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.

I'm getting the bread from olio for me, so that helps. With the fuel and utilities and all this conflict in the middle east, it's only gonna get worse.

Why is noone saying that they will use their cars less? It would be great if the upside of the COL crisis was fewer cars on the road, like during COVID lockdowns.

I don’t have a car.

I would love to use my car less, indeed I have a free pass for buses and trains

Only there are no buses here

As for the train - great to get to Belfast or Derry./Londonderry , but wanting to cross country, I have to get the train to Belfast and then a connection. So to see the grandkids - 5 hours each way

I no longer like/enjoy driving so my life is getting smaller

Rural living is bloody exoensive and 64% of the population of NI live rural. . No gas, septic tanks, no street lighting, no pavements , no public transport, but we pay top buck. We have been given £17million towards the heating oil crises. That works out at £35 a householder. Heating oil is is around £1,20 a litre - £35 will pay for 2 or 3 days

Its all so easy to make sweeping statements from ones own circumstances. Not all us us live in areas where spring arrives and summers are hot and long ( we are having snow/sleeet and hailstones this week ) Not every one is on mains, not everyone has public transport

So do think before you speak

Sorry @TheKittenswithMittens I seem to have dozed off in the middle of that post. I do agree we are about to have a fuel crisis on top of the existing CoL debacle. It’s going to be a nightmare for people without decent public transport near them who can’t work from home, if fuel is rationed.

For goodness sake, that particular comment was not aimed at you specifically!! Why do people react this way? If the comment doesn't apply to you then simply ignore it, but the poster was correct, people haven't been coming onto the thread to say they will use their cars less, and I seriously doubt that every journey they make by car is necessary.

Do think before you come over all offended.

@suki1964 that’s really interesting about the oil heating subsidy of £17m in NI and how little it is per household. I thought it sounded low.

I’ve almost completely cut out alcohol, rarely buy treat food at the supermarket, stopped takeaways and going out to eat.

I’ve found it more cost effective to shop for small amounts more frequently. That way I just buy what I need for 2-3 days and there’s less waste.

@TheKittenswithMittens we only have one car for this reason! My partner uses it to get to work (no public transport there), otherwise it’s bike, walk or train (for me and oldest to get to work/school). a second car us unaffordable.

we dont spend extravagantly on food.
i buy frozen diced chicken for instance
many meals during the week are vegetarian
not much alcohol is drunk either.
not even once a week
now the weather is better i dont pay to park, i park and walk less than 10 minutes.

I don’t have public transport . I’m retired so don’t use it as much as when working anyway .

i also buy also frozen berries
frozen spinach
frozen peppers
frozen herbs

and i will again try and resist buying too many summer bedding plants

I don't pay the TV licence which has helped. I don't watch the BBC or live TV anyway - mostly it's just YouTube. Speaking of which it's easy to get ad free versions of YouTube for free

What a depressing read this thread is on this beautiful, sunny Sunday morning.

I made an impulse buy last night on an app I downloaded. 😬 I very rarely do that sort of thing and I won't be tempted to again, for a long long time.

I've managed to get a social tariff on some utility bills.
I don't own a car, so walk everywhere including my work commute.
I plan to pay off my phone contract earlier by paying a little extra every month.
I've frozen my 0% credit card and will have it paid off before the offer runs out.
I no longer buy clothing, including from the charity shop as costs accrue from that too.
No eating out, including special occasions. Nights out are limited to maximum every 3 months.
No more home decor unless it's free or costs literal pennies. No contributions to collections at work. No day outings that are ticketed. One week away per year, at home, NOT abroad.
I'm still paying off a loan used for a holiday abroad and painting & decorating.
As with PP, I limit range and cost of household cleaning detergents and personal hygiene items. Our food shop is climbing day by day no matter how hard I try to budget for that. Eggs & toast or a bowl of cereal and fruit a couple of times a week for dinner.
I no longer buy flowers for the house.
I treated myself to a bar of store own chocolate, cheap crisps this week - I enjoyed them as snacks while watching a free movie on Youtube (Cancelled TV licence a while back).
Once the weather warms up, I will spend more time sitting in my garden and going for nature walks.

My world is small, but I've travelled more than most, so I don't feel I've missed out on too much.

Because I already barely use it and it’s cheaper than public transport for most trips!

22% increase is massive. Explain what that actually is.

I just sold my car to pay some bills

Sorry wrong quote

Because I live rurally , the nearest shop is 5 miles away . Walking on a very dangerous main road with no pavement . The last bus is 6.30 not much good when I start my nightshifts at 7.45 and would need to leave my house at 4ish to get 3 buses to get to work. Saying that living rurally does make you meal plan and do shopping very efficiently as sometimes we get snowed in

As a higher rate tax payer who won’t be able to draw a state pension until I’m 68, I’m paying towards your pension (and no it doesn’t make any difference that you worked all your life and have paid in because the money you get comes from today’s taxes, not a government backed pension fund) I’m also paying towards your medical care and when you eventually need a care home or personal care from social services. My Daughter is benefitting from the children’s services pot of council tax money (which they keep decimating in favour of adult care) so she can be educated enough to do her medical degree, where she hopes to go into neurology, looking at things like Alzheimer’s and Dementia so that care can be improved for our elderly citizens. She also benefits from the children services pot that supports children with disabilities, meaning she is able to get around and have a part time job which she also pays tax on.

We don’t begrudge it to you, you are very welcome.

I will be using my car less. I plan on working from home more, and walking to the shops when I can. However, with a disabled daughter, often we don’t have a choice but to use the car.

I’ll be cycling to work now that the clocks have changed. I’m not a big driver anyway, but I’d rather save my petrol for when I need it. Plus I can pretend I’m doing a biathlon when I cycle to the leisure centre for a swim ;-). As previously mentioned I do a lot of shopping at the market but for the odd top up I’ll call into a shop in the city centre when at work and will cycle home with it in my backpack rather than drive to Sainsburys or Lidl.

Most things I buy now are on a needs rather wants basis. I’m not a fan of shopping, so I’m in the middle of a massive spring declutter to find clothes and shoes I’ve forgotten about ready for the hopefully warmer weather. So far all I need are new knickers and a pair of new running trainers. The old ones will be demoted to gym trainers, and then to gardening trainers.

I'm surprised about the food waste owing to being a couple and not a family. We're a couple, vegetarian, but we don't have food waste because we don't have a varried diet with regard to lots of different kinds of meals. We have a main meal daily that has a wide variety of vegetables (talking 7 to 10 different vegetables in a meal), with beans/pulses and cheese. By the end of the week we have successfully used up the fresh veg. Nothing else goes off before we can use it because we're accurate at estimating what we need. If the cheapest way to have carrots is to get a bag of them, then the best way not to have waste is to eat the carrots daily. I would love to get a farm fresh fruit and veg box, but that lovely stuff goes off so quickly.

I just want to say as a person without children, I wholeheartedly agree with your post. I want to live in a healthier and safer world, and that means education, helathcare, etc., for everyone.