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Post by gar on Jun 12, 2022 8:57:59 GMT
So I’m guessing fuel means something different in the UK? When I hear fuel I think gas for my car, not anything that I would associate with my house. So does it mean like natural gas? We use petrol or diesel for cars so yes, fuel means natural gas (not gasoline), electricity etc. Anything that's used for heating, cooking etc.
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Deleted
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Oct 7, 2024 23:36:44 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2022 9:58:12 GMT
So I’m guessing fuel means something different in the UK? When I hear fuel I think gas for my car, not anything that I would associate with my house. So does it mean like natural gas? Collectively it covers natural gas/propane gas/ oil for domestic heating/electricity and petrol/diesel. When we use the word in general we normally mean electricity/natural/propane gas which is also refereed to as energy. We usually refer to car fuel as either petrol or diesel. RedSquirrelUK - Are you taking your own readings and uploading them on line to your energy supplier each month? I did this at the end of March ( on the advice of a programme I watched by Martin Lewis) to make sure that they had an up to date reading on both electric & gas before the price hike on April 1st. They then had no excuse to "estimate" what our consumption was on 1st April and in turn maybe charge us a higher rate based on their " estimate". As for savings - I turn the TV off at the wall so no standby use. Our CH boiler had to be repaired in February. We were advised then that the repair was probably not going to last so we decided to replace it. The boiler was 15 years old and the new one is far far more efficient than the old one and has lowered our consumption somewhat. I'm not sure if that is totally down to seasonal use as yet but our gas bills use has reduced, We will know better come the winter but the plumber assured us it would. We have individual thermostats on our radiators. I've turned those right down in the rooms we don't constantly use such as DD1's bedroom, the spare bedroom and the dining room. We've also turned down the thermostat on the CH boiler down slightly. We don't need that water so hot as it used to be. It is still hot and quite adequate for our needs. I've also started to wash more clothes on 30deg than the usual 40 deg - they come out just as clean. I also now wait until I have a full load rather than a part load. If dishes are not that soiled I also use the eco wash on the dishwasher. I also don't use it every day but maybe twice every three days rather than every evening irrespective of how loaded it was. I now wash my saucepans by hand as I don't have enough to wait for the dishwasher I didn't use my tumble drier that much anyhow but I haven't used it once since April 1st. I used to put my laptop to sleep, I now turn it off altogether if not in use. I read another tip on using a slow cooker rather than the oven. I now use it for other meals and not just casseroles. It's surprising what meals you can do in a slow cooker. My hob is gas but my oven is electric. I also batch cook more and freeze so it's quicker to reheat in the microwave rather than cook from scratch each time. My bug bear is that DH and DD are very casual on switching lights off when rooms are not in use - they are getting the message though. They put our monthly DD up too on April 1st so I'm hanging on now to see what June's reading is. At the moment we are about £250 in credit. If the amount of credit goes up in June then I'm going to ask them to refund some of it as no way I'm going to have any more being carried forward towards the higher winter bills. We were usually in credit at the end of the summer ready for winter in previous years but not this early in the year.
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Post by compeateropeator on Jun 12, 2022 10:52:39 GMT
Truthfully not really anything totally new or different other than more bitching. 😉😄
I heat mostly with natural gas. My condo is electric heat and I have a small natural gas heater downstairs. I pretty much only use that heater. I had it replaced last November so it is as efficient as it is going to get. This time of year it is shut off unless I turn it on for a few minutes to just take off the chill. I also did just replace my front door so that will help as the other was so old and definitely had gaps between/in the door and frame.
I have mostly worked from home since the pandemic. I still travel where and when I want to as that is all that I really do and I am willing to pay the cost of gas to continue. It is summer and our family camp is open, so I usually go up for at least one night a weekend. It is about 60 miles one way/1.5 hours away. Again not willing and/or having to give that up at this time so I am not.
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Post by mikklynn on Jun 12, 2022 11:38:47 GMT
I have a new house that should be more energy efficient than my last house, although the old place had more passive solar in the winter with large south facing windows. I don't mind wearing a sweater and setting the thermostat lower. I have no idea what my heating costs will be.
