Winter is an expensive time of year, particularly when you consider Christmas or other faith holidays like Diwali and Hanukkah. On top of those obvious expenses, you must consider that the weather is colder, so you may use your car more as well as turning up the heating. Dark evenings mean you use more electricity, making your energy bills even higher.

With energy bills and petrol prices soaring, we’ll suggest a few ways you can save money this winter. You can have a look here for further money-saving tips for the winter.

Saving money in the kitchen

Making food from scratch is often a lot more economical than buying ready-made meals. If it’s cold outside, there aren’t many things more satisfying than making soup or casserole from scratch, without too much effort. There are hundreds of recipes online that will show you how to do this. And freezing batches of leftovers is ideal for a hearty lunch at the office – saving you money at the canteen.

Saving money on energy bills

As summer slips away we turn on the heating and try to keep warm, but energy bills are more expensive than ever before, so you’ll probably want to find as many ways as possible to be ‘fuel efficient’.

Insulation is an excellent method to stop money evaporating from your home. Save money by placing foil behind your radiators to reflect heat back into the room. Close doors and fit draft excluders to keep the warmth in. Find out if you are eligible for cavity wall insulation (which can depend on your postcode and any benefits you receive).

Saving money in other ways

Drink warm drinks, or soups to fill you up – as people generally feel the cold more when they’re hungry.

See if you can get your grocery shop delivered to your door. There may be a charge for this, although deliveries at certain times of the day are cheaper if you are flexible. What’s more, it’ll save you the cost of the trip – depending on where you live, this can make quite a saving in itself.

As the evenings draw in, treat yourself to a cosy evening with a movie and the lights out. You could make your own popcorn – which can be really cheap. There are so many classic, feel-good films on in the winter, so record the ones you want to watch and treat yourself to an evening ‘at the pictures’ in your own home.

Those are just a few of the ways that you could save money this winter. Saving money doesn’t have to be a chore and you don’t have to feel deprived just because you’re watching your finances. Besides, many people get a real kick out of saving money that they’ve worked hard for – so why not give it a try?

Given the cost of living in today’s world not many of us can afford to go in for large homes. The smaller the home, the smaller the kitchen space tends to be.

We had just moved into our new home and decided to remodel the kitchen. It looked cluttered and there wasn’t much work space. Since the kitchen is where I like to work most of the time, my husband and I decided to work on drawing up a few kitchen designs that would give us more work space and still make the kitchen look nice.

We had an early supper, and after the kids were in bed we sat down to working on the designs for the kitchen, when my husband came up with the brain wave of building a kitchen work station. The kitchen design that we finally decided on had a compact working area which looked neat and tidy but at the same time gave us enough space to work in the kitchen.

I had looked forward to the meeting we would be holding at our chairperson’s house because she would always make it a point to surprise us with some new recipe that she would make us taste-test, and they were always delicious.  I was still speculating what the new recipe would be when we got to her house and walked in.

The first scent that greeted us was – sweet!  No roasting meat in that aroma, no simmering tomato sauce, no steamed vegetables.   We followed the multi-layered sweet smell to the kitchen and the sight that greeted us made us feel like we had wandered onto the preparations for a wedding reception, or a children’s party.

Sweets galore!  Cakes, pies, tarts, home-glazed fruits and fancy cupcakes!  She said that this time she needed us to help her choose the perfect dessert for spring because she was joining a competition at the Spring Festival and she couldn’t make up her mind which three dessert recipes to submit.

She called the meeting to order, we sampled everything while we discussed committee matters, and gave our recommendations for both the desserts and our working committee.

Oh by the way, she won first, blue ribbon and all, for her orange-based cupcakes topped with a mixture of glazed and fresh fruits and a sprig of mint.

I have never been the peaches and cream type even when I was a young girl, and preferred bold reds and blacks during my teen years, but reds and blacks can get old as the paint colors of choice for an apartment’s interiors.

When I finally got a longer lease on my studio apartment, I got down to seriously considering the interior décor that I would want for the long term.

Looking over my collection of art pieces – paintings, sculpture, one-of-a-kind ashtrays, wall masks and scrolls – I opted for pastel colored walls in graduated hues and tints; lightest at the corners and darkening towards the center, giving the illusion of curved walls.

I buckled down to painting the walls myself, instead of asking my friends to help, so I could surprise them.  I prepared the walls the way I would a canvas, from sanding to priming to the actual painting with acrylic paint – a mixture of rose madder, chrome yellow and white, with burnt umber added for the darker hues.

Strangely, the lighter areas remind me of peaches and cream but that’s as far as it goes.  I think.  Sometimes, the vibrant colors of my art pieces against the pastel walls make me crave for a very rich fruit salad.

I had gotten so used to seeing curtains or drapes on windows, that seeing a bare, square, glass kitchen window was a surprise; a pleasant one it turned out to be.

