Is there anything you have had to cut back on due to the high cost of living?

[Turkishdelightchocisace]

For me I was always a huge bookworm and used to buy books pretty much every week, now I go to the library instead. I have also cut back on hair appointments and try to extend them to every 3 months instead of every 6-8 weeks. Anything you have had to cut back on?

Also very first-world but the price of caviar has gone up significantly and I will now have it as a rare treat, I think.

@LowlandLucky you did a MONTHLY shop for £20?

🤣

Hot water - we only have the heater on for a short time morning and evening now. We had to have it repaired recently and while we were waiting, we could only switch it on manually when we wanted a shower. So we got a good idea of how long it needs to run to get the water to temperature, which is less than we thought.

Other than that, we’re not too bad at the moment. DH has taken over the weekly food shop as he’s better at keeping strictly to budget than I am. We’re probably going to shop around for a better value dog food brand soon, as the brand we’ve always used keeps putting its prices up. I’ll probably start cutting DHs hair again, at least every other time he needs it.

I am building a treatment room at home for my business, partly because the cost of petrol is making my mobile service uneconomical. A treatment room should have more fixed costs associated with it rather than the fluctuations you get with fuel prices.

@StickyFingeredWeeNed Is your job electric? Because I read that boiling a stove top kettle on a gas hob was cheaper than an electric kettle, but I'm not convinced!

@StickyFingeredWeeNed hob, not job!

The cost of fish and chips has really jumped up recently and if the lack of customers in our chippy is anything to go by we are not the only ones to notice. I hope it hangs on in there because it's the only gluten free takeaway option suitable for my coeliac ds. We'll keep going to support them for now but there is a point when it becomes ridiculous.

Reduced Netflix to the basic subscription - May ditch it altogether.
Drastically reduced tumble drier use.
Not eating out as much.
Meal planning and batch cooking.
Flasks of tea and sandwiches/posh picnic when going on days out. I try to make it special so it feels like a treat. But it had been noticeable that cafe meals, and even tea and cake had got very expensive. Nowadays we will take a picnic nine times out of ten and a meal at a cafe is a rare treat.

We're pretty frugal mostly. DH is retired and I'll be retiring soon, so for a few years I've worked on minimising costs. We got rid of one car (passed it on to DC) when my DH retired, so we only run one car, but we couldn't have done that when DH was working.

On yeah, we dropped Disney and I ditched Audible but it seems it wasn't much of a sacrifice given I totally forgot we did that.

All a bit ‘first world problems’, I know, but we’re ditching the private health insurance, magazine subscriptions and looking at any streaming subs that we can cancel. I’m also going to up my work days from 2 to 3 a week.
I have a feeling that this is just Round One though.

Make up - nearly out of foundation and mascara so am trying to eke out old nearly empty ones I had squirreled away in a drawer by mixing them with some CC cream I rarely use and it actually looks fine, though won't last forever. Also using up old pressed power compacts which had a small amount left in the corners - again they won't last long but at least they are not being wasted. Have ordered some free tester samples of foundation online that I found through a freebie website. Trying to find a sampler of mascara but no luck yet.

Trying to eke out meals by using less meat in stews etc and adding basics new potatoes instead. Switched to less fancy bread without seeds. Can't afford to eat fish anymore so that's out. Switching chocolate bars for cheaper snacks like Scotch Pancakes. No more spag bol, but doing pasta bolognese instead so eke the mince out two two meals instead of one. A basics bag of yorkshire puds to add these to bulk out dinners. Wonky veg etc Using less butter in wraps.

Trying to get birthday presents in sales/poundshop. Managed to get 6 Horrid Henry books for £6!

Plants for the garden - would normally go to local garden centre, but this time went to Morrisons and got little plant plugs for hanging baskets and pots - 26 tiny plants for £5.50!!

Using less water - re-using cooking water and veg washing water for plant pots. Using less toilet paper. Turning off every bloody light - living like Charles fucking Dickens in this house basically.

Sewing up clothes with holes in - a LOT of my clothes now have holes in. I will be buying zero clothes this year unless I desperately need something and cannot manage without. I will be spending my weekend sewing up holes in clothes and other things around the house. Make do and mend.