As for gas for the cars, I'll be driving my smaller vehicle for errands. I have always tried to combine errands into one trip, so that won't change. I am keeping my late DH's larger SUV for now. It's handy for hauling things and DS doesn't have to rent a car when he visits. It hurts to fill that thing up, though!
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Post by myshelly on Jun 12, 2022 13:35:24 GMT
So I’m guessing fuel means something different in the UK? When I hear fuel I think gas for my car, not anything that I would associate with my house. So does it mean like natural gas? Collectively it covers natural gas/propane gas/ oil for domestic heating/electricity and petrol/diesel. When we use the word in general we normally mean electricity/natural/propane gas which is also refereed to as energy. We usually refer to car fuel as either petrol or diesel. . Thanks! I only have electricity at my house. Is it common for one house to have a combination of all those different power sources?
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Post by gar on Jun 12, 2022 13:44:39 GMT
Gas/petrol in the UK is already $8.60 a gallon. Drivers in the USA have it easy! It costs me almost £100 (approx $123) to fill my car with petrol at the moment. That’s a 60 litre tank I believe.
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Deleted
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Oct 7, 2024 23:36:44 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2022 13:45:29 GMT
Collectively it covers natural gas/propane gas/ oil for domestic heating/electricity and petrol/diesel. When we use the word in general we normally mean electricity/natural/propane gas which is also refereed to as energy. We usually refer to car fuel as either petrol or diesel. . Thanks! I only have electricity at my house. Is it common for one house to have a combination of all those different power sources? Most houses have electricity and natural gas in the UK. The preferred form of heating is by gas, it's generally cheaper than electric and much more efficient. Maybe a house off the beaten track ( in the country) they may very well use oil,propane gas or electric for heating because the pipe lines are not there for the natural gas. All houses have an electric supply.
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Post by Zee on Jun 12, 2022 13:46:57 GMT
Collectively it covers natural gas/propane gas/ oil for domestic heating/electricity and petrol/diesel. When we use the word in general we normally mean electricity/natural/propane gas which is also refereed to as energy. We usually refer to car fuel as either petrol or diesel. . Thanks! I only have electricity at my house. Is it common for one house to have a combination of all those different power sources? It's common here to have natural gas/propane and electric, and some places use heating oil. Some houses I looked at in PA used oil. Some I think in a few areas use kerosene, or at least I knew someone online who did. I was taken aback because I thought that ended in like Little House On The Prairie times. I've never lived anywhere that didn't have both electricity and some form of gas.
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Post by gar on Jun 12, 2022 13:47:51 GMT
Collectively it covers natural gas/propane gas/ oil for domestic heating/electricity and petrol/diesel. When we use the word in general we normally mean electricity/natural/propane gas which is also refereed to as energy. We usually refer to car fuel as either petrol or diesel. . Thanks! I only have electricity at my house. Is it common for one house to have a combination of all those different power sources? Yes it is 😊 Central heating is often gas powered and many people prefer gas hobs (stove top?) to electric, but an electric oven.
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pyccku
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,817
Jun 27, 2014 23:12:07 GMT
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Post by pyccku on Jun 12, 2022 14:46:20 GMT
We are solar, so that covers our electricity. For gas, we combine trips and use the Prius instead of the van whenever possible. We’d like to trade the van for an EV, but they are impossible to find right now.
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RedSquirrelUK
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,899
Location: The UK's beautiful West Country
Aug 2, 2014 13:03:45 GMT
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Post by RedSquirrelUK on Jun 12, 2022 17:10:11 GMT
So I’m guessing fuel means something different in the UK? When I hear fuel I think gas for my car, not anything that I would associate with my house. So does it mean like natural gas? Fuel is any material that is burned to produce heat or power. I was talking about electricity or (natural) gas used to power/heat the home, but we can talk fuel for the car as well. Prices at the pumps this week where I live convert to $8.50 per gallon for diesel. It's costing me £10 just to drive 8 miles to work and back 3 days a week. Inflation is at 9%. We had a 2% pay increase, the first for 2 years. DH has been clearing out the top of his wardrobe (closet). He found a couple of jigsaw boxes that we had almost forgotten about. I'm thinking we're going to be working on those to the accompaniment of the radio after our cheese on toast (grilled cheese) for tea (dinner) tonight. It's like growing up in the power cuts of the '70s again.
