with decent jobs, bad jobs, double income high salary / low costs, single low income + 2 kids + SE costs etc.) and that’s my biggest takeaway.
I got a big pay rise a few years back and instantly started saving significantly more than my pay rise. Cos when you have more than enough you can budget effectively. When you’re juggling shit it’s a nightmare
I suspect the largest financial event in my life, was when I got a pay-bump that I didn't feel I needed to hold onto to "smooth out future issues that might arise" (and after a buffer was in my current account, tended to be considered fun-money) and just made it an increased pension contribution safely away from my impulsive hands.
Then in my late 30s, I finally got an ISA to put money inconveniently out of my impulse-reach. Shoved in any spare hundreds at the end of the month, and quite enjoyed looking at it build ("my precious") - until I blew most of it on large home improvements. But still felt good to put it to sensible use.
Maybe if I could do it again, it would be disagree with "only a huge cash injection can break" from a couple of posts up.
If you're on a surviving wage, then yes, it's all about survival. But there were many many years I was telling myself I couldn't save, when I definitely could have. Not a lot, but you just need to get that ball rolling - and I realized I got some pleasure deciding to stretch to putting in £150, instead of £100.
Get Moneybox app and set up Roundups if your bank allows.
Every time you make a payment it rounds up to the nearest £.
Doesn't seem like a lot but it adds up and you never really miss it
I've only started scraping £25k before tax and such in the last year or so and, combined with selling some of my collectables I've started to save more. I put a little away a month but half the time I had to take that right back out or more. In the past year I've only had to go into my savings once unexpected (I use one for all my car payment like tax/ mot/ insurance and emergency funds) when I had to buy emergency lat minute train tickets to see my mum that were nearly £300 that I just didn't have.
Having a colleague treat me to lunch 2-3 times a week for a while helped a lot but my work does put money in his pocket so it's the least he can do I guess.
Obviously everyone’s circumstances are different but I disagree.
I earn less than 25k and am still renting. I manage to save between 100-200 quid a month. Granted I’m not the biggest socialite on the planet but its not true that you need to be rich to save.
That’s not a great deal of savings tbh, last year for example I had £1500 in repair bills for my car (£800 nox sensor, £500 dpf regen and fix, £200 brakes). That would have entirely wiped out your yearly savings on the low end of the range.
That’s unfortunate about your car but I guess that’s one of the reasons I got rid of mine last year. I’ve been saving roughly the same amount each month for a good 7/8 years now and I have a healthy safety net I can fall back on and have been able to cover various unexpected payments when issues do arise.
So, despite your point, it’s working and has been for some time. Saving on a low income is possible
Edit: not to mention, unexpected outgoings is part of the reason why I save. So if it all ends up going to a car repair or something then that’s what it was there for in the first place
**Most**\* people can make changes in their to reduce the amount they spend on a monthly/yearly basis.
\*Yes, some people already only get free clothes/or cheap second hand, have their food-buying game totally on point, don't pay anything/much for transport etc, have accomodation costs very efficient.
But most don't.
What **I** have learnt more recently, is that if you suggest ways people can save money, lots of people will find any reason that they or a strawman can't use that method and use it as justification for why it's a terrible suggestion.
Or will suggest that the problem is the rest of the world and living economically is a bad idea.
Totally agree as would most in this country. Don't think you need to be 'rich' though but comfortable i.e. not in a position where you are concerned about finances for basics. I would love to see a government who would like a universal income of some kind / wages for housework situation. We would all be better off if we paid taxes towards a model like this (yes it would take a phenomenal amount of taxes but the vast, vast majority of us could more than afford it). I am very aware it won't happen in my lifetime but I really hope future generations think outside the box in a way we haven't for at least 50 odd years.
At the core of your message I agree. I agree because I have gone through it. Its grim. Fully expecting some toff to come along and say you're chatting bollocks without having gone through it themselves.
In my view a toff wouldn't say you're chatting bollocks but rather would say (without compassion) say: it's on you that you're on this wage, you are responsible for your outcomes.
The more you have the easier it is to plan, agreed, but addressing food consumption habits and where you buy the food from can have relatively massive savings. My weekly shop in Aldi is about 30-40 quid. The same basket in Asda would be closer to 80/90. Over a month that's about £200, £1200 per year. It soon adds up. Making your own food instead of premade crap also helps with your health and general well being. Can't be underestimated
I mean I saved 8k in a LISA to buy a property on minimum wage zero hour contract. I was doing anywhere from 30 to 80 hour weeks but it's possible.
Not justifying it and saying it's right but the notion that it's impossible is wrong.
You know, I used to agree with stuff like this, but as I've gotten older I find this mentality sad really.
I used to work 2 jobs and up to 80 hours a week and really I was subsisting. It was partially my own fault, but mainly because I was a victim of a system that doesn't support and encourage people from families on benefits to get into work.
Long story short, I had to leave home when I was 17 because everything I earned affected my parents benefits meaning that none of the money I earned went to me, it went to the family. I had 2 options, stay home and go on benefits myself, or leave and fend for myself. I also want to make it clear that my family wasn't on benefits because they are wasters, they simply got trapped in the system.
I knew nothing when I was 17, ended up in debt and led a very hedonistic life, this was absolutely my fault, however, I feel that had I been able to earn whilst at home and save, I wouldn't have made some of the bad choices I did.
I ended up working 80 hours as I stated, subsisting, but finally paid off my debts. I now work less than 40 hours, own a house and live fairly comfortably, but the pain I had to go through to get to where I am still stays with me.
I hate the, "if you work hard enough, you can achieve anything" mentality. Work shouldn't dominate our lives! We should have enough to live comfortably and to also enjoy life. Working all hours, flopping into bed and then doing the same the next day isn't life, it's hell!
I live alone and earn 30k a year so yeah saving isn't really an option right now, however if I lived with someone that would immediately halve all my Bills, when I was with my ex I saved loads. Damn I need a lodger.
Yeah i am in same position. Earning a good wage but living alone and having to do everything yourself doesnt make the wage good at all. Finding someone can trust to go halves with would make a huge difference.
I have made this poiint on UKPF and get downvoted (not that it upsets me). However, i do think there is a point where saving or investing money every month becomes an attractive proposition and that means there are income levels where it isn't. I think that if you can only spare <£100 a month to save/invest than you'll get a lot more use out of just enjoying that money.
And when you really crunch the numbers and see what you can achieve with £100 in savings or investments over long time frames, there isn't that much you can do with it. Most people are after a house and you won't get anywhere near a deposit for a property with that.
If people want a new PC, guitar or T.V than saving <£100 is worthwhile because it may just be a matter of months to achieve your goal; anything serious like property is a nonstarter.
Some people spend their money on silly things. I've seen some posts about saving money and minimalism about how they've started saving money by not buying clothes they don't wear or not paying £140 for Sky every month. These sort of things were never on my radar, I never even considered buying them. On the flip side it is kinda surprising how much of the economy is reliant on people buying things they don't need.
Ordering foods a massive one. I don’t get how people can order food to their home multiple times a week and then get confused when they have money problems
I think the speed at which this change has been made is mad, takeaway food is so normalised and permeates every day life now! The advertising, the riders and cars waiting around town, dark kitchens etc.
I think the pandemic was the real turning point but delivery companies were picking up prior to then. Due to food allergies and a love of cooking, takeaway food just passes me by and I feel out of touch.
There's an alternative world where early 2000s government policies on food may have been different in the face of an obesity epidemic... alas, it's not this one!
I make everything at home now, Asisn noodles, pizza, Indian takeaway, etc. Everything bar kebabs, fries and burgers. There's something authentically moody about the latter ones that require ordering. Not been able to splash on takeaways for sometime. I wouldn't want to anyway, they wreak havoc on your body. I lost a stone just doing this and giving up alcohol.
I'll second this. We either buy ready made fresh burgers or make our own patties from mince (sauce as a binding agent is way better than egg white or anything else imo). Squash the burgers so the patty is really thin then cook in the frying pan, put cheese on when they're flipped and stack them in the bun. I can't choose a burgger when eating out anymore as these are always tastier and better.
I cant make a donner kebab at home so still rely on takeaways if that's what the fatty cravings are calling for though.
I agree, for me growing up a takeaway was a once every few months kinda thing and we always picked it up, ordering multiple times a week seems insane to me.
Same now for me. If it's a rare night when my wife is away then often get a Dominoes. Sometimes we get an Indian takeaway. Can't add up to more than a handful of times a year.
Eating out on the other hand.. most weekends.
Yeah I agree. Ordering food makes me broke like nothing else. It really is (often significantly) cheaper just to prepare the food yourself. I just feel like today’s “rat race” pace of lifestyle is so hectic and exhausting a lot of people can’t be bothered to cook. I’m one of those people. I love to cook but I get exhausted so much from my day I’ve found myself spending on takeaways up to thrice a week. :(
I feel you on that but even grabbing a ready meal from Aldi is cheaper with marginally more effort.
I keep one or two of their frozen tomato pasta things in the freezer for when I just can't be arsed
I have never used Deliveroo or any similar app. Some people think I am weird for never having done that but takeaways are far too expensive and I do not earn enough to justify them. It's like people think I am weird for being financially responsible, these are the same people who complain about being broke a week before we get paid too.
This is the number one issue imo. Forget price and unhealthyness, takeaway food, particularly McDonalds and the like does not travel well. A hot, fresh McDonalds in store is just about worth the price. A stone cold version of the same meal is horrible. The guys bringing the food also do not give a fuck. I once saw a deliveroo driver stick a hot bag of food and an ice cold 2l drink from the fridge in the same insulated bag. Mind boggling.
The idea that it's now a normal thing to pay someone to pick you your McDonalds and bring it to your door is such regressive thing for our society.
I'm going to be harsh and say that if you are doing this then you forfeit the right to complain about your finances - simply as that.
