What are your thoughts about the cost of living crisis?

Sherliarty

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Yep prices still going up.... :confused: What kind of job are you thinking about doing? I didn't think I'd be doing shop work but the store discount kind of made it for me. I also found out recently that staff got a £150 payment for their utilities and £150 towards school uniforms.....Didn't get it as haven't been there for six months but keeping my fingers crossed they offer more perks like this as it would help a lot. I've been wondering about all this make tax digital stuff I keep hearing on the radio too for SE folk.....I really don't want to have to start paying for programmes or anything, I still do it all by hand in a notebook....:oops:
I imagine I will go for shop work as that's the most flexible. I'd only want to do part-time and hopefully can find something local so I don't have to pay for transport.
 
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Sherliarty

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The news just seems to get worse on the cost of living front. What do people think is going to happen next? And are you doing anything to try and protect yourself financially? I am trying to do more work on Crisp but it's lean pickings. And I'm checking what services/subscriptions I can get rid of and what appliances do not need to be plugged in! I've yet to apply for a real-life job but that will probably be my next move if I can't get more online work.
 
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Lemonade23

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I've actually joined a leisure centre. Can easily spend two hours there with my son and get our showers etc. I imagine when it's cold we will go and linger there and it will be cheaper than being at home. I've spied they have power points, so if it's not too obvious, I might try and work there a little too. Who knows. Food wise, I am just buying day to day unless it's special offers, and trying to waste nothing. Cooking up any courgettes I grow into soup, which is super cheap and putting it in the freezer. I want to grow potatoes next, but I've not done that before. Shopmium gives out the occasional freebie. Trying to do anything I can think of. I think it will get massively worse in the winter, I follow an economist on Twitter, and he is predicting a collapsing house market, mass unemployment etc. How will leisure and food outlets survive these crippling bills with no power cap for businesses.
 
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Jute

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We used to have the hot water on 2hrs a.m then p.m.. I've knocked the pm one on the head and I can't say we've noticed the difference re hot water (we're shower in the morning types). If I want to say, mop the floors I boil a kettle. We use a dishwasher in the evening and have found a programme among the thousands on the display that still cleans but knocks an hour off the time.

Other than that, it's the usual switch off everything. Food shopping bill definitely up and I've just printed off a year's worth of gas/leccy bills to try and guestimate how much we're going to be stiffed for when our fix ends in October (wish I'd opted for a 2yr fix now instead of 1) :sick:
 

homie

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Its not going to get any better. Transport costs are through the roof. Even locally grown produce is being affected by the dry weather. Which will further push up prices.

We are in for a tough winter. That's for sure.
 

Jute

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We had a vague conversation about getting ready for powercuts which seem to have been thrown out there as a possibility. I've some bog-standard white candles that must be over 30yrs old knocking about somewhere. Must look at some bigger battery-type lights. Sitting in the 1970s power cuts were fun then as a kid - but I'm not now and have no intention of playing bloody canasta and trumps for days...
 
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Sherliarty

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We had a vague conversation about getting ready for powercuts which seem to have been thrown out there as a possibility. I've some bog-standard white candles that must be over 30yrs old knocking about somewhere. Must look at some bigger battery-type lights. Sitting in the 1970s power cuts were fun then as a kid - but I'm not now and have no intention of playing bloody canasta and trumps for days...
I too remember blackouts in my younger days! I have candles at the ready
 
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homie

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I don't get this thing about potential powercuts. If anything, people will be using less energy this winter to try and save money. Why might there suddenly be power shortages? We use very little gas from Russia, most of it comes from the North sea or Norway, so we should be well protected from Russia cutting off the pipelines, if they do.
 
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Jute

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I don't get this thing about potential powercuts. If anything, people will be using less energy this winter to try and save money. Why might there suddenly be power shortages? We use very little gas from Russia, most of it comes from the North sea or Norway, so we should be well protected from Russia cutting off the pipelines, if they do.
I've no idea. It seems it's being touted by the National Grid and energy markets analysts and is something to do with exports from Europe being reduced because they are scrambling to sort their own supplies re Russia, combined with a run of bad winter weather. Anyway, not to worry - Dizzy Lizzy and R!chi are on it (possibly) :rolleyes:
 

Lemonade23

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At least they way they're talking we might be getting some more help with fuel bills. I'm on tax credits so haven't received anything yet though I know someone on UC got theirs quite a while back now. I tried to reduce my elec & gas DD but they would only let me reduce it by 10% even though I am over £300 in credit, they just rob us blind. I think they think we'll just pay the increased prices whereas I'll be turning mine off if it gets anywhere near what they are predicting :oops:
 
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Jute

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This is why when my deal is up, I'm considering ditching my DD and going back to the 'old-fashioned' way. I give you a reading, you tell me what my bill is, I pay it. I know (think) it's more per unit but I'd feel a bit more in control and I have the discipline to put money aside and adjust when necessary. I've yet to decide and am waiting for the numbers in a few weeks (OVO).
 
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Sherliarty

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I don't quite understand why our Government is unable to get the energy firms to cap their price rises, something other countries seem to have managed to do. There is talk of a windfall tax but surely it would make sense to negotiate with them and say we won't do windfall tax if you drop the rises by an equivalent amount.
 
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Lemonade23

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I think it goes against Tory "values"......they privatise everything don't they, allow them to make huge profits and we suffer. The only weapon we seem to have is our vote.
 
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Frugalgal

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I wonder if some people may decide to return to the office again in order to save on fuel bills?...but if they have to commute to work, then I suppose they will have to consider weighing up whether it is cheaper to stay at home or pay for petrol/fuel/bus tickets etc. For those that can walk or cycle to work I suppose that would be good.

I have been using a hot water bottle to keep warm, and we are lucky to have a wood burner. This autumn we will be stocking up our wood pile. So far we have been lucky enough to not have had to buy any wood. We have managed to get free wood from tree surgeons or off freecycle sites, or friends who have had trees taken down. Another good thing about wood burners is that they heat the walls of a house, as heat rises up the chimney.

If it is a cold winter, it will be a case of me only heating the one room during the day and using blankets and wearing lots of layers.
 
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Lemonade23

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I'm trying to cut down on food bills and notice the Sainsburys app is good. You do your own scanning and pay at the self serve checkout. They have offers on things you normally buy, so for me today one thing was four tins of soup for £2.40 instead of £3.60....useful to bulk buy. I'm having to plan quite carefully now.
 
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Jute

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Just had my renewal figures from OVO for fixed-rate duel-fuel.

Sad Sailor Moon GIF
 
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Lemonade23

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Oh no :( It's hard to know what to do right now isn't it. My actual charges are just over half of my fixed rate as I'm not using so much because it's summer and I'm super careful. I was hammered more on the electric than the gas, which is annoying as gas is easier to control I think.
 
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Jute

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Oh no :( It's hard to know what to do right now isn't it. My actual charges are just over half of my fixed rate as I'm not using so much because it's summer and I'm super careful. I was hammered more on the electric than the gas, which is annoying as gas is easier to control I think.
Before they showed me my fix options of over 100% above what I'm paying now, they kindly let me know that I'm using 24% less gas than I did last year. I think I'm definitely going to chance the variable, dump my DD and pay-as-I-go. I can always jump onto a fix if it doesn't work out. And weirdly the variable rates are lower than the fixed at the moment. It's like the wild-west out there.
 

Jute

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What do 'we' think of supermarket price-comparison apps? I can see loads on my phone but does anyone use them and which would you recommend? Are they worth the faff?
 

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