A friend had brought me to this house in farm country, because her cousin, who is an artist, had just moved in and wanted her opinion on the changes she was making to the interior.  My friend wanted me to see the house also, knowing I was always interested in innovative interior design.

Before bringing us around, she brought us straight to the kitchen for some coffee and fresh-baked bread and there, where I expected frilly country kitchen curtains, was this large bare window above the sink.

It was not quite bare, nor quite square, though; when my eyes adjusted to the light coming in through the window, I saw that she had sculpted, and then painted, a frame around it that looked like the bole of a tree with branches and leaves and squirrels.

Right outside the window, was a tree with two squirrels scurrying in and out of a knotted hole in its trunk.  The squirrels were carrying nuts or seeds into the hole, apparently storing food for the winter.

The effect was surreal, like those mirror-facing-mirror reflections, and mildly hypnotic.  I asked her if she intended to paint the frame to match the outside view when winter set in and she invited me to touch the frame, saying it was a work in progress.  The frame was made of polymer clay!  It could, indeed, evolve to match the seasons’ view outside.

Perfect Combination: Stormy Weather and Hot Soup

There are very few perfect pairings in this world but one of these few must be hot soup and storms.

Big storms don’t hit our part of the world very often but when they do, our group of friends has a pre-planned contingency plan:  Shop for overnight party supplies and congregate at our “crack-pot” friend’s house.

No he isn’t mad nor is he a druggie; he owns a huge crock pot which, if filled, could feed a large household; and we are that, for him who lives alone, instantly, when a storm is imminent.

Over the years, we have sampled a variety of his crockpot recipes but the all-time favorite is his stew with beef, beef marrow bones, ripe cooking bananas, quartered young corn on the cob, sweet potatoes, cabbage and pechay (pak choi); with whole onions, whole black pepper, salt and a little tomato sauce.  Perfect!

We would all go out on the balcony, each with a big bowl of the stew and a buttered baguette, and watch the storm rage (even getting wet sometimes when a strong gust would blow the rain in under the eaves), and feel the rightness of having a warm belly on a cold, stormy night.

I get along well with my teenage sons; meaning there are very few confrontations, and these are usually about the condition of their rooms or the monotony of their preferred diet (until recently).

Apart from threatening to have them move into one room and to make the extra room the laundry ironing room, which gets them cleaning/arranging for a while, I leave their rooms alone because these are “their spaces.”

Their diet, however, I felt I must get involved in.  They chose and cooked what they ate – eggs (boiled, fried, scrambled, omelet) and fried cured meat (ham, bacon, jerky) in the morning, fried chicken/pork and instant soup at lunchtime and the same for the evening meal – when I was buried in my painting or writing.  The times I surfaced and discovered what they’d been eating were when we had arguments about what is a healthy and balanced diet.

Sometimes, to avoid my nagging, they would put together a salad and ostentatiously eat it together with whatever fried something they had cooked.

The solution came to me when I discovered the crock pot that a cousin had given us but which I never got around to using.  The boys love soup but don’t like the hassle of cooking it.

These days, before painting or writing, I put in the beef, chicken or pork (boys’ choice) for the soup that day, prepare the seasoning and start the pot.  I drop the seasoning in when simmering starts, and for lunch and dinner, the boys add whatever vegetables would suit the dish.

They have provided what they said were “crucial recipes” for soup and stew which they researched on the net and these have been included in the weekly menu; and they are even talking about experimenting with their own crock pot recipes.

Stemware add texture to party ambiance

My friend has a small rental place in a mid-scale neighborhood but his place is always the venue of choice every time our group plans a party.  My friend doesn’t mind at all, because our group rules dictate that whoever owns the place where our party is held is exempted from any other party expenses like food and beverage.

What makes his place so attractive is that his decor is a pleasant and elegant blend of textures and colors, from the wood floors and area rugs to the one-of-a-kind lamps and ceiling fans.  It is especially so during parties.

His coffee table of dark wood, has two crystal bowls heaped with candy and chocolate in their individual colorful wrapping — one bowl for the sweets with no sugar — and a light-grained wood bowl with little wooden scoops,  for nuts and raisins.

His dining table has a smoky dark glass top which he rarely ever covers with a tablecloth; opting instead for runners and place mats.  The centerpiece is always a veritable festival of fruits and flowers arranged cornucopia-like in an unevenly shaped carved wooden bowl that seems to be almost lying on its side.

Whatever we are drinking, it is always served in stemware, from blocky posts for beer to delicate flutes for champagne — unless one opted to drink from the can or bottle, which was also fine.

All these he has done on a modest income and a lot of legwork (walking around searching for bargains) and he has shared some of his favorite shopping places with us, many of them arts and crafts galleries owned by artist friends.