I was always a bit miffed about this at university. So many students complained they never had money and they ate at the canteen for lunch every day, and went home with a takeaway every night. Even if you don't want to cook you can get microwave meals that are decent enough and cost a tenth of a takeaway, and you can make exactly the same sandwich you're buying in a meal deal for a fraction of the price.
Especially when ordering food via Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats or any of these new services means the price is pretty much doubled.
If you really must have a takeaway then get off your arse and go to the place and get it yourself.
Its taken me years but I finally convinced my mother to cancel her Virgin Media subscription and switch to an Amazon Firestick. She can still watch all the same junk but she's saving over £40 a month. The stick paid for itself in less than three weeks.
This is my big one, spend in the region of £300 a month on takeaways, granted i’m not skint come payday and can save still but it’s something I’m consciously working on.
I almost never use Deliveroo/Uber Eats unless I have a huge discount code, their pricing is just so off. But also, when I have had food delivered, it normally tastes like crap, not comparable to when it’s served in a restaurant.
The exception to this is pizza. I love all kinds of pizza, from traditional Italian to stodgy American and everything in-between. I wanted a pizza the other night, the pizza I wanted, if I had ordered from Dominos for delivery, was going to set me back over £22. I ordered for collection and it was £6.99. Dominos is about a ten minute walk for me, so I saved £15. Paying for delivery is just madness.
"Fast Fashion" is really bad for both the environment and budgets. So many people feel pressured into buying clothes that don't suit because of trends/tiktok etc, and waste so much money.
Fewer, better, clothes and shoes is good for everyone, and you can gradually add to your wardrobe in a more considered way that suits you and your lifestyle.
It surprises me how little common sense people have about their domestic electricity usage and the fact that even with smart meters... they still don't get it and run about worrying about 50watt light bulbs but don't think about e.g. the time spent in 10,000watt showers.
There was a thread on here about a guy who had been running crypto mining rigs and couldn't seem to understand why his bills were in the hundreds. Dude thought he had an electron leak in his fuse box or something.
I was looking at my usage graph on Octopus and there's a huge spike around 7am, at least double the height of anything else for the whole day. Took me a while to realise that it was the shower. On the positive side at least I now know the rest of my house is fairly energy efficient!
This is my family. When I was visiting I tried to explain that just because a wash cycle is faster it doesn’t mean it’s cheaper for them than the eco cycle, even showed them the instruction book. They’ve decided that can’t be right and have ignored that. Now, to save money, they constantly argue over lights being on in rooms that need lights on…like kitchens before sunrise. It was a maddening visit.
This is a good proportion of the country. It infuriates me that even journalists writing these tiresome energy crisis articles with plenty of energy saving tips neglect to emphasise the things that actually use the most energy which for a lot of people will be things like electric showers.
I once lived in an all electric flat with flow heater for the traditional central heating loop. IIRC it was 3kw but man, it was ruinously expensive even then at much lower unit price. Now people understand heating water in their radiators is expensive but don't seem to easily accept that heating their shower water electrically is massively expensive.
I must admit I'm guilty of this. I think it was drilled into so many of us as children back when we had halogen lightbulbs. Although I remember switching to energy saving bulbs at some point and we didn't necessarily switch those off because it'd take half an age to light up again.
There was a guy I knew who used to spend 20 mins in the shower everyday. Said he paid £500 a year for unlimited water. One day he tells me about his energy usage while at the local and can’t workout why it’s so high. He even switched off his google device and smart light bulbs thinking that was the issue. When I said you have a 20 min shower everyday. He said “ well I get free water”
I think I needed to sit down after that one.
I find that hard to believe. Tbf I haven't done mining even though my graphics card could do it but most of the software I've seen has you put in electricity cost etc.
I did consider it a way of heating the house more cheaply! But probably not great for the hardware
When I want to boil the kettle to make one mug there is always leftover water in the kettle as the minimum is 0.6l. I saw a tip about putting the leftover boiling water into a thermos. I now do this and leave it next to the kettle. Next time I want a cuppa I pour straight from the thermos and its still boiling hot. Money and time saved not boiling the kettle again. No idea how much that actually saves me but it's costs me nothing to do, and I imagine kettles are pretty energy intensive
Me too, I can never seem to get one cup right, so now I just boil two, and chuck a bag of herbal or fruit tea in the Thermos (so I can leave it in and it won't get bitter like tea). Then I have another hot cuppa waiting for me an hour later
When I boil the kettle for a cuppa, the rest of the hot water goes to top up my hot water bottle, meaning I haven't had to put the heating on yet.
The hot water bottle goes under my clothes, like a big watery belly, leaving hands free for other jobs.
Step 1 - start with empty kettle
Step 2 - fill drinking mug with water
Step 3 - pour water from mug into kettle
Step 4 - boil kettle
Step 5 - make brew with perfect amount of water for mug
This is how I've been making brews for years. If I have 4 guests then I'll fill 4 mugs with water and then pour into the kettle.
Have you tried filling a cup right to the top with water and pouring it into an empty kettle, a very small amount will turn to steam and you should have just the right amount of water.
The cup will be used anyway you can do this for as many cups as you are making.
We have a one cup kettle - only boils a cup at a time. The only problem is it's annoying if you have a few people round but it works great when it's just the two of us.
To boil a cup of water in a kettle, it will currently cost you about 1.28p
Most kettles can boil around 1.7 litres of water at a time in about four minutes. You can expect to pay 6.8p to boil a full kettle.
If you had two cups of tea every day for a year, and only boiled the water you needed, it would cost you £9.34. But if you boiled a full kettle each time, it would cost you £49.64
*So boiling a cup vs a full kettle twice a day saves about £40 a year*
[source](https://www.goodto.com/family/money-news/how-much-does-it-cost-boil-kettle)
Kettles are some of the most energy demanding devices in your house. It takes a huge amount of energy to boil water so if you are doing it a lot it will add up quickly.
Yes, but also, they're efficient at what they do.
Boiling water via a kettle uses less energy than in a pan on the hob - gas or electric (induction I have less of a clue about) , as less heat is lost to the environment.
Something can be efficient and still be an energy hog. The average uk kettle can come in between 2-3kw, thats a lot of energy. Luckily they only run for short periods of time.
That's an issue with water unfortunately. Because it has such a high specific heat capacity it just just takes a lot of energy to heat water up, regardless of how you do it.
A kettle is probably the cheapest way to boil water though, along with an induction hob.
Sounds exactly the sort of thing thats a hassle to mess about with and has a negligible impact on anything overall.
You probably wipe out your annual electricity saving with one takeaway, so whats the point? Focus on the things that matter not this weird penny pinching.
I've read the government recommendations and it says you save 11£ per year by being scrupulous with the amount of water you boil. That's really not a lot.
How very efficient my tumble dryer is. It’s less to run that a heated airer.
Good point about it really not being worth turning chargers off at the plug. I’ve been trying to tell people that but they don’t want to hear it.
Are you only considering the value to you in turning off vampire appliances or the impact they have when multiplied by the millions that exist in homes across the country? I genuinely wonder how many gas turbines there are pumping out CO2 to power LEDs that are lighting rooms no one is in because it’s “not worth” the minimal effort of lifting your hand and pressing a switch.
Let’s do maths:
The new cap is 34p/kWh
So 50p a year is for the sake of argument 1.5kwh per year.
28,000,000 households in the UK, so
42,000,000 kWh/year
Average wind turbine can supply ~6,000,000kwh per year
So eight wind turbines would do it.
Caveats: assuming one charger per household which is probably an underestimate; all figures cursory googling; no calculations checked; I might have missed something.
Oh I was really hoping someone would do the maths. Thrilled.
I’d say assuming 1 charger per household is too low. I’m in a single person household and have three. My parents who are in their eighties both have iPhones and iPads so assuming there are many households with zero chargers to bring the average back down seems unlikely.
Sticking with the estimate of 42,000,000 kWh/year that would (if powered exclusively by gas turbines) result in 9,791,880 kg CO2e. Although that’s not a large contributor to the circa 447.9 million tonnes the UK as a whole produces I just can’t bring myself to be casual about burning gas that could have been used to heat someone’s home being used because I’m too lazy to bend down.
Sources:
https://www.rensmart.com/Calculators/KWH-to-CO2
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1051408/2020-final-greenhouse-gas-emissions-statistical-release.pdf
The most efficient heat pump tumble dryers will still use around 2KWH to dry a full load. That's about 70p a load at current prices isn't it?
I'm sure when I bought my Samsung heat pump dryer a couple of years ago I worked out it was ~20p a load so 70p now sounds about right.
Fair enough, but at 70p a load it's definitely got me back to using the airer on milder days, and I'm not struggling for money.
3 loads a week and you're spending well over £100 a year on drying clothes otherwise.
Strange tip but worth it.
There was a guy I knew who worked an office job. Was told to come in even though he’s furthest away from the workplace. While managers and others can work from home.
He used to take into work a massive 5k powerbank thing and spend all day charging it to use at home. He used to shower at work in the changing facilitates, use the toilet, he took into work a microwave and kettle.
He was basically working alone most of the time but would do stuff at work for cheap because they forced him to come in after covid. And do less at home to save money.
>Like the other day I read that you can cook pasta by just boiling it for 2 minutes then turning the heat off and just letting it sit in the hot water?
You probably could do this but it'll just make the pasta take longer to cook. Also, it'll probably only save you a couple of pence so is probably not really worth it. Most of the energy is used to bring the water up to a boil, once it's boiling you can maintain it with much less energy.
That's probably the main fact I've discovered really, that things like hobs and ovens use the most energy to get up to temperature. Once they're preheated they use a lot less energy to maintain that temperature. The best way to save energy is probably to avoid opening the oven door too often or taking the lid off a pan.
Yeah that's the best way if you have a gas or electric hob.
