Hot days, Chillin' for cheap

Here in Buffalo we have seen record temperatures, by the time we leave for school it is already 85 degrees and it can hit 100 degrees during the hottest part of the day.  We do not have an air conditioner in our home, for two reasons, one, normally Buffalo is cooler than we are used to and two, air conditioning is expensive.  But this last week has made me want to run out and buy an air conditioner.  But we didn't, we found ways to cool down without air conditioning. 

We have fans, including a ceiling fan which normally are enough to keep the place cool but we had to do something else.  We ate salads, cooked using the crockpot instead of the oven because we did not want to heat the house up any more.  We also ate a ton of Popsicles, which we had gotten for free the week before combining coupons and sales.  We put ice in our drinks to cool them down more and drank at least twice our normal amount of water.  We plan to be eating more salads and fruit salads this week, I may even make a potato salad.  I just have no wish to heat up the house, or myself, cooking when I do not have to. Fruit, like grapes and berries, can go in the freezer for a good cool snack.   I have been eating a ton of fruit this week and it does seem to cool you down a bit.   

You can cool yourself down by showering in colder water, or putting damp washcloths or small towels in the freezer and put them on your neck.  Stop by a garden store or cvs/ walgreens to pick up an inexpensive mister for plants. If you fill it with cold water and mist yourself, you cool off without much cost. You can have an extra bottle in the frig for extra cooling.. Just don't mist while reading this blog because your computer doesn't like being wet.  Remember to wear clothes that make sense for this weather, wear shorts/skirts not pants and light clothes, it can make a major difference.

 In the evenings we have opened up all the windows and doors and brought in the cooler air, it may only cool down to 85, but that is better then 95-100 degrees.  We close everything and pull down shades during the day so the sun does not get to heat the house as much (a tip I learned from my mom as a child), it keeps the house 10 degrees cooler. 

Also, take advantage of places with air conditioning.  We stayed a bit later at work this week and got extra work done.  We also had fun.  We went to the movies during the matinee which was the cheapest price but got us out of the house during the hottest time(btw, Captain America was amazing).  We did our grocery shopping in the middle of the day. When we did laundry we hung most up and ran the dryer only once at night while we were going to bed. 

There were times this week I wanted an air conditioner but as long as it is just a heat wave and not the normal weather I think I stick with my fans and find other ways to cool down during the summer.  Does anyone else have cheap ways to cool down this summer?