With bills going up again — where are you all cutting costs?

[CrispsandChips]

I feel like I’m really struggling at the moment and I don’t quite know where to turn. I’d genuinely love to hear how people are managing to save money right now because everything just keeps going up and it’s starting to feel unmanageable.
My household bills alone are going up by around 22% this April… and I just keep thinking, if only my wages were increasing like that too. It feels so unfair and honestly a bit scary.
What are people actually doing day to day to cope?
Where are you shopping at the moment? What does a typical weekly shop look like for you? Are you going to multiple shops to try and make it work. If so, where are you going?
I’m trying everything I can think of just to claw back a little bit, I’ve swapped out all the lightbulbs, I’m cooking / washing clothes outside of peak hours, but it still doesn’t feel like enough. My water bill alone is going up by 18%… and I’m sat here half-joking thinking, what next, do we just stop showering?
If anyone has any tips at all, even small ones, I’d really appreciate you sharing them. I feel quite desperate just trying to keep on top of everything right now.

Ill thought out is one way of describing it, but it never seems to have entered that poster's mind that the familes of the children she resents funding public services for are the taxpayers who fund her pension, Winter Fuel Allowance, bus pass, etc. And they are funding it because her generation knowingly did not put enough into the system when they were productive themselves, preferring to pass the cost on to us instead.

I don't buy into this, I'm a single person household (ocassionally cook for DP too but that's balanced out by the nights he cooks for me), I easily eat 8-10 portions of fruit and veg a day and rarely throw anything out. You just need to buy individual items instead of big bags, smaller bags, frozen things or plan your meals to ensure you use stuff up. Carrots and potatoes last for ages and you can buy both individually.

Do you blanch them first?

I menu plan with the help of ChatGPT. My prompt is something like:

‘Create a seven day simple meal plan for three that is nutritious and cost effective. Happy to reuse ingredients, include pulses, chicken, beef, and fish but exclude gammon and lamb. Make enough so that a portion can be used for lunch the next day. Minimise waste’

It has been really successful, and the cost is about £60 - £70 a week including some treats, cleaning products, and loo roll but not alcohol. If you like cooking from scratch and don’t mind vegetarian meals or meat bulked out with vegetables and pulses then it’s great. You’ll get through a lot of carrots and onions, but that’s no bad thing 😁

We both have EVs and we’re on the Octopus Go tariff so we charge the cars overnight at 5p per KwH - about 50p for 220 miles of charge. We also do the dishwasher and laundry after 11pm on the same tariff.

Edited to add that’s for 3 adults. It’s also had the added bonus of introducing a bit more variety into our weekly meal rotation.

We both have EVs and we’re on the Octopus Go tariff so we charge the cars overnight at 5p per KwH - about 50p for 220 miles of charge. We also do the dishwasher and laundry after 11pm on the same tariff

HOW MUCH???

Here in NI Im paying 17p on the over night rate for electric vehicles , 38p day rate - hence our very high electricity bills - and Im up at 5am putting washing machine etc on so DH can make sure all finished and switched off when he leaves at 7:30

Sorry - I’ve just checked- it’s 8p from 11.30pm to 5.30am 😁 and 35p during the day, but we don’t often work from home and our heating and hot water (combi boiler) is gas at 7p per KWH, so we don’t use a lot of electricity during the day - mostly the evening meal and a few teas/coffees. There are also standing charges - 29p per day for gas and 44p for electricity.

I cut my own hair and also cut my family members’ hair. I haven’t been to a salon since before COVID, and it saves a lot of money. There are plenty of tutorial videos on YouTube that make it easy to learn.
We also don’t eat out or order takeaway—everything is homemade, including desserts. My husband enjoys going to a café once a week using a free voucher from an energy company, and we bring coffee with us in a stainless steel bottle when we go out.
My kids take packed lunches to secondary school and college—they actually prefer it that way.
Another thing we do is share bathwater: we take turns bathing one after another before the water gets cold.

I spent about £15 on a pack of smart plugs- yes, that’s a cost but worth it for me- so I don’t have to run around at sparrow’s fart doing this- can switch them on and off from my phone and have automatic switch on/off programmed usually to take advantage of overnight tariff- must remember to change them this weekend though as the tariff timing don’t update when clocks change. I charge car and batteries and run dishwasher and laundry on them without having to remember every day.

The bath is a step too far!

I cut my own hair and buy second hand clothes. I don’t have many trips out or holidays. Normally a week away in this country is around 1k.

I’m the same, I get so depressed and demotivated in a cold house.

@MayaPinion Since we bathe every night, I don’t think the water gets unhygienic. Bathing also keeps us warm longer, so we don’t need to turn on the heater afterward.

Urgh op I could have written your post. So far I have done:

I am keeping track on a budgeting app, long gone are coffees out, meals out, treats and days out. All the subscriptions are gone.

I'm having some success with approved foods, it's worth a look.

I've done short, cold washes on everything I can, I have no tumble drier. The heating never goes about 17c.

Still can't make ends meet month to month.

All the kids (outgrown) stuff goes on vinted to make credit for more vinted stuff in the next size.

I prioritise the DC meals (multiple allergy house) and I don't drink, eat meat, non smoker, I DIY my beauty stuff and now I'm going to have to forgo my highlights, even though it was only 3 times a year.

Shopping at Aldi most of the time, no little extras, no flowers etc, even the daffodils for £1 😓

No phone contract, SIM only.

