I've Ordered My Halogen Oven...
I hope I purchased the right one...being single perhaps it's too large but I think that you'll be able to cook more or less items in it and it has a two year guarantee and I get all the accessories with it, a replacement bulb and a cook book.
They say it was worth £89 and I have purchased it for £39 though postage and packing has taken the cost up by almost another £10.
But at least that's sorted now...
I haven't heard back from EDF as promised so I'll have to be in touch with them later to see what price they can do my electric and gas and if I am still unhappy and decide to go with the other power company I only have two days to cancel(Cooling off period)
Whilst I can afford to, our gardener has arrived today and so at least my garden will be tidy(even if there isn't much in the way of flowers...)
If I am allowed to stay here, financially I'm not as bad as I fear in the future perhaps I can still afford to have my garden done by him but instead of every 3 weeks, have it done every 5-6 weeks...
On the other hand though that sounds like I am saving money, if it it takes longer to do maybe I'll end up paying more...I'll have to think about that...at least it looks more as Mum remembers it and she loved her garden here...
The window cleaner still hasn't done our windows and it must be at least 8 weeks or more. I've seen for approx £12 a kind of window cleaning sponge on a long pole in a catalogue that looks easy to use so I may buy it then I can do my own bedroom windows and save having him do them...something else to think about...
They say it was worth £89 and I have purchased it for £39 though postage and packing has taken the cost up by almost another £10.
But at least that's sorted now...
I haven't heard back from EDF as promised so I'll have to be in touch with them later to see what price they can do my electric and gas and if I am still unhappy and decide to go with the other power company I only have two days to cancel(Cooling off period)
Whilst I can afford to, our gardener has arrived today and so at least my garden will be tidy(even if there isn't much in the way of flowers...)
If I am allowed to stay here, financially I'm not as bad as I fear in the future perhaps I can still afford to have my garden done by him but instead of every 3 weeks, have it done every 5-6 weeks...
On the other hand though that sounds like I am saving money, if it it takes longer to do maybe I'll end up paying more...I'll have to think about that...at least it looks more as Mum remembers it and she loved her garden here...
The window cleaner still hasn't done our windows and it must be at least 8 weeks or more. I've seen for approx £12 a kind of window cleaning sponge on a long pole in a catalogue that looks easy to use so I may buy it then I can do my own bedroom windows and save having him do them...something else to think about...
posted by The Great Gildersleeve | 11:59 am
11 Comments:
Gildy, you say you have two days left to cancel EDF if that's what you decide but it's the weekend.
Will they still be at the end of the phone line?
Perhaps today would be better.
VQ,
I understand that they are open over the weekend but I'll take another look...
I have been told that my bill(from the readings given so far could be £720 approx for the year and that includes some discount(£147 if I use direct debit)that amount includes VAT and the standing charges...They say I use £5 of gas and £10 of electric over 7 days. The electric is the killer.
I cannot see how I can reduce that and if my microwave and halogen oven use electric as they do that will increase I suppose...
Though at least they use less than a main electric oven might. I'll just have to do more quick meals...and eat more cold one's...
I cannot see how I can get the bill down any further...Though Npower thought that they could do the gas for £6 and the electric for £7 that's a saving of £2 a week so it is a bit cheaper...£24 over the year(maybe that's the fact they don't have standing charges?)
EDF said that paying by direct debit my annual bill of £720 might become less and be reduced but I cannot see what would cause that to happen...
I'll have to go with one or the other...and decide fast!
I think that seems be be reasonable.........I pay more than that, but you have so many gadgets that I don't have or want, that it's impossible to say.. The money you've spent on things to save electricity and gas could have gone towards just living with what you already had! And you don't know now whether you will save anything.
You seem to have been spending for spending' sake!
For my sins and for a laugh I often watch the Ideal World shopping channel on Freeview 22. They are always trying to get rid of their stocks of Halogen oven, Actifrys and now an expensive Phillip's cooker in black.
