At the end of every month, the Climate Change Collective of bloggers take turns writing an article about the environment. I am passionate about blogging about climate issues and saving energy. It is important that we keep raising the issue and share advice for being ecofriendly.
I am trying very hard to keep my own house warm and have chosen a house with no gas supply. Electricity, on the whole, is a cleaner form of energy. The use of solar panels, hydro-electricity generation and wind farms is increasing, after all.
For me, I am paying the price, though. The Russian War and dependency of the UK on foreign fossil fuels stifles us somewhat. This has led to inflated prices, with my own electric bill being over £300 last month.
Keeping curtains closed really does make a difference. Using a hot water bottle is also a good way of avoiding heating my bedroom, I have discovered. Clothes are better left drying in the conservatory rather than in the tumble dryer, which is expensive to run.
In A Nutshell
Cristiana has produced a detailed list post with so many helpful tips. These range from reducing the temperature you heat your water to checking your oven is properly sealed. If you can make a few changes to become more energy efficient then you can also save money.
Thank you for reading my brief notes. Please pop over to the main Climate Change Collective post and drop a supportive comment. I also have written a poem about the environment, all about the lack of Snow.
Collaborative post – All suggestions and opinions are my own.
Every penny counts (literally)
We all hear about just how much everyone seems to be struggling with money at the moment. In Britain, ‘the cost of living crisis’ dominates our news programmes and most people are looking for ways to make extra savings or earn more cash.Saving money is in most of our thoughts and we all need to share any good tips we come across.
For me, I have found that energy bills have risen massively and the cost of petrol has hit my pockets hard. As well as this, I have found the weekly shopping become more costly too. So I am definitely looking very closely at my finances and trying to make cuts wherever I can, without allowing my standard of living to slip unnecessarily.
Watching the Pennies
It is important to set yourself goals and these include when saving up for things. I always have holidays in my head, so before I begin playing around with my money, I usually work out what I will have to pay for in the next six months. I have also got possible repairs and emergency money in mind when I make long term financial decisions.
For working out how long it will take me to reach a certain amount, I now use online calculators such as SavingsCalculator.Org which allow you to work out how much you are likely to need to save per month to reach a target or how long it is likely to take to get to that figure.
A good tool for working out how to reach a savings goal.
As well as working out how much I need for future projects and holidays, I can also work out the shortfall in income or the amount of overspending I am doing. Once I have this sorted, I begin to look for ways to cut back.
Some of my favourite ways include:
– Go through my subscriptions to apps and TV packages. Which do I currently not use much or can I do without? Sometimes it can be painful but ditching a streaming platform for six months can make a real difference to my bank balance.
– Look for easy ways to increase my income, such as opportunities to sell a few bits and bobs on ebay. Again, it is not always easy to say goodbye to possessions but sometimes a good old clear-out makes you feel better as well as helping to inflate your savings a little.
– Use the round-up option on banking apps to save small amounts each time you spend. When I pay for something, the Nationwide Building Society asks me of I want to save the amount that would have rounded my spend up to the nearest pound. This then goes straight into my esavings. It is a Ninja way to save pennies without really noticing.
It is important though, to do some calculations and have some potential figures in your head. Then you know what to aim for and exactly how much to reduce your outgoings by, if you are going to make it work for you.
I have written about my suggestions of how to potentially boost your income in a previous post:
Even though we are going through challenging times financially, there are several ways we can change our dealing with money to make sure our savings keep growing and that we don’t drown in debt.
Using a useful website you can change parameters and make predictions about how to build your savings. At the same time you can make reasonable adjustments to your outgoings or add additional income sources to top up your bank account.
Final Thought
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my article about how I prefer to save money and shave off my spending habits.Small changes have made such an impact on my own savings and helped me to continue to afford indulgences such as my recent trip to Antwerp to see the Christmas lights. For more of my suggestions about saving money, check out my other article.
As I drove home from work today, I started reflecting on a few things that people had been discussing and it made me think hard about some of the issues that really worry me about our world and the culture we have developed in the UK in particular.
Streets are safer when we inhabit them.
This post is meant to be an outlet for my thoughts but is also a talking point. I hope that those of you reading this will comment your own opinions below and be open about your own related worries.
Worry 1: Lack of Independence
When I was young, in the 1980s, there were certain things that were expected of us. we used to have to look after our own clothes and possessions, for instance, and walk or cycle ourselves to school. We also had to quickly learn some independent thinking skills and apply these to our everyday lives.
Even in getting to and from places such as the local shops, we had to learn to adapt and think on our feet. Most of my friends walked to school in little groups and we had to make those journeys every day without adult guidance. By habit, we looked out for each other and learned new routes together.
Some of the skills we gained from making our own way to school were really valuable. We got to negotiate crossing roads, get some much needed exercise and talk through our feelings with our friends. These days so many kids arrive in cars and have little awareness of the routes that they take to get from one place to another. Although there is generally more morning traffic, much of it is families ferrying kids to school.
More independence in getting around is very good for self confidence and health. Less cars on the road would mean safer journeys and less pollution. There are many other ways that I believe independence and coping mechanisms are less evident these days, especially during growing up. It worries me that we are becoming a really dependent society and people are anxious more about things because they haven’t gathered those valuable coping mechanisms.
Worry 2: Rubbish
Lately I have been noticing just how willing many people are to dispose of rubbish. Without a thought, people are chucking waste out and putting little thought into reducing it or recycling it.
Packaging is everywhere and often only used for a specific purpose before being thrown out. I myself reviewed a small item in the post and it came in a massive cardboard envelope which was a total waste of space.
I am trying to think more carefully about what I buy and not to use unnecessary wrapping or extra packaging when buying gifts. Do you really need a snazzy gift bag that is going to be emptied quickly and then disposed of?
Worry 3: Aeroplanes
The other week a football club flew its players across the UK to get to a match near me. Getting through security and boarding a plane, along with the journey and travelling time either end meant it wouldn’t have been that much quicker than simply coming on a train.
In my opinion people are too quick to choose flying over other more sustainable forms of transport. For instance, I took a leisurely train ride to Edinburgh which was four hours long but many would go by plane almost without thinking. I know people that fly back and forth to Scotland regularly.
Why? You may arrive slightly quicker but the damage done by aeroplanes is so much greater. They literally pump greenhouse gases into the higher part of the atmosphere where they can do the most damage. Trains are cleaner even though some of their electricity will come from fossil fuels. They are far more sustainable in the long term, especially as more of our electricity is now from solar, nuclear and wind farms.
Summary
Maybe I worry too much. I don’t get anxious about these things but it does upset me that some of the ways we live our lives are causing problems which we could easily avoid.
If we really do learn lessons from the past then hopefully we will begin to make changes that benefit us in the future. I am just concerned that often our culture focuses on speed and technology and we as human beings lose out in so many ways due to this haste.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post about worries. If you enjoyed my article please consider dropping a comment or following my blog for future similar content about entertainment, books and the environment.
