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How is the cost of living crisis affecting you?

I had a letter today reminding me about my mortgage rate ending in a few months & I have spent the last few hours spinning out as it’s going to be £120 more. I will get independent advice but so far around that seems to be the figure. I have calmed down a bit now & stopped feeling sick but can’t see sleep happening for a while.

I’m absolutely kicking myself for not taking out a 5 year deal whilst also trying to be kind to myself that I made the decision based on info at the time etc.

So mortgage, utilities & food will cause me to sail too close to the wind. I have managed to calm down by deciding my critical illness cover will go & will have to reduce my charity donations as added together it’s a sum that will be needed by me. National Trust will probably go to.

I work in a profession where there is always lots of extra work ( health care) so I know that’s a cushion. Did an extra shift today as my car needs to go to the garage so money for that & whilst at work a plumber was needed at home which was £70 I don’t have. I usually do an extra shift for nice/fun stuff.

So yeah feeling worried for myself as while I can do extra hours I need rest too & feeling anxious about people who won’t be able to find a solution.
 
As predicted no sleep was had until after 6am. I just kept having to google the same thing again & again.

But positive news is I owe less than I thought on my interest free credit card so I’m thinking I can put my head down & do more hours over autumn/winter to further reduce the amount so when new mortgage payment kicks in from January 2023 (Happy New Year!) I can reduce my payment and Wednesdays are a good day for me to work a few hours extra without impacting on my evening gym class ( gym costs £15 per month & I’m keeping it for my sanity)

I haven’t even taken into account October gas & electric rise! But I have a plan for now.
 
Overtime always available where I work too and tbh I can see me doing that in the evenings and some weekends - especially with the rise in prices. I’m considering cancelling my holiday to Northumbria if I can work out how to get a refund from Sykes cottages as the petrol to get there will cost more than the accommodation
 
Apart from gas /electric that has gone up I have rolled oats for breakfast. 1 month ago they were 75p a bag. 2 weeks ago they had gone up to a £1 a bag. This week they are £1.39. :eek:
I make granola bars once a month, just a huge amount in one go because it is SUCH a faff and I refuse to pay £5 for a tiny box of chipboard. Most of the ingredients come from Lidl and rolled oats is one of them. If you have a Lidl or Aldi get them there, I think I paid 99p. My tip is to buy up ALL the xmas nuts when they go down to 50p a bag after the holidays and use them for baking over the year.
 
Oh and I went to Morrisons for a top up shop, not even a backpack full and it was £32. I’m struggling to keep my weekly shop under £120-£150 these days, doesn’t help that I’m gluten free.
 
Overtime always available where I work too and tbh I can see me doing that in the evenings and some weekends - especially with the rise in prices. I’m considering cancelling my holiday to Northumbria if I can work out how to get a refund from Sykes cottages as the petrol to get there will cost more than the accommodation

It's certainly more a factor when I'm considering a longer drive. Hope you manage to get away though!
 
Small thing but Emmenthal cheese up from £2 to £2.55!

To my relief I filled up at 172p per litre yesterday
 
I have those cholesterol-lowering yoghurts each day. They really work. They've now gone up about 40p for 6! Might be having to go onto the capsules instead now, unless they've shot up too.
 
I have those cholesterol-lowering yoghurts each day. They really work. They've now gone up about 40p for 6! Might be having to go onto the capsules instead now, unless they've shot up too.
I’ve never quite worked those chol lowering yogurts out . Is it the oat or wheats that they put in them that does the lowering or do they put something else into the yoghurt that lowers cholesterol?
 
A lot of really big bills have doubled in just a few months so I'm scrambling to find places to cut costs. I have about $550 a month in bills I didn't have a year ago and I didn't change my lifestyle. This just isn't sustainable. I never thought I'd have to do it, but I picked up a community food basket. It's a program that takes food that's overstocked, close dated, or perishable, and puts it in boxes to be distributed to anyone who shows up. I haven't felt this poor in years. I'm still very lucky. I still have a warm place to sleep, food to eat, and a book to read.
 
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We just got notification that our rent is going up by 15% and that the nursery that our wee fella is going to attend is putting up it’s fees too.

My wife is doing some GCSE marking for extra cash, while I’m back on the bus for work which means three hours of my day going to and from work.

Feels very bleak, right now.

Yep, mine went up by £40.00, despite not having made a claim in twenty years.
 
I’ve never quite worked those chol lowering yogurts out . Is it the oat or wheats that they put in them that does the lowering or do they put something else into the yoghurt that lowers cholesterol?
Let me google that for you :p

Sterols and stanols are plant chemicals which are a similar size and shape to cholesterol. They are absorbed from the intestines into the blood stream and block some cholesterol from being absorbed, lowering the cholesterol in your blood.

The yoghurts contain them. They lowered my bad cholesterol from 7.2 to 6.3, which although still raised, was a much better reading.
 
We'd better prepare ourselves for increases in things like shoplifting, energy theft, and other kinds of crime, and - of course - the inevitable harsh clampdown macho legal nonsense the Government will inevitably come out with in response.
read somewhere that shoplifting stats have gone up 19% in the past year.
e2a: can't find that particular one but here is an article from May.
 
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