Save with James Pirie
How to Save Money
Well, well it’s a time when we are all talking about the cost of living and we at home are taking a few steps to save a few bob with next winter in mind and of course while the fleeting entity we call summer is here. We have already bought in the logs for next winter as log man Sandy tells us he’ll be upping the prices in the autumn, even though he bought the next two years worth of logs last November.
As I write this the missus is fiddling with the boiler programmer trying to figure out how to go down to one time a day for hot water heating rather than the two we normally have, because even though we are frugal, you never know where you can save a few pounds. So for your benefit and mine I have spent some time finding out some ideas. So the big savings are all in things like heating. If you turn the thermostat down one degree Celsius they reckon you’ll save over a £100 a year, and with the price rises coming that’ll be £150 soon. British Gas, recognisable by their stripey jumper and black mask and their hand in your pocket estimate that as much as 23% of our electrical usage, or £200 a year currently, could be put down to what are being termed vampire devices. I thought they were the blood suckers! (joke!) That is chargers left plugged in and switched on or items on standby and there is a whole host of these. There’s your TV , the Sky set-top boxes, hi-fis, games consoles all of them sitting there just waiting to be switched onto full power, but costing you real money. If they are old they’ll cost even more. But they add up. It’s your mobile phone, the electric razor, the electric toothbrush anything that you don’t switch off at the mains. Switch the beasties off when they are charged and that will save £60 a year at current prices. If you are like me you’ll leave your mobile charging overnight, but in reality on a fast charge it only takes an hour! Oh I think I’ll have to lie down with the money I’ve wasted.
And how about the washing, that’s a dear do I think? And the answer is yes on these Islands washing a load costs real money. According to UK Power it’s a sizeable 50p a go. Doing two loads a day would cost £7 a week. The means £364 a year if you have a large family. You can save on that by washing at lower temperatures, either 20° or 30°but if you go as low as 20° Which Magazine says it’s best to use liquid detergent. Just moving from a 40° wash to a 30° will save you 40% on the bill according to the experts. And spin your clothes before hanging them out to dry, instead of relying on your tumble dryer. We already only use the tumble drier when there’s a Z in the month.
And turning off heating while you are out for any length of time will save you cash says Martyn Bridges of boiler maker Worcester Bosch, who says: “It is generally more economical to turn off your heating system when you are not so much in need of it. For example, through the night or parts of the day when the house is empty.” Yes it will cost a bit to heat a cold house up again, but not as much as you will save it seems. And even the humble light bulb, if you do still have any traditional light bulbs, switching them for LEDs will result in a 69% energy saving on lighting costs. And you don’t have to sit in the dark.
And that old conundrum which is best a short shower or nice soak in the bath? Worcester Bosch the boiler people say a typical bath requires about 90 litres of water of which 60 litres is hot water and 30 of cold. So, providing you shower in less than 8 minutes, it will be more economical to shower, unless you have a teenager and they spend forever in the shower, in which case it would be cheaper to move to another country and assume a new identity.
And of course this wouldn’t be a rounded money saving blog unless I pointed you to the immense savings that are possible against normal prices by shopping at the James Pirie on-line shop. Half price offers abound and there are mighty bargains to be had by one and all and all since 1890. Try this while stocks last special offer at 80% off the normal price. These are Reflections - 6 Large Crystal Tumblers. The box is no anything special, but the price is. So take a gander at them now as they are bound to move quickly. Happy savings!
