Jump Start May: Home Week: Day 3

Today’s thrifty activity is to get yourself properly picnic ready for the warmer months. I don’t know about you, but thinking about summery picnics always makes me feel cheery, and I like how it paves the way for heading out on adventures both large and small.

Taking your own food and drink can be very thrifty indeed, and it can also be extra healthy and/or special and delicious.

Let’s break out the picnic goodies! Have a really good look around your home, including the backs of cupboards and drawers, the car boot, or the attic, garage or shed. Make a note of what you have, for example:

• Sandwich boxes or snack boxes
• Coolbag or coolbox
• Ice packs
• Plastic cutlery, glasses, bowls, plates etc
• Water bottles
• Thermos or other insulated flask
• Picnic bag or hamper

Give everything a really good clean when you find it if it hasn’t been used for a while. Now is also a good time to think about useful items that might be missing from your ideal picnic list, so that you can pick things up for less when there are sales and offers available.

I tend to go for cheap and cheerful plates and cutlery (HEMA is great for that sort of stuff) and happily buy cool packs from pound shops, although I prefer to spend a little more on sturdier flasks, boxes and bottles as I find they last a lot longer.

Now let’s move on to those creature comforts that are part of most of the best picnics. Do you own any of the following?

• Picnic blanket or mat
• Folding seat or chair
• Travel cushion or pillow
• Drinks cooler
• Shade or parasol

If you do, hunt them down and give them a quick wash or a sponge to get them looking fresh. If they’re something you don’t own but think you’d get a lot of use out of, have a browse for designs and prices and then add them to a wish list or shopping list. Again, you can find some pretty good stuff in the cheaper shops.

What’s happening here

I already have most things that I need for picnics and other meals on the go, but am planning to wash out a couple of mini food bottles and use them to carry salad dressings and soy sauce in my containers. I’m also going to add a new picnic blanket to my shopping list, maybe one that has a waterproof backing to get the better of the ‘great’ British weather. Failing that I’ll try to find a reed mat in a pound shop or something…

Here’s to some excellent picnics and packed lunches! Are you ready for picnic season or do you still have some way to go?