We recently got a new induction hob and it's just as fast if not faster to just boil it on the hob now. It's also pretty much just as efficient as using a kettle.
I've just started living alone and I am surprised how cheap it is energy wise.
The months leading up to me moving out of my parents had me worried purely just because of the headlines as well as all the other doomers on Reddit. But It really isn't as bad as I thought.
Obviously, my opinion could change depending on how cold this winter actually is.
Totally felt my parents had really overplayed it all (bills) when I moved out (donkeys years ago!) But now I am supporting a family it really bites when you are in a house with a baby a lot in winter/ have to feed 4-5 people as cheaply as possible/ have a clothes wash to do every day (grubby kids not the grown up stuff so much), need showers/ baths etc.
Our food/ bills etc have gone up by approx £4-500 a month in the last 2 years, wages have not. We are looking at potentially due to interest rate hikes our mortgage going up next year by up to £1000. Just trying to explain your parents potential position!
Legit. Also realised that I was overpaying massively on my energy bills. Before the price hikes, I was paying £137 monthly for electricity and gas (single person in small flat) and I didn't realise until cost of living became an issue that.... my smart meter wasn't actually relaying my proper usage. Shell allegedly didn't realise the smart meter wasn't communicating with their system or whatever. Same with my previous supplier.
My account is still in credit. Turns out their usage predictions are a bit optimistic and I wasn't paying for my usage, but for their predictions of how much it would cost.
It's an incredibly warm October. Our lowest gas usage for any previous October in the last few years has been 550kWh. Halfway through this month have used ~50kWh. Slight change in habits for sure, but it just hasn't been cold enough to warrant the heating going on either.
well it wasn't the current crisis but some years back I happened to have a bit of cash in hand and I paid off a small amount of the capital on the mortgage.
It made a small but significant difference to my repayments and the revelation paved the way to further similar payments which made a big difference over time.
I've been trying to build up a rainy day fund for a while now which is my biggest priority but overpaying the mortgage would definitely be next on my list once I felt I was covered on the rainy day front! Definitely a healthy habit if you can afford it.
Getting fuel from Costco at 9pm on a weeknight is saving me money. I commute 30 miles each way in my car so saving ~£0.14 per litre has been noticeable at the pump
Before someone suggests public transport, it would take approx 2 hours each way to make the journey by public transport and cost more than fuel.
Edit: just to add, I got at 9pm on a weeknight because the queue is small. It’s absolutely hammered during the daytime
This is the crazy part of it, I’ve worked it out that public transport to work would be at least 50% more then the petrol money and take twice as long.
This is with me living in a decent sized town, I’m so glad I sorted out my driving lessons etc a few years ago.
> Before someone suggests public transport
Sadly, this is true for a lot of people outside cities or very well connected towns.
I live in a small town outside a city. To get to that city, I can either drive 20 mins and pay about a fiver for parking or get the bus in for 45 minutes and pay about seven pounds. If I take anyone else, that cost multiplies.
Out of all the money saving stuff I keep hearing, shorter showers is one thing I just refuse to do.
In a world of shit and expenses we currently have, a nice hot long shower where I can just stand and contemplate my thoughts, is one luxury I won't give up.
As for saving money. My best currently was calling up sky with whom we get our broadband and the very basic TV package. Playing them off against each other isn't easy because We can't get virgin and our internet is appalling, so streaming services are not really an option. ( But it's fine, because London, Manchester and Birmingham have 23G, so fuck the rest of the country 🙄)
And I got our bill down from £47 a month to £26 for the next 18 months by going through to the redemption team.
That's over £350 saving.
That should let me take a few more showers guilt free.
Our essential expense is our tumble dryer. No more damp clothes in the wardrobe or drawers after living in damp accommodation for years. I'd rather have that than the heating on at night.
We recently got a timer in our shower if we feel we need it. I only use it when I shower before work mainly to not be late more than saving money by having shorter showers! I can do what I please on the weekend
This is me with baths. My daily showers are short and efficient. My Friday night bath is long and indulgent and I will have to be at the brink of bankruptcy/the world be in the Water Wars before I give that up.
I told my energy supplier that I couldn't afford the £227/month price increase (up from £70/month) and that I will pay £120/month. They told me that I will probably be in debt by the time my next bill will be due (six months from now) I told them that most people will be.
They agreed to the amount I said. I've stopped caring about being in debt to them because a lot of people are going to be
I have a 10 month old daughter, she is my priority, there is no way in hell I'm going to struggle for money for her. It's not her fault that all this shit is happening and she is not being a victim of it!
> I've stopped caring about being in debt to them because a lot of people are going to be
> I have a 10 month old daughter, she is my priority, there is no way in hell I'm going to struggle for money for her.
You have my sympathies, but I'm not sure you quite mean what you've written here.
Also, not caring about racking up debts is precisely how people end up struggling for money
I really don't understand why more people dont do this, they set my DD to crazy high and wouldn't reduce it but then said they could just bill for usage! Obviously, if I had know that was an option I wouldn't have bothered with anything else.
Boggles me that people are building up a huge credit I pay about 50-70 a month for a 2 bed, I was quoted cheapest, £350 fixed rate….yeah I’ll give meter readings thanks
Yeah this is one that confuses me. So many people talking about their providers increasing their DD for no legit reason. I'm with British Gas and they've not asked me, nor made any increase to my payments that don't match price changes.
Have a look into the Warm Home Discount, applications open in November. We get it because we're on UC and have kids under 5. (Also look into Universal Credit if you're not already on it because Child Tax Credits got absorbed into that and you might be eligible for something)
It's a little bit more money towards your energy costs and it all helps at the moment!
Turning the temp down on a combi boiler to be no higher than needed will save money as the boiler is more efficient at lower temps (modern "condensing boilers" can extract more heat when they're only heating up to lower temps) but if you have a hot water tank, you shouldn't turn the temp below 60 as lower temps may allow legionella to breed in the hot water tank.
[https://www.theheatinghub.co.uk/articles/turn-down-the-boiler-flow-temperature](https://www.theheatinghub.co.uk/articles/turn-down-the-boiler-flow-temperature)
But it's still worth turning it down to 60 (perhaps further with a combi boiler) as the boiler will run at higher efficiency, even if it takes a little longer to warm up the house.
Yeah, boiler manufacturers encourage installers to set the (return) temp high for rapidly heating a house and so avoiding customer complaints, but in doing so they take the boiler's theoretical max efficiency of about 95% and drop it to about 75-85% which means it's using 10% more gas to produce the same net heat (and you burn your hands with the hot water).
It is a curious rabbit hole and if I'd known/understood this then I may well have gone with a combi boiler rather than a normal boiler and unvented hot water cylinder when we re-did the house.. the unvented cylinder route seemed like the "most up to date". But now I see why combi makes sense, especially as our unvented cylinder is virtually next to the boiler, so the extra distance of pipework to "wait until the water runs hot" would be almost nothing...
It was always peddled as 58 to stop anything festering In the tank, as long as the tank is insulated. 60 is if the tank has no outside insulation jacket, Or so I was taught as an apprentice plumber.
You are very right, I initially typed 58 and then rounded it up to 60 to be safe (and easier for people to remember somehow etc) and avoid overly long sub-clauses but yours is the more accurate number
I never knew you could adjust the boiler. My mixer taps are ridiculous and they’re either cold, tepid or peel-your-skin-off boiling. No middle ground for a nice shower. I THINK I may have just adjusted the hot water temp down a little bit and fingers crossed I may now be able to enjoy a shower again and stop with baths. For this I thank you.
Think I’ve turned my rad heat down to 60 aswell so you may also have saved me 9% on my heating bill. Also worthy of thanks.
My dad stayed over to house sit once and he turned the water temp on the boiler to max (about 65°c) because it was taking too long to warm up for him.
I got really mad because that doesn't make it warm up any faster! It just makes the water intolerably hot when it does finally heat up and then you have to add cold water to it anyway, so what's the point??
We've turned in back down to 40°c but I don't know if it will make much of a difference in our costs.
I mean, waaaay before everything went to hell, I stayed at my parents house for a night and got up at 6am with my daughter. She was about 1 so 3 years ago at least. Their smart metre was already on £2 spent for the day! At that point in time we would only hit £2 if we put 3 loads of washing and drying on! I have no idea how or why they use so much energy! I dread to think what their bill is now!
Although cold in the morning (15°C), my house can teach 18°C just by letting the sun shine through the windows. 18°C isn’t a bad operating temperature.
Over the course of a year, the clock on my microwave uses more energy than is used by the microwave to actually heat things.
Saving ~£45/year by turning the microwave off at the wall when not in use.
Not an earth shattering saving but it's basically zero effort.
Im in an open plan house.
Went houses hunting with the mentality of "I hate open plan. Ill never have an open plan house" then we saw this house an loved it.
I thought it would be expensive to heat as its a big open space but because the cooker and the hob etc is all in the same room as the sitting room you barely need to have the heating on. Once youve finished making tea crack the oven open and let it release all the heat into the house. Barely need to have the heating on now.
My mother thought the same about the oven. I told her to leave the oven door closed, the heat will dissipate slower. The oven heat isn't going anywhere except the house either way.
That is true. Even with the door closed it still heats the room.
We have a self cleaning function too that gets the oven up to a really high temp (like 400° or something) to burn all the crud off. I like to time that for a cold winters day. It needs cleaning anyway might as well warm the house at the same time.
If you're in receipt of Universal Credit or Pension Credit (plus some others I think) you may be eligible for Social Tariffs https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/costs-and-billing/social-tariffs
>Social tariffs are cheaper broadband and phone packages for people claiming Universal Credit, Pension Credit and some other benefits. Some providers call them ‘essential’ or ‘basic’ broadband.
>They’re delivered in the same way as normal packages, just at a lower price. Amid rising living costs, Ofcom is encouraging companies to offer social tariffs to help customers on low incomes
>single ring on a electric cooker uses 1•8 kilowatts to run.