To my mind just use a conventional gas/electric stove or a microwave oven for certain things i.e. selected vegetable and reheating thing. As far as I can see most of those things on Idealworld are just gimmicks a bit like toated sandwich makers which eventually end up on the rubbish dumps.
This is my opinion, for what it's worth but suppose all this stuff is OK if you have yards of work surface to fill up.
Gildy, you mentioned those long pole window cleaning things.
They may look easy to use, but I can assure you they are not.
Maybe for the young strong and healthy.
Anon, that may seem quite good and EDF say I am using considerably less than many but that's just it, I am using it so sparingly, it's almost like the days of the powercuts in the 70's here...
Do I have too many gadgets? Not as many as it would seem really.
Well, a microwave oven can do a meal in minutes. I can with the right bowls etc...cook soup/baked beans and the like in the microwave or use a hob. I can cook some types of chicken in the microwave or warm it up.
The halogen oven can cook a chicken in 40 minutes. Or a whole meal at once...
I can still use the hobs on the cooker for frying(and use the grill part)
I boil the kettle occasionally but try to save water in the flasks...
I'm eating less and many meals are cold(salads, fruit, sandwiches, cereal etc...)
But whatever I use, when/if I need a hot meal it's going to add to the cost of the electric...it will be trial and error.
If I spend too much one day. I'll have to try and make it up another day...
Now in general I only have have one pc on at a time, the TV has been off for days...
So what does that leave? A couple of DAB radio's and most of the time only one on at a time, an energy saving lightbulb on the landing that I try to use overnight for safety and this one shines into all the bedrooms(if I leave the doors open)the landing, the toilet and bathroom, the stairs and the hall.
Is that a lot of items being used?
I don't think so but I cannot see how I reduce my use of power and heating any more than I have and all they have to do is put their prices up and we're in trouble...
I hardly use the washer/tumble drier. I'm not having a bath more than a few times a week, it's a quick wash and shave using the sink but of course you need hot water.
I think I am quite thrifty...
Alot of gadgets for a house in so called modern Britain?
Of course I have purchased in the hope these items will last for years and years and years.
And if something fails than I can use the replacement.
You could be right about the pole for washing windows...nturally they make them look easy...to sell them.
I did see a window cleaner a couple of weeks ago attempting to use one and that's the word...attempting...
I don't have a lot of space but I can move things around or see what is likely to be used the most.
The thing is that most my meals are reasonably simple so I guess I don't need a lot preparation space...and I have said I may move a microwave upstairs into the spare bedroom...
Then I could warm up a cup of tea or cook a quick meal and eat it upstairs...
I eat most of my meals upstairs anyhow...I don't sit at a table as such and the dinning room is no longer used...
I do have one of those tables on castors a bit like they have in a hospital where you can pull it across a bed or a chair, might bring that upstairs. I have one of those toaster sandwich grill things...may use it again! :-)
See what recipes I can find...
And use my water filter/jug...
I forgot one electrical appliance I have keep on is the fridge/freezer.
In an earlier comment I said NPower can do my electric and gas £2 cheaper than EDF over the year and that saved £24, no...It's actually £104, that's quite a difference...
The window cleaner gadget will probably be a waste of time and you could end up falling or something.
A plastic steamer for your microwave (don't buy - will turn up in a charity shop) are fab for making rice, esp. basmati, perfectly done in 10 minutes.
I am a terror for gadgets, choppers, blenders etc, but I get them all from boot fairs so they only cost a pound or so.
Cx
I think I have a steamer in the pantry :-)
If you have access to transport Boot Fairs can be really good for bargains.
I have all the right containers for the microwaves if I can find them...now, I am going through all the stuff in black bags they'll turn up I'm sure...
I should never need to buy another mug, cup, plate or any cutlery...
When I am gone it could end up in a Boot Fair but I suspect it will all end up on a rubbish tip somewhere.
Post a Comment
<< Home