How is the cost of living crisis affecting you?

[Duggies-girl]

I gave up work around five years ago to look after dad. He died in February 2020 and carers allowance stopped in April. By then we were on lockdown so no chance of finding work then. I was not entitled to jobseekers because I was an ex carer and so have I have had no income for five years other than £125 a month NHS pension but it hasn't mattered because I have not had much to spend it on so I have basically lived off my husband for the last five years. I suppose I could have looked for a job this year but I am 65 years old and I don't really want to.

The good news is that I will get my state pension in a couple of months when I am 66 and it will be the full amount because I have 46 years of national insurance credits. Wow I am going to be better off than I have ever been but I expect it will all go on electric and gas bills. They say good things come to those who wait, it's a joke really.

 

[HarrietD]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts so far. If anyone has anything they'd like to add, please feel free to post below.

 

[Skylark/2]

Like most people here, my husband leaves lights on everywhere, likes to sleep with the light on. He leaves taps running, fridge door open . We have the best watered garden in the street and we have a pond that he constantly fills! He feels the cold so would put the heating on plus gas fire during the heatwave!
I am thinking thermal underwear, long johns , socks etc., and having a blanket to wrap around in the evening to try and feel cosy!
Dreading the tripling plus of utility bills.

 

[Duggies-girl]

My air fryer turned up yesterday and I am very impressed up to now. We have a smart meter thingy and it tells me how much it any appliance is costing at the time and I think it is going to make a big difference. It may not stop the bills from going up but they will not go up as much as if I hadn't bought it. It cooks in half the time at half the price and our fish cakes and chips last night were very nice. I bought a fairly decent one with three shelves as there are three of us.

 

[Jaded'n'faded]

Heard an article on Beeb news this morning about a lot of people (many thousands) in sheltered housing run by a housing association. These people are not going to get all the government grants as they are part of an inclusive communal scheme so they don't qualify. Most of these people are old, disabled in some way or have learning difficulties, etc. Most are on a fixed income. They were already paying about £35 per week towards their energy but it is going up to £90 per week. How can they possibly pay that?

 

[Palerider]

I am single and on a single income and I am already beginning to find things tight as my direct debit has shot up, taking spare cash I once had for the few things I enjoy these days. I am seriously aggrieved by the current situation having spent the last several years financially supporting my mum and using the last of my savings in the process until her property was sold.

I just don't know how people are going to cope with this as it all begins to bite. Some people just don't have this kind of money, and those of us on reasonable incomes are already thinking about having to ride this out, while energy companies cash in on huge profits.

I guess it was always a possibility as energy has remained one of the few potential monopolies with which to reek havoc and those who are essentially powerless to do anything about it.

Should we renationalise our energy supply?

 

[Floppyman]

The unprecedented jump in prices means that for many people around the world, the food they could afford yesterday is no longer available today. This cost-of-living crisis is consigning millions of people to poverty and even starvation at breakneck speed, and with it, the threat of social unrest grows every day.

It affects me personally, increasing my fear for the future.

 

[Firecatcher]

My Mum has Alzheimer’s and I live 3-4 hours drive away. She’s in hospital at present and will hopefully go into a care home. My Dad is still at home and relies on me to take him to visit. I’m now having to do overtime at work to pay for the petrol costs and cut down on things which made my life bearable.

 

[Floppyman]

My Mum has Alzheimer’s and I live 3-4 hours drive away. She’s in hospital at present and will hopefully go into a care home. My Dad is still at home and relies on me to take him to visit. I’m now having to do overtime at work to pay for the petrol costs and cut down on things which made my life bearable.

Your situation is simply terrible. But I believe that you will persevere and find a way to reduce your expenses.

 

[Silversally]

Our Fundraising team are keen to hear about the impact of the cost of living crisis on people affected by dementia. While people across the country are being affected in many different ways, it's important for the team to be able share with donors exactly how the situation is affecting people with dementia and their families. This could include:

• Fuel costs impacting hospital appointments, care home visits, or other activities
• Energy bills affecting your home life - or any worries for the winter months
• Food prices
• If someone in your family has given up work/reduced their hours due to diagnosis or caring responsibilities, has the cost of living had an even greater impact on that change?

This isn't an exhaustive list, but anything that is impacting you would be really useful for the team to hear about. It will help to bring these issues to life for our supporters, whose number one concern is always supporting people affected by dementia.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Pejic]

Interested to see all these comments about leaving the lights on, I'm the one with dementia but I'm the one who keeps telling my wife (who hasn't ) to switch the flaming lights off! And I switched the ice maker off this morning - there'll be hell to pay when she finds out!

 

[Starling Cloud]

I have all the problems listed above. My dad is my mum’s primary carer and I go and help whenever I’m not working. I can only work part time so that I can help them. So I am straight away affected by the price hikes. I want to work full time but I can’t. I live alone so nobody to half the fuel costs with and I can’t drive. This means that my only way to get to them is by train!

This has been fun lately- because of all the rail strikes in the uk. People seem to forget that most elderly disabled people can’t drive. The train is always full of elderly people, students and people like me, too poor to have a car. Anyone who has the money can simply drive when there are train strikes. I wasn’t able to reach my parents for Christmas- as dad has been disabled by strokes and I suspect may also be just beginning to get dementia- this meant they didn’t get a Christmas and neither did I.