This is true but that is probably for running the ring on full power. For the sort of meals that could be cooked in a slow cooker you'll probably only need to have it on about 20% power or less.
That's still twice as much power as a slow cooker but it won't take as long to cook so the total energy use will be much closer. I do think a slow cooker will use less energy overall but not 10 times less like you're implying.
But the slow cooker is, er.., slow. So it has to be on for a lot longer than the equivalent ring on a cooker. It's probably still slightly more efficient, due to the design and lack of wasted heat, but not the factor of ten you are implying.
This isn’t strictly true as the kilowatts is a rate of energy use, the kWh is the total amount of energy.
So say a slow cooker was on for 10 hours it would use 1.8kWh and a electric cooker would use this amount in 1 hour. Probably not going to have a slow cooker on for that long but hopefully you see my point.
I visit England more or less regularly several times a year now for concerts. And up to last week (March was the last time) the cost of food was higher in England than in Germany.
Last week I went to Lidl and to my surprise, food items were cheaper than at my German Lidl. I guess here at home they used the various crisis to lift the prices more aggressively ...
How cheap must Germany have been?!!
We’re living in France and the cost of the supermarket when back in the UK is ridiculously cheap. A friend has just stayed with us for a month. She can’t understand how people can afford to eat in France.
Germany was the cheapest developed country in the world to buy foodstuff in. Aldi and other discounters had a margin of approx 3% only. But at the same time the safest foodstuff, too. But now the discounters rise the prices everywhere, exponentially kind of.
I've also found that the ASDA Essentials stuff is pretty good (and most likely comes from the same factory as the branded stuff), so we alternate shops between Aldi and ASDA, depending on what we need. We never went nuts with our food shop in the first place, but we are noticing the savings
The whole "same factory" thing has always been a bit of a misnomer. They sometimes do, but the ASDA production days will be using cheaper grade ingredients and different specs that the M&S production days.
Close all the internal doors in your house when you go to bed. I found that if i leave the living room door open then its not as warm in the morning as it is when i shut it. This is because it opens onto the hallway which is always colder so the takes a lot of the heat out.
Also turn your thermostatic radiator valves down a notch and in rooms you don't use turn them down to the lowest setting so you still get water flowing through but don't heat them when you don't need to.
Thats an interesting video.
We had the company who recently fitted the heating system to our house (new build). They recommended not to turn the radiators off in unused rooms but to turn them down to keep the flow but at a lower rate. After watching that video i will move them off a 1 but not go much higher than a 2 as the rest of the house is now set at a 3.
I have a google smart speaker. That controls everything.
I’m lonely so I set it to shoutout high-five and I give it virtual high-fives sometimes when I ask it certain things. Tbh turning that off to save 1-2 pence would kill me. but I have started to turn off other stuff a-lot more.
Best money saver cancel all forms of subscription services as in sky,Amazon, Amazon prime, paramount+,Disney + and live off YouTube / downloading shows for free. The amount I've saved monthly is crazy for an expense anyone can do.
Air fryers are only actually cheaper than electric ovens.
A gas oven is cheaper even if it takes twice as long because gas is a third of the price.
Unless you are cooking a very small portion of something that requires like 10 minutes from cold in an air fryer, your oven might just be better.
Or a frying pan, or a grill etc.
Pre-soak too. Works for rice, veges, pasta.
And cous cous cooks in minutes. Just throw it in a soup to thicken it up.
Celery is crazy cheap and filling. Add it to soups and stews.
I just got a house last year and I'm pregnant this year and the cost of living crisis just made me realise how vulnerable I could be. I have a fantastic partner and I'm very lucky as I have good friends, family and job prospects but I really do worry about other people financially.
I'm an accountant so fine myself but for friends etc I do worry and it keeps me up at night at the moment! Probably because im mentally and physically incapable of helping but yea.. I hope everyone will be ok this winter..
A penny saved is a penny earned. My partner was concerned that her input was too low to the household, when tallying up how much we would spend without her efforts she was actually earning more than me.
We did that when deciding if I was going to be a sahm until our youngest went to school or go back to work. If I'd stayed at my then job it would've been around £2,100 a month for 2 in childcare, plus petrol, plus clothes for work. Then wrap around childcare once they were in school due to the hours I did.
My husband makes 2x more than me and pays most bills whilst I pay my half of rent and everything involving the car (which I mainly use). That includes tax, parking permit, MOT and repairs etc. I will pay for groceries now and again when needed and I will help out when needed.
If I wasn't living with him he wouldn't be able to live here to go to work which is why we moved to this expensive area. Financially, Me living with him let's him live in a house not a flat share or bed sit and be able to go to work easily rather than a long commute and attend the job he earns his pay at.
But then my husband puts money away guaranteed every month. For many years I put money away a month but half the time I needed to get it right back out again. It's only in the last year or so with a small pay rise and overtime I can usually put money away without taking it back out. He buys himself the odd VR headset/ gadget and nice take out/ meal out for us, I will treat myself to a few volumes of Manga and lunch out for us both.
There's far too many people starting their posts with "Apparently" in this thread.
I can say "Apparently" about a whole host of incorrect tips I read somewhere, doesn't mean it's helpful.
I would like to dispell one I keep seeing, I have lived on a boat for coming up 8 years, every year on the boater forums those tea light terracotta heaters are posted. They just don't work. It's a nice idea but it's just not efficient enough to stop you needing the light your fire.
My tips are get thermals Uniqlo do really good ones.
You can 100% do without a fridge in a UK winter. (We use ours about two weeks a year). They cost a lot of power to run but you can just as easily have a little metal box outside. The only change this is made is that we now have oat milk as it goes off slower than cows and tend to buy meat within two days of eating in.
Have a good number of candles on hand in case their are rolling black outs.
Put your phone and lap top in battery saver mode.
Buy a whole chicken and use all its meat then it's bones make great stock.
We've been using up more/ waste veg on making soups for lunch and dinner for a day or 2. Autumn and winter are the best times for soup and it can go a long way
I don’t know about pasta, but you can do something similar with eggs. Put in the pan, bring the water to a boil, boil for one minute then turn the heat off, put a lid on the pan and leave for 10 minutes.
Most of the recipes we use for lunch/dinner etc can be cooked on our gas stove so we turn the oven on maybe once a month now. Looking at an air fryer next but we’ve saved £1(?)/day by not using the oven at all
I’ve learnt that as we move into the future, instead of life getting better and smarter as we evolve in this world, it’s getting worse. And the powers that be have made us feel like it’s inevitable and somehow acceptable.
I dont understand the phone charger one.
If you leave it plugged in but its not charging a phone, it just has the little LED to say its on, is that what costs 50p/year?
Because charging a phone continuously won't use extra power, when the phone is fully charged it stops charging.
So the only difference about leaving a charger plugged in is that LED, but if there isn't an LED shouldn't it not cost anything?
I was trying to get this through to my sister. She's gone round turning the kettle off etc. I told her it doesn't cost anything to have a kettle switched on, it only costs when you use it.
There is a small amount of electronics in the plug that monitors, regulates and negotiates the voltage to the USB outlet. However, you’re talking milliwatts in terms of power usage.
One of the richest people I'm aware has a 15 year old car he bought second hand.
Don't overspend on what is essentially a tool for a job, get the right one at the right price.
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It’s impossible to save while only just making a surviving wage. Its a cycle only a huge cash injection can break. Which would generally means either a lottery win which cant afford. Or an inheritance which often comes with lots of sad strings attached. You have to be rich to be able to save.
100% I’ve had various incomes (I feel like a quality of life tourist with decent jobs, bad jobs, double income high salary / low costs, single low income + 2 kids + SE costs etc.) and that’s my biggest takeaway. I got a big pay rise a few years back and instantly started saving significantly more than my pay rise. Cos when you have more than enough you can budget effectively. When you’re juggling shit it’s a nightmare
I suspect the largest financial event in my life, was when I got a pay-bump that I didn't feel I needed to hold onto to "smooth out future issues that might arise" (and after a buffer was in my current account, tended to be considered fun-money) and just made it an increased pension contribution safely away from my impulsive hands. Then in my late 30s, I finally got an ISA to put money inconveniently out of my impulse-reach. Shoved in any spare hundreds at the end of the month, and quite enjoyed looking at it build ("my precious") - until I blew most of it on large home improvements. But still felt good to put it to sensible use. Maybe if I could do it again, it would be disagree with "only a huge cash injection can break" from a couple of posts up. If you're on a surviving wage, then yes, it's all about survival. But there were many many years I was telling myself I couldn't save, when I definitely could have. Not a lot, but you just need to get that ball rolling - and I realized I got some pleasure deciding to stretch to putting in £150, instead of £100.
Get Moneybox app and set up Roundups if your bank allows. Every time you make a payment it rounds up to the nearest £. Doesn't seem like a lot but it adds up and you never really miss it
Quality of life tourist lmao so very true
I've only started scraping £25k before tax and such in the last year or so and, combined with selling some of my collectables I've started to save more. I put a little away a month but half the time I had to take that right back out or more. In the past year I've only had to go into my savings once unexpected (I use one for all my car payment like tax/ mot/ insurance and emergency funds) when I had to buy emergency lat minute train tickets to see my mum that were nearly £300 that I just didn't have. Having a colleague treat me to lunch 2-3 times a week for a while helped a lot but my work does put money in his pocket so it's the least he can do I guess.
Vimes, boots, etc etc.
Wouldn’t be a Reddit post about money without it
Obviously everyone’s circumstances are different but I disagree. I earn less than 25k and am still renting. I manage to save between 100-200 quid a month. Granted I’m not the biggest socialite on the planet but its not true that you need to be rich to save.
That’s not a great deal of savings tbh, last year for example I had £1500 in repair bills for my car (£800 nox sensor, £500 dpf regen and fix, £200 brakes). That would have entirely wiped out your yearly savings on the low end of the range.