Try and walk as much as possible.

I am constantly trying to work the budget numbers fit and just as I do something goes up and it wipes out any efforts I've made

It's a bit shit.

I live alone and focus on the food bill/not having waste. I meal plan for the week ahead, then do a weekly shop, in Aldi now. I’ll do a chilli or stir fry with leftover veg bits at the end of the week. I’ve stopped buying bits and bobs on my office days in town, I’m now committed to bringing in a packed lunch and a coffee instead of being lax about it. I’ve given up my expensive hairdresser (in fairness she was getting ridiculous) and chosen a local girl for a fraction of that price. I’ve also decided to give up alcohol save for special treats, cannot believe the price of a glass of cheapo wine or a basic g&t in a pub these days. I don’t need many new clothes at the moment but the few bits I’ve bought this year came from Vinted. Better quality than current high street anyway.

What kWH is your car? I only ask because ours is 64kWh, and overnight is 7p per kWh, so to get to 80% from 20% is about 38kWh which is £2ish for 180 miles. I’m only asking because 50p for 220 miles seems insanely cheap and it stupidly didn’t occur to me that different electric cars would have different efficiency levels and be cheaper to charge 😂😅🤦🏼‍♀️

Our council tax has gone up, as has water, and we’re in gas arrears apparently because they full refunded our credit (£700!) when I asked them to keep a couple of months back so now after a long, wet winter it’s a negative balance. I’ve upped the DD but hopefully with summer coming and less heating / tumble drying etc we’ll be back in credit soon.

I’m trying not to buy food or snacks out and about, and taking the kids packed lunches and plenty of drinks with us to parks / National Trust etc, as well as making use of the cinema tickets through sky and clubcard vouchers for a treat here and there.

Tbh the biggest help was aggressively negotiating a payrise but I appreciate that’s not always an option!! (Certainly wasn’t for me up until now)

It does seem insanely cheap, doesn’t it! I’m going to check. I’m probably plucking numbers out my head from a few years ago, or I was only half listening to my DP when he started talking about it (again) 😂 It’s far, far, cheaper than petrol, that’s for sure.

Haha oh they’re much cheaper than petrol for sure! You just opened the door to me realising that there is probably a scale of efficiency, like with petrol cars. I just stupidly assumed they were all the same but why would they be 😅

this year I was planning on cutting spending anyway so lots I have already started so I have /am

1. stopped Netflix and Prime
2. swopped David Lloyd gym membership in favour of local Pure Gym
3. cut down the number of coffee trip meet ups
4. homemade soup for lunch
5. make own cakes and biscuits
6. stopped buying Clarins and Clinique products
7. stopped buying fancy candles
8. cut down the amount of clothes shopping
9. use freezer more for batch cooking
10. eating more vegetarian options.
11. haircuts now every three months
12. no more manicures

Still a lot cheaper then what we pay - and of course we dont have the luxury of gas :(

Oil prices would make you cry. We got 500ltr Feb the 2nd and paid £286. To buy 500ltrs today is £574 . Hence the heating is off, even though its sleeting and hailstones out there today

Mum just died there at the start of March so thankfully we can turn it off. Before that we had to have it on 24/7 and during many oil crises we just had to find the money somewhere - luckily she used to get the winter heating allowance

We also have wood, lots of wood due to the storm last year, we still have a few more trees to process. Its hard work keeping warm on a budget but so far Ive not had to resort to going up the moss ( back breaking work stacking peats to dry for burning )

Yes my DH is laughing his head off at me paying £1.90 a litre when he gets a 350 mile range on £8

Still I laugh louder when its his car we use for social/shopping etc. , he keeps his car immaculate and having to drive on these muddy lanes is stressing him to the hilt :)

I think the lovely Miss Reeves has upped fuel duty as well and is setting the scene for middle England to absorb the full costs of the fuel crisis. If Trump decides to put boots on the ground in Iran the expected result will be months, if not years of massively high energy prices.

We are lucky to be home owners so we are investing in solar panels - we are protected from some of the fuel rises as we bought second hand hybrid for me, and second hand electric car for dh.

But council tax is up, food is up, kids summer holiday clubs are going up.

And my salary is frozen.

I trim costs at the supermarket by using Tesco’s 10% off scheme (you pay a subscription but can get £40 off your shopping in two big shops per month.)

I top up in between at local supermarkets and often get bread, fruit and veg on yellow sticker.

We don’t eat take away now, and I quit alcohol - and I buy cheaper veg and fruit and look out for bargains - this week I bought 2 big courgettes in Morrisons for 69p, last week I found spring green cabbage on special .

I persuaded the kids to enjoy porridge which i cook from scratch - cheaper than other cereals

I took early retirement in November. I saved up to finance myself until my state pension (which is all I'm going to have, apart from royalty payments which are extremely variable) cuts in in two years. And then everything started going up and up and I am panicking.

I have no hot water, I boil a kettle or have one electric shower a day. I have no heating (I dare not put that on, my electricity bill is around £70 per month for one person already). I am meal planning, shopping once a month and batch cooking (I live rurally and I need to keep car journeys to a minimum). I go to bed early so I can keep my electricity use low, I use unbranded products where possible and I eat one meal a day.

If things go up much more I am going to have to try to find another job (at 65) because my savings are going to run out far faster than I ever estimated.