Hello Dear Reader,
This year, I had to make the choice between heating my house or having a holiday. I chose pain free warmth. I still have to watch the budget. As gas and electricity prices increased, I had to make larger monthly direct debit payments all year to put money aside for the cold winter months. This might seem like a big expense but my previously painful winters have taught me that I need to be warm.
I budget by having savings so I can afford to buy two tonnes of logs each winter. The logs and the winter gas bill would pay for my ferry to France but I can no longer cope with the joint pain that winter brings me so I’ll forsake a holiday for the sake of being pain free throughout the winter. Now, all that being said there are plenty of ways that I keep the house warm. To start, we made the most of virtually free home insulation and had the loft insulated and the cavity walls insulated which saves us a mass of money. Next, I use thermal linings in my curtains which create a triple glazing effect when they are closed.
Our wood burner chimney is central and internal so it actually heats four rooms of an eight room house. When we are about to go to bed, we fill the stove up with logs and put our clothes racks into the lounge (away from the fire for safety) and make the most of the cost of the logs. On weekdays, we don’t get home until six pm and have the fire lit until nine pm so we make the logs we have last. We also save on the heating bill by only having the central heating on from 5.50-6.30 so the house is just warm but not heated. At the weekends, we have the fire lit by four in the evening so we don’t run the central heating at all then.
On cold days, it’s certainly warming to come home to a hot meal and I make really good use of my slow cooker to ensure we always have something ready when we get in. Some times, I cook four meals and we have the same again on the following day which saves on energy costs. Some times, I’ll only have a small piece of meat and I’ll add that to soup the next day.
A staple here, all throughout the winter is soup. I love all kinds of smooth vegetable soup and chunky minestrone too. I’ll make a big pot to last us a few days and we’ll take some to work for lunch too.
I truly feel for anyone reading this who is feeling the cold in what seems like the longest winter I can remember! Share your ideas on heating? Would you freeze for a holiday? Are you cold just so you can pay the rent or mortgage? Who else is rationing the gas and electricity? Go on, let it out and have a good moan. I feel much better for having mine.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxxxx
I am with you Froogs, I will not be cold, I have underfloor heating throughout the ground floor and it is set to 13/14 degrees. We are South facing and all the curtains pull right back letting the sun heat the cottage up, as soon as it starts to wane the thick lined curtains are closed.
We eat well on a strict budget, like you I cook from scratch and stretch the meat out. I would never consider a holiday as a priority, much as I like going away I love my home and am happy to have the time to enjoy it with no work for a week or two.
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I live in northern Alberta where weeks of -30C and colder are not that uncommon. There are weeks of not being able to keep warm.
Nobody pads around the house in barefeet and short sleeves. Sweatshirts are the norm.
We have natural gas for our furnace and electric for the hotwater. Our home has a fireplace (something I'd always wanted). But it is literally too cold here to use it. The amount of cold air that comes down it is horrific. Currently it is has an old duvet stuffed in and is boarded over with a small electric stove in front of it. The stove gets used for a very short time when it's -35C and below. It's just one room that will not stay warm.
Freezing to death is a very real threat here. The spring melt always reveals a body or two.
We still have four foot of snow in the yards.
Winter lasts six months here and we just grit our teeth and get on with it.
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We have , thick vintage wool blankets and feather eiderdowns bought from charity shops that we snuggle under , the heating goes off at 8.30 pm and they keep us warm until bed time , you are right though this winter seems never ending xxx
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after watching sky news and seeing that Russia is going to start selling gas to China, I am saving for a 2nd multi fuel stove. for our bedroom. Any more price hikes and we will be shivering in the bed, with ice on the insides. like years ago when I used to stay at my Grans house. I thought it was fab when I was 6, but now not so much!
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Oh how I empathise with the joint pain in the winter Froogs! I live in an old barn of a house on the coast, with no insulation whatsoever in the main lounge . Beautiful vaulted ceiling and beams,currently 54degrees F! And that's with the heating on for a couple of hours in the evening to keep the house aired. So I sit in the kitchen or my craft rm, fingerless gloves on,thermals,vest,2 long sleeve T shirts,wooly jumper,sheepskin boots,fleece joggers and a TKMaxx bargain Trespass fleece! No way can I afford the cost of the oil (no gas here) to keep the house warm,I have an oil filled radiator on in the room I am in. I am not freezing to afford a holiday,I am freezing to afford to eat! Since the powers that be decided I would have to wait til I am 63 to get my pension and my husband died after a 20 month illness I cared for him through, and we had done the right thing by working hard and saving for our retirement,I am basically using the capital we had hoped to have available for trips away etc to survive on. Whilst I know there are many,many people in far more desperate situations than mine,I do occasionally wonder what it was all for! Holiday or warmth? Well,I would love to be warm!
