Tips for living frugally - One liner tips

RedXIV

Perhaps a thread for one liner tips may be useful here?

To get the ball rolling:

• Bring in your lunch. The smarter you are here, the more money you could save. I tend to go to the extreme here, my weekly lunch as a result costs a little over €2. but if you spend €8 a day, or even €5 a day, thats €25 a week, or a €100 month.
• Shop around whenever possible. If you are coming up for renewal on anything, always shop around. The applies to insurance, mobile phone contracts, utilities, everything. I reduced my car insurance by over 60% the first time I got insured by ringing around after my first year was up.
• Consider your social budget. It's amazingly common to hear people splashing out €100+ every weekend on nights out. Thats fine, each to their own, but if you want to start squeezing pennies, you'd be amazed how much you save staying in with friends.
• Think outside the box. We're just about to reach the stage in my house where TV subscription is no longer necessary. My kids love netflix, and its only €7 a month. Pay an extra few euro and you can use a proxy service to get even more content. This could replace a monthly tv bill of 6 or 7 times the cost.

Michael D Not Higgins

Put on a jumper instead of turning up the heating.

utyh2ikcq9z76b

Get rid of netflix & get rid of the car

'Frugality is the quality of being frugal, sparing, thrifty, prudent or economical in the use of consumable resources such as food, time or money, and avoiding waste, lavishness or extravagance'

jantheman91

1. Drink water instead of Soda. Your pocket (and your body) will thank you for it.
2. Only fill the kettle with the amount of water needed for the cup of tea.
3. Buy frozen veg that can be microwaved in minutes. Will save having to boil water on the cooker without compensating health.
4. Walk where you can - Benefits of health and saving on petrol.
5. Turn off all lights when going to bed - Why people leave any on is beyond me.
6. Pre-drink with friends on social nights to avoid being scalped at the nightclub.
7. Find meals and snacks you enjoy eating that are cheap and healthy, and make a plan so as not to get bored eating the same thing.

If you're looking to squeeze money out of living then do the above. Should help. Good luck!

meoklmrk91

Make big pots of stews, curries, bolognese, chilli etc. freeze any left overs saves time and money cooking and no leftovers are wasted. And they are just as good when defrosted and heated.

When getting tickets for an event be sure to check the price on ticket master and at the venue, by buying directly from the venue you can often save money. I recently saved €12 by doing this.

Charity shops, car boot sales etc. I know this is an obvious one but a lot of people don't do it when there is plenty of good quality stuff to be had for cheap, the key is to make sure you don't end up buying a load of crap your don't need.

Most cinemas now have special nights around midweek where they have their tickets for €5, I now only go to the cinema on these nights. Going to the cinema is very expensive.

Keep your car in good nick, serivce it on time if you don't there will be a drop in fuel economy and you will end up with problems down the road.

Never buy branded medication, always ask for the generic, even if it is only paracetamol you will save money.

Take the books you no longer need to a second hand book and sell them, you will get a credit note and be able to use it against some more.

Bring your own lunch, another easy one, a drink, sandwich/deli food and a snack will easily cost you €5-6, bring a homemade sandwich or some leftovers from dinner the night before a piece of fruit or whatever snack you want and save yourself some money.

Buy bottles of water in aldi or Lidl, aldi have 12 bottles for €3, carry a bottle with you, you will never end up having to pay €1+ for a bottle of water in a convenience store again.

If you smoke and have any inclination to give them up at all try e-cigs, feel great and save some very decent amounts of money.

Buy dog/cat food in bulk 10-15kgs at a time, store it in air right bins. Only buy good quality food supermarket pet foods are false economy because you end up feeding way more than you would if using good quality, I get a 15KG bag of dog food delivered to my door for around €20 a month, it lasts around a month and a half for a Boxer, you will end up in the vets sooner or later you feed them crap as well, after all you are what you eat.

Pet insurance, can be gotten at very good rates, could save you a lot of money in the long run and give you peace of mind.

utyh2ikcq9z76b

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

Buy bottles of water in aldi or Lidl, aldi have 12 bottles for €3, carry a bottle with you, you will never end up having to pay €1+ for a bottle of water in a convenience store again.

Or just fill a bottle up from your tap

L1011

jantheman91 wrote: »

3. Buy frozen veg that can be microwaved in minutes. Will save having to boil water on the cooker without compensating health.!

