Hello Dear Reader,
This year, I had to make the choice between heating my house or having a holiday. I chose pain free warmth. I still have to watch the budget. As gas and electricity prices increased, I had to make larger monthly direct debit payments all year to put money aside for the cold winter months. This might seem like a big expense but my previously painful winters have taught me that I need to be warm.
I budget by having savings so I can afford to buy two tonnes of logs each winter. The logs and the winter gas bill would pay for my ferry to France but I can no longer cope with the joint pain that winter brings me so I’ll forsake a holiday for the sake of being pain free throughout the winter. Now, all that being said there are plenty of ways that I keep the house warm. To start, we made the most of virtually free home insulation and had the loft insulated and the cavity walls insulated which saves us a mass of money. Next, I use thermal linings in my curtains which create a triple glazing effect when they are closed.
Our wood burner chimney is central and internal so it actually heats four rooms of an eight room house. When we are about to go to bed, we fill the stove up with logs and put our clothes racks into the lounge (away from the fire for safety) and make the most of the cost of the logs. On weekdays, we don’t get home until six pm and have the fire lit until nine pm so we make the logs we have last. We also save on the heating bill by only having the central heating on from 5.50-6.30 so the house is just warm but not heated. At the weekends, we have the fire lit by four in the evening so we don’t run the central heating at all then.
On cold days, it’s certainly warming to come home to a hot meal and I make really good use of my slow cooker to ensure we always have something ready when we get in. Some times, I cook four meals and we have the same again on the following day which saves on energy costs. Some times, I’ll only have a small piece of meat and I’ll add that to soup the next day.
A staple here, all throughout the winter is soup. I love all kinds of smooth vegetable soup and chunky minestrone too. I’ll make a big pot to last us a few days and we’ll take some to work for lunch too.
I truly feel for anyone reading this who is feeling the cold in what seems like the longest winter I can remember! Share your ideas on heating? Would you freeze for a holiday? Are you cold just so you can pay the rent or mortgage? Who else is rationing the gas and electricity? Go on, let it out and have a good moan. I feel much better for having mine.
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxxxx
