How do you cope with the cost of living crisis?

Post Reply New Topic

My dog is a good heater.
He sleeps on my legs to help with my PTSD (night terrors / acting out dreams)
I also use a 20lb weighted blanket.
Most mornings my cat is nestled in my hair so that's warm too.

lmao my life

LED lights use less electricity per unit of light than any other light you can buy.
If you are going to buy Christmas tree type lights to save money on electricity make sure you get the LED kind.
A heat pump is the most energy efficient kind of heating.
An advantage of a space heater for dollar cost is you can only heat the rooms you are in, instead of your whole house or apartment. The disadvantage is that there are no heat-pump space heaters.
For something like a space heater you need to look at cost-of-buying plus cost-of-operation (and average appliance life).
2 year or 5 year total cost of ownership is one way to do this, but it can be hard to predict the cost of electricity over 5 years.
More efficient heaters will save you dollars over time but might cost more up front.
A cheep heater that sets you house on fire is not really a good deal.
If you decide to wear warm clothes to avoid paying for heat (something recommended by Ebenezer Scrooge - one of his better ideas - not all his ideas were good) you need to keep in mind that if your pipes freeze and burst you will pay a lot more for repairs. Dressing in layers and wearing cotton next to you skin but wool or high-tech fibers on top is a good idea. I really like SmartWool socks. A good wool sweater with a few moth holes in it can but bought inexpensively at a thrift store but is very warm and makes a good layer. Keeping your chest warm helps to keep your fingers and toes warm. If your body is too cold it will shut off the blood to your toes - and you really will need a sweater more than you need socks - but the socks will be the first thing you think of. Wool also keeps you warm even if it is wet - and perspiration can make things wet.
There is a device you can buy called a "kill-a-watt" which allows you to measure actual usage of a plug-in type device.
Look for it on "google shopping" or read reviews or "maker" forums for similar devices.

https://www.consumerreports.org/applian ... ing-guide/

https://www.bobvila.com/articles/best-e ... ce-heater/

That's good advice for most people Fenn but I have major sensory issues.

I have severe light sensitivity and can't tolerate LED lights.
I get migraines and throw up for days.
We can't buy incandescent here anymore.
That means I can only use little coloured lights with plastic opaque covers, or candles.

I can't wear socks even when it's -20 and my house is freezing up.
I'm a bare foot girl.
I can put a blanket over my feet if I'm cold, but only when I'm awake.
I can't sleep with a blanket over them.
Slippers --- very occasionally

Can't wear wool because I'm allergic
I can't even have it in the house because I breathe in the fibres

Dressing in layers -- yes if I go outside, because I can't do coats
Indoors I just wear pyjamas and a blanket

We've had that law my whole life. ^

Everything is regulated so they can collect fines for people who break the law.
It's all a money grab.