If you’re looking for some fabulous ways to decorate your Thanksgiving table this year, Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) has some wonderful ideas on bringing nature inside. I like the idea of using natural things to decorate a space, especially in Fall. Here are some of their unique ideas.

Leaves in a Vase

Instead of a flowers in a vase, why not use leaves? You’ll still have the Fall color you’re looking for and you won’t spend any money on expensive flowers. BHG recommends cutting the leaves right before you guests arrive. Or, you could remove them about a week early and flatten them between waxed paper by putting books on top.

Rakes as Candle Holders

BHG suggests using old rakes as candle holders. The objects can easily become rustic shelves, and you’ll also get the benefit of reusing old materials. I really like this idea, as so many of us have newer rakes or even leaf blowers, and we probably have an rake or two hanging around that isn’t being used.

I also like the pumpkin gourds they’ve used here as votive holders as well. You can make this happen by carving out a small spot for a candle, and placing it in. Votives or tea lights work best for this. It’s best to carve the small pumpkins no more than a day before your guests arrive. You don’t want the smell of rotting pumpkin to drown out the candle!

“Mumkins”

BHG calls this display “mumkins” after the flowers they are using to create a pumpkin shape. It’s a cute idea, and one sure to spark some conversation. They suggest cutting a hole in the top of a pumpkin, same as you would to carve it, and making small holes just big enough for the flower stems. Use a drill or nail or make the holes.

Images: BHG.com’s 100 Days of Holidays

Let’s face it, running a kitchen isn’t cheap, let alone running a household. If you’re overspending, chances are most of the wastage goes to food—eating out, grocery shopping, those frozen dinners you get when you don’t have time to cook. Studies show that cutting down on food spending can reduce your total expenses by as much as 30%—for the average family, that’s roughly $4,000 per year!

Of course, that’s easier said than done. Most of our unnecessary purchases are those we’re not even aware of. Luckily, there are simple, low-impact ways to reduce your food spending without going hungry or sacrificing the quality of your meals. One of them is slow cooking, or cooking with a crock pot. It’s not a big change, but the potential savings are huge: as much as half of your regular food bill. Here are some other ways you can save money with slow cooker recipes.

Energy savings
The average slow cooker runs on approximately 200 watts an hour. For a roast that takes around six hours, your running bill will be a mere 16 cents, whereas the power cost of a stovetop roast is around 90 cents. That means you can save 74 cents every time you use your slow cooker. Crock pots also help you cut your grocery bills, save preparation time, and even create tastier and healthier meals.

Most crock pots have temperature dials that give you full control over cooking temperatures. It’s best to avoid the higher range especially if you’re doing crock pot vegetarian recipes, as they cook faster than meat. Don’t be afraid to fiddle with the settings; maximize your savings by finding the cheapest working temperature for each food group.

Better meal planning
Planning your meals is one thing; putting them into effect is another. How many times have you stopped by the grocery after work to pick up a quick dinner for the family? Last-minute purchases tend to be costly, not to mention unhealthy. But if you plan a slow-cook meal and start it in the morning, you can relax at work while the dish cooks itself back home. That way, you come home to a ready-made dinner—not a half-baked one you hastily threw together.

Here’s a quick trick: try making a crock pot breakfast in the morning and using the same ingredients for a crock pot dinner, or using last night’s leftovers for a quick breakfast the next day. For instance, a lot can be made out of slow cooker beef recipes—omelets, stir fries, sandwiches. No matter how small it is, you’re still saving time and money.

Cheaper meat options
Slow cookers are particularly great for tenderizing meats. This means you can go for the cheaper cuts such as flank steak and chuck roast, which are usually tough and require a good deal of (costly) pressure cooking. It takes longer with a slow cooker, but as we explained above, it’s still a lot cheaper. You don’t even have to cut the meat beforehand—just load them in the morning and cut them up later in the day, when it’s all nice and tender.

Some slow cookers will strip the flavor from the meat and leave it tasting bland. Avoid this by braising or searing the meat before putting them in your crock pot. This actually works in your favor, as most crock pot chicken recipes and lamb recipes taste better with the meat slightly crisped. Make sure the sides are browned, but not burnt—charred meat is unhealthy and may ruin your other flavors.

Easy meal preparation
Ever had to dash to the grocery to pick up a missing ingredient? These “emergency” trips easily add up throughout the year. From the gas to the time you waste waiting for ingredients, the total costs can be rather steep. Slow cooking solves this problem by letting you pre-cook an entire week’s meals. Just place a large cut of beef or a whole chicken in your crock pot, cut them to cooking pieces, and pack them in meal-size servings for each day of the week.

Want to save even more? Add some water and use the broth to make a quick side dish. Crock pot soup recipes don’t take as long as roasts and make excellent appetizers. You can also make gravy, dips, and meat sauces from the drippings.