When it's freezing and you can't put the heating on and breakfast is porridge made with water...

[UndertheCedartree]

AIBU to wish so hard the uplift was never taken away? We were doing so well with that extra amount! But now that has gone and utilities have gone up we are left with little for food and heat.

Sorry, this is just a vent! Nothing anyone can do but I'm just feeling a bit upset this morning.

@KateF - I'm so sorry to hear you are struggling too. I often just make meals for my DC and then eat my youngest's leftovers.

@lifeinlimbo2020 - that's an idea. So it would be cheaper than the gas?

@MamDancer - great idea, thanks.

@UndertheCedartree I'm so sorry things are miserable.

@TurnUpTurnip - I don't get any help with my housing costs so the extra £80 really helped.

I'm not entirely sure but I definitely know that heating the room you are in in short bursts has got to be cheaper than the central heating hasn't it. And also it has a thermostat too so switches off itself to whatever you've set it to 👍 I love mine. Have it on the floor behind me and it blows under my desk. Also yy to snugly socks and keeping your feet and ankles warm. Nothing makes you feel totally chilly like cold feet. My sons both have fleece bedding too as they hate having heat in their bedrooms but like to be snuggly. Asda do really good quality cheap bedding.

Dunelm 👍

@Yourstupidityexhaustsme - thank you so much - that means a lot.
@thank you @HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule - I do have cinnamon and a little butter.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/housing-and-energy-grants/

Here is a link to grants available according to Money Saving Expert for boilers and insulation. They will help to reduce energy costs hopefully.

theclothingbank.org.uk/

This is an amazing organisation who will send clothing parcels. You can self refer.

also, worth having a look to see if theres a community garden for herbs to make things like a tomato sauce for pasta a bit nicer.

@SpookyPumpkinPants - I'm ok but yes overwhelmed! In a good way that so many people care but also just because I have executive functioning skills so I often don't know where to start! I understand the MN warning. Thanks for checking in! I'm still working my way through the thread!

It's very hard OP i'm sorry you're going through this. I am currently in a situation where i'm limiting my heating as I haven't got much money but have been much worse than I was in the past. I used to get changed in bed as there was ice on the inside of my bedroom windows in a flat I lived in. Hot water bottles and layers are your friend. I used to huddle around one gas fire i'd put on for two hours in an evening but no other central heating. Several layers of blankets on your bed. It is thoroughly miserable. It boils down to being as resourceful as you can with what you've got. Bulk buying cheaper ingredients to make meals and getting creative with cooking on a budget can help. Several groups on FB about this. hugs to you x

Precisely why I always vote, and have never voted Tory in my life.

@Effinell - oh and meant to say I hope things improve for you soon too!

@BetsyBigNose - yes, would be funny seeing all the Maps in dressing gowns and bobble hats!

I already get PIP. I don't get any help with housing costs and I have debt from when I became unwell/was trying to set up benefits. So it doesn't stretch too far.

OP, not sure if anyone mentioned but a proper slippers for everyone not the fabric ones but that with the firm and thicker sole iykwim.
Also fluffy warm socks, dressing gown and fleece blanket underneath your duvet.

People have added such amazing advice so this feels a bit lame but it’s a recipe for a very filling yummy nutritious soup that you can batch cook on a long covid “good” day (fellow sufferer):
One onion
One carrot
One stick celery
One clove garlic
One pint of stock (from a cube)
One hundred grams red lentils
Roughly chop and fry the veg, add stock and lentils and simmer for 20-30 mins and if possible blend.
Those quantities for a generous portion for two with bread or a good portion for three.

I lived without heating for months in a very cold winter. My bread did rise in a sunny window.

Yes OP will need to cook the bread, but she's also going to need to cook a dinner. Cooking properly is much cheaper than eating convenience foods.