Boiling water vs. paying significantly more for the frozen veg in the first place, this one needs serious weighing up. Contents of a €2 bag of frozen vegetables could be 30c in a greengrocer.


Shopping in one supermarket, no matter how good their loyalty offers appear, is guaranteed to be costing you money. Price up the two majors, the two discounters and your local butchers and greengrocers separately and only buy what's cheapest in each. Using both Tesco and Dunnes (and a Supervalu/Superquinn if you've a large enough one nearby) will usually get you all of their offers at that.

Scottie99

Phone sky tell'm you love sky but can't afford it. They'll offer you a discount for 3 months or so.......keep doing it

ElleEm

Scottie99 wrote: »

Phone sky tell'm you love sky but can't afford it. They'll offer you a discount for 3 months or so.......keep doing it

UPC do a similar thing if you threaten to cancel, they give you quite a large discount for a year. My bill was almost halved by them!

utyh2ikcq9z76b

Having sky etc is hardly living frugally, when you have options like Soarview and Freeview at no cost

DMcL1971

Use the website http://www.pumps.ie to find out the price of petrol at different garages in your area. It is not uncommon to have a difference of 10c per litre between garages in Dublin.

Drive slower. I increased my average MPG from 30 to 40 by reducing my speed on motorway driving.

Shop around for car insurance every year at renewal time. There is a shocking difference between providers.

jaffa20

ElleEm wrote: »

UPC do a similar thing if you threaten to cancel, they give you quite a large discount for a year. My bill was almost halved by them!

Halved:eek:

Scottie99

Knox Dead Knitter wrote: »

Having sky etc is hardly living frugally, when you have options like Soarview and Freeview at no cost

Staying in is the new going out.:pac: there are some things people can't do without..

Scottie99

Knox Dead Knitter wrote: »

Or just fill a bottle up from your tap

And if the tap water tastes like sh**e!

jantheman91

Scottie99 wrote: »

And if the tap water tastes like sh**e!

Saddle up cowboy!

Capt'n Midnight

Remember a bargain isn't a bargain if it's something you don't need.

Cantona's Collars

Knox Dead Knitter wrote: »

Having sky etc is hardly living frugally, when you have options like Soarview and Freeview at no cost

A lot of people prefer to keep Sky/UPC for the sports etc.

The money management folk in England told people not to cancel Sky etc. as it resulted in them actually spending more by going to the pub to watch football.

To help with the heating,balance your rads (no need for a plumber,there's vids on youtube)-it saves a fortune to have your heating working to it's optimum & put tinfoil behind the rads to radiate the heat out into the room.

Anyone with an open fire,don't turn down the chance to obtain free fuel.Ask for old pallets etc. from warehouses and the like then cut them up for firewood.

Mollyd90

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056310880


a thread from a while ago on money saving

amber69

My friend and I try to source coal and timber in bulk. Bought 2 ton of coal between us last march before the price rise. bulk buying gives you a lot of room for to haggle. Try to see the management or owners as some counter staff will just give you the standard discount.

siobhan.murphy

I see mushrooms were on offer in aldi for 59p so i bought 4 punnets made huge batch of mushroom soup and have frozen it

dor843088

Flush the toilet before you get up off it and you get a free ball wash (freshen up for the ladies) . You will thank me when the water charges come in

Grawns

Ask the people you phone with mobiles what company they are with. It makes you more aware if you're calling a different provider and you might save going over your tariff or using up your credit.

Most of my family are now with the same provider so we get free calls among ourselves.

lazeedaisy

when veg is considerably cheaper - I buy it and freeze it...

mushrooms: I slice and freeze BUT BE WARNED - DRY FRY them from frozen - we use them in omelettes, and with a grill - but don't take them out of the freezer and lie around - they go gooey: fry from frozen

I make my own bread - and add a bit more to the pot - then I have left over brown soda and make scones and freeze individually and they go with lunch - frozen soup

Slow down in the car - a bigger saving

I bulk buy my meat in Clonmore meats, carlow -

we eat 2 meatless dinners a week

I break down a sliced pan in 2 and freeze half:

When the end of day offers are in - you get really cheap pizza, quiche (which we slice and freeze in 4 portions, red, yellow and green peppers are oven roasted when the oven is on baking bread and we have a jar of oven roasted peppers to go in sandwiches,

