I can’t think what possibly gave me the idea to look for ways to save money on my energy bills by looking for a lagging jacket or hot water tank jacket for my hot water tank this afternoon, but as I was looking out on the rain soaked garden from my home office window the thought just came to me. Funny that.

While I browsed the  Hot Water Tank Jackets At B&Q’s Website I began to wonder what else you could do to cut the costs of heating your hot water.  I clearly have too little to do this afternoon, because the ideas came to me very quickly!

First of all there is the pipes from the tank to the tap – put some whacking big insulation or  Pipe Wrap on them and then you can reduce the timer on the water heater to start saving money. Plus because the water is hotter you would need less of it for your bath as well.

Now you may think that the only other options are to start installing some major DIY projects like solar water heaters (largely a waste of money at the stupid prices being charged for what is essentially a very basic piece of technology) or upgrading to a better boiler or pump (yes, apparently the right hot water pump for your radiators will save you money too), but you’d be wrong.

Check out the web or pop into any DIY shop like B&Q, Focus, Homebase or Wickes and you’ll find Radiator foil that will reflect heat back into the room.  It doesn’t give you more hot water out of the tap for less, but if your central heating is on a thermostat you’ll end up warming up the room quicker and spend less gas or electricity heating the water in the radiators.

Although there may be other quick options available to you that for a modest expense of around £200-£250 can give you a much bigger energy saving.

When do you do your groceries shopping? Friday afternoon or Saturday morning? Don’t you just love the mayhem? If you hate the Saturday morning shopping at Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s or Asda’s then this is a tip that would interest you.

As the headline says, buy groceries online. This way you can do it at your own pace and without having to deal with screaming kids – and best of all, you’ll save yourself from all the impulse buys.

Pretty much every supermarket chain now offers some kind of home delivery. You can find them all on  mySupermarket .

But what if you need specialists? Or maybe some of the other shops offer better deals? Able & Cole and Whiltshire farm foods are two other companies that offers home deliveri4es of vegetables and frozen meals respectively.

In other words, there is no longer a real need to dive into the mayhem that is Friday and Saturday shopping. Unless you prefer that sort of thing of course. But each to their own. I prefer to do my shopping with a keyboard.