I feel like it's one step forward 3 steps back lately.

[SirDigbyChickenCaesar]

We're trying to save money. trying to just get by every month really. trying to stay out of more debt.
but everytime we find a way to save a bit something else goes up.
this month fucking e.on are raising our monthly debit from 100 to 155. that's an extra 600 a month!
what the hell are we supposed to do? why does this country have to be so fucking expensive?

i know we;re not the only ones, i know there are so many people who are worse off than us. I just feel so frustrated.

I can certainly sympathise. I did the moneysavingexpert budget this month, smuggly expecting that everything would be rosey, only to find out that we're 78 quid in the red every month!
We're lucky that DH had a good bonus last year that covers us, but in this economic climate there is no way that I want to have to rely on his bonus.

I am banning using the storage heaters (although how that will work with a newborn this winter I don't know). And we pare down the food we buy every month to try to keep in budget (moving to value lines etc.). I have found a Lidl fairly close by, so we'll try that out this week.

The stupid thing is that DH earns a really good salary! It's just that the cost of living is so high (in the SE) that the rent and council tax alone take out just over 50% of his take-home pay.

exactly! DH makes more than most and we live in a cheap part of a cheap town in scotland. and we're still struggling.
I'll have to try that MSE budget. did it take as long as they say it does?

The budget doesn't take too long, I found. The complete financial makeover is supposed to take a day, but there wasn't so much on that that was of use to us, sadly. It really did flag up how much we spend on Christmas and birthdays though. And that's for the family, we don't spend on each other or DD!