Just worked out bills for the first time since increases....

[Butteryflakycrust83]

We have gone from having £500 left after all bills, to £150. This is a combination of bills increasing (rent, nursery fees, train fares, council tax gas and electric which I had to fight tooth and nail to argue their proposed increase) plus a decrease in salary from NI increases.

£350 a month worse off.

We have average salaries. Thank christ we dont also run a car.

I cannot believe this is happening to be honest. We have lost all ability to save for a rainy day, let alone towards a deposit.

Weve cancelled all subscriptions, we shop at Aldi. I feel thoroughly depressed.

Anyone else feeling bleak?

Payday Friday...
I'm expecting a nasty shock tbh :(

Yes...similar. Fuel bills gone up by £350 per month. Add in other changes such as NI increases, food shopping, petrol and we are now down £600 per month.

This is what will do for this government....not that Labour are a more attractive alternative!

This is without taking into consideration how everything just costs MORE.

I would vote Labour until the cows come home to get this useless sack of shit Government out!

I know it's horrendous but have a look round the rest of the world. This is by no means a UK problem caused by our government.

We were so lucky and managed to switch electricity provider before the price hikes, our charges this month are £63. No idea what the gas will be..

I noticed the huge jump in our weekly shop (there's only two of us so it's not huge anyway), I couldn't believe it! We seem to be quite lucky on the whole though. Our biggest notable increase has been fuel. My family live 150 miles away so it's meant not visiting them for the last month :(

I really hope there is some way out of all of this, before the country is completely crippled by the billionaire companies and individuals setting the fees..

France and Ireland have out a 4% process cap on energy companies..

Why doesn't our govt do that? Oh, that's right...they are all huge tory donors

🙄

Price not process

Exactly. My husband is from Sydney and the price of fuel over there has not increased, and while house prices have increased for purchase, rent has stayed the same.
We have actually started debating whether our quality of life would be better there rather than here, where as before I have always said no.

Yes I'm anticipating additional costs of about £500 per month.

Both have state owned monopolies. EDF and ESB respectively. EDF play a blinder in getting the UK to subsidise French energy costs.

Plus penalising the suppliers is short sighted, the suppliers are downstream. They have massive costs and make a much smaller profit per customer than the likes of Tesco/Asda. The cap needs to be added upstream, where the suppliers buy the energy from. However, that's not really possible because a large portion of our supply is not from inside the UK.

Plus, ranting about Tory donors is naive in the extreme. The real casualty of letting the energy companies fail, or nationalising them will be anyone with a private pension alongside the taxpayers. Pension funds in the UK invest massively in utility shares because they are generally stable with a regular yield. The government literally cannot afford to plug that gap - even with Tory crooked contracts.

Yes, downsized after DDs moved out for Uni. Electricity has doubled, council tax doubled and we have no income. We don’t qualify for benefits as we have savings. I know many people are worse off. We are still stressed as the business DH started 4 days before the first lockdown hasn’t produced any income yet. It’s all “potential”. We’ve been living on the savings since then. DH is 66 and I have no qualifications.

We have 3 dogs, German Shepards, dog food has increased and we can’t afford vet bills, 2 of the dogs are old and struggling.

Heating is off, never been above 16 degrees.

As I said, I know others are worse off. I worry how people are going to cope/survive.

I’ve had to stop buying Big Issue, already stopped buying magazines etc a few years ago. Still donate to Trussel Trust. I’m hoping we can continue donating.

We’re challenging the council tax.

Yep- last yr returned to work post second may leave doing 0.5 days less a wk- lost me £300 a month- now my bills are up £300 I’m down £600 and want to cry!!!

Lone parent single income here, nothing fancy the £20-£25k bracket.

I get UC and child benefit that's about £450 a month.

But then my job, I drive and use my car all day, I claim the fuel back but only at 45p a mile. Expenses are paid monthly. But fuel costs are just soaring!!

I've calculated and were in a pinch, but I can hold steady. After bills including estimated petrol and food shopping and also the measley £50 I put in to savings a month for a small rainy day pot, I have about £200 left over, for "treats"

Work have been marvelous and really flexible with me, so after school care costs are now not needed as I can have "protected admin after my lunch hour 3-4 then admin 4-5" so that money I was paying has now diverted back to the coffers and has covered the utility cost hike.

I'd say I'm in a far better position than most and that's down to my employer and their ethos, not this shit show of a government.

Op that's horrendous ... at the very awful least you can cover the basics ... I feel for so many who can't . It's a total shit show

Take a look at how other governments are HELPING their citizens while you're at it.

journalist request looking for a working family who are struggling with the price rises to share their story - need to be in Plymouth ! TIA