It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

EssexHebridean

Rosa_Damascena said:

otb666 said:

we are on a budget but I am not changing my usage as i have done the sums and can afford 220 which is what we use.  I want to have 2 years of normal usage as just retired Before i go full circle and have to scrape ice from inside my windows like when i was little in the 1970s

I remember those days and don't want to go back there. Maybe we are just too used to having a high standard of living?

I think a lot of people have learned to take for granted the (relatively) affordable energy of years gone by and so their standard of living has increased beyond “decent” and into “luxury” without realising it. Now with the costs increasing that will have to change for a lot of folk - and this in turn means that the planet’s resources will be taking less of a battering too. I’m not thinking about having a home that is “warm enough” or being able to pop the oven on at lunchtime AND tea - more of the folk who have a thermostat set at 22° then sit around in shorts and t-shirts, those who have several showers or baths a day for no better reason than “wanting to” and the ones who routinely put all their worn for one-day-only clothes into the laundry basket every night without establishing whether the outer layers need washing, or not. 

cuddlymarm

I’m 60 and am probably the last generation to have lived with extra blankets and ice on the windows ( though when it was the norm you didn’t know any different) A bit of planning such as getting your clothes out the night before and having the fuel ready to light the fire was normal. We didn’t get central heating until I was 16.

The same with food, we’ve been used to whatever we want whenever we want it. Salad in winter may become a luxury, but it’s not the end of the world. We make sandwiches and salads at work and it’s funny how the salads that would sit in the shelves and be binned at the end of the day are selling quickly. I never thought that would happen 😂 Some may have to adapt but most on here already have anyway. When you see the people being interviewed on tv about having to cut back it’s amazing how many brand name foods you see in their kitchens but if that’s all they’ve known it can take a shock before they realise how much you really need. 

I’m going to have the bite the bullet and buy new work shoes today. Mine have lost their support, they still look ok but I my feet were killing me by the time I got home. Unfortunately I have really wide feet and bunions so cheap shoes don’t cut it. Luckily we have an outlet mall near so I’ll try there.

Woolsery

Rosa_Damascena said:

otb666 said:

we are on a budget but I am not changing my usage as i have done the sums and can afford 220 which is what we use.  I want to have 2 years of normal usage as just retired Before i go full circle and have to scrape ice from inside my windows like when i was little in the 1970s

  Maybe we are just too used to having a high standard of living?

I'd advise reading a few issues of, say, 'Country Life' to get a true feel for what a higher standard of living looks like!

I grew up in a middle-class household, which then fell on hard times, yet ice on the inside of bedroom windows was one of the constant things about the two experiences. Nowadays we don't get those harsh winters so often, though -15c here in 2009/10 was a reminder!

 I think certain things are hallmarks of a developed, civilised society and decent shelter,sufficient warmth and enough food are at the top of the list. There's no need for anything fancy. I never lacked those basics, even when we were on our uppers around 1958-62 and still on coal fires in tied or rented houses.

I don't believe some people are enjoying even the rather rough standard of living I enjoyed then. Given the latest round of price rises, and with much more to come, we must hope there are no winters like 2009/10 around the corner.

Paspatur

-13.5c here last February
No ice on inside of the windows due to central heating but did have huge icicles hanging above the bedroom windows
I too remember ice on the inside of windows, heavy blankets, hot water bottles, one coal fire downstairs and a paraffin heater for upstairs, brrrrr

Woolsery

Paspatur said:

-13.5c here last February

Yes but you are 'up there' and I'm down here in sunny Devon!

Wednesday2000

I remember having chilblains as a very young child, I'm mid 40s. I don't remember ice on the inside of the windows, but I know my husband does and he was born in 1970.

We have been eating down our food stores as we are moving house this week and it has made me realise just how much food we have in the house. It is actually ridiculous. I am moving to a place that has a lot of supermarkets within walking distance and I think now I am only going to bulk buy essentials and then go to the supermarkets (hopefully the budget ones) to buy what we want to eat every few days. Then I will see what is on offer and get some bargains. Essential items for us are loo roll and cat litter. I realised that during the first lockdown when we couldn't get any online deliveries!

I have only seen yellow stickered items a handful of times so I'm hoping to get lucky. Is it normally the evenings that the YS items go on the supernarket shelves?

LadyHarriet

Woolsery said:

Paspatur said:

-13.5c here last February

Yes but you are 'up there' and I'm down here in sunny Devon!

So are we - and deeply grateful to the builders of the past who constructed our cottage with lovely thick walls and good fireplaces.
I also grew up with Jack Frost patterns on the windows in winter, blankets and eiderdowns, hottie bottles and an Aladdin paraffin heater in the bedroom. We did have a little fireplace in the bedroom that I shared with my baby brother, but it was rarely lit. Mum was convinced we'd burn ourselves to death on it - why that should be more dangerous than the Aladdin, I can't fathom. I remember drifting off to sleep looking at the patterns on the ceiling that the light from the  Aladdin made - and I also remember taking a can down to the paraffin vending machine at the village garage and getting half-a-crown's worth of Pink Paraffin!
Mum and Dad never put central heating in - we eventually had gas fires in the sitting room and dining room but that paraffin heater used to go on in the kitchen every winter.

Slinky

I have to disagree that having a lot of supplies of food is ridiculous at this moment in time. Food price inflation is rocketing, anything you buy now you can keep to eat later in the year is a hedge against the increased prices that are coming down the track. Certainly the money you keep in the bank won't be earning enough to keep up with the increased prices. I know a lot of people can't afford to do this, but if you can it's worthwhile doing. Eating up your stored supplies without replacing them is a false economy IMO. It's highly unlikely food prices will be dropping anytime soon, if ever.  I think this situation we're in with high food and fuel prices is likely to be the 'new normal'.

On a different subject, I do get cross when I see tv pictures of food banks where you can see things like Heinz beans and branded cereals which have been donated by individuals (rather than excess stock donated by companies). The same money spent on own brands rather than expensive ones would have helped so much more. I've set up a standing order to my local food bank so they are able to buy in what is most needed to help fill the gaps.

NatashaRyan

I used to go to the supermarket and buy whatever I fancied without thinking of the cost. Now I have a weekly budget and remain within it. If I'm down to £2 a couple days before payday then tough, unless it's something absolutely necessary like nappies or milk then we'll eat from the house and do without whatever we were going to buy.

Wednesday2000

Slinky said:

I have to disagree that having a lot of supplies of food is ridiculous at this moment in time. Food price inflation is rocketing, anything you buy now you can keep to eat later in the year is a hedge against the increased prices that are coming down the track. Certainly the money you keep in the bank won't be earning enough to keep up with the increased prices. I know a lot of people can't afford to do this, but if you can it's worthwhile doing. Eating up your stored supplies without replacing them is a false economy IMO. It's highly unlikely food prices will be dropping anytime soon, if ever.  I think this situation we're in with high food and fuel prices is likely to be the 'new normal'.

I do still have a backup of tinned things like beans, lentils, etc... as they last ages.

I was just ordering food online without looking properly at what we had already at home. I think it might be better for me to go into supermarkets again and actually think is this what we want to eat for dinner today and is it worth the price?