Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

foxgloves

@badmemory - Agree about some of these plug in, heat-up things. I think putting a bit of extra water in the kettle when boiling it for a hot drink & using surplus to fill a hot water bottle would be my go-to. And extra layers..... can remember reading a while back in a magazine - the article was about being 'greener' - it said that "if you only do one thing, go & buy a thick cardi from a charity shop', the reasoning, of course being that its a 2nd hand purchase & helping a charity & also providing another layer to avoid having the heating on quite so much. I couldn't find a thick cardi in our local charity shops but I did buy a new one & it makes a huge difference thrown over everything else.
F

Baileys_Babe

I have a thick 'house' cardi that I wear around the house over my normal clothes, to keep me warm. Being a cardigan I find it is more flexible as it is quick to put on when I am finding it cooler or take off when I am moving around and generating some heat. Being a cardi also means it can be unbuttoned or buttoned as required.

As well as providing me warmth and reducing our fuel bills my cardi is full of love as it was knitted by a friend as a present for me and they have used the most beautiful coloured yarn 🤗

milann

It is definitely a worrying time around the bills. I’m another who will be batch cooking…..I do this anyway tbh. I think another thing I’ll be doing is trying to get out everyday. I noticed a big difference last week. The days I’d stayed in - I felt cold but when I made the effort to go out it got my blood pumping I suppose and it felt nice and warm on my return 😁

HairyHandofDartmoor

amber03 said:

Just received our water rates and they have gone up by 50p a month, don’t think we will be so lucky with our council tax.xx

That's not bad Amber. I bet ours go up more as we pay £104 a month currently!

elizabethhull said:

Fortunately DH negotiated a 2 years fixed price energy rate that goes on until Summer 2023, as I think getting a decent price now would be impossible.
I have also noticed food prices going up, and Asda keeps stopping selling the things we've got used to having.. For example, DH, on his enforced low-fat diet, likes to have Wheaties (own brand Shreddies) and they used to do several flavours, all now gone, just the basic one

That was lucky Elizabeth. I think the range of value brands is much less, plus they get sold out quickly.

HairyHandofDartmoor

pennywisepoundstupid said:

Hi HHOD, it's worrying how fast everything is going up, it's going to be a tough time for many.
I'm glad you are enjoying your new job and i agree working with children is exhausting but it's so rewarding.
Take care xx

Thanks Penny

Sun_Addict said:

Good to hear from you. Glad your new job is going well. The price hikes are very worrying, I’m dreading what our gas and electricity will go up to as we’re heavy users at the best of times. Our fixed rate is just about to end unfortunately. Our mortgage fixed deal ends in June but we’ve got less than £18k left to pay so it won’t be a huge difference thankfully. 

Thanks SA . Yes a lot of people have lost fixes for their gas and electricity

HairyHandofDartmoor

badmemory said:

Some of the price increases are really huge.  I had an energy fix until my supplier went kaput, so then I was on the Oct SVR & next will be on the April SVR.  So in 6 months my energy bill will have gone up 245%.  I'd love to know how they work out the increases because they certainly don't tie up with the ones that I'm having to pay - that's always supposing I can actually buy things.  Prune juice is just one item.  85p a couple of months ago, not seen on the shelf since at either Tesco or Asda.  Price according to the website is now £1 & they still have none on the shelf.  That is 17.5% price increase!!

EEK to  245% . Jack Monroe is right about prices of value food going up more than the official inflation figure.

Willowtree222 said:

I’m worried too. I’ve noticed gluten free items have gone up so I’m not having things. Dreading the new fuel increase as well not sure how that will pan out. X

Yes that will hit people travelling to work.

jwil said:

Glad the job is going well.  The price increases are so worrying.