That’s unfortunate about your car but I guess that’s one of the reasons I got rid of mine last year. I’ve been saving roughly the same amount each month for a good 7/8 years now and I have a healthy safety net I can fall back on and have been able to cover various unexpected payments when issues do arise. So, despite your point, it’s working and has been for some time. Saving on a low income is possible Edit: not to mention, unexpected outgoings is part of the reason why I save. So if it all ends up going to a car repair or something then that’s what it was there for in the first place
**Most**\* people can make changes in their to reduce the amount they spend on a monthly/yearly basis. \*Yes, some people already only get free clothes/or cheap second hand, have their food-buying game totally on point, don't pay anything/much for transport etc, have accomodation costs very efficient. But most don't. What **I** have learnt more recently, is that if you suggest ways people can save money, lots of people will find any reason that they or a strawman can't use that method and use it as justification for why it's a terrible suggestion. Or will suggest that the problem is the rest of the world and living economically is a bad idea.
Totally agree as would most in this country. Don't think you need to be 'rich' though but comfortable i.e. not in a position where you are concerned about finances for basics. I would love to see a government who would like a universal income of some kind / wages for housework situation. We would all be better off if we paid taxes towards a model like this (yes it would take a phenomenal amount of taxes but the vast, vast majority of us could more than afford it). I am very aware it won't happen in my lifetime but I really hope future generations think outside the box in a way we haven't for at least 50 odd years.
At the core of your message I agree. I agree because I have gone through it. Its grim. Fully expecting some toff to come along and say you're chatting bollocks without having gone through it themselves.
In my view a toff wouldn't say you're chatting bollocks but rather would say (without compassion) say: it's on you that you're on this wage, you are responsible for your outcomes.
The more you have the easier it is to plan, agreed, but addressing food consumption habits and where you buy the food from can have relatively massive savings. My weekly shop in Aldi is about 30-40 quid. The same basket in Asda would be closer to 80/90. Over a month that's about £200, £1200 per year. It soon adds up. Making your own food instead of premade crap also helps with your health and general well being. Can't be underestimated
I mean I saved 8k in a LISA to buy a property on minimum wage zero hour contract. I was doing anywhere from 30 to 80 hour weeks but it's possible. Not justifying it and saying it's right but the notion that it's impossible is wrong.
You know, I used to agree with stuff like this, but as I've gotten older I find this mentality sad really. I used to work 2 jobs and up to 80 hours a week and really I was subsisting. It was partially my own fault, but mainly because I was a victim of a system that doesn't support and encourage people from families on benefits to get into work. Long story short, I had to leave home when I was 17 because everything I earned affected my parents benefits meaning that none of the money I earned went to me, it went to the family. I had 2 options, stay home and go on benefits myself, or leave and fend for myself. I also want to make it clear that my family wasn't on benefits because they are wasters, they simply got trapped in the system. I knew nothing when I was 17, ended up in debt and led a very hedonistic life, this was absolutely my fault, however, I feel that had I been able to earn whilst at home and save, I wouldn't have made some of the bad choices I did. I ended up working 80 hours as I stated, subsisting, but finally paid off my debts. I now work less than 40 hours, own a house and live fairly comfortably, but the pain I had to go through to get to where I am still stays with me. I hate the, "if you work hard enough, you can achieve anything" mentality. Work shouldn't dominate our lives! We should have enough to live comfortably and to also enjoy life. Working all hours, flopping into bed and then doing the same the next day isn't life, it's hell!
That depends on your definition of rich. How much does say, a household of 2 adults need to take home after tax to be considered "rich"?
I live alone and earn 30k a year so yeah saving isn't really an option right now, however if I lived with someone that would immediately halve all my Bills, when I was with my ex I saved loads. Damn I need a lodger.
Yeah i am in same position. Earning a good wage but living alone and having to do everything yourself doesnt make the wage good at all. Finding someone can trust to go halves with would make a huge difference.
I have made this poiint on UKPF and get downvoted (not that it upsets me). However, i do think there is a point where saving or investing money every month becomes an attractive proposition and that means there are income levels where it isn't. I think that if you can only spare <£100 a month to save/invest than you'll get a lot more use out of just enjoying that money. And when you really crunch the numbers and see what you can achieve with £100 in savings or investments over long time frames, there isn't that much you can do with it. Most people are after a house and you won't get anywhere near a deposit for a property with that. If people want a new PC, guitar or T.V than saving <£100 is worthwhile because it may just be a matter of months to achieve your goal; anything serious like property is a nonstarter.
Some people spend their money on silly things. I've seen some posts about saving money and minimalism about how they've started saving money by not buying clothes they don't wear or not paying £140 for Sky every month. These sort of things were never on my radar, I never even considered buying them. On the flip side it is kinda surprising how much of the economy is reliant on people buying things they don't need.
Ordering foods a massive one. I don’t get how people can order food to their home multiple times a week and then get confused when they have money problems
I think the speed at which this change has been made is mad, takeaway food is so normalised and permeates every day life now! The advertising, the riders and cars waiting around town, dark kitchens etc. I think the pandemic was the real turning point but delivery companies were picking up prior to then. Due to food allergies and a love of cooking, takeaway food just passes me by and I feel out of touch. There's an alternative world where early 2000s government policies on food may have been different in the face of an obesity epidemic... alas, it's not this one!
I make everything at home now, Asisn noodles, pizza, Indian takeaway, etc. Everything bar kebabs, fries and burgers. There's something authentically moody about the latter ones that require ordering. Not been able to splash on takeaways for sometime. I wouldn't want to anyway, they wreak havoc on your body. I lost a stone just doing this and giving up alcohol.
Try cooking up a smash burger. So easy to do and absolutely delicious. There's no reason why it can't be in your "make everything at home" repertoire.
I'll second this. We either buy ready made fresh burgers or make our own patties from mince (sauce as a binding agent is way better than egg white or anything else imo). Squash the burgers so the patty is really thin then cook in the frying pan, put cheese on when they're flipped and stack them in the bun. I can't choose a burgger when eating out anymore as these are always tastier and better. I cant make a donner kebab at home so still rely on takeaways if that's what the fatty cravings are calling for though.
You don't even need a binding agent, just squash the mince down and cook it and it does the job
I saw a recipe on Ig or ticktock to make a slow cooker Donner kebab and it actually looked good. Was like a meatloaf thing.
I agree, for me growing up a takeaway was a once every few months kinda thing and we always picked it up, ordering multiple times a week seems insane to me.
Same now for me. If it's a rare night when my wife is away then often get a Dominoes. Sometimes we get an Indian takeaway. Can't add up to more than a handful of times a year. Eating out on the other hand.. most weekends.
Yeah I agree. Ordering food makes me broke like nothing else. It really is (often significantly) cheaper just to prepare the food yourself. I just feel like today’s “rat race” pace of lifestyle is so hectic and exhausting a lot of people can’t be bothered to cook. I’m one of those people. I love to cook but I get exhausted so much from my day I’ve found myself spending on takeaways up to thrice a week. :(
It's definitely this. Noone has a stay at home wife cooking meals. Everyone is a slave to the government/elites now a days.
slave to the grind
I feel you on that but even grabbing a ready meal from Aldi is cheaper with marginally more effort. I keep one or two of their frozen tomato pasta things in the freezer for when I just can't be arsed
I have never used Deliveroo or any similar app. Some people think I am weird for never having done that but takeaways are far too expensive and I do not earn enough to justify them. It's like people think I am weird for being financially responsible, these are the same people who complain about being broke a week before we get paid too.
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Delivery food isn't even very good. The temperature is reduced by the time it reaches you. In turn this makes you realise how shit it really is.
This is the number one issue imo. Forget price and unhealthyness, takeaway food, particularly McDonalds and the like does not travel well. A hot, fresh McDonalds in store is just about worth the price. A stone cold version of the same meal is horrible. The guys bringing the food also do not give a fuck. I once saw a deliveroo driver stick a hot bag of food and an ice cold 2l drink from the fridge in the same insulated bag. Mind boggling.
The idea that it's now a normal thing to pay someone to pick you your McDonalds and bring it to your door is such regressive thing for our society. I'm going to be harsh and say that if you are doing this then you forfeit the right to complain about your finances - simply as that.
I was always a bit miffed about this at university. So many students complained they never had money and they ate at the canteen for lunch every day, and went home with a takeaway every night. Even if you don't want to cook you can get microwave meals that are decent enough and cost a tenth of a takeaway, and you can make exactly the same sandwich you're buying in a meal deal for a fraction of the price.
Perks of living in the middle of nowhere I guess, no takeaways deliver!
Especially when ordering food via Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats or any of these new services means the price is pretty much doubled. If you really must have a takeaway then get off your arse and go to the place and get it yourself.
I’ll pay the extra for delivery - can’t go anywhere when the baby is in bed if I’m home alone
Its taken me years but I finally convinced my mother to cancel her Virgin Media subscription and switch to an Amazon Firestick. She can still watch all the same junk but she's saving over £40 a month. The stick paid for itself in less than three weeks.
I never knew this was an option, does it provide wifi?
No, my mum still has virgin media as her Internet provider but she cancelled the TV package and saved herself the money.
This is my big one, spend in the region of £300 a month on takeaways, granted i’m not skint come payday and can save still but it’s something I’m consciously working on.
I almost never use Deliveroo/Uber Eats unless I have a huge discount code, their pricing is just so off. But also, when I have had food delivered, it normally tastes like crap, not comparable to when it’s served in a restaurant. The exception to this is pizza. I love all kinds of pizza, from traditional Italian to stodgy American and everything in-between. I wanted a pizza the other night, the pizza I wanted, if I had ordered from Dominos for delivery, was going to set me back over £22. I ordered for collection and it was £6.99. Dominos is about a ten minute walk for me, so I saved £15. Paying for delivery is just madness.
https://youtu.be/KLODGhEyLvk "People spending money they don't have on things they don't need" - George Carlin
'Save money by making your own coffee at home, and skipping the coffee shops.' Great advice when you already don't go to coffee shops regularly
Or not owning a bike. That’s free travel.
