The Mental Debt Struggle...

Keedie

I got an email from Octopus stating that their prices are going up in January 2024, and that they have a fixed 12 month tariff that is cheaper than the upcoming price rise. So I'll have to look into that. My gas bill was around £114 for the month of November, so the credit that I have is being eaten away at a quicker rate than I anticipated.

I've tried to tidy up my kitchen and finally did a very tentative climb up on the ladder to get the old bottles from the top of the cupboard, as they were sitting there for years. Felt a bit weak and dizzy after that, so next time, I'll be patient and wait for my son to get up before I attempt things at height. I need to clean above that cupboard so that I can put the wine and drinks and stuff I've been slowly buying up there.

I figured that as I don't know how long I can physically continue working, I need to get into a position whereby I can get on top of things like bulk buying essentials and batch cooking. So that if I do end up in a position where I just can't work, or the hours that I can manage are not that much and my salary ends up being more or less the same as my half sick pay, then I can survive for a bit whilst I regroup and work out my next step.

My son asked me why we have so much toilet paper and asked if there was another lockdown coming 😂. I told him that once a month I've been buying a large pack of toilet paper even if we hadn't run out, so that we have a surplus and everytime I go back the price increases. He told me that's smart. I'll be starting on the washing up liquid next and buying two each month so that I build up surplus of that. My hallway cupboard is where I store everything and those days when I can't get out of the house, or have little money to send him or my carer to the shops, the main thing is that I can still have the basics.

I think my son thinks I'm turning into a Doomsday Prepper, but when he was younger, I had surplus of everything as life was so busy and I always forgot things like toilet paper, washing up liquid, detergent, foil etc until I needed it. So I used to shop at Costco, but I don't have membership anymore and I can imagine it's probably very expensive now as it's all branded stuff aside from their Kirkland range?

badmemory

I have always kept stocks of things, 27 tins of chopped toms anyone, and as long as it is stuff you will always use then why not.  It isn't like the prices are going to come down any time soon.  The toilet rolls we like have been at a special price recently so we have an extra pack.  When we first went into lockdown there weren't any of the ones we preferred on the shelf so I don't regret it.  The biggest problem with keeping stocks is where do you keep it.  At least I can get in the loft these days but I would really rather not.  

Talking about toms at one point they went down to well under 20 as there were none in the supermarket.  I keep lists of everything.  Look at my username it isn't like I am going to remember things.  So lists.  Lists of every single thing I ever buy from the shops I regularly go to.  Then there is the list of things I've emptied, don't bin it until it is listed.  This started over 20 years ago when I realised I didn't have enough butter to get through Xmas day at 11am & the only open shop closed at noon & snow.  AND mother was coming for dinner @ 1pm and with my sister. 

Makingabobor2

I think its a great idea to stock pile within reason. I used to do it years ago and then stopped as I couldn't actually afford to buy extra stuff most weeks. But in the last 3 years, we have had covid in 2020, I broke my shoulder in 2021 and then this October broke my wrist. We are none of us getting any younger and the weather seems to be getting worse, so starting to think a bit of stock piling is the way forward. Luckily I have my DD living only just down the road and she has been brilliant picking up things from A!d* when I can't get out, but she is busy with 4 kids so don't like to keep asking her, and I also use Mr S deliveries. But I do think having more stuff in the cupboards, would be a good thing. 

beanielou

I stockpile a wee bit too!

Cherryfudge

We're with Octopus and DH hadn't mentioned the email so thanks - I need to follow up on that.

May I suggest some things about the storage, based on what happened to us? Firstly, don't go up a ladder if you're alone in the house. If anything happens - you get dizzy, the ladder fails or slips - you may need someone around. It happened to me and I ended up with surgery to repair a shattered bone. The surgery was amazingly successful and I'm not traumatised as I had no time to process what was happening to me, but I now avoid ladders unless DH is nearby! There is no time to think and act when you start to fall.  

Secondly - another lesson we learned the hard way - don't put heavy things on top of cupboards, or inside top cupboards. Again, our kitchen cupboards were fine for years then one day there was an odd noise and one came off the wall, breaking the cooker top as it fell and shattering a few things that had been on top of it. The weight of tins in it had pulled the case off the back, which stayed on the wall. Perhaps put the toilet rolls high up and the wine bottles under the stairs? Like your own private wine cellar.  

Also - which would be better falling from a height - loo rolls or wine? Of course, it could be that things won't fit the other way round, in which case get your DS to help!

Sorry to bring scary stories! It obviously doesn't happen all the time but you have enough to cope with, without adding another thing.

I think it's an excellent idea to set things aside against future possible need. We have a cupboard of spares so there are always a few meals I could make if we aren't well or the weather is foul or we simply forget to buy something. It's also a useful guard against buying a more expensive item just because we forgot to get any.

I can't remember whose, but there used to be a diary where the person had a budget for regular shopping and a budget for things that weren't needed often, and it struck me as very sensible if you can handle the maths, which I suspect you could. (I would have to have plenty of time and a clear head!) So if there are household things that don't need to be bought often, they come out of the longer term budget.

