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.

I’m sorry you’re struggling OP. Puts my petty niggles into perspective.
You can apparently make an effective room heater with a couple of bricks, a terracotta plant pot and some tea lights. Sounds bonkers but is recommended. Google it.

Could you see if there is a pantry or social supermarket near you? They redistribute supermarket surplus food and members often pay £1-3 for a week’s shop.

This is reminding me of being a child. We always had layers on top of the bed including putting our heaviest winter coats on top of the blankets. Hot water bottle or an electric blanket inside the bed.
We had one fire and my mum would put my uniform on a chair in front of it just before I got up so my clothes felt warmer.
Thick curtains. Draft excluders at the bottom of the outside door and the living room door. And spare blankets everywhere either knitted by mum or crocheted by my aunt so we could cuddle up in a blanket whichever room we were in.
I still do most of this now whereas DH just goes to turn up the heating . We had very different upbringings.

Definitely fill a flask (if you have one) with hot water in the morning for hot drinks.

Also hot water bottles don’t have to be filled with a freshly boiled kettle. You can use the hot water from boiling pasta or potatoes. Just rinse out well in the morning.

There is something so fundamentally wrong that this happening in 2021. I hope you get things sorted op.

We need a credible government to sort this out. None of the options are credible to me at the moment.

@RachelHasThoseInBurgundy - I'll try that with some blankets - thank you. Leaving the oven door open is a good idea too. We don't have anywhere to sit in there unfortunately. We just have a living room with tall Victorian ceilings and drafty Victorian windows!

@LakieLady - yes, that makes sense re:porridge. I was in a bit of a rush this morning so made it quite quickly.

@Pinkypie86 - thank you that is so kind.

@ChiefInspectorParker - I have a Christian organisation helping with my finances and don't get me wrong they have done wonders but it has been rather limited due to Covid. I really need in person, step by step, holding my hand help!

@TheLastLonelyBakedBean - no not pay as you go. I pay a monthly DD which they have put up £40 - they tried to put it up £90 and I had to beg them to lower it. They did take one lot of the DD plus £90 and completely wiped out a couple of weeks of groceries money.

Have you tried contacting your local Homestart OP? They may be able to offer more personalised support

We are having help from a Christian Organisation with my finances. They are very kind and gave us all Christmas presents last year plus a supermarket card to buy food.

Re porridge, I agree with the suggestion upthread to cover the oats in water the night before. It brings out the creaminess in the oats and means they don't need as long cooking to soften them, so it's a win-win: nicer texture AND uses less energy to cook

Also, if you have internet access, keep your eye out on Facebook for people giving away kids clothes and toiletries.

I give bundles of clothes away every so often. Where things have been passed down to me free of charge, I like to pass them on free to someone else after DD when they're still in nice condition.

Are you able to get some heat shrink insulation for the windows, it makes a big difference reducing draughts.
Failing this see if you can get hold of some used packaging bubble wrap and use this.
You can also stick sellotape around the frame and window surround if the seals are poor and draughty.

www.amazon.co.uk/Insulation-Heating-Draught-Excluder-Shopmonk/dp/B00NVI3DV6/ref=asc_df_B00NVI3DV6/?hvlocphy=1007882&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=309775932390&hvpone&hvlocint&hvpos&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-697364247504&hvrand=3265283386546964354

@RosesAndHellebores - thank you for that. I have £50 per week for myself, teen and tween. Myself and teen will eat anything, tween is fussy! That includes toiletries and cleaning stuff. I'm also still suffering with Long Covid alongside my usual disability. Sometimes I am so tired and need something really easy to cook. Thank you.

OP would you be willing to say what county you live in? I work in a related field and could signpost you to stuff if you’re in my area and I’m sure there are others who could do the same in their area too- completely understand if you’d rather not though.

Having said that if something comes up it has to come out of that sometimes. This week has been extremely tight.

[quote UndertheCedartree]@RachelHasThoseInBurgundy - I'll try that with some blankets - thank you. Leaving the oven door open is a good idea too. We don't have anywhere to sit in there unfortunately. We just have a living room with tall Victorian ceilings and drafty Victorian windows![/quote]
I cellotaped around the edges of my drafty windows to keep the drafts out and though I didn't try it I also read something somewhere about putting cling film over the whole window and taping it down to give some protection from drafts too.

@SandysMam - thank you.
@elbea - yes, I have, thank you.

Hello OP, I hear you and I'm so sorry that this awful government has caused this issue for you. You don't deserve to be struggling like this. But you seem like an awesome mum.

£50 a week for groceries and household would have been OK a couple of years ago but things have crept up since Brexit etc. Do you need ideas for low budget meals?

@GhostOfChristmasPudding - I actually found a 2 pound coin yesterday! I've put it away for when we really need it. Thank you for the tips and I love your username!

[quote UndertheCedartree]@RosesAndHellebores - thank you for that. I have £50 per week for myself, teen and tween. Myself and teen will eat anything, tween is fussy! That includes toiletries and cleaning stuff. I'm also still suffering with Long Covid alongside my usual disability. Sometimes I am so tired and need something really easy to cook. Thank you.[/quote]
Seeing you have children - is their dad contributing at all? If you're not together any more, have you checked you're getting everything you're entitled to with CMS?

Buy full fat milk and water it down rather than buying skimmed (when you can). It goes further and tastes better and that extra fat really is essential.

If you have one, a sachet of instant hot chocolate into water porridge works nicely.

If you can stretch to them, a bunch of bananas can be really cheap, half a banana mashed in with it makes it really tasty.

Op me and kids often go to local library afterschool. Kids do homework and use the computers - its usually toasty warm, if there is one near you. As a teen I did all my homework in the library as it was so much warmer than my house and had access to pc.

@herja - thank you so much. Really good tips. I made soup for us last night and served it in mugs so it warmed our hands as well! Was lovely.