Cost of living crisis 2022 - what have you cut back on?

[elsiegee40]

 

Netflix has been in the news as taking a hit but I think Sky TV will be the ones hit hardest when people start reviewing and reducing their monthly costs. I’m planning on dropping it in a couple of months time when my renewal is due. I can see it being the first subscription for the chop on most peoples lists.

Yes, we’re dumping Netflix. Our Sky subscription is up for negotiation in the next couple of weeks and Netflix will be a casualty along with our landline.

 

All bulbs are already led but remembering to turn them off more.

We went all LED about 5 years ago. I have become a total stickler for turning lights off.

 

I have been careful to close curtains and doors throughout the house whenever a room isn’t in use even for short periods. This has definitely helped to reduce gas use.

 

Our conservatory serves as our dining room and when our adult children were here in the lockdowns it was in constant use. However, with only two of us around, we haven’t bothered to heat it much this winter and only use it when it’s warmed up by the sun or if we have visitors. We eat in the kitchen when it’s just the two of us.

[Katy]

Like a couple of others - I've not done much. By good fortune I was locked into a 2 year fixed rate for gas and electric in August, so that keeps me from the price rises until August 2023, and I got a £14k pay rise when quit edu for my new job in January. All that said though, I used to leave my main PC on 24/7 running nicehash (as it has a nice graphics card), knocked that on the head back in August as the previous fixed rate was loads cheaper than the current one I'm on. Used to run 2 servers, cut that down to 1.

 

Bought my house in 2017 and did a full refurb including all electrics, so it's already got an efficient gas combi boiler, and LED lighting throughout.

[HarryMonkey]

My OH seems to think I should be cutting back on my season ticket. I think there's more chance of me cutting back on my OH.

[Danp]

Not really made many changes, we rarely have the heating on anyway as our wood burner heats most of the house instead. Perhaps make more of a point of turning off / unplugging stuff more. Always do weekly shop at Lidl anyway, have done for years

[hardtailstar]

My OH seems to think I should be cutting back on my season ticket. I think there's more chance of me cutting back on my OH.

 

My team have have reduced Season tickets on early bird prices. Equates to £12 a game on the cheapest ticket.

 

On Topic...

 

Realised my home office I can turn everything off at the plugs as I dont use the room for 12 hours of the day.

 

Looked at all my expenditure last night and I physically cant save anymore on the monthly outgoings until renewals.

[synaesthesia]

Nothing new, always turned things off and picked the items in the supermarket that were discounted, and learned to make my own sandwiches and drinks when I was 5, so never bought them from a shop

 

And the truth is out! mavhc is Matilda!

[mavhc]

And the truth is out! mavhc is Matilda!

 

My sister was making them at 4, she was too impatient to wait for someone else to do it for her.

 

Top tips: spend more time upstairs, heat rises.

 

Wood burning is terrible for your health, don't do that. Causes more pollution than all the cars in winter.

 

My hot water tank took 5kwh to heat up from cold, but uses 300W if kept on just to replace heat that's escaped into the house.

[the_quick]

Haven't cut a lot recently, but I did lots of changes when moved in to the new house. All out bulbs are LED, we had to replace most of the kitchen appliances and with new ones we always chosen the most energy efficient ones. We always make our own lunches at home, I cook dinners most of the evenings - so not many take aways - but this is not new to us. Recently I have cancelled TV license as we don't watch live TV at all. Mostly YouTube, Catch-up TV and Netflix (shared "family" account with 3 friends).

I car pool with another person from school - massive savings in the fuel costs. Few month back we switched from Lidl to Asda as it is now cheaper.

We are not big spenders, but what we really like is foreign holidays once per year, as this keeps us sane.

[mikeprice]

We are looking at getting solar panels so we are a bit protected from future prices rises

 

seems to be a bit of a problem at the moment as all the companies seem to be very busy and so don;t respond when you ask them questions.

 

One of our problems is increased petrol usage due to babysitting once a week - which it 2 30 minutes trips up the motorway. It all adds up - especially as we get back after tea time so often end up getting a takeaway

[Rob_D]

We are looking at getting solar panels so we are a bit protected from future prices rises

Parents have gone a step further and invested in an on-shore wind farm. (https://rippleenergy.com/)

[Garacesh]

Honestly I haven't really done anything, but then again I'm lucky to share a house with other working adults so we haven't exactly had to tighten our belts.

 

Netflix is looking at getting the chop, but that's got nothing to do with the cost of living and more to do with the price increases and potential ads

[mavhc]

Surely the ads are for customers who pay less

[jthompson]

Not much changed here, as we're already pretty frugal by nature anyway. LEDs in all the rooms after we moved in, and got some decent insulation work done, too. Netflix is our only media subscription, and we watch quite a lot of that, so hopefully the current basic tier won't be the one that gets adverts.

The high petrol prices have definitely got us thinking about switching one of our cars for a PHEV sooner rather than later, though.

[mavhc]

Test for insulation by feeling the walls/doors/floors/ceilings/windows, if they're cold, then the wall isn't insulating.

[southhamster]

Although it's more expense, I've found signing up with Which? Has been really worth it. Proper unbiased reviews and loads of useful tips on saving money

On all kinds of things.

[Garacesh]

Surely the ads are for customers who pay less

 

For now

[Max_Power]

Netflix with their latest price increase is up for the chop, and Virgin bundle is up for reduction come August when the renewal is due - wont sacrifice the internet connection they provide but the TV package is almost certainly going to be cancelled saving about £80 a month plus the £15 quid from Netflix.

[Roberto]

Not much changed here, as we're already pretty frugal by nature anyway. LEDs in all the rooms after we moved in, and got some decent insulation work done, too. Netflix is our only media subscription, and we watch quite a lot of that, so hopefully the current basic tier won't be the one that gets adverts.

The high petrol prices have definitely got us thinking about switching one of our cars for a PHEV sooner rather than later, though.

 

We've done this recently and I've been pleased with the results so far. The mileage on our hybrid is fantastic and (I suspect) driving this has made us more mindful of how to drive efficiently which probably has helped the mileage on our second car, which is a 2019 "city car" improve too. Only bad thing has been having to get used to driving an automatic when in the hybrid and then have to transition back to manual when driving the city car. This has been a struggle for me as I tend to do the longer drives in our hybrid but drive the city car more frequently...

[localzuk]

Top tips: spend more time upstairs, heat rises.

My upstairs neighbour would probably object.

[woodham]

They revised the report on wood burners turns out they had it very wrong and a good stove/wood burner properly fitted creates very little polution , way less than a car

[elsiegee40]

They revised the report on wood burners turns out they had it very wrong and a good stove/wood burner properly fitted creates very little polution , way less than a car

 

I still question its green credentials as wood is being cut down for burning that shouldn’t be.

 

For example

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10742507/Landowner-guilty-illegally-chopping-woodland-size-TWELVE-football-pitches.html

 

If it can be ensured the fuel used is not ancient woodland being destroyed then that’s great, but at the moment you can’t

[woodham]

I know where all my wood came from the last 3 loads were from the last big storm we had sh wont be usable untill next winter but it was free apart from some petrol for the chainsaw and my time , most wood is from managed plantations , I agree with not touching proper woodlands we need to preserve these

[E_G_R2]

Talking of wood but sign of the times is people leaving the small woodland where I walk my dog with armfuls of wood.

[DalekSec]

Top tips: spend more time upstairs, heat rises.

 

 

... i live in a bungalow

[elsiegee40]

Talking of wood but sign of the times is people leaving the small woodland where I walk my dog with armfuls of wood.

 

And again, people saving money but doing environmental damage