Getting ready for the summer – Are you prepared?

The summer has crept up on me this year and I was not ready as I thought and so I began thinking what I should have done to prepare. At first I was enjoying the ease in traffic since schools have closed and the mild increase in heat was manageable.

However things have gotten a lot hotter and I feel the sizzle and burn of the unrelenting sun in all its full force. The children are home so they are consuming a lot more food and that forces me to spend more money!

That is never good. So how could I have prepared better for the summer?

Summer preparations

Next summer I will be better prepared. The following are a few of my humble suggestions:

Staying Cool

The rising heat during the summer months coupled with water lock offs can make this a difficult time of the year. It’s times like this that I wish we had the luxury of air conditioned homes that first world countries enjoy. However since that expense is more than the average Jamaican can afford there are other options for staying cool.

One suggestion is to start collecting water before its supply is restricted during the summer months. Since the start of summer also means the start of hurricane season and sometimes droughts, it makes sense to keep a ready supply of clean drinking water.

I have a friend who places huge blocks of ice in a bucket behind her fan as it blows air and this sends cooler air in the room.  Of course it only lasts as long as the ice did but I did notice a difference in the temperature..

Being cool does not have to mean breaking the bank, placing sheets and pillow cases in plastic bags to cool for a few minutes then using them to sleep on is an option for some people to have a better night’s sleep.

Food Costs

If you have school age children, summer means more time at home and more home cooked meals.  It can be very frustrating and very expensive to keep up with the demand of increased food supply.

It is a good idea to use left overs in a creative way.  Therefore leftover chicken can be reinvented as a salad, sandwich or taco filling. There are several websites that offer different ways in which to prepare delicious meals using basic items that you would already have in your cupboard.

I know that summer seems to be an odd time to start preparing for back to school, but it really pays to start your preparation early. Huge costs such as textbooks and uniforms can be lowered if you are better prepared.

It is a good idea to check through any used textbooks that you might have as a way to earn extra cash.

A  number of schools have book fairs to assist parents with back to school costs. If you have access to textbooks still on the curriculum, you could take them to book fairs to be sold. If you need to buy textbooks for your child, this type of fair offers a wide variety of books at a reduced cost.

So how can you prepare for the summer? Especially so that your budget stays intact? Let me hear from you!

Teri Ann Renee Paisley

Gleaner online writer