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

EssexHebridean

Ouch to those fruit prices - how come so expensive? Here's hoping you start getting fruit from your new tree ASAP!  That's a great way of commuting and a nice little compensation too. Sadly our commute is entirely at our own cost. If I were nearer I would certainly be happy to use the bike for the entirety though - currently I drive most of the way and cycle the last couple of miles from where we can park free of charge. (It's nearly 20 miles total journey  though so not really doable as a regular thing, plus some of the roads I'd have to use with the bike are lethal!) 

LadyHarriet

EssexHebridean said:

Eco modes on cars are interesting - my '16 plate diesel Clio has it, and when I first got the car I automatically used it assuming it would give me better fuel economy. A few months of hating the car and it's apparent inability to get up hills, plus real disappointment in the fuel economy (I was struggling to get above 54mpg which was far lower than the car's predecessor) and I thought "I wonder" and turned of Eco mode - cue a FAR nicer car to drive, and reliably getting over 60mpg - what a difference! It's literally not been turned back on again since! 

Yes, there is clearly a difference between Eco or Eco+ in an electric car to that of a petrol or diesel one - the only difference that I noticed in my little SEAT Mii Electric is that the heating & A/C go down or off. The performance (which is really nippy, much more so than the VW Up! petrol car that I traded in for it) doesn't seem to be affected at all. I'm a 'warm body' at the best of times, so not having the heating on isn't an issue if I'm running low on battery.

Rosa_Damascena

I am dreading to see what Rishi will come up with today. The single best thing he could do is bring fuel prices back down to what they were at the start of the year (still expensive, but we managed at this level for months). It's a cost that is getting out of hand an denying people the ability to feed their families.

TheAble

The best thing he could do would be to scrap the ridiculous national insurance increase. We all know the money would just be wasted anyway.

littlemoney

Rosa_Damascena said:

I am dreading to see what Rishi will come up with today. The single best thing he could do is bring fuel prices back down to what they were at the start of the year (still expensive, but we managed at this level for months). It's a cost that is getting out of hand an denying people the ability to feed their families.

He spent all his money on furlough payments so he has nothing left. Why some people could have £2500 a month I don't understand. I never earnt that amount in all my working life.

poppy811

Finally had a heating oil delivery yesterday.  Minimum order is 500 litres and this cost 98pence a litre plus VAT so bill will be over £500.  Last order was 60 pence a litre. No choice on this as there is no gas in the village so oil boiler supplies heating and hot water.  I think it is time for rural communities to take action on this as there is no cap on prices.  Need to contact our MPs on this.  I live alone, in my mid seventies and have a serious illness. These sort of increases along with all the others are frightening.  I am lucky that I have a woodburner although I know these are frowned upon and at least the weather is warming up.

London_1

I have cut right back on almost everything I can think of. I have only been food shopping once this month and I am eating down my freezer to defrost it.  

I still have a good stash of tinned stuff, at least a cupboard full ,so there will be some ...intersting meals in the next few weeks.

I did spend £1.38 the other day in my Tesco Metro though, but only because the jacket spuds were 79p on offer and the tomatoes were 59p on offer, but I used some small change I found at the bottom of one of my shopping bags so to date this month I have spent a grand total of only £32.08 out of my £60.00 budget.

Having a food stash has come in handy since Christmas. Luckily my freezer was jammed full so quite a bit more wriggle room in there now I should have a good amount to roll over to April's budget at least.

 This year my left over cash from the month has been put into a jar each month in case its needed and so far I've not touched it although on my account book it says carried forward to the following month.
Januarys carried forward was £11 plus odd change, February's was £15.00 odd, and there should be some for this month as well.

Eventually once I have defrosted my freezer I will have a fair amount in the jar to restock with. I don't miss shopping weekly at all its actually quite liberating as it means I can do other things. I shall count my jar up probably at Easter and see how much is in there.I just chuck the left over cash on the last day of the month in there so should be a nice little stash to refill my freezer with  

Anything that helps reduce costs must be good for my budget I just squirrel it away and leave the jar on the top shelf out of the way so I'm not tempted to dip in. 

I did have a fair bit of left over stuff from both my DDs after Christmas that they didn't want and they know I would use up, plus I shopped just after Christmas and built up a good supply of basic stuff in the cupboards. But I have been really surprised at how much stuff was really in my cupboards and freezer that I had seemingly forgotten about Rummaging in the freezer the other day I found a lonely Choc ice that must have escaped from the box nice surprise and very enjoyable it was too  

Ah well onwards and upwards chums the kettle calls 

Have a good day 

JackieO xx

-taff

Jackie, I compltelyagree about having stuff in there I'd forgotten about. Until I made an inventory, I had no idea what I really had and was replacing things that didn't need replacing, like mustard, or tartare sauce...

newlywed

I am finding myself shopping around a bit more… work full time though so not going to dedicate my life to it!

oh’s favourite jam is £1.90 in cop now and unavailable for months in tresco. Popped into sains for something else and noticed it was £1. At very much and will get some more next time I’m passing since it has a 2025 date. 

Spent a bit too much overall in sains but then discovered forgotten nectar points hiding so used those up too!

The website trolley.co.uk was really good, sorry not sure where it was suggested. It took some time and I have only put a few of the brand name things in but I love that it emails me if the price goes up or down as then I know what to look for when I visit other supermarkets randomly (live in a city so have a variety available and often pass near one or more whilst out walking)

QueenJess

Well that was a totally pointless budget wasn’t it? Almost predictably hangs out the poorest to dry.

The budget is never about helping people and is just political play. It is clearly stating that they don’t think poor people matter, only rich people (who they also assume don’t care either) and rich lobbyists do. I really hope they are wrong about this and it isn’t the way to win the next election. I have slightly more faith in human nature that people do care.