The cost of living... what can we do?

Thank you everyone who is sharing their best saving pratices.
I am an Amazon Prime customer and get a lot of items that are not available in our local little shops here.
I am buying in quantity and saving money that way. Bought Amazon recommended Pasta brand - lower priced than the " popular " variety but same ingredients.
Bought Bachelors dried potato packs because I think our British potato crop isn't going to be so good or as plentiful and it will do to make a shepherds pie topping.
I save so much by not having to pay p&p - I just wish they were not so extravagant with their cardboard packaging. Amazon need to address this as a priority
Jenny namaste

 

I'm wary of these companies running around chasing grants,I tend to think that a lot have badly trained workers, that's if they are trained at all, and they are on a price for each job so cut corners wherever possible.

I won't go into detail but the two companies concerned when I had my cavity wall insulation were pretty dodgy.
My loft is now full of the stuff and it blows around every time we get strong winds.

 

I strip-wash every day at the sink, a couple of inches of hot water, just like in the old days.
I do have a few showers during the week.

My daughter & grandaughter however do have overflowing baths at times, if I make any comments all I get is a groan or a tut.

 

1 shower a week & strip wash if needed, change clothes twice a week ie underwere & socks but once a week for trousers and polo shirt

 

I have an annual bath whether I need it or not.
Might make that every 2 years now, if I do it in the summer the stream in the local park isn't too cold.

 

The Police did warn you about that

 

My mum got central heating installed a few years ago for free through one of these grant schemes. There's been no problems.

Separately, a couple of years ago we got told we could have free loft insulation and something else (can't remember what). We were skeptical because we're not on any benefits, and our house already has all its insulation, albeit a bit old now. But I did my due diligence and the company and the scheme checked out, so we called them back to do a survey. They checked out house out, and then said they needed to be in next doors loft to drill a hole to check something. Next door at the time was an old lady living alone so we were very skeptical, but we spoke to her, and with more due diligence, it was agreed that they could go in and drill this hole.

So far so good. Until they contacted us again. Surprise surprise, we did qualify for all sorts of eco work, but because of some lame excuse about something or other being one inch to high or two low, we'd have to contribute some of the cost. They wanted to sell us all sorts, amounting to thousands of pounds. We told them to b#@@3r off.

 

I keep the dishes until I have quite a few, but it's only me here now so I don't get a lot.
Of course I rinse them under the cold tap after use, and stack them in a bowl, and I use a mug a few times before adding it to the pile.
When I wash the dishes I warm a drop of water in a kettle (you don't need to fill the bowl to the top) and add cold to it because it saves a pipe-full of hot water from the boiler (upstairs) going cold, and also saves wasting a pipe-full of cold water while waiting for the warm to come through.
(I know I can use the cold water to water the plants but you don't need to do that in the winter)

 

I have a Hive thermostat controlling the central heating Combi boiler. It is excellent. It allows a large number of time slots each day (we use the default four) and you can easily adjust them and set different temperatures for each slot. Each day can be different if you wish. You can also set a holiday schedule if you are away. All done from an app on our phones. There is a Boost option that allows you to fire up the boiler for a user-defined time. I have mine set for 15 minutes. If we are reading in bed (stat set low after 21:00), and it feels a bit nippy, you just stick on the Boost from the phone.