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Post by gar on Jun 12, 2022 17:46:33 GMT
So I’m guessing fuel means something different in the UK? When I hear fuel I think gas for my car, not anything that I would associate with my house. So does it mean like natural gas? Fuel is any material that is burned to produce heat or power. I was talking about electricity or (natural) gas used to power/heat the home, but we can talk fuel for the car as well. Prices at the pumps this week where I live convert to $8.50 per gallon for diesel. It's costing me £10 just to drive 8 miles to work and back 3 days a week. Inflation is at 9%. We had a 2% pay increase, the first for 2 years. DH has been clearing out the top of his wardrobe (closet). He found a couple of jigsaw boxes that we had almost forgotten about. I'm thinking we're going to be working on those to the accompaniment of the radio after our cheese on toast (grilled cheese) for tea (dinner) tonight. It's like growing up in the power cuts of the '70s again. It’s very concerning isn’t it. God knows what the winter holds 😞
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jun 12, 2022 19:07:33 GMT
Is it common for one house to have a combination of all those different power sources? It's pretty common here in the US. Other than apartments, every place I've lived has had both natural gas and electricity. We have natural gas for heating, cooking and hot water. We even have the option for a gas dryer, but don't use that. I have noticed that more new builds seem to be all electric though.
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Post by mom on Jun 12, 2022 20:10:56 GMT
Collectively it covers natural gas/propane gas/ oil for domestic heating/electricity and petrol/diesel. When we use the word in general we normally mean electricity/natural/propane gas which is also refereed to as energy. We usually refer to car fuel as either petrol or diesel. . Thanks! I only have electricity at my house. Is it common for one house to have a combination of all those different power sources? Its common in my area -- I always assumed because we usually lose electricity in the winter at least once. Most homes have electricity for lights and then gas for heat. Stove/oven could be either one.
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Post by mom on Jun 12, 2022 20:20:00 GMT
We are dreading Winter and how high gas for our home will be. We've even debated selling our home and finding a home that is all on one level so we don't have two levels to heat. But at the end of the day, we dont want to move. So we will just lower the heat temperature in the winter and ride it out.
DH gets a gas allowance for his pickup as part of his employment package so that helps with the rising costs. Normally we can save that part of DH's check and stick it in the bank. Now its going to actually pay for gas. DH's travel pretty much stays the same, but I am making more of an effort to combine trips for errands. We also are choosing not to go out of town (driving) as much for now. In the past, we'd wake up on Thursday and decide to drive 5 hours to Dallas or OKC at the last minuet for fun. Now we are discussing if we really do need to go or can it wait for another time.
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moodyblue
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,255
Location: Western Illinois
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 21:07:23 GMT
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Post by moodyblue on Jun 12, 2022 20:24:05 GMT
I can’t say I’ve really made any changes. I already tended to run errands when I need to be out and about for something else. If I want to go somewhere, I do, but being retired means I don’t have anywhere I need to be on most days, and I like being home.
I run the AC more than some people, but I’ve found it’s just better for my allergies if I don’t keep the windows open. And I’m unwilling to be uncomfortable if I don’t need to be.
I don’t turn off things any more than I used to, and I run the washer and dryer and dishwasher like I always have - but it’s not tons by most household standards as it’s just me in the house.
I don’t like the prices and how they seem to be up by ridiculous amounts, but I know that I am lucky in that the higher prices are not causing me real pain or to have to make difficult choices.
