What should we include in MSE's new Cost of Living survival guide?

RAS

cdm said:

Hello, please excuse my ignorance…an earlier poster mentioned TCB. Can you please explain what that is? Many thanks. 

Equally clueless here.

Spendless

cdm said:

Hello, please excuse my ignorance…an earlier poster mentioned TCB. Can you please explain what that is? Many thanks. 

Google suggests Taking care (of) business

C_J

It’s TopCashBack.  I use it, but Lordy it takes forever to get transactions approved and takes forever again to have them paid out. It’s a nice surprise when they do though! I had a £30 payment this week for something I purchased last September, so it’s not a quick process.

basketcase

A couple of things occur to me:

1)  Pointing people to where to get User Manuals for things like Halogen Ovens, Airfryers etc.  (And/or general instructions on what they do and how to use them)

It's no use advising someone to "get an airfryer" if the person's never used one - and 2nd hand ones often don't have the manual with them.

2) Would it be possible to include sections on the Devolved Nations, where these differ from England?  eg Free Wills Week, as advertised on Martin's programme, is October in Scotland - as he pointed out.  That was useful and really appreciated.

Hope this doesn't sound stroppy - it isn't meant to be...

woolly_wombat

Boiling an electric kettle costs four times as much as boiling water on a gas hob according to Paul Lewis, radio 4 money guru, because price per therm is still much higher for electricity than for gas. So if you are fortunate enough to have a gas hob make full use of it.

Also, home made soups are cheap, nutritious, warming and filling.

maman

I like the idea of a 'menu of the week'. It would be a great opportunity to point readers towards how to eat healthily and get the best value. I'm sure people on the Old Style board would then take it up on a weekly thread to help anyone with questions on how to cook, where to shop, how to adapt etc. Probably best to work with someone like Jack Monroe on this as she has personal experience and doesn't drench her food in oil or cream. 

Floss

gabisargent said:

Should you go back to the office to cut costs? 

I don't have the heating on when WFH, so it would be my laptop costs balanced against a 30 mile round trip each day plus parking plus wear & tear on my car. I have to eat whether at home or work and take my own lunch anyway.

maman

I think many people are either just heating one room or themselves (with hot water bottle) or nothing like @floss when WFH. That will get even more economical as the weather improves.

That compares well with increasing costs of driving or public transport. 

Despite what government says I think WFH is here to stay. Even a blended version is better than the pre Covid arrangement. Also, as people have got used to Zoom then there won't be unnecessary travel to meetings with all the costs that involves. 

CapricornLass

Many clothes are washed when they aren't really dirty.  Its possible for clothes to be worn far longer between washes by sponging marks and then hanging clothes outside to air instead.  I also treat smelly areas (crotch and pits areas) by spraying the area with vodka and again hanging outside to air.  Its a tip that's used by wardrobe mistresses in theatres, where so many costumes are just not washable.

(not sure it would work with a three year old's clothes, mind!)

Onebrokelady

mark_cycling00 said:

Psychologists use the "4 stages of change" model in these circumstances. I'll try to relate cost-of-living crisis to them:
Don't mean this to be critical of anyone or any group, it's a way of finding out what to expect of us and others

1. Denial
People don't accept there will be a crisis for them and don't participate in any action to address it. You'll be surprised how many people are still at this stage; people who say "Good thing I have solar panels" or people who haven't planned any reductions in spending yet to cover higher bills, or people who just think that they are fairly well-off and that the crisis will mostly affect poorer people

2. Anger/Resistance
This is easier to spot. People look for who to blame, who to sack, who to get angry at. Lots of people will be at this stage blaming energy companies, or politicians, or "someone should have done x" arguments. Or talking lots about how it's unfair on them in particular. If you're having lots of discussions about what has gone wrong or who is to blame then you might be at this stage. But if you're angry you've progressed further than those in denial.

3. Acceptance (to an extent)
people now accept there is a problem but don't necessary take the best action. People will search out solutions but can easily lose focus and feel overwhelmed. You may spend a lot of effort trying to solve the cost of living problem through a major change such as installing heat-pumps or lifestyle changes that may not be sustainable (no more car trips to granny!). It's easy to pop back into the anger stage again as you experience these impacts on your life. If you're searching out solutions then congratulations on getting past the anger phase. But try to move on to the final phase

4. "Commitment"
All the resistance, anger and ignoring is over. Think of it as a "rebuilding" phase where people are calmer (although living standards are much lower sadly) You'll be implementing lots of sustainable, small changes. E.g. you've already started making more rice-based meals and less pasta-based meals. At the train station you transfer £3 into your "bills" account instead of buying a coffee, the heating is off 45mins earlier and you watch that last netflix episode in bed etc. However, these things can be tough and quite sad to do and it's easy to slip back into phase 3 and start researching paniced or "magic bullet" solutions again. 

Really interesting,I recognise myself as having gone through stage 1to 3 and think that over the last few days I've started to get to level 4. I'm now feeling like there's quite a lot I can do to help myself but I'm also aware that I still feel a bit angry about things