Have you noticed that wicked little chill in the air at the moment? It’s been pretty mild this Autumn in most parts of the country but now December is peeping around the corner, it’s time for hot chocolates, ice scrapers and a brand new wooly jumper collection. That’s right, the coldest season is almost upon us (dun, dun, dun!) and that means it’s time to get serious about keeping warm. Something I can 100% get behind.
Central heating was a great invention, but the cost of keeping the home warm all day and all night can pretty pricey. A lesson I’m learning the hard way since flying the next and moving in with my other half last year. Besides, we aren’t always in a position to turn the heating on or up – if we’re outdoors or at work something (and in the absence of a Black Mirror style robot clone of myself). Luckily, there are plenty of other ways to warm your cockles when you can’t rely on the good old thermostat…
Stick the kettle on, love!
Sipping on a festive hot chocolate (or any hot beverage for that matter) will help to warm you up good and proper. If you don’t fancy paying Christmas cafe prices and spending more on your winter warmers than you would on gas or electricity, whip up some molten cocoa at home instead. All that sugar in our favourite festive cups can’t be good for the waistline anyway. Sadly.
Ready, steady, cook
If, like me, you’re somebody who likes to eats out a lot in the evenings, now is actually the perfect time to get your bake on instead believe it or not. ‘What? Hungry Harriet suggesting we don’t eat out?’ I hear you ask… Well hear me out! Not only is the run-up to Christmas the ideal excuse to fine tune your signature bake, erect a cute little gingerbread house, stuff your face with stollen and mince pies, but here’s a handy little life hack for you… As you heat your food, your cooker will also heat up your home, which means that you won’t need to turn up that dial. Genius. Plus your food and energy bills will be that little bit lower.
Give your bedding an A/W makeover
Treating yourself to some plush new feather duvets for your humble abode is the perfect way to stay toasty through the night without having to blast that heating. I mean, who can be bothered with a central heating headache this time of year? No thanks! Go old school and throw a good old-fashioned hot water bottle in for good measure too!
Snug as a bug in a rug
If you have wooden, laminate or tiled floors, then a rug really is the best possible present you could treat your trotters to this Christmas. I bloody love a rug and putting one down on hard flooring will not only help you dodge that early morning shock to the toes when you stumble out of bed, they’re also super insulating and will help trap heat in your humble abode.
Work up a sweat, baby!
Now it’s not often (virtually never) that you’ll find me championing a work out – I’m not exactly what one might dub a ‘gym bunny’ – but it’s an unavoidable fact of life that the more you move, the warmer you feel. So don’t wait until January 1st to pour yourself into some lycra, get a wiggle on right now and I promise you’ll feel a whole lot warmer for it.
Shame I won’t be practising what I preach on that one, now excuse me… there are some cupcakes I need to tend to.
One thought