Cancelled Netflix and Spotify. No bought coffees. Cut my own hair. The occasional takeaway from the supermarket rather than an actual takeaway shop.

Not one big thing but constantly reviewing prices and what we spend. So the usual meal planning and stocking up on staples when they are on offer, waiting for deals to buy clothes / school uniform etc. Using up toiletries already have rather than buying more. Using the car less and journey planning so we call in at the supermarket at the way back from DS activity. etc

Try looking at Benenden around £10 a month. We also have cheap dental insurance for about the same.

We always got our 2 cute dogs professionally groomed every 8 weeks which is £90 and now we are waiting 11 weeks before each groom. Also we used to have a mid cycle bath and blow dry for them £50 now we are doing their mid cycle bath ourselves. We are saving about £45 pcm. Obviously this cash is going on electricity. No tumble drying hanging washing out on washing line. One less takeaway each month which isn't a bad thing really.

Who is your dental insurance with and i have Benenden too

Cancelled Netflix.

Bring lunch to work (not today though but most days)

Bought box hair dye to dye my hair at home

Buying cheaper cosmetics - brow pen was from Barry m and contour stick was from kiko. Foundation still from YSL but it was still miles cheaper than my old favourite suqqu.

I managed to have a massive drop in income to coincide with the cost of living increase (bloody typical!) so was trying to save as much as tolerable.

Turned the heating off in March, even though we were cold (and pretty miserable) in April.

Swapped baths for showers for me and DD (we both love a bath, and as I never go out, it was my evening treat). We shower twice a week and I change the beds once a fortnight and wash everything on the low temperature eco cycle. We don’t smell, but we’re not as clean as I’d like.

Mostly given up booze (I have plenty of gin, but can’t buy tonic. So I made a mint syrup with mint from the garden have gin mojitos for a special treat with fizzy water. I won’t be able to do that when the gas runs out in the soda steam through. Not buying any new booze)

Did a huge energy audit. Turned heating off or down where possible and on for much shorter times where we really needed it. Turned the boiler flow temp down. Re-used smart plugs for turning stuff off at night, and switched off everything at the socket when we aren’t using it. Stopped using electric throws and blankets and use hot water bottles.

I go to bed at 8 when DD does. No lights or heat just for me, that way. I only watch YouTube or read library books. I do free yoga and workouts on YouTube. I don’t go out, except for walks with friends or tea at neighbours houses. My kid doesn’t go out except for a free youth club in the village and to friends houses. I don’t give other people’s children snacks. We do an occasional national trust day out, where I take a flask and a picnic, and treat ourselves to chips (but just chips, no fish) on the way home.

I shop once a week in Aldi, and also go
to B and M for the few brands I still buy. I stick to a strict £20 budget. I don’t eat meat or fish, except for the odd bolognese or chilli, which I add loads of veg to and make a huge batch and freeze. I’ve cut down to one small freezer. I only put the oven on twice a week - on Fridays for pizza, bread rolls, a cake and roast vegetables and on Sundays for a meatless roast, pasta bake and a dessert. I eat leftovers from that and DD’s breakfast for mine and have one meal from lunch/dinner, often soup made with veg from the allotment and bread rolls, or reheat what I made at the weekend. DD has simple meals - eggs or beans on toast, or things like Bolognese and or macaroni cheese that I make in batches and reheat for the freezer. I’m really focussing on staple veg on the allotment, rather than summer luxuries, in case things don’t improve. I only fill the car up once a month, and if there’s not enough petrol we don’t go anywhere we can’t walk.

Clothes are coming from marketplace and eBay, for me only when things are really visibly ragged, and only what DD really needs replacing. I cut our hair. I do nails and home ‘spa’s as a treat (but neither of us are really into it) DD could do with her first bra fitting and teen skincare, and I badly need new ones too, but there’s no way that’s on the cards for the forseeable. I’m worried about shoes as it is.

