How to Spend Less Money During the Winter
Living in a seasonal climate, the winter brings with it a complete change of pace as your daily routine fundamentally changes to accommodate things like the colder weather and shorter daylight hours. But winter also brings with it other challenges, especially where money is concerned. For one thing, this is the season when you will likely make most use of your central heating, and inherent in that is an extra expenditure that simply doesn’t exist during the summer months. The winter is always when you are most likely to be off work with the cold or flu and when outdoor exercise becomes a little uncomfortable. Winter also brings with it a different set of holidays and leisure pursuits. You will certainly be doing different things with your friends and social acquaintances during the winter than you would during the summer, and with this comes a different spending pattern. The most of obvious example here is, of course, Christmas and all the preparation and expenditure this entails.
Life in winter is just fundamentally different to life in summer, and we can expect to be spending money a little differently at this time too. We can already see this reflected in the behaviour of commercial enterprises during the winter months, most notably in the different things they sell and which most people need to buy at this time of year. Some expenditures, of course, do not change much at all. You’re still going to feed yourself in (mostly) the same way during winter, and businesses will still have the same expenditures that they have at other times of the year, things like staff salaries and GDPR consultation (get the details here) are expenditure constants in all months.
Saving in Winter
Nevertheless, winter is also a time for savings. For one thing, there are many expenditures associated with summer that you just do not have to worry about during the winter months. Holidays are (a little) less frequent and, naturally, you are not going to be buying things like sun cream or running air conditioners during the winter months.
The trick is to recognise the winter savings that are simply less obvious than these. It is perfectly possible to be caught out and to end up spending more money where you could be making savings. Did you know, for example, that you do not need to be running the heating constantly in order to keep your home warm during the winter? In fact, by prioritising the retention of heat, you can actually have it completely off for large portions of the day and night – and that’s a real saving.
By simply applying some diligence, you can always avoid many of the costly health hazards that are common in the winter. There is a significant saving to be made here because medicine, treatment, and time off work can all prove pretty costly.
Top Tips for Winter Saving
Winter, therefore, can certainly be gloomy, cold, and costly – but there is a surprising amount of savings to be made. Whether at home, at work, or out and about, there are small savings to be made here and there. And by making a point of following as many of them as possible, you can certainly accumulate quite a significant amount of savings overall. Here follows then some of the best winter saving tips.
Turn Off the Heat When You’re Not There
This most important of tips is all about resisting temptation. Sure, coming home to a chilly home is not pleasant – but it only takes a few minutes to warm the whole thing up. The problem with heating up the home when you are not even there is that it is probably the surest way to waste money during the winter months. And to make further savings, consider turning off the heating when you go to bed. Depending on how well your home conserves heat, this will make little difference to your sleeping, as you can fall asleep while things are still toasty and ensure you’re wrapped up enough to see the night out.
On the other hand, it’s important to know that there are also other alternatives to heating your home aside from a heater. Instead of using your heating equipment, you can wear warm pajamas and use extra blankets and heating pads to keep you warm. By doing this, you can save money on utility bills throughout the winter season.
Turn Off the Lights
For most of the winter, the great temptation is to have your home brightly lit in order to combat the long dark hours that is our lot until the spring comes in. And when Christmas comes along, the idea of a brightly lit home becomes even more essential to create the welcoming, homely atmosphere that we associate with the season. The only problem with all of this, of course, is that it costs to have your home lit for the many more hours of darkness that we experience in the winter. Now, nobody is suggesting your plunge yourself into miserable winter darkness but restricting things only to the room you are occupying and ensuring everything is off before you head out can make for a serious saving.
Look After Your Health
This is one of those circumstances where you may have to spend money in order to save money. By investing in vitamins and food for keeping away the winter bugs, you spare yourself costly time off work or other expenditures involved in recovery. Remember to wrap up well during the winter and eat well – that will go a long way to sparing you this fate.
When you keep yourself healthy during the winter season, you can save a considerable amount of money on potential hospital and medication costs. This is especially true if you get seriously sick during this time of the year. For example, if you have a respiratory condition, you may be susceptible to developing a serious medical complication if you don’t look after your wellbeing.
Opt For an Intimate New Year’s House Party Rather Than a Night Out
This is only a saving to be made on one day of the year – but it is a big one. By hosting some friends at your residence for a New Year’s party instead of the hitting the town, you can make savings on everything from super expensive marked-up meals, entrance fees to bars and clubs and, perhaps most significantly, the expensive headache of arranging taxi transport for a night on the town.
However, if you really love going to New Year parties, there are ways to attend these outdoor events without spending too much money. For example, you can book your tickets ahead of time, or avail yourself of some available discounts and promos to spend less money.
On the other hand, there are also New Year events, like the Mighty Hoopla Festival Big Weekender that offer fun-packed party nights and activities that you can enjoy. Going to these events may allow you to spend less money since everything you need to have fun is available in one location.
Make Use of Leftovers
It would be pretty miserly to suggest you go cheap on your Christmas dinner. For many people, this is an absolute essential and a matter of real pride. Instead, then, you could make economic use of the leftovers for all the additional post-Christmas social events that take place before New Year. For example, if you have leftover vegetables, you can mix them with scrambled eggs, or sauté them with bacon until they become crispy. You can also puree leftover vegetables with broth or chicken to make a delicious soup.
With the things being said, there are many things you can do to make the most out of leftovers. Even if you are still working with top quality food, and, with a little presentation, it is perfectly possible to have it look like a brand-new meal while saving money in the long run.
The winter season is a time when it is all too tempting to just spend money thoughtlessly. If this is something you would rather avoid, these tips are great way to spend less as the darker months roll by.
