This is mainly for those who have open fires, wood burning stoves and solid fuel Agas and Rayburns.

Now I know I’m not only a bit of a cheapskate but miserable as well, but something came to a bit of a shock to me the other day and forced me into spending money!

Because I gather all my own wood either by foraging the nearby woods or cutting up the old fruit boxes in the derelict Windmill, I never really take much note of the cost of wood as in Kindling and Logs, so this came as a big surprise to me the other day whilst strolling around a well known DIY Superstore.

What? A bag of kindling wood, the contents of which are shown in the photo = £2.95. Blimey I thought in true Brit fashion. It moved me so much that I had to buy a pack simply to take a photo and show you all!

Turns out this would light my Rayburn about three times, thus just under £1 a time.

As I fetch my own wood, I’ve got to know how much I’m collecting and how long it will last. I can look in my big bag I take with me and say “6 days worth” etc.
So with four days in mind, I ventured down the Lane to the Wood and went about gathering four days worth.
From the time of setting out, the time of collecting it, bringing it back and putting in my wood bin took exactly 11 minutes.

Therefore one weeks worth would have taken me just about 20 minutes and I would be saving around £7.00.

I appreciate we all have to make a living, but if you glued those bits together in one piece of wood, you’d have a piece about 5″ long x 10″ wide. It would actually be cheaper to buy some proper timber lengths and saw it yourself.

I don’t have anything against people who have sufficient money to afford this luxury, good for them if they’ve worked hard for it, but if that’s used for six months of the year, you’re saying goodbye to nearing on £160 and it’s not even the wood is for burning heat, it’s just to get the fire going.
How long does it take you to earn £160.

If it’s a dry day, no matter what time of the year it is, what can be more mind nourishing than a stroll down to an ‘allowed’ wood and do some gathering?
The wood is just rotting away and there’s ample there not to cause any harm to it all composting down if you take a bit of it.

Not only are you saving money and using the resources around you, you are enjoying the nature of it, the sounds of the birds, the wind through the trees and catching the occasional glimpse of something you may not have seen before.

By mixing business with pleasure so to speak, you are leading a healthier life indeed.

Fuel prices for home heating are increasing by the month, if we can save some of that, I’m certain we can find good use for it.

Saying all that, it would be nice sometimes just to come home and flick a switch, but until I can afford to do that, I’m OK !

Tip if you are buying Kindling – Try Wood Merchants and Timber yards, more wood, less cost. Also some Roofing Companies will gladly give you some of the old beadings they’ve removed from peoples ceilings, they’re only going to have a bonfire with them.