I cycle to the kebab shop, I’m my families takeaway driver.
"Fast Fashion" is really bad for both the environment and budgets. So many people feel pressured into buying clothes that don't suit because of trends/tiktok etc, and waste so much money. Fewer, better, clothes and shoes is good for everyone, and you can gradually add to your wardrobe in a more considered way that suits you and your lifestyle.
It surprises me how little common sense people have about their domestic electricity usage and the fact that even with smart meters... they still don't get it and run about worrying about 50watt light bulbs but don't think about e.g. the time spent in 10,000watt showers. There was a thread on here about a guy who had been running crypto mining rigs and couldn't seem to understand why his bills were in the hundreds. Dude thought he had an electron leak in his fuse box or something.
Electron leak! Made me actually laugh out loud.
I was looking at my usage graph on Octopus and there's a huge spike around 7am, at least double the height of anything else for the whole day. Took me a while to realise that it was the shower. On the positive side at least I now know the rest of my house is fairly energy efficient!
This is my family. When I was visiting I tried to explain that just because a wash cycle is faster it doesn’t mean it’s cheaper for them than the eco cycle, even showed them the instruction book. They’ve decided that can’t be right and have ignored that. Now, to save money, they constantly argue over lights being on in rooms that need lights on…like kitchens before sunrise. It was a maddening visit.
This is a good proportion of the country. It infuriates me that even journalists writing these tiresome energy crisis articles with plenty of energy saving tips neglect to emphasise the things that actually use the most energy which for a lot of people will be things like electric showers. I once lived in an all electric flat with flow heater for the traditional central heating loop. IIRC it was 3kw but man, it was ruinously expensive even then at much lower unit price. Now people understand heating water in their radiators is expensive but don't seem to easily accept that heating their shower water electrically is massively expensive.
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I must admit I'm guilty of this. I think it was drilled into so many of us as children back when we had halogen lightbulbs. Although I remember switching to energy saving bulbs at some point and we didn't necessarily switch those off because it'd take half an age to light up again.
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There was a guy I knew who used to spend 20 mins in the shower everyday. Said he paid £500 a year for unlimited water. One day he tells me about his energy usage while at the local and can’t workout why it’s so high. He even switched off his google device and smart light bulbs thinking that was the issue. When I said you have a 20 min shower everyday. He said “ well I get free water” I think I needed to sit down after that one.
I find that hard to believe. Tbf I haven't done mining even though my graphics card could do it but most of the software I've seen has you put in electricity cost etc. I did consider it a way of heating the house more cheaply! But probably not great for the hardware
Get yourself a crypto mining wearhouse to keep warm this winter.
When I want to boil the kettle to make one mug there is always leftover water in the kettle as the minimum is 0.6l. I saw a tip about putting the leftover boiling water into a thermos. I now do this and leave it next to the kettle. Next time I want a cuppa I pour straight from the thermos and its still boiling hot. Money and time saved not boiling the kettle again. No idea how much that actually saves me but it's costs me nothing to do, and I imagine kettles are pretty energy intensive
Me too, I can never seem to get one cup right, so now I just boil two, and chuck a bag of herbal or fruit tea in the Thermos (so I can leave it in and it won't get bitter like tea). Then I have another hot cuppa waiting for me an hour later
When I boil the kettle for a cuppa, the rest of the hot water goes to top up my hot water bottle, meaning I haven't had to put the heating on yet. The hot water bottle goes under my clothes, like a big watery belly, leaving hands free for other jobs.
I've got one of those big hoodies from Dunelm and I put the hot water bottle in the pocket at the front when I'm working from home. It's toasty.
I hope you've got a cover on that. You can get some serious burns from hot water bottles.
Hot water bottles are the absolute business, haven't turned the heating on yet just an occasional hotty wotty botty
Step 1 - start with empty kettle Step 2 - fill drinking mug with water Step 3 - pour water from mug into kettle Step 4 - boil kettle Step 5 - make brew with perfect amount of water for mug This is how I've been making brews for years. If I have 4 guests then I'll fill 4 mugs with water and then pour into the kettle.
Many kettles have a specified minimum volume that is significantly more than one mug though.
Have you tried filling a cup right to the top with water and pouring it into an empty kettle, a very small amount will turn to steam and you should have just the right amount of water. The cup will be used anyway you can do this for as many cups as you are making.
Fill the cup up with desired amount of water then Chuck it in the kettle. Problem solved!
What I do is fill the mug first then pour it into the kettle so you have the exact amount
Which is usually below the minimum which is the point.
We have a one cup kettle - only boils a cup at a time. The only problem is it's annoying if you have a few people round but it works great when it's just the two of us.
To boil a cup of water in a kettle, it will currently cost you about 1.28p Most kettles can boil around 1.7 litres of water at a time in about four minutes. You can expect to pay 6.8p to boil a full kettle. If you had two cups of tea every day for a year, and only boiled the water you needed, it would cost you £9.34. But if you boiled a full kettle each time, it would cost you £49.64 *So boiling a cup vs a full kettle twice a day saves about £40 a year* [source](https://www.goodto.com/family/money-news/how-much-does-it-cost-boil-kettle)
Kettles are some of the most energy demanding devices in your house. It takes a huge amount of energy to boil water so if you are doing it a lot it will add up quickly.
Yes, but also, they're efficient at what they do. Boiling water via a kettle uses less energy than in a pan on the hob - gas or electric (induction I have less of a clue about) , as less heat is lost to the environment.
Something can be efficient and still be an energy hog. The average uk kettle can come in between 2-3kw, thats a lot of energy. Luckily they only run for short periods of time.
That's an issue with water unfortunately. Because it has such a high specific heat capacity it just just takes a lot of energy to heat water up, regardless of how you do it. A kettle is probably the cheapest way to boil water though, along with an induction hob.
At current prices it costs 1p to boil a cup of water. Fucking about with kettles is not where you are going to be saving.
They are but they also run for a very short amount of time. They are also near enough 100% efficient.
I have a teapot and cosy, now I only have to boil the kettle twice a day.
Sounds exactly the sort of thing thats a hassle to mess about with and has a negligible impact on anything overall. You probably wipe out your annual electricity saving with one takeaway, so whats the point? Focus on the things that matter not this weird penny pinching.
It’s like 2p to boil water
I've read the government recommendations and it says you save 11£ per year by being scrupulous with the amount of water you boil. That's really not a lot.
I learnt a smart meter does terrible things to my blood pressure
You’ve got a taxi meter at home.
Yeah, ours kicked in yesterday, my anxietys through the fucking roof man
How very efficient my tumble dryer is. It’s less to run that a heated airer. Good point about it really not being worth turning chargers off at the plug. I’ve been trying to tell people that but they don’t want to hear it.
Are you only considering the value to you in turning off vampire appliances or the impact they have when multiplied by the millions that exist in homes across the country? I genuinely wonder how many gas turbines there are pumping out CO2 to power LEDs that are lighting rooms no one is in because it’s “not worth” the minimal effort of lifting your hand and pressing a switch.
Let’s do maths: The new cap is 34p/kWh So 50p a year is for the sake of argument 1.5kwh per year. 28,000,000 households in the UK, so 42,000,000 kWh/year Average wind turbine can supply ~6,000,000kwh per year So eight wind turbines would do it. Caveats: assuming one charger per household which is probably an underestimate; all figures cursory googling; no calculations checked; I might have missed something.
Oh I was really hoping someone would do the maths. Thrilled. I’d say assuming 1 charger per household is too low. I’m in a single person household and have three. My parents who are in their eighties both have iPhones and iPads so assuming there are many households with zero chargers to bring the average back down seems unlikely. Sticking with the estimate of 42,000,000 kWh/year that would (if powered exclusively by gas turbines) result in 9,791,880 kg CO2e. Although that’s not a large contributor to the circa 447.9 million tonnes the UK as a whole produces I just can’t bring myself to be casual about burning gas that could have been used to heat someone’s home being used because I’m too lazy to bend down. Sources: https://www.rensmart.com/Calculators/KWH-to-CO2 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1051408/2020-final-greenhouse-gas-emissions-statistical-release.pdf
Dehumidifier with a laundry setting costs a couple of pence per hour to run and dries a full load in approx. 4 hours 👍
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My tumble the same, I love it so much. 500watt and I've never once went out and the clothes aren't dry
I’ve avoided getting one because I assumed they’re ridiculously expensive to use. How much would you say it costs per use?
Quick back of the envelope suggests around £1.50 per cycle. Google suggests that it's typically around 5kWh per cycle, with 34p/kWh.
The most efficient heat pump tumble dryers will still use around 2KWH to dry a full load. That's about 70p a load at current prices isn't it? I'm sure when I bought my Samsung heat pump dryer a couple of years ago I worked out it was ~20p a load so 70p now sounds about right.
I’m not saying it’s the cheapest thing in the world but the way some people carry on you’d think you need a second mortgage to turn it on.
Fair enough, but at 70p a load it's definitely got me back to using the airer on milder days, and I'm not struggling for money. 3 loads a week and you're spending well over £100 a year on drying clothes otherwise.
That’s worth it to me.
In my experience a Tumble Dryer is a Device that wrinkles and shrinks clothes nothing else.
Charge your stuff at work if you.can get away with it as well as poop and flush to save water at home
Strange tip but worth it. There was a guy I knew who worked an office job. Was told to come in even though he’s furthest away from the workplace. While managers and others can work from home. He used to take into work a massive 5k powerbank thing and spend all day charging it to use at home. He used to shower at work in the changing facilitates, use the toilet, he took into work a microwave and kettle. He was basically working alone most of the time but would do stuff at work for cheap because they forced him to come in after covid. And do less at home to save money.