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We only put the heating on during the very coldest of evenings (today is an example! It's been snowing all day and I have a cold!). I would definitely ration heating to go on a holiday! It's shocking how much it all costs! 😦
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although I no longer live the wood burning scrimping on electric to pay for school trips and things, I once did.We chose to burn wood cut from our own property , chose to menu plan with stretching practicing so I could be a stay at home mom.If I had gone out side the home to work we would not have been able to live the life we did, it was a lot of work, but I loved every minute of it.We lived 35 miles from the city and my life was recycling cooking from scratch and keep the wood burning stove in the fireplace fed! I used my woodstove to cook on to save on the electric and dried my clothes around it, We saved also by not having an extra car for me to drive back and forth to work, it was not everyone's choice be it was ours.I understand where you are coming from completely, it is sad when someone has to choose between heat and rent , thats not a good position to be in at all, but I think many admire the life you chose, and you work outside the home as well, you should be proud! I'm proud of you just reading your blog, I would never scrimp on heat for a vacation, sorry for the long reply, its just this subject is dear to my heart.I now live in a one bedroom apartment high in the sky with my husband whose illness made it necessary to move into town.We still have property in the country, but live full time in the city, frugal ways are hard to change and for this I am glad.
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Joint pain from the cold is awful, I'm with you all the way on doing what it takes to avoid it. I find if I am chilled when I get into bed I will spend the night in agony even with plenty of warm bedding so when my electric blanket had to be replaced, I didn't hesitate. It has a setting where it turns itself off after an hour so I can leave it on when I get into bed without waking up because it's overheating. It's cheap to run and means we can have a cool bedroom, so it's cost effective. The other thing I do to avoid joint pain is to have a shower if I am feeling really chilled before going to bed. You mentioned that one of your motivations for joining the gym was to tackle the joint pain - is it helping?
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Ladies I do sympathise but am smiling because as you freeze I spend months and months trying to cope with humidity and heat. In fact when we do have a cold spell and it never snows etc here we all enjoy it.
I advocate wool socks and wool in general. I knit socks for my father as he had polio and his feet are affected.
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This is very much how we heat our house aswell, just an hour morning and night and multi fuel stove in small room/dining room. We shut our lounge over the winter as it is too cold. Jumpers, blankets, thick socks, if I get really chilled (thanks to an autoimmume!) during the day, I can get a hot water bottle and wrap myself up in a blanket and that usually sorts it out. I think during the year I will buy thermal linings for the curtains to stop drafts and that should do it.
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I rarely put the oil heating on. We have an Aga in the kitchen which keeps it lovely and warm. We spend most of the day in the kitchen which is large. Then in the evenings we sit in the lounge where we have a log burner. This is on until we go to bed. We do not buy logs, my husband recycles wood at work which would be thrown away.
So our wood store is always full. It is hard work he has to chop every bit small enough into log size but it has saved us so much money…..Can't wait for better weather. We have our sofas pushed forward so we can be even more warmer and cosy in the lounge.
Rosezeeta.
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I try to ration both. I try to save electric keep going around the house turning things off never leave things on standby. Its much harder with the gas though I have a young baby in the house and worry she will get cold so have the central heating on quite a lot. There are no fireplaces in the house either I am seriously considering insulating the loft this summer despite this being rented property to to try and reduce the cost of heating the house, we plan on staying here for the next few years so it could be worth our while. We also wear big fluffy dressing gowns on top of our clothes to help keep warm .
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We pay a monthly payment for gas 'n' electricity all year round; that way we build up a bit of extra for the winter,but saying that ,we ARE careful with it and turn it off whenever we feel warm enough. Ours is a new house and there is no way we could have a multi fuel stove-I wish!! I feel the cold much more than I used to with being older and it's definitely not any fun being cold. Up here in Scotland it can get very cold indeed. We have quilts on all the beds too and they do make a lot of difference. We ARE having a holiday this year -our first for four years,and it will probably be in Britain and maybe even the north west of Scotland. We wanted to go to London but after seeing the prices we rapidly changed our minds. The holiday is being saved up for bit by bit and not at the expense of heating the house.
