Cut your bills to pay for your luxuries!

At the moment we're cutting back on the luxuries so we can afford our bills. Now it's time to cut back on our bills to afford our luxuries!

My easter present from mum was a little unusual this year, but I love it. She got me Ideal Home magazine, which is full of really expensive design ideas that I will be copying for half the price, and interesting articles that led me to todays blog.

They have a wonderful article on Oliver Heath - a TV presenter who completely remodeled his house to be as eco friendly as possible. I'm not suggesting you go to quite the effort he has, spending £440,00 to buy the house and a further £130,000 in refubishment (!) but there are steps you can take that don't empty your bank account. Oliver estimates that it will take just 10 years to make back the refurbishment money with the savings he will make, which is incredible. If he can make back £130,000 in 10 years then we're all capable of making some pretty hefty savings ourselves with the right steps.


You need to start with the most obvious thing: changing your habits. Being green is a lifetime goal, not an instant save. Think of each habit you change as saving you 5p every time you remember. Add in just 1 habit a day and you'll only save £18.25 a year, but add 3 habits a day and you've saved £54.75!

Do you leave the door open when you take the bin out? Or leave lights on in various rooms even when no one is in them? How about leaving the shower running for 5 minutes to 'warm up' while you're getting ready? I'm not suggesting you lock yourself out of the house, sit in the dark and take a cold shower in the morning. That would be my worst nightmare! But pull the door almost closed, flick the light off when you'll be out for more than a few minutes and only leave your shower running the 30 seconds it needs to warm up before getting in.

Other ideas include keeping the doors in your house closed, only boil the water you need, switch things off instead of standby, don't leave things plugged in if you're not using them. All of these suggestions don't sound like they add up to much, but over the course of a year you'd be surprised.

Next you move on to simple solutions; conserve your heat and save water. A quick run down shows what you can do and how much you will save per year:

Seal drafts around doors, windows and loft hatches: £55
Insulate your hot water cylinder with a 75mm jacket: £40
Switch an old boiler to an A-rated condensing boiler: £100-£300
Fit a low-flow shower head: £90 (based on water-meter bills for a household of 4)

Swap incandescent lightbulbs to fluorescents: £55+ over the bulbs' life.
Swap a 70W halogen bulb with a 6W LED light: £70 over its' life.
It doesn't sound like much, less than £5/year saved on a lightbulb. But think of the bigger picture; most people will have 10-20 bulbs in their house as a conservative figure. That's £50-£100/year!

Insulate your loft to 270mm thick insulation and you can save £175/year. Add cavity wall insulation into the equation and you'll add a further £135/year. (based on a 3-bed semi detached house)

The final and biggest step is to start generating your own energy. This is where it gets a little complicated, so I'll be devoting another blog to that one!

So there you have it, some quick and painless steps to make your house more energy efficient. What habits will you be changing? Write them in comments below and we'll all try them together!

Post Fifteen: Light Bulbs!

Happy Monday Everyone!

This weekend was so fabulously sunny Tom and I decided to get out and do something despite the fact we were both ill. Saturday was spent mooching around the shops and treating ourselves to a few new clothes (which went onto my printed wardrobe diary!). I got some amazingly comfy trousers and a pretty pink top from New Look - I'm really feeling spring colours at the moment so I love the delicate flowers on the trousers and the pale pink of the top. :) I also got myself some No 7 nail varnish in Me! Me! Me! which is a bright pink colour. Then it was off to Asda for the weekly shop.

We managed to last nearly a week on just my Saturday shop last week - so happy! Only had to pop in for bread for Tom's lunches. :) Might not have the same success this week as I was nowhere near as organised and we didn't really buy anything except picnic food this week, but thanks to bulk buying last week I don't think I'll need to go in until later in the week at least. I also remembered to take in one of my bags for life, so that cut out 2 or 3 bags that would've been wasted. Next goal: remember both!

Sunday I picked up a casette to iPod converter for my car, because it's so old I could only listen to the radio up to now. Then Tom and I got some new trainers each, since his are falling apart and I haven't bought any for 5 years! Shopping finished, we headed to Victoria Park for a picnic. I was really excited to use the hamper I got for my birthday. :) We had some yummy sandwiches, pork & pickle sausage rolls, pringles, smarties cookies and amazing Ice Cream Soda to drink. Not the healthiest, but considering all the walking we did over the two days I'm giving myself a break!

Now I'm back at work glaring enviously at the people out in the sunshine, but it's made a little better by the fun Upcycling Ideas I've found for used light bulbs on pinterest. My favourites on the page are the mini hanging-basket style vases and the glittery christmas tree decorations. Can't wait to try out some of these ideas. Now I just have to wait for some bulbs to blow.. (at which point I'll pop in energy saving ones of course!).

How did your weekend go? Did you get crafty or go out in the sunshine?