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Post by Basket1lady on Jun 12, 2022 20:28:24 GMT
I hadn't purchased gas in quite some time because I haven't been going anywhere lately other than a quick trip to the grocery store or a local restaurant to pick up dinner. The full tank that I had put in a few months ago was lasting me for the little trips I was making. I went to get another full tank and saw the price of gas at my normal station was $6.97 per gallon!!! I was shocked. Truly shocked. I only put in $20 worth and plan to go to Costco to fill it in the next few days. I don't know Costco's current price, but it has to be cheaper than $7 a gallon, right? I have planned on driving to Oregon after my house sells and taking my 3 cats and small dog in the car with me. I figured flying would be too expensive when I added in the critters. But now with the price of gas, I might have to sit down and figure out which would be a better option. Flying is appealing because it would have my cats in their containers for a much shorter period of time. I plan to have the vet give me something to make them sleepy so that it isn't so hard on them whether I drive them or fly them up there I am anticipating a HUGE electric bill because the contractor has had several machines running 24 hours a day to dry out the area from my water leak. They have been running for 9 days so far. This leak is going to end up costing me a fortune. And the insurance isn't paying for much at all. Be sure to check with the airline before making a decision. Also, how will you get your car there? It’s moving season for us military people and there’s a lot of angst about flying with pets. Someone’s family dog was just surrendered because they didn’t prepare properly to have the pet on their flight back to the US. If you want your pet in cabin, it needs to go under your seat. So that’s only 1 pet for you—what to do with the other 3? In the past, we’ve paid between $125-250 per pet to fly in the cargo area. Most importantly (and this may just be for overseas flights), but I’ve heard that airlines are no longer allowing pets in cargo for non-military passengers. Because of fewer personnel and the need to get a living creature out of the underbelly of the plane and off a hot tarmac, they won’t allow it. It’s best to do your own research since your parameters are different than mine, but be prepared. As far as prices, I paid 180€ to fill the Jeep last week. That was for 80 liters/22 gallons. My jaw dropped!
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Post by Lexica on Jun 12, 2022 20:45:14 GMT
Be sure to check with the airline before making a decision. Also, how will you get your car there? It’s moving season for us military people and there’s a lot of angst about flying with pets. Someone’s family dog was just surrendered because they didn’t prepare properly to have the pet on their flight back to the US. If you want your pet in cabin, it needs to go under your seat. So that’s only 1 pet for you—what to do with the other 3? In the past, we’ve paid between $125-250 per pet to fly in the cargo area. Most importantly (and this may just be for overseas flights), but I’ve heard that airlines are no longer allowing pets in cargo for non-military passengers. Because of fewer personnel and the need to get a living creature out of the underbelly of the plane and off a hot tarmac, they won’t allow it. It’s best to do your own research since your parameters are different than mine, but be prepared. As far as prices, I paid 180€ to fill the Jeep last week. That was for 80 liters/22 gallons. My jaw dropped! I just did a quick translation of euros to dollars. That's $189 to fill your Jeep! And it came out to $8.59 per gallon! That is just disgusting. And I'm whining over $7 per gallon here. Yeah, after thinking about flying last night, I decided to just bite the bullet and drive my car. I have been thinking of selling my car here if I flew up and just buying a new Subaru when I get to Oregon. I get notes on my current Subaru all the time from people offering to buy it. I still find that so weird. It happens when I am out in a public parking area, but also in my own driveway. My car has super low mileage, but they don't know that. It happens so often that I almost put a sign in my window that the car is not for sale. And since I've decided to just drive, I will be needing to keep the car at least for a while. I won't buy a new car here since Oregon has no sales tax and it would be a better deal to buy it there. I have been quite happy to drive my older Subaru. Then the dealership lent me a brand new one when I needed to have a little bit of work done on my car. OMG, that new Forester was so nice to drive. It didn't feel like the same type of car at all. Dirty trick by the dealership, I'll tell ya, making me fall for the new car. In addition to being so much nicer, it also felt so much bigger in comparison to my Forester.
