What cut backs have you made recently?
Discussion
loskie said:
Free Spotify is good enough. No need to subscribe.
I've been using that for ages, I don't use it much, but recently I've noticed the app just refuses to play anything. If I go in via a browser, it's fine. This morning the app just says "Something went wrong, click to retry" and doesn't do anything. Maybe just a momentary glitch, the web site seems OK except that it has forgotten my login details, and so have I.droopsnoot said:
I'm currently spending about £20 a week on food which is just for me, though it's difficult to tell because lots of frozen stuff I buy will last for several weeks. Most of it's cheap stuff, I have trained myself to spot a "clearance" sticker from a distance now. Food Warehouse (Iceland with a free car park) and Tesco mainly, but Asda now and again when I can be bothered to walk into town.
That's pretty good going to be fair. Freezer stuff is great when you're on your own. Even now, my girlfriend and I sometimes struggle to get through the fresh stuff quick enough. When I need to replace my fridge freezer, I'll be looking for one with a bigger freezer section than fridge.I've just built a lean to down the side of the house. Cost £100, materials from Wickes. It's going to be used to dry the washing when its raining like today, its actually being used already. With my missus addiction to the tumble drier with these future bills its going to pay for itself easily.
DT1975 said:
I've just built a lean to down the side of the house. Cost £100, materials from Wickes. It's going to be used to dry the washing when its raining like today, its actually being used already. With my missus addiction to the tumble drier with these future bills its going to pay for itself easily.
Another bonus is that your clothes will stay looking better for longer - dryers tend to be quite hard on fabrics.We made some reductions to our electricity usage a few months ago, bringing the average daily cost below £5 - disconnecting unused TV boxes, making sure that chargers were switched off when not in use, and shutting down the rarely-used media server.
The latest scare stories about the next price hike prompted me to think again. I turned down the fish tank thermostat by 1.5 degrees, disconnected two poe CCTV cameras, and reduced the immersion thermostat to 60 degrees.
Next step will be to run down the amount of frozen food we have, so that the second freezer in the garage can be switched off.
We don't have gas, relying on oil for heating and electric for hot water. The wood burner will be getting used a lot more this winter.
The latest scare stories about the next price hike prompted me to think again. I turned down the fish tank thermostat by 1.5 degrees, disconnected two poe CCTV cameras, and reduced the immersion thermostat to 60 degrees.
Next step will be to run down the amount of frozen food we have, so that the second freezer in the garage can be switched off.
We don't have gas, relying on oil for heating and electric for hot water. The wood burner will be getting used a lot more this winter.
r1ch said:
Thanks however, I already used it for free, plus my wife and I have a joint account so we can both share playlists etc. I'd imagine you'd have to keep using different emails to get it for free and keep signing up again?
Free accounts get periodic adverts and can't download music for offline listening. This isn't a limited duration trial. As long as you're not using it as romantic background, that isn't the end of the world.DT1975 said:
I've just built a lean to down the side of the house. Cost £100, materials from Wickes. It's going to be used to dry the washing when its raining like today, its actually being used already. With my missus addiction to the tumble drier with these future bills its going to pay for itself easily.
Sounds like amazing value. How long does the washing take to dry? Any chance of a photo? (doesn't have to include the missus) xeny said:
Free accounts get periodic adverts and can't download music for offline listening.
I'm sad enough to use Audacity if I want to keep something, or copy it into the car. I still haven't got my head around the "unlimited" part of my broadband, coming from a deal that had limited monthly usage caps and massive excess charges.GT3Manthey said:
My 1% deal ends jan 24 .
I won’t be re fixing , instead selling up and moving further out .
21% RPI forecasts are quite frightening .
Holidays may well become a thing of the past for us which frankly doesn’t bother me anyway
We're on a fix on 2.19%, 18yrs & £142k left to go. It ends December 2023, and it'll cost £2800 in early fees to exit now & refix. No idea what to do tbh.I won’t be re fixing , instead selling up and moving further out .
21% RPI forecasts are quite frightening .
Holidays may well become a thing of the past for us which frankly doesn’t bother me anyway
I'd imagine 6-7% rates would see alot of people fall into even further trouble
_Mja_ said:
I haven't made any proper cutbacks yet aside from showering less, making sure I switch stuff off at the sockets and got rid of some subscriptions I didn't really use. I will be making a conscious effort to sensibly heat the house with use of wood I have been collecting on walks and ensuring the thermostate for the oil fed heating is set to 17.5 degrees.
That said the 18% citi inflation article and 6-7% mortgage rates spooked me a little yesterday. My mortgage is up for renewal next year and a rise to those percentages would almost double my mortgage payment from £1560 to £3000. That would make for difficult times and would be approaching 50% of household income.
I am concerned for the vast majorty. I live in a pretty high cost area and have probably low to average income for the area but I know elsewhere my income is decent so I am concerned what impact a doubling of mortgage payment, increase in energy, food, fuel is going to do for not just people's pockets but their mental wellbeing - barely keeping heads above water, nothing to look forward to, dark tunnel with no light = this is not living! I will "struggle" to magic out the best part of £2500 extra on mortgage, food, fuel etc increases per month and am actually considering jacking in this house and moving to a cheaper area of the country to half my mortgage and reduce the exposure. I work from home and my wife is NHS so income wise nothing would really change.
So, over £6k/month net household income yet you have started taking less showers??That said the 18% citi inflation article and 6-7% mortgage rates spooked me a little yesterday. My mortgage is up for renewal next year and a rise to those percentages would almost double my mortgage payment from £1560 to £3000. That would make for difficult times and would be approaching 50% of household income.
I am concerned for the vast majorty. I live in a pretty high cost area and have probably low to average income for the area but I know elsewhere my income is decent so I am concerned what impact a doubling of mortgage payment, increase in energy, food, fuel is going to do for not just people's pockets but their mental wellbeing - barely keeping heads above water, nothing to look forward to, dark tunnel with no light = this is not living! I will "struggle" to magic out the best part of £2500 extra on mortgage, food, fuel etc increases per month and am actually considering jacking in this house and moving to a cheaper area of the country to half my mortgage and reduce the exposure. I work from home and my wife is NHS so income wise nothing would really change.
I'm locked in for 5 years starting in Nov/Dec time, so Nov 2027, must admit the current interest rate forecasts are concerning me as I wouldn't want to have my monthly mortgage payment doubling in 5 years. Our new mortgagee payment is set to be £1570 based on a rate locked in earlier this year, the thought of that doubling is uncomfortable to say the least.
I'd also imagine if these increases come, the housing market will retract a moderate amount so even downsizing wouldn't save a great deal.
I'd also imagine if these increases come, the housing market will retract a moderate amount so even downsizing wouldn't save a great deal.
Puzzles said:
How much are people paying for food and for how many people? We are paying around £500 a month for two of us.
Are you eating Peacock more than once a week?I thought I was doing ok spending c£80 per week for 4 of us (2 adults, kids 11 & 10) cooking most meals from scratch and usually managing to come in slightly under budget. However, seems like many are beating me at this game.
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