If it comes to it would you choose heating or eating?

[Tuliprain]

We were having this discussion the other night. I would choose eating and husband would choose heating - so we are already stuck. Im thinking we could warm up with blankets and hot water bottles etc but nothing you can do about hunger. He says the house will go mouldy and he’s rather be hungry than cold. Such a depressing subject to be considering.

@daisypond

How utterly ridiculous.
Tesco and Asda both deliver.
If you don’t drive and don’t have cheap grocery shops what’s the alternative?

Honestly I think some people think unless you’re sleeping in a cardboard box living off foraged trash then you can ‘cut down’ on expenses.

@daisypond if you have an Iceland, it's free delivery over £30. Or at least it is where I am.

@Tuliprain

We were having this discussion the other night. I would choose eating and husband would choose heating - so we are already stuck. Im thinking we could warm up with blankets and hot water bottles etc but nothing you can do about hunger. He says the house will go mouldy and he’s rather be hungry than cold. Such a depressing subject to be considering.

I have made this choice before & He’s right the house would go mouldy which would then increase maintenance costs. In this situation I made sure all meals were home made and made from scratch with the cheapest ingredients I could afford (I ate a lot of tinned veg/fruit, longlife milk, with the cheapo broken rice you get at Indian cash and carrys). Kids got 3 meals a day. Adults only got 1. Nobody got snacks. Nowadays there are more options eg foodbanks etc. So nobody needs to starve.

Will cut back on heating, lower the already low thermostat and just have it on for less time. Will also swap the nightly bath for a shower. I can cut back on food shopping by buying more own brand stuff and use the community grocery more. I'll also cancel 2 subscriptions that I have for £20 a month each, am hoping that will be enough.

Connections to energy world so know the answer to this question. During pandemic there was excess gas / energy as factories and offices shut down. They had to pay to store it and not enough storage.

Then gas production shut down. Afterwards industry started up again and as a result mass shortage pushed up world prices. The time lag means we are in trouble.

Electricity markets rely a lot on gas fired power stations. Hence high electricity bills.

[quote Chichimcgee]@daisypond

How utterly ridiculous.
Tesco and Asda both deliver.
If you don’t drive and don’t have cheap grocery shops what’s the alternative?

Honestly I think some people think unless you’re sleeping in a cardboard box living off foraged trash then you can ‘cut down’ on expenses.[/quote]
It is not ridiculous. I shop at Lidl and Lidl doesn’t deliver. I don’t drive. I don’t have a car. I go on the bus. Tesco is too expensive. Asda is still expensive compared to Lidl.

I have a dehumidifier in the back room which is much cheaper to have on than the heating so I'll put it on in the front room for an hour a day to combat any mold.

@TheRemotePart Thank you, I will definitely look into a slow cooker. I want to get a pressure cooker for bone broths too but not sure if plug in is better. I have a baby oven only.

Millions of people around the world struggle to afford to just eat staples!

Shut all the doors of rooms not in use, use blankets, wear a jumper, wear socks to bed. Put the CH on 1 hour AM and 1 - 2 hours PM. Take out a bulb if a room has two lights. Invest in smart plugs if you can/would benefit from them. Etc

I could understand - if your benefit income is really low because you are disabled or pensioner or have no access to public funds or rural poor and struggling to fund work or clinically vulnerable. Otherwise get a grip. This is an unsettling time for us all, but if you're not one of the aforementioned you are not facing the difficult choice of heat or eat.

@daisypond there is no bus to the Lidl by me which is 14 miles each way. There’s one on a Saturday at 8am and back at about 4.30. I can’t go in the week as I work.

The bus fare to town is £2.50 single £4 return and my Asda delivery pass is £6 a month.

Obviously eating.

@TerraNovaTwo

Millions of people around the world struggle to afford to just eat staples!

Shut all the doors of rooms not in use, use blankets, wear a jumper, wear socks to bed. Put the CH on 1 hour AM and 1 - 2 hours PM. Take out a bulb if a room has two lights. Invest in smart plugs if you can/would benefit from them. Etc

I could understand - if your benefit income is really low because you are disabled or pensioner or have no access to public funds or rural poor and struggling to fund work or clinically vulnerable. Otherwise get a grip. This is an unsettling time for us all, but if you're not one of the aforementioned you are not facing the difficult choice of heat or eat.

No regular bus.

