winter-proofing

Moving away from the kitchen for a minute (I think you will discover the vast majority of my thriftiness comes in the kitchen, but I am trying hard to expand that sphere), here’s what we’ve been doing to winter-proof our draughty Victorian flat.

Living in rented accommodation, we can’t make any permanent changes, nor want to invest too much money, so most things are either temporary for the season or can be taken with us when we move.  Last year, we got a huge shock when our gas bill was more than double anything we’ve ever paid in the past, so this year I am going to be well-prepared for the coming cold months.

Things we have done/are doing:

·         installed a door curtain over the front door (thermal door curtain from eBay for around £20, pole from Argos) – most expensive investment so I hope it’s worth it

·         blocked up all the chimneys with pillows wrapped in bin bags (99p store for pillows)

·         foil-wrapped cardboard behind the radiators

·         taped up the super-draughty cat flap in our back door

·         bubble wrap (99p store) on the windows (only certain ones that I don’t mind not being able to see out of!)

·         safety pin some fleeces into curtains (cheap IKEA fleeces…not sure how many I have left from last year, so I’ll just do what I can)

·         make some draught snakes out of old clothes

·         possibly scour charity shops for thick fabric to hang on the walls to help absorb/hold heat (hallway and master bedroom only, as these are the coldest parts of the house)

·         ordered many meters of draught tape from eBay to line all windows (something like £3.87 for 11m??)

I’ll try and insert links for some things in a bit.

I know a lot of people are big into blankets, hot water bottles and warm socks, which yes we have all of, but the air itself actually needs to be warmish in the evenings, as Finn can’t exactly sleep with a hot water bottle in his cot!  G and I tend to have lots of fights over the heating – his come-back is always that he wants Finn to be warm enough.  I think Finn’s a bit tougher than G gives him credit for, AND his room tends to be the warmest in the house by a couple degrees.  He has a really warm sleeping bag and is dressed in a fleece sleepsuit on cold nights, so we’ve never had a problem with him being cold.  I will try and convert G a bit more to wrapping up warmer in the evenings, as the living room tends to get a bit frosty, so hopefully we can avoid fights this winter.  So that’s why I’m focusing primarily on keeping the house as warm as possible rather than ‘us’ per se, if you see what I mean.

With so many shops nearby, I’m not big into stocking up on foods for winter, since I usually have plenty on-hand at any given time.  We do need to ponder the cheapest solution for G’s car, as he has to drive to his 2^nd job.  Possibly some second-hand tire chains, but I have no idea what these cost and will need to investigate.  Have already got an ice scraper and some de-icer, but need more.  I think we still have a shovel from last year for digging out snow.  Would like to get a few emergencies bits like blanket, bottled water and food for his boot, but that’s pretty easy to get cheap stuff from Aldi for.