Average figures

Interesting isn't it, what the national average is in comparison with us people who consider themselves frugal.

I have been shopping about on uswitch and moneysupermarket.com today to get my gas and electricity settled (taken me a month, but I needed to get used to things.). It started out by giving me a choice of 3 buttons, low user, medium user and high user. I duly pressed low user and continued putting in my answers. It then, is it's wisdom gave me prices starting at £750 a year. Now, this couldn't be right could it? In my last home, I had my usage down to a fine art and was paying £33 per month for them combined. Anyhow, after a lot of messing about I did the sensible thing which was to work out how much gas and electricity I actually use a year and it came out as 1300 kwh for Electricty and 3350 for gas. This is a preceise figure of how much I used in 2011. Now I realise that I am in a different address now, but the needs are similar, I don't leave lights on or heat unduly etc. so I am hoping that the usage will be similar. That gave me the figures of, guess what, £33 per month.

I find it very interesting that their idea of low user is using exactly twice what I use.

Perhaps they should add some categories to their choice such as:

high user
medium user
low user
very low user
very very low user
very very very low user
saving the planet user
not wasting a penny user

etc

I've finished a room!

I have a new boiler, internet (finally) and I have fully moved in now!

And more importantly I have finished my bedroom.

Lets remember how it looked.

And this is how it looks now.

All it cost me was a tin of paint and a curtain pole. The carpet was put in before I moved in by the previous owner (lucky saving), the curtains were given to me by my sister in law, the quilt was made for me by my mum and everything else I had already.

I have painted the hall and living room too but not quite finished either yet. I don't want to spend much more for a while because the boiler and the new windows are setting me back quite significantly. The way I see it though, once they are done, that is the last of big expenses for a few years. my sister just gave me a freezer, so I put that in the freezer and put it on this morning. Now I have to get my food stock piles back up and start saving money again.

More to follow soon, now I am back online.

It's free!

A lot of you may have this already, but for those that don't, EDF are giving completely free cavity wall and loft insulation for everyone, you don't even have to be with EDF. I'm not. I have applied and within a week I already have my survey booked in. Here is the link for those interested:

http://www.edfenergy.com/products-services/for-your-home/winter-saving/?utm_source=winterhomein&utm_medium=homesaving&utm_campaign=wintersaving

If, like me, you wonder why they offer it for free, here is the answer from Martins Money Pages:

'Not out of the kindness of their hearts. This is all about the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) which came into effect in April 2008. Gas and electricity suppliers are obliged, out of their own pocket, to promote energy efficiency measures through professionally installed insulation measures'

There must be pleasanter ways to spend a rainy day!

Hello everyone,
I am taking the chance to use my friends internet as I still don't have any in my house. I have been spending my days in tedious jobs. First off was wallpaper stripping. I can't actually complain that much, because compared with some wallpapers I have struggled with over the years this came off really very easily. Today I spent the whole day sanding down the walls and then washing up the dust, in preparation to pain the undercoat and woodwork, which I will begin tomorrow. My shoulder is killing me now, my muscled aren't used to this sort of thing it seems, I used to do gymnastics and thought my shoulder muscles were in pretty good shape - clearly not that good!
Anyway, the house will begin to improve when I get some paint on the walls this weekend and next week, so I hope to be a bit more sorted in the next couple of weeks.

I have had the builder in to measure up for my new front door and patio doors - an expense that I could honestly do without, but even I can see that neither of them are offering any security. I am waiting to see what the quote will be. Also the plumber has been back to the 20 year old boiler because it broke down. I think it is living on a wing and a prayer so I hope it has a few more months in it!

Here are some pics of my progress. I've worked like a dog and yet it looks worse! Always the way.

But some nice additions are on the outside.

My dad gave me the smart number 7 and my godparents the nice green trees (I already had the blue pots and think they look good)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my readers. I have loved blogging this year and I have loved reading all of your blogs too. Sorry that my posts have been few and far between recently, but I think that you all understand why (still no internet by the way). 2012 is going to bring a lot of change for me and I think that I will have plenty to post about once I start sorting out my house and living on a more strict budget, I am all ready to start and log all the changes on here, so hope that you will continue to share my journey with me.

A big thank you to you all, it is amazing the sort of encouragement I feel from your comments.

Some Pictures.

I have taken a few photos on my phone of the empty rooms of my new house. This can be the starting point, the before pictures as it were. It may take me months, years even, to finish it how I want, but it will be a good reminder of where I started.

The lovely and sunny living room. The patio doors need replacing as they offer no security what so ever and the seal has gone.

The kitchen, pretty basic, don't know if the cookers work yet, but it will have to do for a good while.

The master bedroom

The spare bedroom

The bathroom, not my favourite, but again, perfectly alright to live with until I can afford to change it - never a great fan of a carpeted bathroom!

The garage. One day I hope to convert this to be a part of the house, probably will make it my kitchen, but a lot of saving up before that happens.

So now you have had a tour.

As I was out in the street on my hands and knees reading my water meter earlier today another of my new neighbours drove past waving and with huge smiles on their face. So nice to feel welcomed!

Here we go!

Hello Everyone and welcome to my new followers, the number seems to have gone up significantly since I was last here.
Thank you too to those nominations I was given for a liebster award, I am not ignoring it, just haven't had time to follow it up and post about it yet, will do soon. I am very delighted that people think that my blog is worthy!

Today I got the keys to my new house!

It is a bit later than expected and has been a bit more complicated that you could believe, but I am going to focus now on the one main and important bit - I now own my house in the country!

I won't be moving in just yet for many reasons, but am going to take this opportunity to clean, maybe make a start on some of the (cheap) renovations that I can manage in the freezing cold and make it warm, safe and secure.

The amount of work is so huge and the shear quantity of paperwork that needs dealing with is so long that I can hardly bring myself to begin it, you know when you have so much to do that you can't take it in and it seems easier to just do none of it!

I don't have any internet in there right now, so I am using the internet here at my friends house a couple of miles away when I need to do stuff - the result being that my time on here is limited. Also I am working in Switzerland next week, (very poor timing) followed by Christmas and New Year, so everything is kind of on hold at the moment. I will however take some photos of it in its present empty condition soon as I can and get them up here - then you will all know from where I am starting this journey.
Today I cleaned the kitchen, had a boiler man around to service the boiler which now seems to be running happily and getting the place warm. Tomorrow I will clean the bathroom and change the loo seat (can't bring myself to use one when I don't know who had it before!)

The other delightful thing I did was to knock on the neighbours door and introduce myself (something that never happens in London) Not only was he delightful but he asked me in and gave me a tour of his house so that I could see the changes he made (his house is the same design exactly, but he has completely changed all the interior layout). The first time in my life that I have known been into my neighbours house! How different things are here.

Thank you to everyone for your sharing this with me over the last 8 months or so. Now the fun can really begin. I am very happy.