Money saving hacks to adapt your home
As we move through this amazing time of rapid inflation and rising petrol and electricity costs its more important than ever to make your home work for you. Its fascinating to look at how home life has changed over the years based on world events and attitudes. After the wars women went to work so our homes became time saving automated machines. Being able to afford the latest gadgets and run your home in luxury was the height of society. Unfortunately this meant that in many ways we went too far into it meaning that we started needing more and more money in order to keep our homes running this way. This lead to stress and time poor families who rush around and whos homes just suck money. We buy everything to work for us rather than doing it ourselves for free or much less money and often not much more time.
Upgrade your garden to save money
The change from farms to gardens back to victory gardens then back to beautifying your neighbourhood has been a long one. Gardens used to be about feeding your family. Then they moved to a sign of wealth that you could buy all of your food and have ornamental plants in your garden. Then during ww1 and ww2 they moved to needing every space for growing food then again after this it was a social status to not need to grow your own and we went back to ornamental. In fact we went so far into this that many communities banned the growing of food as it made the area look poor. Thankfully councils have seen the error of their ways and communities are coming together to plant verge gardens where anyone can come and eat for free. If covid taught us anything its that we need to be more self sufficient and not rely so heavily on the supply chain.
What can you do?
Even rentals can grow their own food. Plants reduce temperature around your home by providing shade and creating better soil that absorbs water leading to less flooding and less waste.
- Start a compost pile. These can be as small as a bin that you put all of your kitchen and garden scraps in. Or as large as a three bin system that is constantly in rotation. If you don't have the space some communities have compost areas that anyone can bring their scraps to. Coffee grounds, leaves, grass, are all great for the garden.
- Get worms! Worm farms can be made of foam boxes which are often free at your local green grocer. Stab some holes in the bottom and layer with mulch, newspaper, scraps and worms. The juice makes an amazing fertiliser when heavily diluted and the worms will make short work of your kitchen scraps.
- Pot it up. Even the smallest balconies or even window sills can hold food. Lettuce and tomatoes grow great in pots, in small courtyards raised portable beds can hold onions, garlic and beetroot and even potatoes. Fruit trees can go great in large pots especially lemons and blueberrys just make sure to cover your blueberrys to save them from the birds. Larger gardens can have rotating beds of greens, peas, carrots, leeks, or what ever you use often in the kitchen.
- Grow it up. Large and small gardens benefit from vertical growing. Fruit trees can be trained to grow flat to a wall or fence and trellising cucumbers, pumpkins and other trailing vegetables looks amazing and provides shade.
- Save water. Any down pipe can be attached to a rainwater tank. Small 100L ones can be bought online for just $100 with a small hole needed to divert water from your gutters. Also consider adding water saving crystals and mulch to the garden to reduce the amount of water used and frequency of watering. Here in Australia we have had really bad droughts in the last 20years. We had to shorten showers to 3minutes (they gave out free timers) and had buckets in with us to catch the water while we waited for it to heat up. This was used on the garden or to wash our cars. It's important though to not use water with soap in it, such as washing up liquid or shampoo, for the garden as this can kill your plants.
Upgrade your heating and cooling
I don't mean install ducted heating and cooling. But as the recent heat wave in England and now the energy crisis meaning people cant afford to turn their heating on there are a lot of ways to heat and cool your home without turning anything on.
Heating
- Block out the cold. Any rooms that you don't use you can cover the windows with sun visors. These are made of bubble wrap so are actually very insulating. Ensure you place a towel or other absorbent cloth between the window and the visor for condensation and check it regularly to dry it out to prevent mould.
- Seal it up. Check around your home including windows and doors and make sure they are air tight. I live in a house built in the 1970s with siding and there were many holes around the windows where I could see straight out. Expanding foam or flexible sealant are both great for plugging these holes. Around doors you can get foam strips to stop drafts and place draft stoppers at the bottom. Panty hose filled with rice work great or just a rolled up towel works too.
- One under equals two on top. What am i talking about, blankets of course. Did you know that one blanket under you will keep you warmer than placing two on top of you? Get a cheap quilt from IKEA or Kmart and use it under your fitted sheet. The amount of warmth this holds is amazing.
