To think it’s not going to be a case of heating or eating for many families

[LadyCatStark]

We can forget heating altogether! I know it’s a nice little rhyme but for many, many families it’s going to be a case of eating or putting just enough petrol in the car to get you to work to pay all these increased costs. Eating yourself, or feeding your kids (hopefully most people will choose their kids). Eating healthily or eating cheap rubbish.

I’ve just nipped to Aldi as I had a work appointment cancel in the area and spent £40 just on the few bits I needed, not even a proper shop. I could have cried that I’d driven even just the 15 minutes to my appointment and it was cancelled and every drop of fuel counts.

I've got a heated blanket their fab.

@Yorkshirelass04

This is an entirely foreseeable consequence of Brexit.

People got what they voted for and so have to accept what comes with that.

This is true, so much data around at the time of the referendum from independent sources spelt this out. A lot of people just won't want to hear it though so will blame the way and Covid (although God knows both have been devastating too).

@AWOL66

One tip I have is to buy an electric blanket for under your sheets or the type you use on your sofa as a blanket. Some are very cheap to run and are exceedingly nice and warm. Whatever you do only buy from physical shops not Amazon as you need to make sure they are rigourosly fire tested. I get mine from Argos

Please tell me you don’t leave an electric blanket on when you’re asleep..

Most are on a 30 minute timer now

I have my electric blanket on every single night when I'm asleep.

Just a reminder not to let children under 3 or pets sleep on an electric blanket.

@Afan

I think there needs to be a campaign to re-educate people about saving energy. Central heating is a luxury imo. We couldn’t afford to install central heating until late 90s. My friends and now DH can believe that I grew up without it and I’m relatively young. Consequently I don’t crave artificial warmth in the house. I alway ise good natural fibres for warmth (wool throws on bed at night) - our winters are nowhere near as cold as they were in the 80s/90s when snow was guaranteed. Likewise walking. We didn’t have a car. I have one now. But that walk has to be more than 45 min for me to give my kids a lift (school / clubs etc). They happily stride around the city and this save us a lot of money as a family. We all have energy saving tips and practises. Need to reset the culture and share this information.

It snowed 4 years' ago in March.

I'm in my 50s and we have always had central heating. Why would we want to regress

@Thebestwaytoscareatory

I’m pretty sure it’s an entirely unforseeably consequence of war in Europe

No, this is an entirely foreseeable consequence of allowing a tiny minority of elitist cunts to rule us. In 2022 there is absolutely zero reason for anyone to be struggle other than protecting a bunch of arseholes wealth. I can only hope that the masses will waken up to the fact that those at the top contribute fuck all anymore and overthrow them to create a more equal society. Unfortunately I fear the reality will be for us to bury our heads and pretend nothing is wrong, all in the vain hope that somehow "we" will become one of "them".

This with bells on

snowed 4 years' ago in March.

I'm in my 50s and we have always had central heating. Why would we want to regress

Its not about regression its about sustainabilty.
I also have no idea why @Afan was called smug by anither poster.
Surely smug would be cranking up the heating and waving £50 notes round, not caring about anyone else or the planet.
We are heading for eco disaster but also in relying on short term fix methods of heating/ short supply chain for food/ goods we leave ourselves vulnerable.
It costs far more to turn up the heating all the time than it does to buy warm clothing and reuse it.
£100 on heating has no carry over, spent, gone.
£70 on warm clothes, heated throw, etc plus £30 heating.
Next year you still have the warm clothes and only need to spend £30 of the £100 on heating.
You still have £70 in hand.
The clothes dont have to be expensive, charity shops are full of warm tops and jumpers for less than £5.
Its a moot point though as bills are going to rocket and people will have to change.

Don't know why afan was called smug either, her post was very insightful & she was talking from experience

Likewise walking. We didn’t have a car. I have one now. But that walk has to be more than 45 min for me to give my kids a lift (school / clubs etc). They happily stride around the city and this save us a lot of money as a family. We all have energy saving tips and practises. Need to reset the culture and share this information.