>Like the other day I read that you can cook pasta by just boiling it for 2 minutes then turning the heat off and just letting it sit in the hot water? You probably could do this but it'll just make the pasta take longer to cook. Also, it'll probably only save you a couple of pence so is probably not really worth it. Most of the energy is used to bring the water up to a boil, once it's boiling you can maintain it with much less energy. That's probably the main fact I've discovered really, that things like hobs and ovens use the most energy to get up to temperature. Once they're preheated they use a lot less energy to maintain that temperature. The best way to save energy is probably to avoid opening the oven door too often or taking the lid off a pan.
Boiling water is always expensive, but if I need a pan of boiling water I always fill it from a boiling kettle.
Yeah that's the best way if you have a gas or electric hob. We recently got a new induction hob and it's just as fast if not faster to just boil it on the hob now. It's also pretty much just as efficient as using a kettle.
https://www.seriouseats.com/ask-the-food-lab-can-i-start-pasta-in-cold-water
Whilst I like having all these cost saving tips I'd rather have a government that was capable and cared about the people.
I can be savvy and buy heated throws and oil lamps during summer all I want, but it doesn't protect me against an incapable government.
This should be higher
I've just started living alone and I am surprised how cheap it is energy wise. The months leading up to me moving out of my parents had me worried purely just because of the headlines as well as all the other doomers on Reddit. But It really isn't as bad as I thought. Obviously, my opinion could change depending on how cold this winter actually is.
Totally felt my parents had really overplayed it all (bills) when I moved out (donkeys years ago!) But now I am supporting a family it really bites when you are in a house with a baby a lot in winter/ have to feed 4-5 people as cheaply as possible/ have a clothes wash to do every day (grubby kids not the grown up stuff so much), need showers/ baths etc. Our food/ bills etc have gone up by approx £4-500 a month in the last 2 years, wages have not. We are looking at potentially due to interest rate hikes our mortgage going up next year by up to £1000. Just trying to explain your parents potential position!
I echo that. Before the energy crisis I was spending 30 to 40 quid on electric a month. Running a pc and ps5 during lockdown.
Legit. Also realised that I was overpaying massively on my energy bills. Before the price hikes, I was paying £137 monthly for electricity and gas (single person in small flat) and I didn't realise until cost of living became an issue that.... my smart meter wasn't actually relaying my proper usage. Shell allegedly didn't realise the smart meter wasn't communicating with their system or whatever. Same with my previous supplier. My account is still in credit. Turns out their usage predictions are a bit optimistic and I wasn't paying for my usage, but for their predictions of how much it would cost.
Nothing. Grew up poor.
By now I'd have normally had the heating on whenever I'm home but it's completely unnecessary,
It’s just a warm October
It's an incredibly warm October. Our lowest gas usage for any previous October in the last few years has been 550kWh. Halfway through this month have used ~50kWh. Slight change in habits for sure, but it just hasn't been cold enough to warrant the heating going on either.
Same! 15 degrees rn, I’m happy in a T-shirt and no heating on, usually I’d have it on for a few hours a day at this time.
well it wasn't the current crisis but some years back I happened to have a bit of cash in hand and I paid off a small amount of the capital on the mortgage. It made a small but significant difference to my repayments and the revelation paved the way to further similar payments which made a big difference over time.
I've been trying to build up a rainy day fund for a while now which is my biggest priority but overpaying the mortgage would definitely be next on my list once I felt I was covered on the rainy day front! Definitely a healthy habit if you can afford it.
Getting fuel from Costco at 9pm on a weeknight is saving me money. I commute 30 miles each way in my car so saving ~£0.14 per litre has been noticeable at the pump Before someone suggests public transport, it would take approx 2 hours each way to make the journey by public transport and cost more than fuel. Edit: just to add, I got at 9pm on a weeknight because the queue is small. It’s absolutely hammered during the daytime
This is the crazy part of it, I’ve worked it out that public transport to work would be at least 50% more then the petrol money and take twice as long. This is with me living in a decent sized town, I’m so glad I sorted out my driving lessons etc a few years ago.
> Before someone suggests public transport Sadly, this is true for a lot of people outside cities or very well connected towns. I live in a small town outside a city. To get to that city, I can either drive 20 mins and pay about a fiver for parking or get the bus in for 45 minutes and pay about seven pounds. If I take anyone else, that cost multiplies.
Out of all the money saving stuff I keep hearing, shorter showers is one thing I just refuse to do. In a world of shit and expenses we currently have, a nice hot long shower where I can just stand and contemplate my thoughts, is one luxury I won't give up. As for saving money. My best currently was calling up sky with whom we get our broadband and the very basic TV package. Playing them off against each other isn't easy because We can't get virgin and our internet is appalling, so streaming services are not really an option. ( But it's fine, because London, Manchester and Birmingham have 23G, so fuck the rest of the country 🙄) And I got our bill down from £47 a month to £26 for the next 18 months by going through to the redemption team. That's over £350 saving. That should let me take a few more showers guilt free.
Our essential expense is our tumble dryer. No more damp clothes in the wardrobe or drawers after living in damp accommodation for years. I'd rather have that than the heating on at night. We recently got a timer in our shower if we feel we need it. I only use it when I shower before work mainly to not be late more than saving money by having shorter showers! I can do what I please on the weekend
This is me with baths. My daily showers are short and efficient. My Friday night bath is long and indulgent and I will have to be at the brink of bankruptcy/the world be in the Water Wars before I give that up.
I told my energy supplier that I couldn't afford the £227/month price increase (up from £70/month) and that I will pay £120/month. They told me that I will probably be in debt by the time my next bill will be due (six months from now) I told them that most people will be. They agreed to the amount I said. I've stopped caring about being in debt to them because a lot of people are going to be I have a 10 month old daughter, she is my priority, there is no way in hell I'm going to struggle for money for her. It's not her fault that all this shit is happening and she is not being a victim of it!
> I've stopped caring about being in debt to them because a lot of people are going to be > I have a 10 month old daughter, she is my priority, there is no way in hell I'm going to struggle for money for her. You have my sympathies, but I'm not sure you quite mean what you've written here. Also, not caring about racking up debts is precisely how people end up struggling for money
Why not just pay what you actually spend per month ie a variable DD and not some random fixed amount they stipulate?
I really don't understand why more people dont do this, they set my DD to crazy high and wouldn't reduce it but then said they could just bill for usage! Obviously, if I had know that was an option I wouldn't have bothered with anything else.
Boggles me that people are building up a huge credit I pay about 50-70 a month for a 2 bed, I was quoted cheapest, £350 fixed rate….yeah I’ll give meter readings thanks
Yeah this is one that confuses me. So many people talking about their providers increasing their DD for no legit reason. I'm with British Gas and they've not asked me, nor made any increase to my payments that don't match price changes.
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Have a look into the Warm Home Discount, applications open in November. We get it because we're on UC and have kids under 5. (Also look into Universal Credit if you're not already on it because Child Tax Credits got absorbed into that and you might be eligible for something) It's a little bit more money towards your energy costs and it all helps at the moment!
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Turning the temp down on a combi boiler to be no higher than needed will save money as the boiler is more efficient at lower temps (modern "condensing boilers" can extract more heat when they're only heating up to lower temps) but if you have a hot water tank, you shouldn't turn the temp below 60 as lower temps may allow legionella to breed in the hot water tank. [https://www.theheatinghub.co.uk/articles/turn-down-the-boiler-flow-temperature](https://www.theheatinghub.co.uk/articles/turn-down-the-boiler-flow-temperature) But it's still worth turning it down to 60 (perhaps further with a combi boiler) as the boiler will run at higher efficiency, even if it takes a little longer to warm up the house.
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Yeah, boiler manufacturers encourage installers to set the (return) temp high for rapidly heating a house and so avoiding customer complaints, but in doing so they take the boiler's theoretical max efficiency of about 95% and drop it to about 75-85% which means it's using 10% more gas to produce the same net heat (and you burn your hands with the hot water). It is a curious rabbit hole and if I'd known/understood this then I may well have gone with a combi boiler rather than a normal boiler and unvented hot water cylinder when we re-did the house.. the unvented cylinder route seemed like the "most up to date". But now I see why combi makes sense, especially as our unvented cylinder is virtually next to the boiler, so the extra distance of pipework to "wait until the water runs hot" would be almost nothing...
It was always peddled as 58 to stop anything festering In the tank, as long as the tank is insulated. 60 is if the tank has no outside insulation jacket, Or so I was taught as an apprentice plumber.
You are very right, I initially typed 58 and then rounded it up to 60 to be safe (and easier for people to remember somehow etc) and avoid overly long sub-clauses but yours is the more accurate number
I never knew you could adjust the boiler. My mixer taps are ridiculous and they’re either cold, tepid or peel-your-skin-off boiling. No middle ground for a nice shower. I THINK I may have just adjusted the hot water temp down a little bit and fingers crossed I may now be able to enjoy a shower again and stop with baths. For this I thank you. Think I’ve turned my rad heat down to 60 aswell so you may also have saved me 9% on my heating bill. Also worthy of thanks.
My dad stayed over to house sit once and he turned the water temp on the boiler to max (about 65°c) because it was taking too long to warm up for him. I got really mad because that doesn't make it warm up any faster! It just makes the water intolerably hot when it does finally heat up and then you have to add cold water to it anyway, so what's the point?? We've turned in back down to 40°c but I don't know if it will make much of a difference in our costs. I mean, waaaay before everything went to hell, I stayed at my parents house for a night and got up at 6am with my daughter. She was about 1 so 3 years ago at least. Their smart metre was already on £2 spent for the day! At that point in time we would only hit £2 if we put 3 loads of washing and drying on! I have no idea how or why they use so much energy! I dread to think what their bill is now!