@daisypond

That is your situation.
That doesn’t mean people who get groceries online aren’t doing all they can. Lidl/Aldi don’t deliver to me. There also isn’t one within a 2 hour bus journey. I cannot afford to get the bus regularly and cannot carry back loads of shopping.

Great that you can get to Lidl easy and save money that way but it would cost me a hell of a lot more to do that than to order from asda online.

@KurtWilde

But who orders food on the internet if you are short of money?

Well it's free delivery from Iceland for starters.

If you don't drive, it's cheaper to pay £5/6 for delivery than take a bus or get a taxi each way.

I'm in walking distance from Lidl (about 15 minute) but walking there and back with a full weeks shop isn't a walk in the park, especially at this time of year so occasionally rely on a delivery from Iceland (see above).

I’m sorry but this is ridiculous advice to give someone who is making a choice between starvation and paying the heating. £5 in that situation is a fricking fortune - it can pay for an entire week’s meals for an adult and 2 kids if you only buy discounted essentials / tins/uht. The only choice is to walk however long it takes to get food (I made a 5 mile round trip in a similar situation) but only when you absolutely need to. I did it for my DS’ but if I came home & there wasn’t anything for me then I wouldn’t make the trip for me. I’d just have a stockcube with hot water and go to sleep.

[quote AutomaticMoon]@Lovemusic33 I hope you know I was responding the same thing to the PP? I cut my own hair too and thinking of getting a buzzcut to save on hair washing costs. Most of my clothes are from ebay and charity shops. But I’m disabled and can’t live in a cold home, it’s killing me currently and making me more and more ill and harder to get through the day at all. I completely agree with you, it was the PP assuming that we all have sky tv (I don’t either)[/quote]
Yes, I noticed as I started typing 🤣, was meant to be a reply to the poster you were quoting.

My hairs almost a buzz cut, most my clothes from vinted. I’m a carer to my disabled dd so as long as I can heat the house when she gets home from school I don’t really mind being cold when she’s not home. We live pretty frugally.

@JustSinginIntheRain

Connections to energy world so know the answer to this question. During pandemic there was excess gas / energy as factories and offices shut down. They had to pay to store it and not enough storage.

Then gas production shut down. Afterwards industry started up again and as a result mass shortage pushed up world prices. The time lag means we are in trouble.

Electricity markets rely a lot on gas fired power stations. Hence high electricity bills.

Thank you so much for this explanation. But I don’t understand, didn’t they know if they stop producing it, it will cause shortages? This is why I can’t help but think it’s by design.

@Ozanj how long does it take you to walk 28 miles round trip and that back with groceries then?

We have kids so eating is the preference. That being said we've had periods where our boiler hasn't been working, once during snow and it was miserable. I kept all the kids holed up in my bedroom, I had them dressed in t-shirt, jumpers, joggers, socks and dressing gowns with the hoods on. I put hot water bottles in the bed, used a heavy duvet and blankets. We all slept in the same room to keep warm and I used the electric heater to keep them as warm as I could. Thankfully the boiler got sorted but I despair for anyone who has to live like that, it was horrendous. Sucked all the joy out of life. Our fixed rate deal ends in April and I'm worried about how we will cope with any new deal we find whilst I'm on maternity. For me the saving grace us that it will be Spring/Summer so I shouldn't have to use the heating too much anyway.

This is such a sad and harsh reality to read this thread. Like most I would choose eating over heating but it is a heart breaking choice esp with kids at home.

@Theunamedcat

Some people won't use food banks in case they are reported to social services for not being able to feed there children

That happens 😱😱😱😢😢😢

@JustSinginIntheRain So you’re saying the prices are supposed to go down in the future? When do prices do up and down again for utilities? Has this ever happened?

@JustSinginIntheRain When do prices ever *go up and down again?

@Inspectorslack

I’d have to pay around £25 to get the bus to Lidl, it would take 4 hours of my day travelling and I’d only be able to carry 3/4 bags. I live out in the sticks really and the only local option is the tiny co op.

Some people just can’t understand that others are in different situations I think

[quote Chichimcgee]@Inspectorslack

I’d have to pay around £25 to get the bus to Lidl, it would take 4 hours of my day travelling and I’d only be able to carry 3/4 bags. I live out in the sticks really and the only local option is the tiny co op.

Some people just can’t understand that others are in different situations I think[/quote]
I hear you and I empathise.