5 Ways to Prepare for Winter

Do you prepare your home for Winter? Every year I find myself making a checklist and trying to make sure I’m organised for the cold months. I find a little bit of winter preparation goes a long way, especially if you’re working on a tight budget.

Wardrobe Audit

The wardrobe audit involves checking the winter clothes and repairing or replacing any that require it. This can be an expensive process as the children grow so rapidly that I inevitably need to replace coats and winter boots. However, it is better to do the audit now rather than wait until it is really cold!

Warmth Audit

Checking the winter duvets and blankets. Making sure that we have any draught excluders we need. Organising the chimney to be swept, and ordering a delivery of logs. Checking the central heating as it has been off all summer and I don’t want to discover it isn’t working when it is really cold!

Supplies

Stocking up on chicken feed, and bedding as the chickens need to be kept cosy too! I also write a list of foods which will go into our store cupboard in case we get snowed in. Much of these foods are tinned, and can be cooked on a camping stove if we get a power cut! I also find that keeping a store of tinned soups in over the winter months helps in case of us catching a cold.

Outdoor Preparation

Making sure the leaves are raked away to prevent them turning into slippery sludge when the ice comes. Cover or put away the garden furniture Check any animal houses (Chicken coop for us but you may have a rabbit hutch) make sure they are weatherproof and make any repairs now!

Car Check!

Check your car has anti-freeze! Make sure the heater is working. Keep it a little better topped up with fuel. I also like to store a blanket, torch, bottle of water and a packet of biscuits in the boot during winter months, just in case we get stuck somewhere!

So those are my winter preparations, do you have any?