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.

You could have both if you heat and only have beans on toast

Ahh brexit Britain. Everyone knew what they were voting for and now we all get to enjoy the spoils of those sunlit uplands.

We like basic foods i.e soups and beans on toast both filling and warming. Low heating 16c and layer up with clothles.
We live on the Wight and our ave temp is regularly a degree or two warmer than say, southampton, so grateful for that.
I used to be meh about solar panels but they were insitu when we moved and heck are we grateful for them, they really own their keep.

Eating, always.

But be sure the house doesn't end up damp and cold. Then your soft furnishings and pillows/duvets and even sofas and carpets can end up constantly damp and will go moldy and need replacing. A bit of heat spending will save the cost of replacing those. You really want to look after those.

I was waiting for someone to blame brexit on a worldwide energy crisis. I guess covid couldn't really be blamed

Obviously you eat and then layer up, move about to warm up, etc. Your husband would soon change his mind, if he had to go without food for any length of time.

@MyNameIsAngelicaSchuyler

Ahh brexit Britain. Everyone knew what they were voting for and now we all get to enjoy the spoils of those sunlit uplands.

I'm being thick but I though this was about a shortage of stored fuel the increase in demand for it, recent cold winters over europe, a world pandemic and a contribution from brexit but mostly fuel prices? Happy to be educated as I might be missing something.

I was in a charity shop last week and there was a young mum stocking up on warm layers for her DC.

I would choose food but we are fortunate to be able to afford the increases. Our £200 is going to the food bank and a local initiative for struggling families.

@mumda

Eat. Your body needs calories to burn.

Some of the people filmed in their homes moaning about heating costs have been in t-shirts.

Put a jumper on. Wear a fleece over a jumper. Wear tights under trousers. Put socks on. Have a hot water bottle when you boil the kettle for a hot drink.
There's a million ways to stay warm, but only one way of stopping hunger.

People who are working 37/40 hrs plus a week shouldn't need to struggle and be cold.

Its going back to pre 1947.

@Nohypocrate

I was waiting for someone to blame brexit on a worldwide energy crisis. I guess covid couldn't really be blamed

The government could impose caps and offer ACTUAL help to its citizens . They won’t. It’s ideological. Voters - both brexit and Tory, unless you are mega rich - have been conned. Wonder if they’ll realise?

I set my thermostat to 16° at the end of last year. It’s bloody miserable at times but bills were hard enough already so needs must!

We prioritise food over heating. A hot meal warms you up too.

Eat obviously.
Blankets, hot water bottles, jumpers, start a fire in the garden. If you don’t eat there’s nothing else you can do for calories, you can’t eat grass.

I'd go for eating.

Of course food but we once went 2 months without heating and I can tell you all the blankets, hot water bottles and layers in the world only get you so far. We used to go to the library and shops for heat and after a month got a loan of an electric heater which we moved from room to room. The kids were constantly sick, it was horrible. Can I add tea and soup are the stuff of gods when you're cold!! Hugs op, hate those conversations- we used to regularly choose bills to put off until the very latest time x

As someone who has lived in poverty due to disability. I keep the home at a low temp about 13 so it's possible to have shower without feeling to cold and can get out of a blanket. Then rethink food. When I could afford either I lost two teeth so do stuff like lentil and veg casseroles compared to meat to up nutrition. Rather than keep the same good or heating bills.

I never get the heating or eating argument.
There are many many things I would cut out before any of those.
Less clothes, less grooming, cheaper tv package. The list goes on.

Actually, a lot of Britain's poorest people are on prepay meters - which means the same amount of electricity costs a lot more than if you were paying via DDebit

Good point nanbread - showing that I’m one of the lucky ones to even have my bill on a DD.

I guess the biggest issue will be for those who only use electric and not gas, or are on a dual fuel supplier, so will have to prepay either way if they want fridge/light/internet etc as well as heating.

I'm now fondly remembering the flat we once lived in where we never had to turn the heating on at all, even when it snowed. For some reason it was always cosy and warm, with no need for heating. We literally fucking roasted in the summer though!

Definitely eating, when I first moved out as a teen I didn't put the heating on that winter as I couldn't afford to.

@wtfisgoingonhere21

Eat.

Already turned out gas central heating down a good few degrees lower the last two weeks as we are burning g through the monthly budget already

We all have oodies and thick bed socks and joggers etc so wrapping up warm is fine here.

We already meal plan as much as we can with four different palettes.

We probably eat slow cooker meals three to four times a week and then we can choose what we want other than that to a degree.

We've had a conversation this weekend about how much more over budget we've gone for food shopping since January but I absolutely refuse to tighten it anymore.

We shop in Aldi Lidl and Tesco for what we can't get in the others.

We buy fruit and veg when it's on the Aldi super 6 and decent meat for the meals we prepare.

We go meat free two or three times a week as it is. I buy own brand washing powder and comfort as well as own brand cleaning stuff lol rolls etc etc.

No more can I reduce the spend so we are having to up the budget by around £150 a month and even then that's tight. It's shocking.

We've cancelled as many unnecessary things that we can and have taken on an extra job as well as our both full time jobs so it's really tight and set to get harder but that's the only way to up the budget.

I really feel for people who can't take on extra work or tighten their belts anymore

It's a very depressing state for many of us and will continue for some time

But I totally acknowlege there are people who have already tightened their belts, like this poster.

Of course it’s eating , tbh op the fact that he’s says heating makes me think this isn’t really a problem for you . I mean nobody likes being cold but has he actually every been starving I doubt it it’s much worse than being cold .Even with the price increase I’ll still just about be able to eat and have the heating on it’ll be other things that are cut like socialising etc and I know others don’t have that luxury so it will be eat and be cold as that’s how you survive.

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6301077/any-new-tips-for-heating-your-house-in-winter good tips here. Also get old duvets, fleeces, blankets off freecycle and line your curtains and make draught excluders with them, make door curtains for your front and back doors, line back of radiators with foil. I can tell you this all helps to keep my precious heating inside where it belongs!.

Well, I need to lose weight...

But yes it's not a binary choice and there are other areas of spending that wouid get cut first. And food could become thriftier rather than just being cut

Name change for this as outing. I work for an energy company in customer service.. Not saying which one or that it's the same with every company but...

If you can't pay ring up, there is often a discretionary help fund which isn't advertised but is there. Also check if you're eligible for the Warm Home Discount too.

They can't take money you don't have and they can't cut off your electricity supply either, they can install prepayment but they then have to keep lending you money in drives and dead to have some electric it's a nightmare for everyone so they should work with you (they can cut off your gas supply though).

I am unlikely to have to make a choice at this time as we can bear the increases but I grew up in complete poverty. My mum basically didn’t eat to keep us warm - we ate very basic but tasty food as she was an excellent cook and could make stuff go a long way. But that was years ago.

Our meters for gas and electricity were always on emergency and occasionally cut off.

Living like that is so awful.