No… Off, Constant, Timed.
With the excessive heat, we’ve enjoyed cold showers… wonderful… no need for the boiler.
OH uses a kettle so he can shave in hotwater…
Winter = CH+hot water: Off, Constant, Timed
(Can’t see the point in pulling water through the boiler just to warm 2 plates, but I can warm them on a radiator if the CH is ON.)
Can I just point out I suggested. Not insisted.
Please don’t put words in my mouth.
As the suggestion came from you I took it as an instruction. 
Our plates go on top of a saucepan of whatever, warms them quickly.
That really doesn’t help as we have no idea where ‘here’ is from your perspective.
Yep, I’ve thinking about that and I’m sure Mother used to do that… and use a teatowel to lift them off and away…
OH would have to be in charge of that, as my hands don’t work well enough.
I believe you’re in the Charente-Maritime… so that’s where you’re noticing these shortages.
In Dordogne, when I ran-amok in the supermarket… I too saw the (edible) oils were noticeable by their absence (which is why I grabbed 2 bottles of my favourite OOil… 9€/l)
I could have grabbed the remaining 3 bottles, but that seemed greedy… just hoping I don’t regret it… 
there were still some bottles of mustard (Dijon even) as I remarked to OH that this had been mentioned on SF. (NO, I didn’t put any in my trolley…)
Can someone please explain to me what you need all this “oil” for? I don’t think I’ve ever bought it. Only oil we have is virgin cold pressed olive oil, of which there is plenty.
Actually @SuePJ in my case it is the Cold Pressed Virgin Olive Oil… which I use sparingly 'tis true…but it is an essential part of much of my cooking/dishes…
and it was this CPVOOil which was the only “oil” on the shelves and not many bottles, either.
Try to avoid supermarkets!
Instead, buy fresh local, seasonal veg, cheaper cuts of meat, and cook clever.
Not exactly totally money saving, but learned a lot this week this week by deconstructing a wonderful, though not cheap lunch with friends in what many (including me) consider the best resto in Figeac -La Racine & la Moelle. My entrée of vitello tonnato was made with thinly sliced tête de veau, rather than the usual decent sized joint of veal shoulder - not only a very cheap alternative, but one that could be used for just two people.
Over the past fifty years, I’ve learnt much about getting a lot from a little through southern European, Maghreb and Middle Eastern recipes. not least minced and ground meat recipes - particularly lamb and veal meatballs and kofta kebabs. Poitrine d’agneau has endless possibilities and for cheap duck, try aiglettes de canard - stir fried or grilled on satay skewers.
Fish? Good quality tinned sardines with linguine and chilli can feed two people for a couple euros each. and moules go with many more things than just frites.
Starch? Dried pulses - sold loose - haricot blancs, lentils, chickpeas, couscous.
Lastly creative use of left overs - blitzing a few haricot blancs with some veg or chicken stock stock makes a simple creamy soup - add whatever you like to this base.
heartily agree… my freezer carries bits and bobs all ready to be blitzed and added to “whatever” when it’s cold enough for soup… or something… often a baked potato gets a “special” topping…
Having hot water on a timer makes an incredible difference. Also the size of hot water cylinder and temperature also makes an incredible difference. And then on top of that, if you have hard water, getting a steatite hot water cylinder makes sure you get more efficiency versus a scaled up element. I now also have two hot water cylinders, smaller one for daily use and larger one if visitors. I also have the power on a wifi controlled plug so can turn on and off remotely - saved me a good amount so far, versus continuous heating of just my 200 litre tank that was previous practice. With all the raging sun here, now thinking about using the sun for the hot water i.e ‘0’ electricity use in Summer for hot water 
These are exactly the sort of things we use our two extra freezers for. Add to that chillies and peppers for curries and chillies throughout the year. I’m always surprised at people who don’t make stock from meat bones (except pork) and any vegetables that are past thier best. We had so much produce last year that it’s lasted us all through the winter with some to spare. Also, that frozen fruit makes excellent wine 
We used to scour the pub as well, but it stopped being delivered about 6 months ago 
@SuePJ , olive oil is great, and we use it all the time. However, it isn’t suitable for some cooking as it has a low smoke point. If you want to do a stir fry or a curry, or if you want to shallow or deep fry then olive oils should never be used for such purposes. Even below the smoke point, the oil will start to break down and can create some unhealthy by products.
I thought that had been debunked. The sunflower etc oil industry has a vested interest in discrediting olive oil.
I go even one stage further in terms of using a “non-p c” product - butter! 
Salmon steaks marinaded in a spicy sauce and then popped into hot butter in a frying pan
Crepes? Wipe a thin layer of butter over the pan.
Mushrooms, cut up small, heated in sizzling butter with salt and black pepper.
I have no need for any of these oils.
Use peanut oil, arachid, for stir fries etc.
chicken sausages (a local speciality) cooked in a pan of sizzling butter… yummy !!!
I do like butter for frying - adds a lovely richness.
Peanut oil is good, as is sesame oil which I use for stir fries. For curries, I use rapeseed oil and clarified butter. Olive oil is really not good for cooking at high temperatures. Try putting some in the oven at around 190C and you’re room will fill with acrid smoke.
Went to Eymet market and found the finest fish I have seen in a long time but, of course very exspensive. We bought sausages and bacon from a stall and found that exspensive.
But you really have to pay for quality,
,
Shoulder of lamb in Leclerc 26 euros and that feeds 2…lots of bone and fat.