I'm guilty of using my car too much for short journeys but sometimes it's literally not time -practical to walk everywhere, even if they are a few miles away. Also my DC each do activities about a mile away. In daylight I encourage them to walk there and I give them a lift home. With DS, although he is younger, I am happy for him to walk when it's dark because it's down a well lit main road that is fairly busy. DDs activity is in a very poorly lit street and I don't feel comfortable for her to walk there in the evening if it's dark.

Imagine this I've got a child 13 who will not close the window in the bedroom and lets all the heating out of the house so it's not even considering about food anymore it's a fact she's too hot and I can't get the windows closed I don't even know how to stop the heating coming from the radiator.

It's really bad here in NZ. Salaries here are lower than the UK and the two supermarket giants have a monopoly. The government has just subsidized fuel by 20c a litre. Our public transport is pretty crap, so even people on low incomes need cars to get to work. Add that to the effects of covid on imports and the lack of tourists coming in and it's a perfect storm. Regular lower middle class families are having to rely on food banks.

@RuRuMummy1 if her radiator cant be turned down and she's too hot why not turn it off?

Brexit will remove Uk farmer subsidies won't it? So how grown food will be extortionately expensive too

I have now.

@coronafiona

Brexit will remove Uk farmer subsidies won't it? So how grown food will be extortionately expensive too

It's being replaced by a different one which can be more fairly applied.

@coronafiona

Brexit will remove Uk farmer subsidies won't it? So how grown food will be extortionately expensive too

One of the objectives of brexit is to import food grown more cheaply from elsewhere in the World - Patrick Minford is the economist promoting this idea (among others). Food grown in an economy with strict regulation and high labour costs is inevitably more expensive.

I'm amazed at the people saying that in the UK we could turn our heating off through winter. What a bucket of crap. We tried holding off the heating for way longer than we would normally at the beginning of winter. Guess what? Not only were we freezing, and our kids woke in the night cold but we also found mould patches all over the house. And yes we did air it!

Sorry but you can't turn it off and not have consequences for the building you live in and yourself.

@FeelFreeNotToAnswer

I'm amazed at the people saying that in the UK we could turn our heating off through winter. What a bucket of crap. We tried holding off the heating for way longer than we would normally at the beginning of winter. Guess what? Not only were we freezing, and our kids woke in the night cold but we also found mould patches all over the house. And yes we did air it!

Sorry but you can't turn it off and not have consequences for the building you live in and yourself.

Yes, it's a pile of bull*. Turn it down but it's not good to be cold.

@FeelFreeNotToAnswer

I'm amazed at the people saying that in the UK we could turn our heating off through winter. What a bucket of crap. We tried holding off the heating for way longer than we would normally at the beginning of winter. Guess what? Not only were we freezing, and our kids woke in the night cold but we also found mould patches all over the house. And yes we did air it!

Sorry but you can't turn it off and not have consequences for the building you live in and yourself.

I think it depends where you live and the type of property. We live in a 50s property, south facing garden and in the sunny south. Heating has been off for weeks. We never have the heating on at night even in the depths of winter I would be roasting. We air the house daily. If you live somewhere damp then of course your house would be damp. So not a pile of crap, it depends where you live. So happy to live in the South ☀️

Your house should never go lower than 12. (Sarah beanie) yes we need to heat our homes during the winter months but we will have to put it off for as long as possible. It's not easy when your used to luxuries, which is now what walking around the house in just a tshirt is. Food needs to be eaten and not thrown away, if you have too much, freeze it! Or give away. Days out in the car, will have to be as local as possible. It's all been too much Brexit, covid, war. Now we pay!

Our heating isn't ever really on. We live in Manchester and I've lived further North without it. However, this is with two healthy, active people in our 30s. It would be different situation if we had small children or elderly relatives living with us.
That said, we didn't ever really have it on when I was growing up either and I lived with my grandparents.

Yeah it'll be a real money saver when you damage the pipes by letting them burst with ice.

I think it's unreasonable to not have the heating on all winter, unless you don't mind being in multiple layers at all times and the house getting damp. There are tips and tricks on how to get the most out of the heating though bar leaving it on all of the time, but depends on the property really. We tend to leave DS' on all night when it's cold as he often throws his duvet off in the night as he moves around so much, but our room we just have tonnes of warm duvets- during the day usually leave it on low unless we are all out so it's never bitter cold, for us seems to be cheaper than blasts now and then.