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Post by myshelly on Jun 12, 2022 20:54:52 GMT
Thanks! I only have electricity at my house. Is it common for one house to have a combination of all those different power sources? Its common in my area -- I always assumed because we usually lose electricity in the winter at least once. Most homes have electricity for lights and then gas for heat. Stove/oven could be either one. I know it’s not unusual for houses in the US to have both gas and electricity, but the person I was responded to listed like five different kinds of energy with electricity and gas and propane and oil and whatnot and I was wondering if houses where she is have ALL of those. Having 2 doesn’t seem weird to me, even though we only have electricity, I’ve heard of people having gas, I just haven’t heard of people having electricity and gas AND others besides that.
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Post by christine58 on Jun 12, 2022 21:40:17 GMT
Collectively it covers natural gas/propane gas/ oil for domestic heating/electricity and petrol/diesel. When we use the word in general we normally mean electricity/natural/propane gas which is also refereed to as energy. We usually refer to car fuel as either petrol or diesel. . Thanks! I only have electricity at my house. Is it common for one house to have a combination of all those different power sources? I heat with gas and also have electric power for appliances etc.
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Post by gar on Jun 12, 2022 21:59:15 GMT
Its common in my area -- I always assumed because we usually lose electricity in the winter at least once. Most homes have electricity for lights and then gas for heat. Stove/oven could be either one. I know it’s not unusual for houses in the US to have both gas and electricity, but the person I was responded to listed like five different kinds of energy with electricity and gas and propane and oil and whatnot and I was wondering if houses where she is have ALL of those. Having 2 doesn’t seem weird to me, even though we only have electricity, I’ve heard of people having gas, I just haven’t heard of people having electricity and gas AND others besides that. Ah ok…then no, it’s not common to have gas, electric plus others. Not as far as I’ve come across anyway.
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Deleted
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Oct 7, 2024 23:36:44 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2022 22:31:57 GMT
Its common in my area -- I always assumed because we usually lose electricity in the winter at least once. Most homes have electricity for lights and then gas for heat. Stove/oven could be either one. I know it’s not unusual for houses in the US to have both gas and electricity, but the person I was responded to listed like five different kinds of energy with electricity and gas and propane and oil and whatnot and I was wondering if houses where she is have ALL of those. Having 2 doesn’t seem weird to me, even though we only have electricity, I’ve heard of people having gas, I just haven’t heard of people having electricity and gas AND others besides that. Sorry I should have been more clear but I was referring to the use of the word fuel when I mentioned all of them. It's electricity in all houses plus natural gas or oil or propane gas. One only has oil or propane gas if there is no natural gas to the property. If one has oil it's only for heating not cooking as they would use electric for that.
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Post by gizzy on Jun 12, 2022 23:45:17 GMT
Our home uses natural gas & electric. Both bills have gone up. Our heating bill doubled. Electricity has gone up over $40 this past month. We've been turning off lights like crazy and not running the air as cold as we like it. Unfortunately, how our house is situated between our neighbors leaves us without much of a breeze into the house.
Gas is almost $6. DH is driving the car w/ the best gas mileage while I'm working from home. We barely go anywhere.
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RedSquirrelUK
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,899
Location: The UK's beautiful West Country
Aug 2, 2014 13:03:45 GMT
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Post by RedSquirrelUK on Jun 13, 2022 9:52:10 GMT
@dottyscrapper We've been doing all that for years, other than unplugging the TV at the wall, because we can't get to it. DH is a monitoring nerd. We haven't got a smart meter because he doesn't trust them. We take our own meter readings on the 1st of every month. We have a Tado system that controls thermostats on every radiator, keeping the house/pipes from freezing when we're not in it, which we can control from our phones to turn it on just before we get home. We wash full loads of clothes with eco balls at 30* with reduced rinse and only use the tumble dryer to give the towels a final fluff because DH prefers them fluffy - I'd be happy using rough-dried towels. Slow cooker, batch cooking, new fancy boiler, individual thermostats on radiators, eco-wash on dishwasher or hand-wash. We have LED lamps wherever the fittings will allow. Recharge batteries. Reuse/reduce/recycle. We've been thinking about getting solar panels for years, but we haven't got much south-facing roof space. Still working on that one. moodyblue We have hay fever too and I came up with an idea for the windows. We have white UPVC window frames. I bought sticky Velcro, and stuck narrow strips of the hooks all around the small higher windows. I buy white wedding tulle, or net fabric (I'm not sure what you'd call it) and cut it an inch or so larger than the Velcro strips, and stick it on. It catches the worst of the pollen and also stops insects getting in, so there are fewer cobwebs and the lights don't attract moths. I vacuum it often and replace it twice a year. It doesn't show. Nobody knows it's there unless I point it out. I wish there was a biodegradable mesh I could use - still working on that too - it's all work in progress, isn't it?
