Saving money in summer

We try to use the seasons to our advantage to save money. I wish that we had solar panels to use the free sun’s energy, but we don’t. When I enquired 25 years ago I was told the roof wasn’t suitable.  We do keep saying that we will buy a portable camping solar set up, and I want to. Maybe I am just a bit nervous about spending all of that money from my emergency fund and getting it wrong.

Here are some of the ways that we do utilise the sunshine to save money during the summer months.

1. Drying our clothes outside on a line, and only washing on a fine day. Ironically we often use the washer less during the summer. We wear less clothes and sometimes I hand wash under wear to save energy. Hot sunny days are useful to wash all the winter items and dry them outside. This includes coats, curtains, duvets, blankets, rugs etc.

2. Preserving using the sun. I use my conservatory a lot to dehydrate herbs, fruit, and vegetables, and items to make tea. Before I had a conservatory I would use the back shelf of my car, hang herbs up in my greenhouse, or leave things under muslin on trays outside.

3. Cooking inside using the sun. I keep saying that I am going to make a solar oven but haven’t  got around to making one yet. However, I start fruit or vegetarian dishes off in my heavy pans, and then stand them on a board in the conservatory to finish cooking by the heat of the room.

4. Cooking outside. We have a wood fired pizza oven and a fire pit with a rack. These are both great ways to cook food without using energy. The wood is foraged. We like to cook outside in summer. I love making fires and watching the flames dance. The kitchen stays cooler cooking this way as well.

5. Using solar lighting in the evening. I am in bed before lights need to go on, usually, but in late summer, as the dark nights draw in, I will use the solar lights in my room. Free light.

6. Walk more eg when shopping. This saves on petrol to use on days in winter when it is pouring down. It also gives me free exercise witout the cost of a gym.

7. Enjoying the weather. It is so much easier to entertain ourselves cheaply in the summer. There are lots of free outside local events and festivals. The local bandstand has free music and we can take a camping chair along, for example.  My grandson enjoys the parks, and we will often have picnics. Breaks away can involve spending all day playing on a beach, or walking in a forest without spending.

8. We open our conservatory inside doors to let the trapped heat inside the house in the evening. It warms the room up if it is chilly.

9. Grow food. Most of mine is grown in pots and so I will move them around to follow the sun, or place them in sunny, south facing spots. This way I harvest more. Growing my own food saves me so much money. I can also sell or swap seedlings, runners, or bushes that I have propegated.

10. Solar power bank. We have a small mobile phone sized charger that charges our phone and watches for free using the sun. It didn’t cost much money and has lasted about 5 years.

11. Sterilise water. Bottles of tap water put in the sun in clear glass bottles can be sterilised to reduce bugs that cause stomach upsets. The sunlight kills the microbes. I don’t do this all of the time but did it this summer when the tap water in our area was suspect and causing stomach issues. This method was used in Haiti after it was devastated by the weather.

12. Less television. We are outside more in the winter and so we rarely watch a film (or TV if I had one), and my grandson doesn’t want to watch videos or play games. This reduces my electricity bill during the summer months.

13. Warm water. If I put a big container of water in my conservatory all day, with the doors shut, it warms up enough to washup, wash myself, or hand wash clothes.

14. Prove bread. I often prove my bread outside in a big silicone bag on a summer’s day I don’t need the warming oven on. Yoghurt is easier to make when it is warm as well.

15. Eat from the garden and foraging. I hardly spend any money on food during the summer. We eat from the garden and from what we can forage. We also preserve this food to save for winter. This cuts down my food budget.

16. Make firelighters from pine cones that drop in 5he summer. This save us from having to buy any for winter. We also forage wood when it is dry and leave it to season for a year.

17. Make Christmas presents from what is grown and foraged. This includes things like fruit infused gin and vodka, jams, chutney, dried teas and herbs. This takes the pressure off me later in the year. Food is so abundant in the summer that I can afford to use some for presents. People love to receive them.

18. Cool showers save on energy. I don’t need a big, deep bath to warm me up. An almost c9ld shower is refreshing and uses less energy.

19. Eat cold food. I eat a lot of salads with things like cold quiche, feta cheese etc, and bread. I don’t cook as much as I do in the winter. Desserts are often fruit and icecream, or fruit salad, and so no energy is used to make a meal.

20. Sunshine improves our health and makes us feel in a better mood. My joints hurt less and my skin improves. It gives me a boost of vitamin D and lowers cortisol (the stress hormone). I don’t take any medications or supplements, but if I did, the amount and cost of them would be reduced in the summer as sunshine is medicine.