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

sammyjammy

I went to M&S and stocked up on 2 kilos of butter, I just can't bear the thought of having to pay £2 for 250g, fingers crossed by the time i need to buy again things might have changed (not holding my breath!)

Rosa_Damascena

I'm a fan of Golden Delicious apples but I cannot remember the last time I had one - or any piece of fruit for that matter - that tasted right. The soil quality is deteriorating through over-farming, and it shows up in the taste (in this case lack) of the produce.

linz

Well I've spent the last few days moving house and have downsized from a semi to a lovely little terraced house built in 1933. It's funny because my semi was also built in the 1930's but it felt so much colder. I know I have the benefit of no external side walls in this mid-terrace but i'm really pleased with how warm it has been. I've not felt cold in it yet, whereas I had started to use my heated throw in the other house.

I'm also not on a water meter anymore. I was pleasantly surprised when I phoned the water company to start my account when they said it will only cost £17 a month, I always thought being on a meter was cheaper but I was never that low on the old meter. Looking at gas & electric usage in the last couple of months when I really started to watch my usage, turning tv off at wall, switching chargers off etc it seems it's made a nice little difference, just doing those things has knocked £3-4 off per month.

I've opened my British Gas account and have booked to have a smart meter installed. I'm interested in this potential new tariff if I can get on it when it starts, where you get paid not to use washing machines, dryers etc during peak rates but you have to have a smart meter.

KxMx

I'm interested in those potential new tariffs as well, although I'm not sure it would benefit me as I'm already a low user (averaging £10-12 a week currently for both gas and electric) and I usually nap in the afternoon through the hours one proposal mentioned.
So the devil will be in detail! 

CKhalvashi

KxMx said:

I'm interested in those potential new tariffs as well, although I'm not sure it would benefit me as I'm already a low user (averaging £10-12 a week currently for both gas and electric) and I usually nap in the afternoon through the hours one proposal mentioned.
So the devil will be in detail! 

I wish out usage was that low!

We are averaging about £75/month on an E7 plan plus an electric car though, which is still cheaper to run than a petrol/diesel. I miss that being £40 plus car over a year though, where the night rate was about 40% cheaper than now.

JIL

I am with British gas. My monthly direct debit left my account on Monday 3/10.
The £66 has gone into my account today.

TheBanker

KxMx said:

I'm interested in those potential new tariffs as well, although I'm not sure it would benefit me as I'm already a low user (averaging £10-12 a week currently for both gas and electric) and I usually nap in the afternoon through the hours one proposal mentioned.
So the devil will be in detail! 

I'm also interested, and I will do my bit to reduce usage during the peak hours, not just in the hope of saving some money but also in the hope of helping the country to avoid blackouts.

I doubt I will save much or qualify for credits, though as I don't use much power during the evening peak hours they're talking about. Since I started working from home during Covid, the energy hungry appliances like the washing machine are run during the day. One advantage of working from home is being able to put the wash on in the morning then hang it out to dry without worrying about whether it's going to rain while I'm out. 

Realistically, unless I sit in the dark the only savings during the evening peak I can make are running things like my laptop from its battery. I suppose I could boil the kettle beforehand and store the water in a flask. My cooker and heating are both gas, so no savings to be had there. So I doubt my current usage is high enough to register enough of a reduction that would qualify for a discount/credit. I'll still make the effort, though.

Siebrie

The quality of fruit and veg is really bad at the moment. Or, it could be, that it is normal, just with less preservatives than normal. The green beans I bought on Friday, were going bad when I wanted to prepare them on Sunday. The grapes go soft after 3 days, apples are tasteless unless you buy the branded ones. The new-ish potatoes I bought 10kg for €7 are already going bad; we'll be eating them 2 nights per week at least.

Wednesday2000

I stopped buying potatoes for months as the quality was so bad and this was from different supermarkets. I started using those cheap tinned potatoes instead.

I did buy a bag of potatoes for the first time in ages the other day, but I haven't tried them yet. I might do air fried wedges tonight as I don't use my oven hardly at all anymore.

Brambling

We are lucky enough to have a very good farm shop about 7 miles away, it is  swings and roundabouts on the prices compared to most of local supermarkets especially with non UK fruit (banana, oranges etc being more expensive) however the quality is so much better and it last a lot longer.  Sometimes things are too big for me as I cook for one for example their cauliflowers, swede, celeriac are often twice the size of the SM ones for the same price luckily these tend to  last a good couple of weeks or more or I cut in half and share with my sister.   

As a single person who likes to  eats a selection of fresh fruit and veg it's no good fore me to buy from our 'cheap' weekly market stall  I have tried many times and I know it won't last me more than a 2 or 3 days.