prepare for summer?

painted_lady

I enjoyed the prepare for winter thread on here last autumn and have been thinking (!) about preparing for summer and some of the expenses summer brings and how I can best plan for this and I felt like posting, maybe we can all share ideas.
Although summer doesnt necessarily (or hopefully) bring the huge gas bills etc of winter, there are a lot of expenses best planned for or activities we can do now to help us save money. I will list my ideas below and maybe people can add their own?
Summer is my favourite season!!!!

• the obvious one is the summer holiday, saving money, looking for cheap deals now etc could help
• Kids off school for 6 weeks - start saving now, just £1 a week in a tin might help towards bus fares for a picnic out or something to help keep you all occupied.
• planning spending money for festivals etc I love attending - I save money each month in my ING account for this, I have some expensive hobbies that cost more over summer when the season starts
• look for cheap train tickets etc in advance for days at the seaside
• places do special offers on sun tan creams etc this time of year, stock up on it
• buy a filter thing to save on bottled water
• I intend to buy a nice picnic basket this year, do loads of picnics for days out
• coolant instead of anti freeze for the car (I have a set of summer wheels too, so change my wheels, use less petrol, bf into motor racing and tells me nerdy things like this)
• thinking ahead to winter, plumbers arent as busy fixing central heating/boilers, so if you need work doing on these, summer is the time to get it done, we got a good deal on ours
• plant out stuff now, not just pretty flowers, but thinking about my edible containers,
• chitting my potatoes, prepping the fruit bushes etc, cant wait to be eating stuff I have made
• looking in charity shops now for clothes for DS before everyone else gets them
• we have a campervan so when we get it back from mechanic (Oh you gotta love old VWs), I will be cleaning it out and getting it ready for the season, both mechanically and giving it a damn good clean inside
• If you go to any of the big music festivals, tickets usually go on sale this month, so plan which ones your going to

Sure there are loads more things, but these came in off the top of my head.

Barneysmom

I've printed some bogof vouchers from the Heart Of England website so we can have a few cheap days out, some of them run out soon so we'll have to get them used.

The windows all need cleaning - I do the inside and DH does the outside but it'll take the whole day to do I think, including washing and rehanging the nets.
The heavy curtains from the kitchen and patio doors will have to come down and be washed and stored (hope they don't shrink).

Need to get the tent out for a check over too, it will get used this year

rosieben

Great list painted lady - here's mine so far

• list any small jobs to do, eg painting touch ups where I need window open
• wash fleece blankets and winter weight duvet. Wash, check over for any repairs needed and pack away for the winter. I'll keep one blanket on the back of the sofa though - oh, the Great British Climate! :rolleyes:
• Wash pillows, maybe replace one or two of them
• wash nets and curtains, clean windows
• check out the medicine cabinet for antihistamine cream etc
• clean off garden chairs/table - hoping to spend a few sunny afternoons reading in the garden :cool:
• sort out my summer clothes, see what fits, throw what doesn't - do I need to get/make anything else?
• ditto summer shoes - replace 2 pairs of uncomfortable, unwearable mules with one useful pair of comfy mules/sandals
• I still have some insulation in our shared porch to do, planning on doing this through the summer. I have the curtains for this, just need to get rail and insulating foam

I'll add more if I think of them. This is a great way of focusing the mind

painted_lady

Thanks Rosie, I have remembered some more jobs to do (I am not well and cant think straight at moment)
- I have started eating local honey to prevent hayfever, but sometimes need anti hist too, so will check medicane cabinet for it
- have started cats on flea treatment and done all the beds, carpets etc (they dont have fleas, its preventative, but I am the kind of person who gets bitten by everything)
- paint wall round back, I got the paint last year in sale, just need a dry, still day off work to do it and partner to take toddler out
- move garden furniture around a bit, had garden done in sept last year and not moved some stuff back yet
- potty train my toddler, they say its better in nicer weather for them, was originally planning easter but not sure yet
- I WILL spring clean and declutter!
- clean the garden path etc to make it nice for little one to play out in and me to sunbathe in with a good book (or MSE on laptop)
- i always wash the duvets in spring too, must be part of my spring clean
- put black out material up in DS room, hopefully i get a sleep in as the sun peers through at silly times, telling him its morning

Olliebeak

If anybody lives in a public transport area that has 'day-rider style tickets' - the ones where you scratch off the date - you could buy some in advance of the school holidays to ease the cost of buses/trains etc when taking kids out in school holidays.

I know that we have these in Liverpool/Merseyside and can use them on trains, buses and ferries. Sometimes they can also earn you a discount on entrance to some attractions.

rachbc

buy an umbrella!!

bellaquidsin

Good thread pl, there are some good ideas listed on here to which I will add:-

Prepare 'ready meals' for the freezer to take on self catering holiday.

Bella.

Boodle

Good idea for a thread

Instead of spending hundred (or even thousands :eek: ) on going away, treat your own area as if a tourist. Find info at your local Tourist Info centre - a lot of attractions and especially walks and parks, will be free. For a week or a fortnight, ban yourself from doing housework beyond what you would do if staying self-catering somewhere and treat it as your family holiday, eating breakfast in the garden, the odd fish n chip supper, etc...

If you are going self-catering, you could do what my parents used to: they would buy a couple of extra tins and packets each weekly shop and store them in a big cardboard box. By the time we went on holiday we had a full week's worth of food in there - just needing a few fresh things once we arrived, like milk, bread and bacon etc.

newlywed

in my car I have antifreeze/coolant - I always thought it was the same thing that did both jobs

Anyway...

I have already washed all the nets.

I need to wash all the winter blankets and pack them away (otherwise OH would have them on all year round!!).

I need to go through my wardrobe and put away winter skirts and jumpers and bring out the summery stuff (and probably wash some of the bits stored in the suitcase to freshen it up).

I want to make a list of things to do/places to go in the summer with the kids as otherwise we end up doing nothing - or just going to the local park.

I am already keeping an eye out in charity shops for summery clothes (lost lots of weight the last couple of years and didn't update all my summer wardrobe last year in case I put weight back on - haven't put more than a few pounds on so this year want to fill in the wardrobe gaps and ditch the too big clothes)

Get a prescription for hayfever tablets (honey never worked at all for me ).

princesstippytoes

Search grabit board for cheap suntan lotion
Exfoliate and moisturise
Shave legs
Bikini wax
Invest in a new souwester

poppet

Great idea!

Off the top of my head we need to:

Get the tent out of the garage and give it an airing and a clean. make sure it hasnt got any mould or anything.

Go through all the camping gear and give it the once over and load into the trailer. We keep it all ready-to-go so we just need to hitch up and go.

We've got a little beach hut on a seasonal licence, this means we have to take it down and store it at home over winter. It goes back up on the beach at easter so now's the time to re-paint it and make any repairs.

Ive got some heathers to relocate to a different part of the garden.

Sow some more seeds in the greenhouse

Wash the greenhouse, its looking a bit green on the outside.

Get the petrol blower out and blow all the leaves off the lawn and treat with moss killer.

Clean and fill the bird-baths

Sort through all the summer clothes and begin to pack away the winter stuff.