The cost of living... what can we do?

Either way we never get anywhere with the broken political system we have.
Too much talk and not enough action.

 

It's really warm and cosy in our living room today. With the extra cold temperature the last few days our infrared panel has met it's match and while warm enough, it's hardly been toasty. But today it's lovely.

So what's changed?

I've bought a new carpet. Just a roll end. We have laminate flooring in the living room with one large rug. I'd noticed that the floor is cold. I worked out that the cold floor is sucking a lot of heat away. So I bought a roll end that covers most of the floor, leaving a bit uncovered where we walk in. It's made a massive difference. It's not psychological neither. Normally I'd have two pairs of socks on and still feel cold through the floor. Now the floor doesn't feel cold at all.

So I've spent money. How is this saving money? Well, because now our single infrared panel is warming the room nicely, despite the sub zero outside temperature. The roll end cost me just under 40 quid. I reckon if it lasts a year it will pay for itself through reduced heating costs. It actually won't last a year though. It's only a temporary measure. I plan to rip out the laminate and put some insulating underlay down then a full carpet. The roll end won't go to waste though, when it gets removed from the living room it will be redeployed elsewhere in the house, perhaps the passage way.

 

Good thinking
Stay warm that's the main thing. It seems the weather is extra cold
unless it's me age

 

Asbestos was another killer .
Many dièd of asbestosis .my dad being one of them.
Amongst his other manual jobs one was cleaning out asbestosi lined tanks in a factory.

ASBESTOS .
It is said that this was best thing since sliced bread, used for so many thing's

But the management didn't give bottles of milk out free for nothing to those who worked on the tanks.
My dad had an allergy to milk so refused and explained why.

Dad took early retirement due to ill health he didn't last long . It wasn't until the coroner gave his report that we knew it wasn't lung cancer .
Which at the time we couldn't believe as he had never smoked and apart from the odd can of Guinness at Christmas he didn't drink.

 

I've not heard of milk having any effect on asbestos dust.
I do remember French polishers and sprayers used to get a free bottle of milk each day to counteract the fumes.

 

Got a message from BG.
The energy price cap is rising on Jan 1st.

 

I thought it was locked in until April?

 

Well I thought it was but something in the back of my mind telling me that they changed it to putting it up every 3 months.

 

The new rules let them change it every 3 months, but I thought the government had locked in the current cap til April. Unless they've done yet another U turn.

 

I think the government set their payments until April, but I think the cap can change every 3 months.

 

We'll just see. Nobody has any way of knowing any more. Even if the government announces something, we have no way of knowing whether or not they'll get sacked the next day and a new pop up instant minister will say something else completely different.

 

Well BG are telling me I will be paying more for my energy after 1st Jan.

Copied from the E mail BG sent me.
"The EPG is a fixed discount that is applied to the unit rate of energy. You’re on an Economy 7 tariff, with a separate day and night unit rate. Because the unit rates differ depending on the region you live in and how you pay for your energy, you’re more likely to see an increase in your energy prices from January 2023, in comparison to the last three months"

Cant work out why my economy 7 meter says its 11am when the actual time is around 7pm??