AIBU to be worried about rising fuel and energy costs this winter?

[HonorBound]

on Monday went past Sainsbury and fuel was £1.61, went past Tesco tonight and its £1.70 - I'm guessing they've all put their prices up and there are 3 supermarkets within 1.5 miles

I'm leaving the car at home as much as possible, and certainly used less fuel than I normally would have by half way through the month

gas is going up on 1 October along with electric

things are going to be tight this winter

This is just awful. No one should be living like this.

Leaving the heating on all day is costly though. I wouldn’t be surprised if quite a few people couldn’t do that.

We've never had it on all day .
Morning . Booster hour in afternoon when DH works from home and a few hours in pm

No I’m not. My point was that there isn’t much give in the system. It’s not always big companies creaming off the profits. Every time we choose to buy imported cheap chicken,
primark clothes or stationary made in china we are not backing our own system. If we don’t back our own system it doesn’t work. Every time the price of food goes up people get upset. Two of the driving factors right now are wages (and like I said, they’re not great wages) and fuel. Someone upthread thought supermarkets were blaming food price rises on fuel. Of course they are! We shut Billingham in 2023 and now rely completely on imported AN. As a country we just do not care that when we can’t afford to do things we export it to places that do it cheaper. What’s a country going to do when nitrogen is short? It sure ain’t going to sell it to us cheap is it.

I won't be having mine on at all as I rely on heating oil and I simply don't have enough money for the minimum upfront 500L. I work full time so won't be home during the day. I worry for the elderly and vulnerable who are home all day.

I saw fuel at £1.95 at a service station we drove past yesterday. Obviously they’re the extreme prices but it’s madness.

Ik it’s really tough. I’m not sure if there’ll be extra help from the gov.

At the moment, help is only available if you claim benefits, which I'm not entitled to.

I’m really worried. I live rurally and my job is very much community based and patient facing, so no option of working from home. My company voted against the 55p fuel raise to ensure their financial security and have kept our wages just about MW.
No option of changing jobs currently and 2 small primary school children.
Fuel yesterday was £1.95.

The trouble is, lots of people are already doing all they can to economise on heating.

The fuel thing is ridiculous. I do 200 miles a week to get to work. Never going to be any wfh.More if there are inevitable roadworks or traffic jams and i have a diversion.

I guess an electric car is the answer, but i can't afford one! Especially if all my money is going on getting me to work.

Not if you are fixed already!
Why are people not looking for a fix and relying on the EPC?

I'm in a similar situation. I'm a self employed cleaner and most of my customers live rurally and are spaced out. I've got a 13 year old inefficient car and I'm spending so much more on fuel. I can't increase my rate as I've already lost some customers who are also struggling. It's a shit show.

I am properly fumimg that while my next fix would have very similar kwh price, the standing charge is going up 50% if I move fix now. At the same time as they are spouting "you will save 5% because of vat cut❤️"

it makes a big difference the type of car, mines 12 years old but a smaller car, still get 2 child seats in and a double pram.

ive still got half my fuel left and hope to get into October before refuelling

If you’re putting £200 in fuel in the car each month - can you get an electric lease car for £200 a month and trade in your other car as the down payment?

I don't want a lease. Always bought second hand and saved for them. I also love this little car. I just resent having to pay so much to go to work. Fuel shortages could make my job interesting- it'd be back to zoom lessons.

My point is there is give in the system, the supermarkets
Tesco reporting a £1.7bn profit after tax to me is “give”

I think I’d be looking to work closer to home , but I’m one that thinks the government want drivers off the road , 20mph , congestion charges , low E zones , toll booths, fines , car tax etc etc . More and more to punish drivers . I mean our local motorway has had 50mph zones for years under the guise of
‘ roadworks ‘ .

Fair enough, I’m not the sentimental type

Yanbu. It is a rubbish time to be a worker in this country. All taxes and costs. What's the point of working?

It’ll be pricey but I’m not worried about affording it luckily. Thanks Trump you complete prick.

I don’t think you’re unreasonable - there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.

We have an electric car, so fuel prices don’t directly impact us, but the knock on effect on food costs etc obviously will.

Our gas/electric tariff is pretty good though - it’s an EV one, so all electricity is discounted between 11-5am (8p per kWh I believe). Daytime rate is slightly more expensive than it was on a normal tariff, to offset the cheaper overnight rate, but we’re out at work all day, and then we have 4 hours of half price energy at times of our choosing on the weekends. I tend to set the washing machine when I go to bed at 11, then hang it on the line or the heated airer in the morning and use the tumble dryer on the weekends for towels and bedding etc when it’s half price.

We pay around £150 per month for gas and electric in a 3 bed house, which includes the car charging, so it’s not too awful but it shouldn’t require that level of maths gymnastics to keep it under control!!

Everything has gone up a lot quicker than my wages.

At the moment I'm just existing. I can cover the essential bills, keep the house warm, have food and can afford to drive to work.

All the nice things have already gone - no days out, don't socialise anymore, TV and music subscriptions cancelled, no meals out or takeaways and so on. Weekends are just spent at home or on free stuff like walking outside.

I don't know where I can cut back further as prices rise even further. If something major happens like the boiler breaks down or the car breaks down, then I'm basically screwed.

So many are living paycheque to paycheque to cover essentials and there’s no give for an emergency or something unexpected. Things surely can’t go on like this . If we were French we’d be barricading the roads with tractors .

British people seem to put up with a lot. It is a shame that all the protests happening at the moment, are not focused in the right direction, and towards the right people, imo. Meanwhile people are getting poorer, and poorer, gas, and electric prices go through the roof, where are the protests about those issues?