FOOD TIPS
1. Don't eat out or buy takeaways. You can eat so much cheaper by cooking at home.
2. If your house has some extra land plant a vegetable garden and look around for neighbors, friends and relatives with whom you can swap vegetables or other food. Ask for gardening advice. Don't forget there's also a lot of advice available free on the Internet.
3. If you have enough room on your land, keep some hens. Eggs can be swapped for vegetables or fruit, or even money.
4. If you live in the country the possible ways of stretching your budget are even greater. Small farmers will be only too glad to give you jobs in exchange for food items. Even dairy farmers keep beef cattle and/or sheep for their own freezers. If a farmer has enough work (pulling out and/or spraying weeds, for instance) you may even be able to barter a full side of beef in return for labor. If you live in a dairy farming community a farmer may be willing to teach you how to milk cows, enabling you to stand in for farmers who need a break. Small farmers are usually very generous with help and/or advice. If you're a good worker the news will soon spread!
5. If your own country house has a few acres you can even keep your own animals. This will give you meat for your freezer and earn a little money for you as well. Ask neighboring farmers for advice. And don't forget the Internet!
6. Make your own bread, especially if you own a breadmaker. If you bake a cake, use your oven to its capacity by doubling the recipe and freezing the second cake.
7. Have an occasional "scratch" meal. Your family's health won't suffer with beans on toast (or something similar) once a week. If they're still hungry they can fill up on bartered or home-grown fruit.
8. Freeze any vegetables from your garden that you can't use at once or haven't been able to barter for something else. Tomatoes can be turned into pickle or chutney.
9. Bottle or freeze any oversupply of fruit, or turn it into jam.
10. When expensive vegetables that freeze well are on special, buy plenty, as long as your family likes them. Just make sure you freeze them on the day you buy them!
TIPS FOR SAVING POWER
1. If you live in a relatively temperate climate (frosts but no snow) and don't have a fireplace or wood burner, you can help keep power spent on heating down to a minimum by wearing good thick thermals (top and bottom) under a tracksuit--and I mean the type of thermals a mountaineer would wear, with a fleecy brushed lining. Add a knitted thermal hat, thermal socks and slippers and gloves with no fingertips. If you're working at a computer, or sitting reading or doing other sedentary work, and are still cold, you can do what I do--shove a hot water bottle up your tracksuit top. *G*
2. If you use electricity to heat your house in the evening, make sure your heater has a thermostat.
3. Turn off lights not in use. Change to fluorescent lights in your kitchen or workshop, if possible.
4. Make sure your hot water pipes and hot water cylinder are well lagged.
5. Take showers instead of baths, if possible, and stay under the water for only as long as you absolutely need.
6. Change your shower head to one that saves water. After all, you don't need a deluge to clean yourself.
7. Don't shower every day if you can get away with it. A "sponge bath" between showers cleans you surprisingly well.
8. Stop using your clothes drier if you have one. If (in winter) you can't get your clothes dry in time without it, try putting up a temporary clothes line in a garden shed or somewhere similar.
9. For small amounts of hot water (say, to wash a few dishes) boil your jug or kettle rather than taking water from your hot water cylinder.
10. Use your dishwasher, if you have one, only when it's full. Set it to use cold water, if possible. An added advantage here is that your machine will last longer.
11. Wash your clothes in cold water, using a special detergent for cold washes. Treat stains with a special stain remover for cold water, and leave the load to soak overnight for a cleaner wash. Turn the machine on only when you have a full load; it costs almost as much in power to wash a part load as it does a full one. Your machine will also last longer.
12. Lower the temperature of your hot water cylinder if it's too high. If you can't do this yourself, your electricity supply company should be able to help you. Take full advantage of any other economy tips they have available while you're about it.
13. If there are only two in your household, a small benchtop/countertop oven is more economical than a full oven. If you have one, USE it.
14. Likewise, make as much use of your microwave as you can. Borrow some microwave books from the library if necessary to learn all the wonderful things your microwave can do.
15. If you have a pressure cooker, there's no better way to make soup stocks quickly and economically. Home made soups are not just cheaper than bought; they're also tastier and more nutritious. There are many other things a pressure cooker can do, too.
16. If you have a Crock-Pot (slow cooker) it turns the toughest meat into tender, delicious casseroles using far less power than your oven. On low it uses no more power than a 60W light bulb. You can also steam puddings in it (and I believe you can even bake cakes) and, as long as you use the low setting, you can be sure your baked custard won't overcook.
17. If your oven is electric, turn it off five minutes or so before the end of cooking time.
18. Don't use saucepans that are too small for the element or gas burner, and once the water is boiling set the heat only high enough to keep it simmering.
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