OP has £50 a week for food. Cooking from scratch would be possible for £40 which leaves £10 to cook/heat one room.
I'm not saying it will be fun, but it's manageable. Meals can be padded out with a starter of cheap soup and bread or rice pudding for dessert.
I bought a sack of potatoes from lidl this week they were £2.70 for 7.5 kilos!! You can do a lot with potatoes.

Better to spend on cooking costs than convenience foods.

@Iamnotminterested - myself and my teen love it! The youngest won't eat it but more for us!!

Thank you @NativityDreaming

@steppemum - my little girl always get dressed in bed!

@littlegingerone

Hi

I just wanted to add to try cash for kids, they can supply grants to households with children who need it. They als do a Christmas appeal to be able to provide Christmas presents to households with children and teenagers. It's from birth up to and including 18 yrs old. I know young people who have been able to acess vouchers for clothes etc and know families who have received help to buy new beds, a cooker things like that. If your local one isn't taking self referrals they should still take referrals from professionals so your Social Worker can refer you. My area (Cumbria) has an organisation called Cumbria Family Support and they are a wealth of knowledge about extra financial help , grants etc. as well as providing emotional support, hopefully you have something similar in your area.
I have been in this position as a child growing up and also at times as an adult and it's hard and can feel miserable.
Also, just to say on freegle app, people can post on there if there is anything you need as well as if you have something to give away. So if some extra bedding / curtains / clothes in certain ages or sizes would be useful don't be afraid to ask. As you will have seen already from the replies to your post, people are happy to help, and lots of people have been in a similar position so you're not alone.
I hope things can improve for you soon

Thank you so much. I will have a look for cash for kids.

Get the children to help OP. Mine could make a pizza from scratch at 8. They were making bread as toddlers. Your family is a unit and need to work together.

@canigooutyet

THere is also a petition to sign for the uplift to remain. It hasn't even reached 30k yet.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/593104

I also blankets and sheets instead of a duvet as I find them warmer, and it's what we used when I was a kid in the 70's/80's up north with only a gas fire!! Plus having RA makes changing the beds a lot easier.

Layering up helps massively. When we've been financially fucked over the years, old tshirts have been cut into vest, bottoms cut off tracksuit bottoms.

Socks and slippers worn, I learnt to crochet from cheap wool from a pound shop and now make socks/slippers including converse style (pattern on youtube), same with fingerless gloves/mittens to wear around the house, headbands to cover ears and when the dc's were younger made them ear muffs.

Used an old pillow and the leg from an old pair of jeans to make a door insulator, another stuffed with any clothing cutoffs and clothes that were too small. Double bedsheet folded and hung at the front door to help with those gaps.

Freecycle can also be good for extra bedding and more.

I’ve just signed though not sure it will really make any difference 🙁

@EatSleepRantRepeat

Just a bit of reassurance for OP about the food apps if you're feeling a bit embarrassed using them. We use Olio all the time to offload spare fruit and veg that comes in our wonky boxes, and we just leave it on the windowsill to be collected. There are a huge range of people who use it for eco reasons, not just people who are struggling, so there's never any judgement about who is collecting what and how often.

Same with the too good to go app, a few of my commuter friends buy them as the collection time fits with them leaving work. Too good to go can be hit and miss with contents, depending on what's leftover that day e.g. loads of pastries but no soup/food to heat up, so not one for your last couple of quid!

Hope you manage to get some more help, it has felt really cold this week compared to a couple of weeks ago

Thank you so much. Yes, I know the cold seemed to suddenly creep up!

Spuds:
Grease a large casserole, dish, hard bottomed cake tin
Peel and slice 2lb
Add layer of onion
Bit of ham hock if you have it
Pour over 1/2 pint chicken stock
Pour over 1pt cheese sauce (liven up with mousetrap and a tsp of mustard)
Bung in oven for 90 mins
Serve with cabbage and Carrots.

Should do 8 meals.

I'm so sorry for you OP.

It's disgraceful these are your choices 💐