Yes, this DOES feel like the longest winter ever: it seems to me that I last saw some decent sunshine about last March and since then there have been the eternal rains followed by deep cold and snow. m
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Unfortunately I have had to relent and have the heating on low during the day at the moment. I have been off sick for six weeks with respiratory problems and the change in temperature really affects me. The radiator in the hall way is on low all the time and we have a wood burner which is lit by five. I too am a lover of patchwork quilts. Desperately trying to get some more made as most of the 20 plus I have made over the years have been gifts.
It is scary how many of us are having to either lower or not use our heating. The dog makes a great foot warmer though thank goodness. We have not had a holiday for 4 years and will not be getting one until 2015. It will be in the sun though staying with my parents in florida. It is their property so will save us a lot of money and we mostly eat in the villa and all take it in turns to cook. Roll on the summer.
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I get the hump! I hate being cold but even more, I hate the way we are held to ransom by the ever increasing gas costs. We have a log burner the same as you Froogs. The trouble is we work quite late sometimes, i have just got in now and big man on route. We just don't feel like lighting the fire and well be in bed soon. I am currently sitting here in jeans, t-shirt, cardigan/wrap and a light jacket. The house is 13.5. The heating will kick in if it drops below 13. We have heated flooring in the bathroom morning and evening and we are at work a lot.
We could afford to,put it on but as I said, I have got the hump with british gas my provider so I am having a mini protest.
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In Buffalo, NY (known for snow and cold winters) things have been mild so our bills have been lower this year. But one of my favorite tricks is to cut the necks off of my husband's turtlenecks (when they are no longer wearable) and to wear that on my head to cover my ears and the top half of my face. If there is one thing I hate, it's a cold nose! Dogs are good bed warmers too!!!
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Like you, Froogs, I don't do well with being cold. And because we are retired, and home pretty much all the time, we were running our furnace about 16 hours a day. We live in a cold, snowy climate.
I took your Chancellor of the Exchequer post to heart. Even though I had really refined our temperature and heating schedule, I decided to see if I could reduce it further. I have a programmable thermostat. I needed to reduce heating time by 5-1/2 hours per week. I re-set it so that the heat goes off half an hour earlier in the evening, and comes on an hour later on the weekend, when we might sleep in a bit. That made 4-1/2 hours…not quite 5%. I then reduced the daytime temperature by one degree, to see how it felt. I've been at it nearly a week, and although I can feel the difference, I haven't heard any complaints. So, thanks for the idea. I had toyed with the idea of trying to reduce the bill, but I was always thinking in terms of turning down the temperature. I hadn't even thought much about reducing the time that the furnace runs.
Vacations are important to me. I budget for them every year. However, given the choice of being warm or going someplace “exciting” for a week or so, heat would win…hands down! Fortunately, haven't had to make the choice.
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I just came home from a visit with my dad. My dad has a wood stove that he places 1 piece of wood in at a time. His chair sits next to it and he is comfortable in his layers as he reads. He is also, acclimated to the cold. I on the other hand shower at night and air dry my hair. Since there is only a short fire in the morning I wanted to dry my hair at night and the longer fire. With the snow and sleet outside I coaxed him to add another log to better heat the side of the room where I sat. My hair still damp we went to bed upstairs and I buried myself under the covers and was reminded as kids living in this house this was how we always slept buried and the warmth of our breath helped us to sleep. Mom had an extra crochet blanket on each of the beds, during the cold months. Dad always got up first and started the small fire so when we came down stairs it felt warmer. Winters were cold and summers were hot. We just did not have the money and now dad is paying for nursing home care for mom. We make sure he has plenty of wood to use both wood stoves he still chooses to use one log at a time in only one of the stoves at a time.
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You make me believe anything is possible with saving,ace!
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Usually we take two vacations every summer. One to watch my daughter in competition soccer which we turn into a week off and a week with the whole family..yes all 20 something of us. But this year we are only going down to see my daughter play for one day(she only plays one in a round robin contest)instead of our 7 day vaca…..as for the family vaca well that is paid for since it is a family house and each family is assigned one day of meals. So we are still taking that one. Our choice was to take the cheaper, almost paid for one as opposed to our other one where we used to have a blast and blow a ton of money. Instead the money will go towards more of our debt. Every single penny goes to that.
