Cost cutting tips. So with the spiraling cost of food and electricity I thought this would be good.

I was gifted one of these Amane shower heads- uses less water/electricity. You can cut the water temporarily on the shower head too(not recommended to have this function for electric shower) . I tested the water flow to fill a mug of water with old shower head vs new one -it cut water use by almost half so it does seem to work.

…find there’s more hot water left in the immersion after a shower 👍

That’s where it was bought. It has an inner filter (prevents perforations clogging) which can be rinsed/replaced. Perforated plate easily cleaned also. No major water issues here. No blockages in shower head after 6months use. Currently Shower is running directly off immersion & water pressure but would work fine pumped also.

Yes I might get one, looks like great flow from it.

My next tip is …. ditch your alarm monitoring company & install your own alarm kit. Get notifications via your phone/s . You can set up cameras for verification etc. Saves (€35 x 12) = €420 per year. (Minus initial equipment costs of course).

👍 I’m not super familiar with the heads with beads …I’ve seen ones where it’s supposed to remove chlorine etc. Yours seems intriguing 🤔

The amane would work with your triton, the cheaper one without the cut-off function. 👍

Convert your petrol car to LPG if there is a station nearby where you can fill up. I had this done about 5 years ago, paid for itself within the first year as the conversion cost 950 to do but after that can fill up for about 84c-1.10 per litre. You'll burn slightly more litres of LPG but still works out a good bit cheaper

Another one i forgot about is if you dont have a slow cooker look into wonderbags can make your own version basically any box fill it with olds duvet or pillows . Bring to boil what ever meal your cooking wrap it in cotton as synthetic melts and place into box surround pot with pillows and weigh down to prevent loss of steam. If doing an online shop see if any of the neighbours shop in same place and spilt the delivery cost

A lot of fridges & freezers have defined room operating temperatures by manufacturer - going outside those can cause them to stop working.

Do not put a fridge or fridge/freezer in a cold room. It can cause your freezer to defrost, as fridge gets too cold to need any further cooling which switches compressor off. The freezer may well still need cooling, but cant turn the compressor on as its shared. Result is freezer gets too warm and starts to defrost.

Reduce interest payments on any debt Understand what your most expensive credit is, and minimise these where possible. Sometimes that might mean turning an expensive debt into a cheaper one.

1) Credit cards. Never just pay the "minimum", always clear it. If you can't clear it, get a small credit union loan for it. You'll pay much less in interest on the credit union loan than on the credit card loan

2) Other loans like personal / car / pcp etc

3) move your mortgage to a cheaper one.

Review Subscriptions and direct debits

If you have TV subscriptions (netflix, disney, amazon etc) or games subs, see where you can reduce.

Can you reduce your mobile phone plan or internet bill plan.

Newspaper or other subs.

Clubs or gym memberships - do you use them or is there a cheaper alternative

Look over your bank accounts and check for any direct debits.

Make full use of any benefits you have

Check your employee benefits, some have discount schemes with shops or on company products, refunds on gym memberships, discounted tickets for events or cinema.

Use the library instead of buying books. It's a great service, and many have services available now where you can even swipe in out of hours if the times don't suit you. With library membership there is borrowbox available for those who use electronic readers etc.

Share resources with community

There are loads of ways to swap clothes, books, toys/baby equipment if you engage with local community

There are also community allotments available in some areas for growing

If using the dish washer, adjust the program if you can, I find on my one the 1hr 15min cycle is just fine cleans well and uses about 800/1kWh over the cycle. I'm planning not to use dishwasher at all over winter, will just use hotwater if available from heating at time, thinking of getting a flask to store kettle water over day so if any left that can go towards sink water.

Some mentioned bin bags, I ditched them along with the food ones, just use paper in compost bin old newspapers, and give other stuff a rinse if needed, majorty is now recycled or just seperate it once its going to main bins, its cleaner than it sounds and no bags.

Not really energy saving at home, but if you have any clean drinking water left over I usually chuck it in a watering can and let it build up, more useful on the hotter days without rain, I use it in garden. Also any water left over in drinking bottles, I usually just mix them into windscreen washer in car with the mix from Lidl.

Not sure of ins and outs if this helps, but I have started to turn down the heat in the shower where its not so much cold but just borderline bareable gets the job done and your out quicker.

Also have a look when in Lidl for things on offer like Carrots/Onions/Mushrooms when they are like 39/49c, easy to chop up and pop in freezer for a later date, also good tip for any carrots etc.. keep an eye on dates/condition and freeze before they end up in bin.

...I'm intrigued I never heard of those before 🫠

Edit: I googled this and under product description states "Great to take the chill away, or when in need of a warm hug or feeling under the weather during lockdown."

Who needs a person hug when you have a heated throw😁

I want one of those heated throws, they had them in Lidl last year, will surely come in again before winter!