Lots of families, who usually manage their finances easily, are now struggling to make ends meet. We are all living in this very difficult financial climate! With electricity and gas prices soaring, food prices continuing to rise, petrol and diesel costs higher than usual, it’s no wonder normally affluent families are feeling the burden of all the extra costs and struggling to make money last. To help reduce your household costs you could have your electric heating controlled by a timer switch, so it only goes on just before you need it and goes off again as soon as you have finished. You could have your gas boiler serviced and your central heating checked so that it works more efficiently. Keep internal doors and curtains closed so that draughts are kept to a minimum and wear more layers of clothing, so you keep warm. If you can knit, then why not invest in a Knitting Kit and make yourself and your family some beautiful, warm and practical blankets, hats, scarves or gloves?
Turn stand-by switches off, boil only enough water in your kettle that you need, use low wattage heaters and turn lights off when you leave a room. All these little practical tips could save you money on your heating bills. Saving money on your food bills can also be simple with a good plan in place. Don’t buy branded goods and products, supermarkets usually have their own brands which are often just as tasty and healthy. If you need to replace worn out clothes, again supermarket own brands are very good, or look at charity shops, they have some wonderful, even brand-new donated items that you could purchase reasonably.
To reduce your petrol or diesel costs, you could try walking or cycling to work if possible, or maybe a car share with other work colleagues may be an option? Is it possible for you to use public transport to get to and from work? There are quite a lot of money saving options that you could incorporate into your daily lives to help save money and reduce financial strains on your family. Hopefully, this difficult financial climate will ease soon, and money will once again be more readily available, but for now, bite the bullet and do what you can to live through this difficult time.