Just so you know I look forward to your post every day.
Judy
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Hey Froogs
I don't do cold very well either. I've noticed that the pain in my thumb is back, so the evenings are getting cooler.
I bury myself in blankets on the bed. I changed the sheets, so I also washed out the quilts and line dried them, and then added my winter friends, so now it is flannelette sheets, two cotton blankets, a silk quilt, three cotton patchwork quilts. I find if my feet are cold, I cannot sleep, even in summer. Sometimes I'll just be chilled for no reason. I've even been known to get the hotwater bottle out.
That's another tip : good old hotties! It is surprising just how much they can warm you! I've even used it in the living room while I've been crafting. If my hands get sore, A couple of minutes on the hottie and we are good to go again.
Cats are also very good at sharing warmth.
I've got a very large house that we just can't heat all the rooms. There's four gas heaters in the house, plus the wood heater in the lounge. If we use really good quality wood, it will heat our living, kitchen and dining rooms really well, and the effect will carry into my sewing room (a family room). I have an electric heater in the bedroom that is set for 16 degrees that I only use at night to take the chill out before we go to bed.
For all you cold people out there, wheat bags are also good for helping keep warm : I have a sausage one which is really terrific for the shoulders and neck.
Good luck on keeping warm in the northern hemisphere. I have seen on the news reports just how much snow you've had! It's been amazing. Cold, but amazing.
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Now here's where you and I differ. I wouldn't give up my French trips for anything even if it means a bit of shivering! x
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Heaven forbid we ever get that cold. Coldest here in recent years has been -19 Celsius. We used to have an open fire and had the same problems which is why we saved up for a wood burner. Once installed, the fire place is completely sealed except for the tube taking away the emissions.I think I read somewhere that an open fire place only utilizes 15-20% of its heat, the rest goes up the chimney. A wood burner is around 80% plus. A big difference.
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Honey you must live further south than we do. We have the air-conditioning on right now. Don't freeze.
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Just curious as to how you keep your dogs warm with the heating off…the times we have had no heat at all, and had to rely on just the wood stoves, the bedrooms have been REALLY cold and I have actually put blankets on them….
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For me a holiday is nice but it is not more important than heating. We have a large terraced house with draught excluders infront of the doors to stop the heat escaping (they would be more effective if the kids would close the doors but thats another story) we increased our direct debits and i submit readings online and we still owe them. This winter has been awful but in a house that has little kids in and two pairs of asthmatic lungs we need heat for our health. I do save money in other ways though by not using the tumble dryer (three airers instead)and by using the washing machine for full loads on cool wash as i can get away. I also make blankets that are on the backs of the sofas for when it gets cold at night, they are also on the beds as extra layers plus we have three hot water bottles and crack open the hot chocolate. I cannot wait for some sunshine. x
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I have a choice between heating and food, a holiday would be nice, but absolutely no chance. I am on a pre pay meter, so I can't wait for warmer weather. At the moment I try to keep to £20 a week, but with the cold nights it has been near impossible. My heating comes on 1 hour before I get up, so I don't freeze to death in the bathroom and 2 hours in the evening, one day a week there is no heating at all in the evening. I have a duvet on the sofa and a hot water bottle, so I am snug when watching TV, but had to stop knitting as my fingers get too cold.
My house has no cavity walls and when my landlady installed double glazing, the laws of the country decreed that this means we have to have air bricks all over the house, which makes it extremely cold when it is windy, which it has been recently. Also I have a very old water tank, so if the house is too cold, I just spend more money heating up water. It took me 3 years to find a balance. Sadly it is in a tight corner, so I can't fit a jacket round it, but I store my spare duvets in the cupboard to keep it warm.
I do like my pre pay meter, as it means I wont be hit by a big gas bill at the end of winter, but because I am such a low user, I have to pay 30% more per unit. It is just not fair!!! How can I make ends meet, if I get punished for trying to be frugal?
