Saving and spending

We've just had a great half term.

Now, we are in the run-up to Christmas when prices go up anyway on a background of general price increases. So, just a few thoughts on how we try to spend less.

• Home made soup is cheap, nutritious and tastes good. Left over end of casserole can be used as stock or make your own. 

• Those enormous carving pumpkins can be halved, roasted (bottom of the oven when cooking something else) then the seeds removed and used for soup. Pumpkin soup is best pepped up with  onion, garlic, cumin, coriander and a chilli-yum. One large pumpkin will give enough flesh for for three soups for our family.
• We have saved so much making our own bread. Most of us think this tastes better than shop bread although there is a minority opinion! We use a bread maker which pays for itself after 100 loaves.
• Drying clothes outside, even in November this means less time on airers or in the tumble dryer.
• Turning sheets sides-to-middle. I need to do this soon. This prolongs the life of sheets which are thin in the middle but have had less wear, obviously, at the sides. Old sheets are good for cutting up and making into cot sheets too.
• Cheap tin openers work as well as the expensive and in my experience also last as long. I don't know whether this is me but my tin openers only seem to last a couple of years.
• Try economy brands. We don't like value cornflakes or washing powder but other products aren't much different beyond the packaging. 
• Electricity is expensive. We have an electricity monitor which came free from our then supplier. They seem to be around £10 at present. This device tells us how much electricity is being used. It jumps up when the tumble dryer, kettle or oven go on. It has made me much more careful to try to use the oven full, not to boil more water than needed and to avoid using the tumble dryer as much as possible
• Be thankful-we have so much more than our forebears and so much more than many people alive today. 

Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.    1 Timothy 6 v6-8