Summertime and the living is ....???

It's already HOT where I am and the fans are back on... I'm grateful for the a/c in my office, and equally grateful I don't have to pay the office power bill.  I was thinking about having a tankless water heater installed -- 3 years of tepid/chilly showers are enough of an endurance test -- but in summer a tepid shower is a cooling off treat, so will put off that expense until fall.

Living for 3 months without power after a hurricane taught me a few lessons on keeping cool.

#1 - the illusion of cool is almost as good as cool itself

Cool colors help... I'm about to switch out bed linens to very cool appearing blue/green sheets... looking like a refreshing pond.

Pictures of COLD things... after the hurricane we taped pictures of COLD things all around the office.  Polar bears on ice floes, refrigerators, ice bergs.  You get the idea.

#2 - cheap and cheerful treats

Iced tea... I'm a year 'round iced tea drinker.  Fridge tea - 2 family sized tea bags in a 2 quart pitcher of water, stuck in the fridge to brew.   Don't need the sun for this.   Because I drink so much of it, I have a second quart bottle full of already brewed tea that I pour from.

Popsicles!  A couple of years ago I bought a simple popsicle maker for about $2.00.... a six-section mold with 6 reusable plastic sticks.  I use a single-serving sugar-free mix - one of those little packets made to flavor a 16 to 20 oz bottle of water - and pour it in my mold.  Okay, it's like sucking on a big flavored ice cube... but it's one way to beat the heat and the cost is minimal.

What are YOUR cheap and cheerful ways to beat the heat??

Penny Pincher