Mostly all veg can be frozen, it is cheaper to buy fresh veg

Buy a slow cooker - you can eat cheaper meat

Bulk buy pasta

I make an end of the week pasta sauce - any veg left in the fridge gets thrown in a pot and cooked and put into empty jars,

I never buy full price yoghurts - always whats on offer

If something is on offer - I bulk buy - i.e. coffee - I buy 10 - not 2, chocolate bars for lunch again - buy 10 when on offer

I never used to use anything else but Fairy liquid for dishwashing - the Lidl blue is the same - try it

When washing clothes - I dilute the persil liquid as we always use too much - you only ever need a little

I picked up all my tips here over the years - I bulk bulk buy - I have a storage space that at the moment is quite a trove and when we have people to visit - they laugh at me.

I still have persil from the great 2011/2012 buyout, the same with comfort, I won't have to buy hand wash for the rest of my life, - remember the 44c one - still have 50 at the moment. Comfort Ironing water - still have 50


It's all about - not being brand loyal, trying other products or at least being open to them, and when an offer is on - buy at least 10 - I used to be embarrassed and take one or 2 - now it means I can afford to use persil, or more expensive brands.

Make lists and plan dinners and lunches, its cheaper, but keep your eyes open for bargains - I recently started making my own oat flapjacks with the 93c oats for 1kg in Tesco. I bake every sunday and maximise the oven space and always plan ahead to make sure its full.

Its hard at the beginning - but comes a way of life once you get used to it,

crayon80

dor843088 wrote: »

Flush the toilet before you get up off it and you get a free ball wash (freshen up for the ladies) . You will thank me when the water charges come in

Great idea for those that don't have a penis beaker

Ninap

Keep a record of your expenditure. You need to know where you're spending to really start saving.

Most people's biggest expenditure is on accommodation and transport, then food. It may be hard to reduce your rent/mortgage, but might be possible. Certainly, if you can get rid of your car (or one of them) you'll save a fortune. Buy a bike under the bike to work scheme and it'll only cost around half the normal price, and will quickly pay for itself if you start commuting on it.

Watch your groceries expenditure - particularly expensive things like dishwasher tablets (i've just used Tesco's Everyday ones and they're perfect, and about a quarter the price of some branded ones).

if you need to save, cutting out eating out is a good way to go (although we all need to live a little too)

L1011

Ninap wrote: »

Watch your groceries expenditure - particularly expensive things like dishwasher tablets (i've just used Tesco's Everyday ones and they're perfect, and about a quarter the price of some branded ones).

That reminds me:

There's certain items where the "normal" price is never to be paid. Branded dishwasher tablets (all one brand that there usually is!) are one of them. Fruit cordials (Miwadi/Robinsons), Punch colour catchers, Persil liquid are some others that come to mind. These will be on offer at least 6 months of the year if not more. If you run out when they're off offer it may be cheaper to buy the smallest pack and come back a week later.

Watch out for brands that very frequently have a +33% or +50% deal on, e.g. Weetabix or Lyons Tea. Can make smaller packs better value than the large ones.

borderlinemeath

Join local businesses on facebook. My local butcher does 'fiver friday' specials as well as bulk buy deals, when I see what he has on fridays offer I can plan a few meals around it. Another offer I availed of was a new hair salon opening and I got a cut/colour for €35 because I could take a mon/tues appointment.

I started feeding my dogs raw instead of commercial dry dog food (a lot of the dry foods on the market can be really bad for your dog, particularly supermarket brands) and through wholesalers and butchers I can feed my 2 dogs for about a €1-€1.50 a day. Last time I went into the butchers on a Sat eve just before closing and he gave me a bag of scraps and 15kg of tripe for free!. That's over 2 weeks free food for my dogs.

If you have the time and inclination make your own soups, stews and pasta sauces from scratch. Cheaper and far tastier than shop bought. A big batch is easily frozen for later use.

Have a look in the reduced fridge in your local supermarket, one night I got 4 bags of carrots for 9c each so I made a big batch of carrot & coriander soup.
Same with getting any of the veg cheap, just make a batch of vegetable soup, and for soups and pasta sauces I always buy the bacon offcuts pack in Aldi for €1.99, it's a kilo of odd sized rashers and bits of bacon and perfect for adding a lovely bacon flavour to your dishes.

