When we moved in, we set up a housekeeping account which
we use for any house related income and outgoings. One of the unknowns that I try to budget for
is heating oil. Each month we put away
£125, ready to fill the tank when we need to.
It also pays for our coal. The
amount we have left in the tank, we’re hoping, will last us until the end of
August and then the money we’ve saved will buy us 1000 litres of oil and also
another car full of coal. This is the
start of our preparing for winter.
We have log burners which we use as a heating source for
the main house, but they aren’t linked to the central heating system so they
only warm the room they’re in, plus a bit of escape heat into the
corridors. Our heating in the new house
isn’t great, it merely takes the chill off and given that our house is 100’s of
years old, it’s glacial inside during Winter, so taking the chill off simply
brings it up to a zero temperature opposed to a positive temperature (or so it
feels like). Therefore I begrudge
putting the heating on as I don’t think we’re benefitting enough from the
amount of oil we’re using. We do however
have the Aga which is on constantly and heats the kitchen so it is lovely and
toasty. We’ve taken the decision not to
turn it off for the summer. We use the
two plates on the top to dry a multitude of clothes, boil the kettle and keep
it warm, toast our bread, cook our eggs, plus use the main ovens for all of our
meals. At present, with oil prices being
so low when we last bought oil in January, this wasn’t a difficult decision to
make, however if oil prices go back up to their sky high 50p+ a litre then we
would switch it off over the summer.
Maybe.
Another expense of the Aga is to get it serviced twice a
year. Now I don’t know if this is
overkill, but that’s what we were advised.
It’s an old solid fuel conversion which now runs on the oil and it’s
circa 45 years old so I want to take good care of it. The service is £80 a time *gulp*.
In other planning ahead news, we’re having a housewarming
party now the main jobs are done and the weather is being kinder to us. We’re combining this with my son’s 6th
birthday which has resulted in catering for around 100 guests! I am really looking forward to it but by the
same token must plan, plan, plan. I’ve
been good and accepted all help where it’s been offered, from bringing food
& drink, to coming to help set up the night before and also an offer of a
gazeebo to be prepared for the weather, umbrellas, tables for food and so
on. We have some lovely, helpful friends
which we would struggle without, so thumbs up for them!
Throwing a party means that this month’s grocery budget
will be stretched out to cater for everything, however I think we can do it and
I love a good challenge (plus it’s 'Bring your own boose' so that expense is gone
straight away!).
Finally for today, dare I say this, once we’ve had the
party, I shall be planning for Christmas.
Now don’t shoot me, I love Christmas.
However this year is obviously hugely important as it’s our first
Christmas in the new home. We’re
inviting all of our family over who want to come and I’ll do a traditional
Christmas lunch for everyone, play games, have family time, drink mulled wine
and generally enjoy how blessed we are.
I would like December to be full of Christmas cheer and that does not
include stressing over cards, gifts and food.
I would like to do a get together/open house for the neighbours
and some close friends but I need to think about how I’d manage that to keep
numbers down, where do you draw the line!?
