Troubled times ahead

Voting at Hadleigh Town Hall

It seems hard to believe that it was only a week ago when I woke up, worried, at one o’clock in the morning and never went back to bed.

This is not a political blog, so I won’t dwell on the results of the EU referendum.

The issues are deeply divisive, and I live surrounded by a majority of people who voted for exactly this decision.

Amidst the chaos of the last week, the only certainty seems to be that there are troubled times ahead.

I write this blog about living on less and making the most of it. In future, I fear this will be relevant to more of us than ever before.

Elderflowers above the oil tank

On a purely domestic level, last week I wavered over whether to order heating oil before or after the referendum.

I had finally got round to gathering elderflowers for cordial from above the oil tank (recipe in this post), and realised we had little oil left. As oil prices can vary wildly, I worried about making an expensive mistake.

In the end, I bit the bullet and ordered 2,000 litres which were delivered on referendum day. We were running so low I didn’t really have a choice.

I got a new quote this morning, just to see. Due to the collapsing pound, the price has jumped 8%. If I’d waited, I would have shelled out an extra £50 plus for our fuel.

This time, I was lucky and managed to save some money. Next time, following the referendum result, I fear our oil and many other costs may be higher.

Batten down the hatches, we’re in for a bumpy ride.

This year’s batch of elderflower cordial. I may need to add something distinctly stronger…

How do you think you will be hit by the Brexit vote, if at all?