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

Gee whiz, is that where the Kray brothers got their fashion advice?

I don't miss the old cold days. The only thing I miss is the smell of leaves being burned in the fall. Particularly maple leaves. Sweet smoke.

 

Vital ingredient!! @Loofah

 

The DA was before my time.
But I did use Brylcreem when I was a kid. My dad was in the RAF during the war.
Know locally as grease.

 

I used Brylcream as a youth and now I am bald. Do you think there is justification for a class action?

 

It worked the other way too. I had a great-aunt who lived in a luxurious but way overheated bungalow. All the rest of the family complained of sore throats and headaches or feeling suffocated after spending more than 15 minutes there. I reckon that's why we get on well with a low-temperature underfloor heating system here. It's set to 19.5°C. Any more than that and we'd be puthered

 

Solar panels can earn you money in addition to saving you money on your energy bills. Don't worry, panels can still generate some electricity on cloudy days, which is essential when the weather is as boring as watching paint dry. But, with solar panels costing an average of £6,500, there are a few things to consider before deciding if the numbers add up.
First and foremost, you can use the electricity generated by your panels to reduce your bills. Savings are determined by system size, electricity consumption, whether you are at home during the day to use the energy you generate, and other factors.
According to the Energy Saving Trust, a typical household with a 4.2 kilowatt-peak system can save between £210 and £514 per year.
(removed), a London-based solar panel installer, installed my solar panels for free! I still can't believe it because I've never experienced anything like this before. My bills are already beginning to reflect the savings.

 

There is a few things to consider. For me, until I have recouped the initial outlay, then I have not made any savings.
All things being equal, when a solar panel system costs £6500 for a 4.2kWh system, which can reduce your monthly bills by £210 - £514 per year, it will take between 12 - 30 years to recoup the initial out lay.

If I had £6500 sitting in a bank, would I go solar or would i be better off switching to a higher rate savings account?

 

Over the last few years we have seen prices rocket, but only drop like a feather. The same has happened with ocean freight, I was reluctant to purchase coir from the far east and ended up buying a load that was already in the UK from another stockist as it worked out cheaper, how things have changed. Quotes of $10,000 from Jakarta in August, now $3,200. I am even getting quotes of sub $2000 now from China.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/07/fre...st-down-90percent-as-trade-falls-rapidly.html

Lets hope the energy market corrects itself as quickly.

 

Amen! And the cost of building materials!

 

The question was asked today of some representative of UK energy or some such organisation.
As usual the expected response was that we bought gas in advance at a price higher than now and we need to see a sustained lowering of price be for we pass saving onto the plebs.

I agree, if we are getting cheap generation of electricity, like they say we are, and want to build more windmills on the whole country, at what point does the consumer start to see the benefit.
Its a one way street at the moment.