Thanks Jwil

beanielou said:

Glad too job is going well.
The price increases are   

Thanks Beanie

HairyHandofDartmoor

Cherryfudge said:

Your first week back sounds exhausting, I'm glad you felt more energetic the following week. I find that reassuring as I've applied for a job with longer hours and was wondering how I'd manage them (should I be offered it), but I think we get used to it.

I hope the cold goes quickly.

I'm just back from the supermarket and yes, prices are definitely going up and as @badmemory says, some items just aren't there, though we aren't getting the gaps on the shelves that we saw a couple of years ago. I saw Martin had drawn attention to a forum discussion where people were sharing hints for saving energy (of course I can't find it now) and the the heated throws were mentioned. I'd not heard of them for some reason, but they would make life a lot more comfortable for people working from home, for instance. Do you know whether they cost much to run?

Thanks Cherry . I think the more you do the more you can do, and vice versa. There is a short term cost in tiredness but I think you can get used to almost anything eventually if you are reasonably healthy and don't have a health condition. 

The heated throws are a Dreamland make from Argos. They cost £50 each but have gone up to £60 now! They cost from 1p a day to run apparantly.

HairyHandofDartmoor

badmemory said:

You have to watch some of those things as they can cost as much as running the full heating on properly, also gas fires can be expensive to run & unlike central heating on a thermostat you land up overheating then overcooling then overheating again.  The blurb should tell you what they use.

We dont have any gas fires or any form of heating apart from our gas central heating and the two heated throws. The blurb says they cost from 1p a day to run.

HairyHandofDartmoor

foxgloves said:

Yes, @HairyHandofDartmoor, I am definitely worried about inflation generally & energy bills in particular. Our monthly energy dd increased to £119 pm last year & the amount of credit we built up showed that this was too high an increase for our usage. I'd planned to get through this winter, then request a refund & a modest dd reduction. That's not going to happen now. We are still well over £300 in credit on our energy account, but the price rises will swallow that up fairly swiftly. I have managed to cut our bills in the past by using as many little energy saving methods as I could think of, so I'll be looking at those again. On the % rises stated, our projected dd would rise to around £180 per month - an insane amount for 2 people in a modest 3 bedroom house. I am beyond grateful that we no longer have a mortgage. I do think that younger mortgage holders who have known only these flat low interest rates will not immediately realise the effects on monthly repayments of successive small interest rate rises. I didn't have a mortgage during the Thatcher years of 15 - 16% interest rates, but I do remember the succession of building society letters in the early to mid 90s, each one increasing my mortgage repayment as interest rates rose.
These are worrying times indeed. Already planning to batch cook a bit more & tighten up the grocery budget.
F x

I agree these are worrying times. I feel sorry for those already living close to the edge. A lot of people are going to suffer. It is very lucky you no longer have a mortgage.

HairyHandofDartmoor

foxgloves said:

@badmemory - Agree about some of these plug in, heat-up things. I think putting a bit of extra water in the kettle when boiling it for a hot drink & using surplus to fill a hot water bottle would be my go-to. And extra layers..... can remember reading a while back in a magazine - the article was about being 'greener' - it said that "if you only do one thing, go & buy a thick cardi from a charity shop', the reasoning, of course being that its a 2nd hand purchase & helping a charity & also providing another layer to avoid having the heating on quite so much. I couldn't find a thick cardi in our local charity shops but I did buy a new one & it makes a huge difference thrown over everything else.
F

Baileys_Babe said:

I have a thick 'house' cardi that I wear around the house over my normal clothes, to keep me warm. Being a cardigan I find it is more flexible as it is quick to put on when I am finding it cooler or take off when I am moving around and generating some heat. Being a cardi also means it can be unbuttoned or buttoned as required.

As well as providing me warmth and reducing our fuel bills my cardi is full of love as it was knitted by a friend as a present for me and they have used the most beautiful coloured yarn 🤗

Lots of layers is definitely the way forward. I wear a fleece zip up jacket over three layers plus a blanket and fingerless gloves when my hands feel cold. Hot drinks help too.