One thing I set up for us when we had lots of people living here, was toilet roll and washing powder tablet deliveries. The washing powder tablets are very compact and take hardly any space so I'm saved both the weight of boxes of powder or liquid, and the bulk of the toilet rolls. I've not compared prices recently with the High Street so I can't say how they work out but they save a lot of effort and I can manage the orders online so I'm getting what I want, when I want. I think you may have said you get Am@zon deliveries in which case you are probably ahead of me there.

I like that your son thinks you're a Doomsday prepper! My son probably thinks the same about me but he's an hour's drive away and I don't think he'd like me to ring him to do my shopping if I couldn't get to the shops. I also remember having a visit from a student nurse years ago. She'd moved into a flat with some others and they were incredulous that one girl's mum had packed six tins of beans for her: she shared them out because it was too many. A few weeks later our guest came for a meal and I offered her left over salad to take home, and she accepted gladly because money was tight in the flat and it would help their food bills. So I think that's the voice of inexperience speaking! Younger people aren't always used to thinking longer term.

Keedie

I'm glad it's not just me that thinks stockpiling is a good idea. I don't have a surplus of tins as yet as they're so heavy to get up the stairs, but I like the idea of keeping lists of what I have @badmemory. I definitely need to be more organised with it all. For me, I need to get on top of household staples, and then I can get more stuff. I've got two of those large bags of pasta that you get in Asda and a big bag of rice and that will see us through meals for a good few weeks. 

That first lockdown scarred me when it came to having nothing available in the shops @Makingabobor2. I remember standing outside of a Tesco Metro for about 30 minutes in a long queue only to be told I could only get one basket of stuff. My sister had covid, so I had to get her shopping and drop it off and then went back to queue to get my own stuff. It was a nightmare. I struggle to get food deliveries from supermarkets as delivering to the third floor with no lift is at the discretion of the driver and they never want to do it, so I end up paying for a delivery and then having to bring everything up myself.

My mum said Waitrose delivers to anywhere but they're not cheap, although she said their Essentials range is good and not that much more than most supermarkets but still good quality. I've not tried Amazon food deliveries before @Cherryfudge, but I'll definitely have a look. Thanks for the advice regarding storing things on top of the cupboards, as it had never occurred to me that the cupboard may not hold the weight. I'll get my son to move things around or hold the ladder for me when he gets back from college tomorrow. As I put the bottles on top of the cupboard that has the tins. But storing kitchen essentials like kitchen towels, foil, laundry tablets etc would be better up there as they don't weigh much at all. 
 
I'm sorry to hear that you shattered a bone Cherryfudge as that sounds so painful. I won't be going up a ladder on my own again that's for sure, I felt really lightheaded when I climbed back down and had to lie down for about an hour. I was just stupidly being impatient as my son was sleeping in like teenagers do and I finally had a bit of energy so I wanted to get it done, but lesson learnt for next time.

Keedie

Forgot to say that young people have definitely not learnt the art of preparedness as yet, as they're used to things just being there at home. They've not really needed to consider how they get there, or what they cost etc. I certainly got the shock of my life when I was at uni and they told us that we had to pay for toilet paper and I realised it wasn't cheap and in my last year in halls (I was on campus throughout my degree), I had to pay electricity as well and that was a real shock to the system 😂.

I just had a look at the MSE price cap or energy fix calculator and it said this:


So now I'm a bit confused as that article page also says that prices are likely to go down in April.


So if you fix for 12 months, you're essentially trying to lock in a price as close to what the rates dropped to in October to see you through the winter, but by fixing you might essentially be paying over the price cap in the summer months? Am I understanding this correctly? Sorry to be a bit slow on how this works. I've not changed energy supplier or done a deal in years, as I was with Avro and when they went bust I was moved to Octopus and had lot of arrears as Avro hadn't adjusted my direct debit to suit my usage and I was too depressed to do proper meter readings. So by the time I got back into credit all those wild crazy prices happened in 2022 and the government credit last year helped to brace against the impact of the high costs.

beanielou

I use Waitrose for delivery. 

Their essentials range is very good & well priced. 

Only one thing I have not liked. 

They even deliver to my kitchen! 

Keedie

Wow that is very impressive @beanielou. Hopefully they'll deliver to my kitchen too and aren't put off by the lack of lift. I'll have a look at that for January's food shop. 

I have to sit down and do a proper meal plan so that I can get the bulkier stuff I need and then do a smaller weekly shop for fresh things. 

Keedie

So I've been thinking all evening about my debt to my mum and this may come back to bite me, but I sent her half my emergency fund to clear my debt to her and paid £500 off that debt. I've kept the standing order for my emergency fund at £50 a month, so it'll get topped back up over time.

This means that my debt to her goes down to £1,750 and although it's risky, I feel a lot better. Things are a bit strange family dynamic wise at the moment and I'd rather get my debt to her gone ASAP no dots in between and then I can work on other things at a more reasonable pace. 

If my calculations are correct, I should be able to clear the total remaining balance by 30 June 2024 at the latest. That will then give me the remaining 6 months of 2024 to tackle Barclaycard and I can then hopefully qualify for a money transfer between October to December 2024 and I can extend the 0% interest period to clear that debt by mid-2025.