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 7, 2024 23:36:44 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2022 10:08:56 GMT
I found this fact sheet quite informative RedSquirrelUK on what different appliances use, some more surprising than others. In fact a TV isn't that high.
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Post by CardBoxer on Jun 13, 2022 10:47:03 GMT
Is it common for one house to have a combination of all those different power sources? It's pretty common here in the US. Other than apartments, every place I've lived has had both natural gas and electricity. We have natural gas for heating, cooking and hot water. We even have the option for a gas dryer, but don't use that. I have noticed that more new builds seem to be all electric though. We live in a suburb of Washington DC in Virginia and everything is electric. Two heat pumps—one for main and rec room level, one for upstairs. One street over has electric and gas, like you say. I wish we did. Our last house in Maryland had gas and electric but even then cooking was electric. That’s how the whole neighborhood was. gas buddy.com shows gasoline in our area from $4.89 to $5.29 for regular.
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blue tulip
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,006
Jun 25, 2014 20:53:57 GMT
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Post by blue tulip on Jun 13, 2022 15:22:05 GMT
we're combining trips more often, and rethinking longer, more frivolous errands we might've gone on. my husband is planning to buy a little scooter to ride to work instead of taking his truck. it will take the summer to recoup the purchase price, but then will start saving us.
we both are starting to donate plasma again also. we're comfortable, but the economic instability is making me worry.
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milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,571
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
Mar 18, 2015 4:10:31 GMT
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Post by milocat on Jun 13, 2022 16:01:00 GMT
@dottyscrapper moodyblue We have hay fever too and I came up with an idea for the windows. We have white UPVC window frames. I bought sticky Velcro, and stuck narrow strips of the hooks all around the small higher windows. I buy white wedding tulle, or net fabric (I'm not sure what you'd call it) and cut it an inch or so larger than the Velcro strips, and stick it on. It catches the worst of the pollen and also stops insects getting in, so there are fewer cobwebs and the lights don't attract moths. I vacuum it often and replace it twice a year. It doesn't show. Nobody knows it's there unless I point it out. I wish there was a biodegradable mesh I could use - still working on that too - it's all work in progress, isn't it? You don't have screens on your windows? We have so many mosquitos, flies, bees, wasps etc here you couldn't open your windows without screens. I wash my screens once a year, but would do it more if I had allergies.
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Post by worldwanderer75 on Jun 13, 2022 20:10:49 GMT
We've cancelled a road trip we were planning for the 4th of July weekend and are staying closer to home. I'm combining errands and mostly driving our sedan around instead of our SUV. That's it so far for fuel cutting. Not totally fuel related but rising-costs-of-everything related, we're eating way more meals at home and have severely limited the amount of "frivolous" stuff we're buying.
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StephDRebel
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,692
Location: Ohio
Jul 5, 2014 1:53:49 GMT
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Post by StephDRebel on Jun 13, 2022 20:38:24 GMT
I don't use much electricity to notice a difference really but with petrol I'm saying multiple prayers of gratitude that DH has a corporate gas card and that i only drive a total of 15 miles every 2 weeks so my monthly cost is about $10 at our current costs.
I can't imagine what my situation would be if costs were like this when my children were little, I was commuting and our food costs were way higher.
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