I cancelled everything I can. Including savings, child trust funds, pensions, life insurance etc. It’ll be ok short term, but obviously only in a crisis. I get a basic one person Netflix and Amazon music for DD, and she does still have some school lunches and her music lesson, but nothing else. I wanted to shield her as much as I could.

I won’t lie, it’s a bit shit. I had a pretty cheap and boring life by most people’s standards, but I was happy with just my home comforts. Obviously that’s not the case at the moment. When we go back to normal for us, things will have to change. Either I will scale back the business and get a better paid actual job (I’ve always prioritised flexibility over income) or we will have to cut out holidays or downsize in order to maintain our day to day expenses, because this level of cut back isn’t sustainable for me. I’m lucky that I have good education and the option to retrain or take on more hours somehow now DD is 12. If she were younger, I’d be stuck with it.

I look at spreadsheets a lot at the moment!

Dental with Simply Health

👍

That all sounds super tough, I hope things improve.

That sounds so tough for you both. Much admiration for you that you're shielding your daughter from as much of the hardship as possible. Nothing wrong with simple meals and allotment produce. Lots right, really.

I also prioritise flexibility over earnings at work. However, since the lockdown many jobs are now more flexible in terms of where you work and the times you work. So much so, I've been able to up my hours. It will be worth investigating. Worth it to get you both some decent new undies, a bubble bath each night and on the road to feeling good again!

We shop at Lidl all the time now.

Fewer coffees out.

Fewer trips out.

Very little new clothing or shoes. We just buy new stuff to replace something that's worn out.

We never use the central heating anyway and don't have a tumble dryer.

Fewer haircuts because I've grown my short style out into shoulder length now. No more hair colours.

No new phones, just sim only contracts.

We've not so much cut-out as cut back on anything where possible.

For a 2-person home we have:-

• Shopped around and reduced insurance premiums for house/car
• Swopped to a cheaper breakdown cover for car
• Haggled with Sky for cheaper broadband and phone package, saving us £17.50 per month
• Cancelled Netflix and any other unessential subscriptions/apps
• Cut mobile phone package by half
• Dry outside (in winter, I'll have to use tumbler, but just one load a week) (Have used a combi washer/dryer in the past but found it so inefficient - my spacious White Knight tumbler that I've had for years is brilliant)
• Wash only 1-2 loads per week on 30 degrees Eco setting
• Reduced gas boiler to lowest setting (38 degrees)
• No heating (and generally we don't even have the heating on during the winter as we don't like stuffy warm air). In winter we'll just go to bed earlier
• Use oven once or twice in the week only - using gas hob to cook
• Use steamers to cook multi-veg in one pan
• Mow garden once every 3-4 weeks instead of weekly
• Only one to two showers per week each and turning off water when washing
• Use cold water to wash pots - boiling one kettle for exceptionally greasy items
• Change all bulbs to energy efficient ones
• Switch off everything at plug except fridge/freezer that doesn't need to be plugged in - no need to have electric oven clock or microwave timer on
• Nothing left on standby and when something is fully charged, switch it off at plug i.e. when laptop/mobile is fully charged, turn off power supply and run it on the battery until you need to recharge it again
• Shop just once a week at Lidl/Aldi - take advantage of loyalty/voucher schemes and avoiding the 'I'll just nip out for some milk' and come back with 12 other items - if you don't have it, go without
• Sell unwanted items on ebay and shop on Ebay for personal items, usually much cheaper than the high street stores!
• Not sending xmas cards this year except to elderly relatives (just 2), friends and cousins will just get email cards
• Have cancelled a non-urgent prescription at £9 month - however not recommended unless you consult with your GP first

Most of the above we've already been doing but not as strictly as now. Most of the above are common sense anyway and why waste energy, but to be honest.. it's not really a way to live permanently.

We are in the middle of buying a property so we'll have to start afresh there and get used to a new energy supply etc., but suffice to say there's no holiday abroad this year (none since Covid, sadly), very few UK day or weekend trips planned now due to energy crisis, and few luxuries can be afforded. We don't smoke or drink. I'm also out of work at present so looking for a new job but have to bear in mind travel costs, and certainly can't afford to buy another vehicle.

At least you have the option as you say to downsize.