When things like toilet roll are on special offer, buy in bulk! There's no expiry date and for a decent sized pack of toilet roll it can be very expensive. Same with the likes of toothpaste/mouthwash, washing powders, shower gels. (I find dealz usually have great offers on branded shower gels)

livinsane

I do all the following:

Energy

Wash clothes at a lower temp. 30 degrees is sufficient for most.

Use a clothes horse. I've hardly used the tumble dryer this year. And we have a new baby in the house....so much washing. Takes a bit of time to lay everything out but the energy savings are massive.

Use heavy curtains and draught stoppers at the bottom of doors for better insulation.

Food

Grow your own lettuce. Those bags of mixed leaves cost about €3. Growing lettuce is easy and most varieties are "cut and come again" meaning they will keep growing new leaves after you cut them. You can do it in a window box if you don't have a garden.

Invest in a chest freezer and stock up when there are deals on meat. If you make a sauce and don't use it all - freeze it in ice cube trays. Buy a pack of herbs for a special meal? Freeze what you don't use immediately or you know it will inevitably end up rotting in a corner of the kitchen despite your best intentions - even more frugally, grow herbs because they are low maintenance and extremely expensive in the shop.

Freeze left over wine to use for cooking. Also, a bottle of vermouth can be used for cooking in exactly the same way as white wine - tastes the same and keeps on the shelf for longer.

If you live near the sea, buy a basic fishing rod and a few lines of feathers and live off the bounty of mackerel that graces our shore for the summer months. You don't even need bait to catch them. I have often taken fresh mackerel to give to people at work and have received rabbit, pheasant and home grown produce in return.

Lifestyle

Join the library.

If you use gmail, check out the spreadsheets on Google Drive. There is a great budget excel sheet that automatically totals your figures.

If you want to buy a luxury item, have a 24 hour cooling off period to reconsider the purchase. Chances are you will decide not to buy it.

Make budgeting and living frugally a hobby so it feels rewarding.

Pay more for quality when it makes sense - footwear for example.

If you have nappy wearing children, consider cloth nappies. Forget the old terry cloths, modern re-usable nappies are another level and look wicked. They use quality snaps so you can adjust the fit to suit from newborn to toddler. If you don't think it's icky, you can get great second hand deals. I bought 27 leading brand nappies for €190 through facebook (would have cost up to €500 new). These are all I need for the next three years (and for any future children). I've been using them exclusively for the last month and can praise them enough. The money savings are obvious although the cost of extra washing has to be taken into account. They dry overnight on the clothes horse.

LOTTOWINNER

Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.

el pasco

DMcL1971 wrote: »

Use the website http://www.pumps.ie to find out the price of petrol at different garages in your area. It is not uncommon to have a difference of 10c per litre between garages in Dublin.

Drive slower. I increased my average MPG from 30 to 40 by reducing my speed on motorway driving.

Shop around for car insurance every year at renewal time. There is a shocking difference between providers.

I find that pumps.ie is not updated very often and so can be very out if date

el pasco

LOTTOWINNER wrote: »

Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.

Shouldn't it be;
Look after the sense and the yo-yo's will look after themselves! ,-)

jockeyboard

livinsane wrote: »

I do all the following:

Energy

Wash clothes at a lower temp. 30 degrees is sufficient for most.

Use a clothes horse. I've hardly used the tumble dryer this year. And we have a new baby in the house....so much washing. Takes a bit of time to lay everything out but the energy savings are massive.

Use heavy curtains and draught stoppers at the bottom of doors for better insulation.

Food

Grow your own lettuce. Those bags of mixed leaves cost about €3. Growing lettuce is easy and most varieties are "cut and come again" meaning they will keep growing new leaves after you cut them. You can do it in a window box if you don't have a garden.

Invest in a chest freezer and stock up when there are deals on meat. If you make a sauce and don't use it all - freeze it in ice cube trays. Buy a pack of herbs for a special meal? Freeze what you don't use immediately or you know it will inevitably end up rotting in a corner of the kitchen despite your best intentions - even more frugally, grow herbs because they are low maintenance and extremely expensive in the shop.

