At The Gower Abundant Cottage we try to live by the seasons. Although Summer does have it's challenges of keeping our home cool without breaking the budget, there are many ways to save a little money here and there.
* We keep our curtains closed ( or almost closed ) when we know it's going to be a hot day. Quite often we don't need to put our evap cooling on until mid afternoon.
* When a heatwave is on it's way, I cook enough potato salad or pasta salad for 2 or 3 dinners. All I have to do is add a green salad and sliced meat. This saves on gas ( cooking ) and makes meal times easy.
* On warmer days we try to get the housework done in the morning, then spend the afternoon relaxing. If we did our housework in the afternoon, we'd be more inclined to turn the evap cooling up high because we'd be hot and bothered.
* Electric fans are our first choice on a hot day. They only cost a couple of cents an hour to run. The evap cooling is only turned on when the fans are not enough.
* Deli meats ( sliced meats ) are a wonderful yet expensive addition to Summer meals. To help offset the high price, we try to grow salad veggies in our garden.
* Keeping a Summer veggie garden requires lots of water. To offset the higher water costs, we have shorter showers, pour recycled water into the washing machine and water the garden after the Sun goes down.
* We make the most of our clothesline. Drying the washing outside is free. On super hot days we hang the washing on clothes horses then place them outside on the decking.
* We live almost entirely off our food stockpile and only pop into the supermarket for milk and a handful of perishables. This saves us petrol and reduces to temptation to impulse buy to make meal prep easier.
Wendy, you never cease to amaze me at your collective actions to reduce cost and maximize your resources. As I am from California, I am curious as to what a clothes horse is?
ReplyDeleteA clothes horse might be known as a clothes airer where you live.
DeleteThis has got me thinking about installing ceiling insulation. I poked my head up into our ceiling space recently and we do not have insulation.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the art of curtain drawing has been lost on many over the years. Curtains seem to be mainly decorative nowadays
Phil, I'm always surprised that people have their curtains open on hot days or have no curtains at all.
DeleteStay hydrated and drink lots of water. We run our aircon almost 24/7 during the hot and humid times. We try to offset this by being super careful with electricity usage. We have an older solar system but it is rare for us to pay a bill. I, too, cook one meal and use it several times. I do the reverse with shopping. Because fruit and veg do not last well I tend to shop for those twice a week. I make a list and stick to it.
ReplyDeleteI like your meal ideas. I am going to try planting potatoes and hope to get such a haul. Cheers
ReplyDeleteThis may seem counterintuitive, but: drink tea or water, nothing with icecubes.
ReplyDelete