#fuelpoverty

Completely agree because I know that this is true.

But, I often wonder if the Guardian regret undermining Corbyn and backing Starmer?

January 6th 2021

IT’S EASY: you could cut £143 from your energy bills and even more on housing costs just by not being poor! 

Money isn’t everything, say people who’ve never had to worry about it. Money can’t buy you happiness/love/insert cliche here. But as more and more of us are discovering thanks to the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s not that simple. 

One paycheck from homelessness

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t worried about money. From my parents constantly having to re-interview for their own jobs at the end of the eighties, holding whispered conversations about how to keep the house; to my own shock at finding my first salary after graduation wasn’t enough to keep the hot water and lights on simultaneously. I’m not terrible with money - I was self employed for ten years and did my own accounts throughout - and yet I’ve never been able to shrug off the awareness that I’m only ever one paycheck, one illness, one political decision away from disaster. I’m far from alone: housing charity Shelter reported in 2019 that three million people in the UK were one paycheck away from homelessness. This inevitably takes a toll on mental and physical health and on the lives of millions more trapped in the cycle of poverty and insecurity. 

The myth of 25p pasta

We’ve all seen the tweets from blissfully ignorant Tories claiming that a bag of pasta only costs 25p. That may be true, but the gas required to boil it, the pan, the cooker and the kitchen itself do not come for free. Cheap supermarkets don’t set up in areas full of rented flats but in out of town shopping parks you need a car to get to, or a bus. 

And besides, who would ever choose to live on plain pasta? Because that’s what money really buys you: choices.

Without money, your choices are reduced to these.

Shall I put the heater on or have a bath? Which will keep me warm for the longest for the least outlay? 

How long can I spin out this bag of pasta? 

What can I sell next? 

What shall I buy with this pound, three courgettes or twelve burgers? 

(The last one is a trick question. You learn to avoid the courgette aisle.)

With an increase in zero hours contracts (Close to a million people by 2019) and an unemployment rate of 4.9% (October 2020), they are stark choices that an increasing number of us are being forced to make. Without job security or a regular income, you can’t save for a deposit or get a mortgage, so you’re forced to rent, usually privately. According to Santander Mortgages, the average deposit needed by a first-time buyer is £51,9052.

If you’re able to raise that, you’ll pay £723 on average in mortgage payments, while average rents are £912. That’s a poverty premium of £2,268 per year. 

And that’s not the only way being poor is going to cost you.

Prepayment electric costs at least £143 a year more than the equivalent unit cost for direct debit tariffs. My energy company quoted me £120 to get it switched, then said they couldn’t actually do this as my 30 year old heaters weren’t compatible. Had I thought about getting them replaced?

Unreliable income means that you are more likely to need an overdraft, at a cost of anything up to 40% interest. 

If you don’t have a freezer, you can’t buy cheap or in bulk. If we use the Macaroni Cheese Meal For One Index for illustration, at Asda it’s £2 chilled or £1.20 frozen. At the Spar on the corner it’s £5 for two. 

If you need a loan, your interest rate is higher than someone who has a good credit rating and a house for security. You’re more vulnerable to loan sharks and payday lenders. 

If you can’t afford to buy white goods and furniture upfront, there’s a company out there who’ll sell you them for monthly payments of anything up to 119% APR. 

If an old car is all you can afford, it’ll cost you more in repairs and fuel consumption. If you can’t afford one at all, your job choices are limited to those on bus routes. 

As we enter a third lockdown here in the UK, it doesn’t look like things are going to improve any time soon. So do YOU know any weird tricks to avoid the cost of being poor? 

Alison J North

Scottish Government, 2015

Illustration for Environmental Health News issue 10, on the health issues caused by fuel poverty. 

I'm thoroughly enjoying a full return to ink line work. Digital is great, but if my hands don't get messy, where's the fun?

Fuel Poverty Statistics

Department of Energy and Climate Change

Annual Fuel Poverty Statistics Report, 2014

London: Department of Energy and Climate Change, 2014

Three things have been reported in the UK news recently which  will open your eyes to the social injustice going on in the UK as we speak.

First of all, the shocking revelation that 31,000 pensioners perished in Winter 2013 (last winter) as a result of living in freezing conditions.

Secondly, the profits of the UK energy companies have soared to £1.2 Billion, fivefold in just four years, whilst some energy companies have just announced price increases of up to 11%.

Thirdly, 9 million people are struggling with debt with 40% of the populations’ of Liverpool, Nottingham, Knowsley struggling to balance the finances.

We have prepared a blog post which we hope will point people in the right direction for debt and energy debt help and advice.

Householders not shopping around for cheaper energy tariffs results in energy companies enjoying greater profits - switching is still is one of the easiest ways to add money to the household finances.

We would like to underline just how important it is to make sure you and anyone you know are on the cheapest possible energy deals, because less money spent on Gas & Electricity means more money in your pocket.

Visit www.yoursuresave.com now.