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We have prepayment gas and electric meters so I have to eek out our heating to last no matter how cold it gets, if I have to put extra on that means not eating or not paying the water etc, so we ration ourselves. We have big south facing windows which in previous years have been our salvation through the winter, with even a cold winter sun warming our main rooms fantastically through the day. The almost perpetual grey that has hovered over us this year has really taken its toll. I layer up with clothes and often wander around the flat resembling Bibendum, loving the massive 'super size' jumper my mum knitted which fits over any amount of layers and covers my knees and hands 🙂
Today though I have broken my golden rule and put the central heating (our only form of heating) on during the day as my husband has yet another bad chest infection. It's on very low, I've set the thermostat at just below 14, so it's hardly warm but it's enough to keep the icy chill at bay and I can actually feel my fingers! YAY!
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Hiya
I live in an all electric social housing flat, built in approximately 1895 for local workers. the place is heated by very inefficient night storage heaters that are just too expensive to run. The only room my daughter & I heat is the living room, and in that we have a cheap halogen heater. Apart from that we use crochet blankets and fleece throws and hot water bottles to keep warm on the settee.
The dog and cat sleep on the bed with me and snuggle under a fleece blanket that I keep just for them down by my feet. (Actually the cat sleeps ON my feet).
I get the warm home discount to help with my electric costs, although I'm still waiting for it to arrive this winter. It has been promised before the end of March, but I don't think it'll get here now. I have arthritis in my hips and knees, so the cold does make my joints ache unfortunately. I try to be as economical as possible, but the electric costs have risen, as have the food costs. I have agreed a price freeze with British gas, so the expenses should stabilise now until March 2014. At least I know what next winter's electric prices should be, but this winter seems to be going on and on.
I like to keep busy with making cards and embroidery, but this year has been so cold, I can't get my fingers to work properly. Just can't wait for the hot weather now, and hopefully a transfer to a warmer flat before next year!
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Hi Bets, I never forget that I have a choice and people like you don't. I feel for you, I genuinely do and hope you get to move to a warmer flat or find a better paid job soon - much love Froogs xxxxx
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Good old-fashioned thriftiness, all your habits! I grew up in poorly insulated houses (after a series of not insulated at all shacks); we had wood heat and simply dressed for the temperature. Warm beds and cold rooms make for very good sleeping, in my experience. A bit daunting in the morning, though!
I do have to say that I am now officially exempt from frugality; thanks to our P.M. Paternalistic, we now have no pennies to watch!! ;-P
Seriously, I was raised to be thrifty and usually still am. But there are areas where I could tighten up a bit, so that will be next to work on.
Thanks for the blog; I always enjoy coming here and either learn something or have lovely memories tweaked. ~ Linne
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We don't have the heating on a timer as this makes me pay attention to whether we actually need to have the heating on or not. This winter we've had it on for around 30-40 minutes in the morning and about 40-50 minutes in the evening. A little longer on the really cold evenings as we don't have a working fire or heater but rarely. On the days I/we are home with our daughter then I usually pop the heating on for 45 minutes sometime in the middle of the day too. Sometimes for a bit longer if it really does feel cold. We are lucky in that our house seems to hang on to the heat quite well. We have a dishwasher and an electric shower so I don't turn the hot water on. In the mornings I mix up a bit of boiling water with cold in a bowl to wash my daughters face and use cold water for myself - it's quick! My last week away was in 2009 and I doubt we'll be having another week (or even weekend)away any time soon. We managed to move to our 'forever' home last year though and that is more than good enough for me!
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I would like to make a suggestion. Wool blankets! In the US, if you can find them at all, they cost hundred$. However, I have been lucky enough to occasionally find them in thrift stores and they have cost from $4 to $7! I also mentioned that I wanted wool blankets and several friends gave me their mothers' and grandmothers' blankets! We have 4 beds and 12 wool blankets, including one Hudson's Bay point blanket that I trash-picked! I keep two on each bed all winter, and on really cold nights, I can put an extra one on top. I use quilts for bedspreads. They're warm, but not as warm as wool (unless they have wool batting).
My feet are always cold, and I wear wool socks, day and night, about 9 months of the year. I like sleeping in a cool room, but I've got to be warm! I highly recommend wool socks, wool blankets and a wool sweater (jumper) if it's REALLY cold outside!
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I live in a more modern house but it also has vaulted ceilings that suck the heat up there. I'd be thrilled to not have those ceilings anymore (or stand on my tiptoes on the top rung of the ladder just to change the light bulbs in those can lights).
I wish you luck and warmth in this winter that just won't quit — it snowed 3 days ago here in Utah.
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