Freeze left over wine to use for cooking. Also, a bottle of vermouth can be used for cooking in exactly the same way as white wine - tastes the same and keeps on the shelf for longer.

If you live near the sea, buy a basic fishing rod and a few lines of feathers and live off the bounty of mackerel that graces our shore for the summer months. You don't even need bait to catch them. I have often taken fresh mackerel to give to people at work and have received rabbit, pheasant and home grown produce in return.

Lifestyle

Join the library.

If you use gmail, check out the spreadsheets on Google Drive. There is a great budget excel sheet that automatically totals your figures.

If you want to buy a luxury item, have a 24 hour cooling off period to reconsider the purchase. Chances are you will decide not to buy it.

Make budgeting and living frugally a hobby so it feels rewarding.

Pay more for quality when it makes sense - footwear for example.

If you have nappy wearing children, consider cloth nappies. Forget the old terry cloths, modern re-usable nappies are another level and look wicked. They use quality snaps so you can adjust the fit to suit from newborn to toddler. If you don't think it's icky, you can get great second hand deals. I bought 27 leading brand nappies for €190 through facebook (would have cost up to €500 new). These are all I need for the next three years (and for any future children). I've been using them exclusively for the last month and can praise them enough. The money savings are obvious although the cost of extra washing has to be taken into account. They dry overnight on the clothes horse.

What is this 'left over wine' you speak of?

livinsane

jockeyboard wrote: »

What is this 'left over wine' you speak of?

When you pass out after 4.5 bottles and wake up two days later and that half bottle isn't quite good enough for drinking anymore.

justsomebloke

ALWAYS check the price. Just cause something was cheaper doesn't mean it still is.

Check the price per KG. You'd be surprised at how often Multipacks and bigger boxes are actually dearer per KG than normal packs.

When shopping around make sure you are doing so efficiently. Include the cost of any transportation in your shopping budgets. There is no point going to another supermarket to save on some items, if the saving are less the price it cost you to get there.

If you are on a pay monthly mobile phone contract and are always spending more on your mobile bill then just the standard charge then chances are you are on the wrong bill.

Make sure that the electronics that have to remain 'always on' are on different switches then those that can be turned off. You will end up turning off more stuff at night this way.

There are plenty of cheap ways to stop drafts in your house. This will keep the heating costs down while keeping the house warmer for longer.

Only buy one type of sock. This will save you both time and money.

gazzer

A couple of things I have done over the last year to save a LOT of money

No longer buy Newspapers

Go to Asda every 6 weeks and stock up on Wine, Dog Food, Cat Food, Toiletries, large bags of Rice and Pasta

Shop in Aldi and Lidl

Bulk buy Chicken Breasts in the local Butcher

Got rid of Sky subscription

Always shop around when Car, Home, Life insurance is up for renewal

Make big curries, stews etc that I use for lunch as well as dinner.

Stopped using the tumble dryer and instead use the Clothes Horse

lazeedaisy

just remembered -

My mum lives on the far side of the M1 in North Co Dublin and regularly phones me to tell me she is heading to Newry : I log on to www.mysupermarket.co.uk and see what special offers are - and then compare prices in particular - my tasssimo coffee - i click on it and find the product and a comparison against others comes up

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Shopping/FindProducts.aspx?Query=tassimo[/IMG]

I then make a list and tell her what to buy where -

Just in case anyone else heads north its handy

Grawns

I order a a range of nicotinell gum, cat food, dog treats on a monthly subscription from Amazon ( order 5 subscription items get 15% off ). I save €10 a pack on the gum and a fair amount on the rest.

flutered

RedXIV wrote: »

Perhaps a thread for one liner tips may be useful here?

To get the ball rolling:

• Bring in your lunch. The smarter you are here, the more money you could save. I tend to go to the extreme here, my weekly lunch as a result costs a little over €2. but if you spend €8 a day, or even €5 a day, thats €25 a week, or a €100 month.
• Shop around whenever possible. If you are coming up for renewal on anything, always shop around. The applies to insurance, mobile phone contracts, utilities, everything. I reduced my car insurance by over 60% the first time I got insured by ringing around after my first year was up.
• Consider your social budget. It's amazingly common to hear people splashing out €100+ every weekend on nights out. Thats fine, each to their own, but if you want to start squeezing pennies, you'd be amazed how much you save staying in with friends.
• Think outside the box. We're just about to reach the stage in my house where TV subscription is no longer necessary. My kids love netflix, and its only €7 a month. Pay an extra few euro and you can use a proxy service to get even more content. This could replace a monthly tv bill of 6 or 7 times the cost.

download torch browsser and you are living a bit cheaper.