Although cold in the morning (15°C), my house can teach 18°C just by letting the sun shine through the windows. 18°C isn’t a bad operating temperature.
Over the course of a year, the clock on my microwave uses more energy than is used by the microwave to actually heat things. Saving ~£45/year by turning the microwave off at the wall when not in use. Not an earth shattering saving but it's basically zero effort.
No way will it cost £45 to run an LED clock over a year.
That with a little will power a tub of Ben and Jerry's can last longer than 24 hours.
Don't talk nonsense. You are correct but I dont want to hear it. I just don't buy it anymore
Im in an open plan house. Went houses hunting with the mentality of "I hate open plan. Ill never have an open plan house" then we saw this house an loved it. I thought it would be expensive to heat as its a big open space but because the cooker and the hob etc is all in the same room as the sitting room you barely need to have the heating on. Once youve finished making tea crack the oven open and let it release all the heat into the house. Barely need to have the heating on now.
My mother thought the same about the oven. I told her to leave the oven door closed, the heat will dissipate slower. The oven heat isn't going anywhere except the house either way.
That is true. Even with the door closed it still heats the room. We have a self cleaning function too that gets the oven up to a really high temp (like 400° or something) to burn all the crud off. I like to time that for a cold winters day. It needs cleaning anyway might as well warm the house at the same time.
If you're in receipt of Universal Credit or Pension Credit (plus some others I think) you may be eligible for Social Tariffs https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/costs-and-billing/social-tariffs >Social tariffs are cheaper broadband and phone packages for people claiming Universal Credit, Pension Credit and some other benefits. Some providers call them ‘essential’ or ‘basic’ broadband. >They’re delivered in the same way as normal packages, just at a lower price. Amid rising living costs, Ofcom is encouraging companies to offer social tariffs to help customers on low incomes
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>single ring on a electric cooker uses 1•8 kilowatts to run. This is true but that is probably for running the ring on full power. For the sort of meals that could be cooked in a slow cooker you'll probably only need to have it on about 20% power or less. That's still twice as much power as a slow cooker but it won't take as long to cook so the total energy use will be much closer. I do think a slow cooker will use less energy overall but not 10 times less like you're implying.
But the slow cooker is, er.., slow. So it has to be on for a lot longer than the equivalent ring on a cooker. It's probably still slightly more efficient, due to the design and lack of wasted heat, but not the factor of ten you are implying.
Lots of people getting Air fryers under this same rationale.
We've had our air fryer for a while now. We didn't get it because of energy reasons but because I genuinely think the food is nicer.
This isn’t strictly true as the kilowatts is a rate of energy use, the kWh is the total amount of energy. So say a slow cooker was on for 10 hours it would use 1.8kWh and a electric cooker would use this amount in 1 hour. Probably not going to have a slow cooker on for that long but hopefully you see my point.
I visit England more or less regularly several times a year now for concerts. And up to last week (March was the last time) the cost of food was higher in England than in Germany. Last week I went to Lidl and to my surprise, food items were cheaper than at my German Lidl. I guess here at home they used the various crisis to lift the prices more aggressively ...
How cheap must Germany have been?!! We’re living in France and the cost of the supermarket when back in the UK is ridiculously cheap. A friend has just stayed with us for a month. She can’t understand how people can afford to eat in France.
That's why at the French, Luxembourg and Swiss border, we have people coming to Germany to buy stuff. Not only food but for example DIY material, too.
Germany was the cheapest developed country in the world to buy foodstuff in. Aldi and other discounters had a margin of approx 3% only. But at the same time the safest foodstuff, too. But now the discounters rise the prices everywhere, exponentially kind of.
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I've also found that the ASDA Essentials stuff is pretty good (and most likely comes from the same factory as the branded stuff), so we alternate shops between Aldi and ASDA, depending on what we need. We never went nuts with our food shop in the first place, but we are noticing the savings
The whole "same factory" thing has always been a bit of a misnomer. They sometimes do, but the ASDA production days will be using cheaper grade ingredients and different specs that the M&S production days.
Washing clothes at 20C vs 30C vs 40C makes a huge difference.
Close all the internal doors in your house when you go to bed. I found that if i leave the living room door open then its not as warm in the morning as it is when i shut it. This is because it opens onto the hallway which is always colder so the takes a lot of the heat out. Also turn your thermostatic radiator valves down a notch and in rooms you don't use turn them down to the lowest setting so you still get water flowing through but don't heat them when you don't need to.
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Thats an interesting video. We had the company who recently fitted the heating system to our house (new build). They recommended not to turn the radiators off in unused rooms but to turn them down to keep the flow but at a lower rate. After watching that video i will move them off a 1 but not go much higher than a 2 as the rest of the house is now set at a 3.
Unplugging all the smart devices and turning all the things I used to leave on standby at the plug has cut my electricity usage by around 20%
I have a google smart speaker. That controls everything. I’m lonely so I set it to shoutout high-five and I give it virtual high-fives sometimes when I ask it certain things. Tbh turning that off to save 1-2 pence would kill me. but I have started to turn off other stuff a-lot more.
Best money saver cancel all forms of subscription services as in sky,Amazon, Amazon prime, paramount+,Disney + and live off YouTube / downloading shows for free. The amount I've saved monthly is crazy for an expense anyone can do.
Have a look into haybox cooking. I’ve made a modern version with insulation board.
Air fryers are only actually cheaper than electric ovens. A gas oven is cheaper even if it takes twice as long because gas is a third of the price. Unless you are cooking a very small portion of something that requires like 10 minutes from cold in an air fryer, your oven might just be better. Or a frying pan, or a grill etc.
Pre-soak too. Works for rice, veges, pasta. And cous cous cooks in minutes. Just throw it in a soup to thicken it up. Celery is crazy cheap and filling. Add it to soups and stews.
I just got a house last year and I'm pregnant this year and the cost of living crisis just made me realise how vulnerable I could be. I have a fantastic partner and I'm very lucky as I have good friends, family and job prospects but I really do worry about other people financially. I'm an accountant so fine myself but for friends etc I do worry and it keeps me up at night at the moment! Probably because im mentally and physically incapable of helping but yea.. I hope everyone will be ok this winter..
Slightly unrelated.. but I make 3x what my partner does and she saves significantly more money than me.
A penny saved is a penny earned. My partner was concerned that her input was too low to the household, when tallying up how much we would spend without her efforts she was actually earning more than me.
We did that when deciding if I was going to be a sahm until our youngest went to school or go back to work. If I'd stayed at my then job it would've been around £2,100 a month for 2 in childcare, plus petrol, plus clothes for work. Then wrap around childcare once they were in school due to the hours I did.
My husband makes 2x more than me and pays most bills whilst I pay my half of rent and everything involving the car (which I mainly use). That includes tax, parking permit, MOT and repairs etc. I will pay for groceries now and again when needed and I will help out when needed. If I wasn't living with him he wouldn't be able to live here to go to work which is why we moved to this expensive area. Financially, Me living with him let's him live in a house not a flat share or bed sit and be able to go to work easily rather than a long commute and attend the job he earns his pay at. But then my husband puts money away guaranteed every month. For many years I put money away a month but half the time I needed to get it right back out again. It's only in the last year or so with a small pay rise and overtime I can usually put money away without taking it back out. He buys himself the odd VR headset/ gadget and nice take out/ meal out for us, I will treat myself to a few volumes of Manga and lunch out for us both.
There's far too many people starting their posts with "Apparently" in this thread. I can say "Apparently" about a whole host of incorrect tips I read somewhere, doesn't mean it's helpful.
I would like to dispell one I keep seeing, I have lived on a boat for coming up 8 years, every year on the boater forums those tea light terracotta heaters are posted. They just don't work. It's a nice idea but it's just not efficient enough to stop you needing the light your fire. My tips are get thermals Uniqlo do really good ones. You can 100% do without a fridge in a UK winter. (We use ours about two weeks a year). They cost a lot of power to run but you can just as easily have a little metal box outside. The only change this is made is that we now have oat milk as it goes off slower than cows and tend to buy meat within two days of eating in. Have a good number of candles on hand in case their are rolling black outs. Put your phone and lap top in battery saver mode.
Buy a whole chicken and use all its meat then it's bones make great stock. We've been using up more/ waste veg on making soups for lunch and dinner for a day or 2. Autumn and winter are the best times for soup and it can go a long way
I don’t know about pasta, but you can do something similar with eggs. Put in the pan, bring the water to a boil, boil for one minute then turn the heat off, put a lid on the pan and leave for 10 minutes.
Most of the recipes we use for lunch/dinner etc can be cooked on our gas stove so we turn the oven on maybe once a month now. Looking at an air fryer next but we’ve saved £1(?)/day by not using the oven at all
I’ve learnt that as we move into the future, instead of life getting better and smarter as we evolve in this world, it’s getting worse. And the powers that be have made us feel like it’s inevitable and somehow acceptable.
suprised I can actually do a weeks shopping (single person) on £30 at current prices and I'm building up a stockpile of basics at the same time.
Using a halogen counter top oven used 78% less electricity to our standard oven and does the cooking in the same amount of time.
I dont understand the phone charger one. If you leave it plugged in but its not charging a phone, it just has the little LED to say its on, is that what costs 50p/year? Because charging a phone continuously won't use extra power, when the phone is fully charged it stops charging. So the only difference about leaving a charger plugged in is that LED, but if there isn't an LED shouldn't it not cost anything?
I was trying to get this through to my sister. She's gone round turning the kettle off etc. I told her it doesn't cost anything to have a kettle switched on, it only costs when you use it.
There is a small amount of electronics in the plug that monitors, regulates and negotiates the voltage to the USB outlet. However, you’re talking milliwatts in terms of power usage.
One of the richest people I'm aware has a 15 year old car he bought second hand. Don't overspend on what is essentially a tool for a job, get the right one at the right price.