- Warm it up then turn it off. If you have an electric blanket then turn it on for 10mins before you get into bed then turn it off. Your blankets and body heat will keep the heat in for the night. A hot water bottle will also do the job.
- Block out curtains. Close them early when the heat leaves the day so that its trapped in your house. It will take longer to cool down inside if there is a barrier between it and the windows. Placing a towel or blanket over the top of the window frame will also help to insulate.
- Pick your times. If you are going to use a heater choose when you put it on. In the middle of the day is the warmest outside so turning the heater on for an hour in the morning then turning it off should maintain enough heat to see you through until the evening. Likewise turning the heater on after dinner means that the house will be warm before bed when you can shut it off again.
- Under foot. Rugs. It's amazing how much heat can be captured just by having a rug under foot. In the kitchen too. This stops the cold from seeping up through the floors and also stops your body from getting cooled down through your feet. If you have an external wall that feels cold to the touch you can use a rug as a wall hanging and prevent that cold from seeping in.
- Keep your nose warm. A recent study has found that having a cold nose may be why we get sick more often in winter. Wearing a mask outdoors is one way to warm that nose or a scarf pulled up works great too.
Cooling
Most of the above tips will also work for keeping your home cool but in reverse. Block out curtains closed before the heat of the day sets in keeps the heat out. Blocking gaps in siding and around doors stops cool air from inside from seeping out or hot air coming in.
- Cook once. Turning the oven or hotplate on is basically turning on a heater. Cook in the morning or in bulk to save turning it on every day or have cold meals that don't need cooking like salads.
- Internal cooling. Drink cold water. Being fully hydrated actually helps the body to keep cool. It also helps prevent heat stress which you get from not eating or drinking enough.
- Ice hat. This is something that every Aussie kid knows about. Wet a face washer (flannel for my Americans) and place it in the freezer. When its frozen put it on your head. I'm not kidding haha. It keeps you amazingly cool. You can also drape it around your neck.
- Dog cooling mats. These are gel filled mats that are designed to draw heat out of pets on hot days. But you can also use them in your own bed! Get the large ones and use them as a sleeping mat. Be careful doing this with small children who can not regulate their body temperature as well as adults. You can now get these as collars with Velcro which are great to put in the fridge or freezer and then place around your own neck. Again not for small children as it is a strangulation hazard.
- Wet towels. This is another common Aussie trick. Placing a wet towel in front of a fan makes an air conditioner. An ice brick behind the fan does the same thing or even a tub of ice water infront. The fan basically blows out the colder air rather than circulating hot air in the room. You can also sleep under or on top of a damp towel or wet socks but be careful not to over cool and make sure you have water proof sheets so you don't get your mattress wet.
Saving on electricity
Finally saving on electricity. There have been many great inventions and gadgets around that can save you on your electic bill.
- Solar lights. You can get lamps and outdoor lights that can be charged during the day and used indoors at night.
- Power banks. Charge your power bank at work then use it to power your devices at home. Some can charge a phone 3-4 times or charge an ipad and a phone. Although generators are great they do require fuel to run so that can get pricy.
- Smart appliances. Get smart about how you use your appliances. Fridges run better if there is a gap between them and the wall behind them. Ensure the freezer is full but not overly filled this ensures the fridge doesn't have to work as hard to maintain the temperature. When you cook or use the oven make extra to fill it and you can cook several meals in the same time it would take to cook one.
- Don't leave it to boil. If you have a temperature regulating kettle as I do it will keep your water hot unless you turn it off. This used a lot of power so boil once and keep it in a thermos to have hot water all day. You can also speed up cook times by using lids on pans to retain heat and bring them up to temperature quicker. Using an airfryer also saves power as there is no need to preheat.
- Combine and conquer. Go to a friends place one night a week and use their heating/ cooling. This spreads the load/ cost and keeps everyone comfortable. Most of us work from home at least one day a week so pick a day that suits you all and work together. You can also cook at their place so each person brings a tray to put in the oven at the same time.