DMcL1971

flutered wrote: »

download torch browsser and you are living a bit cheaper.

How does a different browser save me money?

Jellybaby1

lazeedaisy wrote: »

just remembered -

My mum lives on the far side of the M1 in North Co Dublin and regularly phones me to tell me she is heading to Newry : I log on to www.mysupermarket.co.uk and see what special offers are - and then compare prices in particular - my tasssimo coffee - i click on it and find the product and a comparison against others comes up

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Shopping/FindProducts.aspx?Query=tassimo[/IMG]

I then make a list and tell her what to buy where -

Just in case anyone else heads north its handy

Do you have to have a UK postcode to register with mysupermarket.co.uk?

mike65

MAKE A LIST AND CHECK IT TWICE!

Plan your food needs for a week - yes that means sitting down and planning your evening meals. Do not deviate from your shopping list unless its to buy a given type of product cheaper than would otherwise be the case.

Learn to cook, chances are you can and if you like a good soup/stew/pasta type dish you can eat very cheaply indeed without it being "boring"

If you have a bin check that you have the most cost effective plan - might pay per lift be more cost effective if you live alone?

sunbeam

Grawns wrote: »

I order a a range of nicotinell gum, cat food, dog treats on a monthly subscription from Amazon ( order 5 subscription items get 15% off ). I save €10 a pack on the gum and a fair amount on the rest.

I get almost all my pet food using the Amazon subscription service.

The prices of individual products can vary from month to month but if you place a new subscription for a product when the price is low Amazon will honour the price for your first delivery even if it increases before the delivery date. Hence I create new subscriptions for the best value food each month and postpone or cancel them when the prices increase.

If you are ordering multiples of the same product it is often useful to create a separate subscription for each in order to qualify for the 15 percent discount. For example it will work if you create five separate subscriptions for an item rather than just creating one and specifying a quantity of five.

lazeedaisy

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Do you have to have a UK postcode to register with mysupermarket.co.uk?

I don't register you should be able to use it without - just close down the pop up that asks and start shopping - keep pressing it - it eventually gives up -

Also - forget that I order my dog treats twice a year on amazon & toothbrush heads - I would buy monthly on amazon and should really consider the monthly shop and save option.

Kenjataimu

Can't you sign up for amazon subscriptions to get the subscription price and then cancel the subscription once the first order has been dispatched?

Never tried it myself though, so can anyone confirm this still works?

gerdoli

One thing that doesn't come up for renewal is life assurance. As it"s required for the term of your mortgage, a small monthly saving will yield a big dividends. Save €10 per month for say, 15 years= €1,800 . Easy to do this, with online quotes available

cruhoortwunk

During the winter, when you're done using the oven, leave the door open. Doesn't make sense to trap all the heat in and then turn the heating on

Get off the expensive monthly mobile bill. The likes of 48 has a plan for tenner a month (unlimited text, 300mins, 1GB data), and you can tell a white lie to pretend you are under 22. Trust me, they couldn't care less.

mike65

I always leave the oven open after cooking

lazeedaisy

mike65 wrote: »

I always leave the oven open after cooking

me too - I bake every week (always make sure the oven is full!) and the heat it amazing - I wash the tins and bung them back in the over to dry properly too! using all that heat!

Thargor

Errrr... where do ye think the heat goes if you leave the oven door closed? Unless its a Stanley with a chimney attached it all ends up in the kitchen anyway, might be better to leave it closed and get a slow release effect.

aligator_am

Get a slow cooker, brilliant for doing stews and the like and very cheap to run.

Also, pick up a large flask / thermos, saves you constantly boiling the kettle although not sure how long it would take to recoup the cost?

mjv2ydratu679c

aligator_am wrote: »

Get a slow cooker, brilliant for doing stews and the like and very cheap to run.

Also, pick up a large flask / thermos, saves you constantly boiling the kettle although not sure how long it would take to recoup the cost?

Why not just boil enough water for a cup of tea/whatever you need the water for - saves on buying a thermos flask.