I have huge train fares and heating and food to buy. I can’t actually eat every day now. Like other people here have said I am terrified about my parents bills. They have the heat on full bore and get cross if I try to discuss the cost. As mentioned repeatedly here, they have so much washing to do from incontinence issues and they use a dryer! Dad is also autistic (try finding information about elderly autistic people) and takes comfort from routine… sadly this also means that he insists on buying exactly the same food every week even though they only eat a fraction of it. There are rows and rows of bottled water. Cupboards full of porridge oats. Lots of other things like this too. They are literally bleeding money. And so am I because of all this. I fall between the cracks. I earn £160 a week which is too much to get any support. And because I can only get to mum and dad on the consecutive days when I’m not working - (I care for them every other week for 5 days and sleep there) - I don’t qualify for carers allowance either. The train costs me £90 a trip. You figure it out.
It’s a very hard life.

 

[Graduate13]

Our Fundraising team are keen to hear about the impact of the cost of living crisis on people affected by dementia. While people across the country are being affected in many different ways, it's important for the team to be able share with donors exactly how the situation is affecting people with dementia and their families. This could include:

• Fuel costs impacting hospital appointments, care home visits, or other activities
• Energy bills affecting your home life - or any worries for the winter months
• Food prices
• If someone in your family has given up work/reduced their hours due to diagnosis or caring responsibilities, has the cost of living had an even greater impact on that change?

This isn't an exhaustive list, but anything that is impacting you would be really useful for the team to hear about. It will help to bring these issues to life for our supporters, whose number one concern is always supporting people affected by dementia.

Thanks everyone.

Hi
I had to give up my full-time job to care for my husband's relative.
My husband receives Pension Credit and because of this I cannot claim Carers Allowance unless my husband gives up his Pension Credit. This means I get nothing in my own right. I feel this is grossly unfair.
The relative I care for is also in receipt of Pension Credit.
As he has Cancer in addition to his Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease and has many other complex health needs, he requires the heating on all day.
The costs worry me, especially as I am having to subsidise him financially out of my dwindling savings.
I would have liked to place my relative into Respite care to allow myself a short break from caring. This has nit been possible due to the fact that he cannot afford it and neither can I. The irony is that my relative does have money but it is tied up in his house.
The Local Authority states that it would not be in his 'Best Interest' to release equity from his house. This would be lengthy and expensive anyway.
As my relative's eating habits have changed due to his Dementia, the cost of buying the foods he will eat have rocketed and adds to the ever increasing daily living costs.
He use to love going out for coffee and cake but this is a luxury we can no longer afford to do now. He likes me to take him for a drive down 'memory Lane' but due to the increased costs of fuel, I have had to cut back on this activity, especially as I travel 60 miles to care for my relative.
Those in authority a who have the power to change this, I feel are totally out of touch with the reality of people in a similar situation to myself.

 

[Colin47]

My wife has dementia, her memory is getting worse, leaving lights on, using excessive amounts of water, just leaving taps running. All add up. We hear that energy costs are going down, but not yet reflected in our bills. Food costs all these factors are increasing whilst our income remains the same. Unlike many we can't go on strike, just have to get on with it.

 

[jennifer1967]

Hi
I had to give up my full-time job to care for my husband's relative.
My husband receives Pension Credit and because of this I cannot claim Carers Allowance unless my husband gives up his Pension Credit. This means I get nothing in my own right. I feel this is grossly unfair.
The relative I care for is also in receipt of Pension Credit.
As he has Cancer in addition to his Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease and has many other complex health needs, he requires the heating on all day.
The costs worry me, especially as I am having to subsidise him financially out of my dwindling savings.
I would have liked to place my relative into Respite care to allow myself a short break from caring. This has nit been possible due to the fact that he cannot afford it and neither can I. The irony is that my relative does have money but it is tied up in his house.
The Local Authority states that it would not be in his 'Best Interest' to release equity from his house. This would be lengthy and expensive anyway.
As my relative's eating habits have changed due to his Dementia, the cost of buying the foods he will eat have rocketed and adds to the ever increasing daily living costs.
He use to love going out for coffee and cake but this is a luxury we can no longer afford to do now. He likes me to take him for a drive down 'memory Lane' but due to the increased costs of fuel, I have had to cut back on this activity, especially as I travel 60 miles to care for my relative.
Those in authority a who have the power to change this, I feel are totally out of touch with the reality of people in a similar situation to myself.

my husband is on pension credit and includes me although im not a pensioner. are you up with all the cost of living payments they can due. does the relative get attendance allowance? i would look into other benefits as pension credit opens doors for other benefits.

 

[jennifer1967]

my husband is on pension credit and includes me although im not a pensioner. are you up with all the cost of living payments they can due. does the relative get attendance allowance? i would look into other benefits as pension credit opens doors for other benefits.

there is also a disability part of pension credit. i dont claim carers as it would be taken off the pension credit. if they are 75 and over, they dont have to pay for tv licence either

 

[My Mum's Daughter]

For those of you that are worried about your water bills and are benefits, it might be worth you looking at the WaterSure scheme. Some areas accept DLA or PIP but others don't.

WaterSure scheme – help with paying water bills

Watersure is a scheme to help save money with your water bill, if you get certain benefits and you have three or more children under 19 or someone in your house has a medical condition that means more water gets used.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk

 

[Sandramc]

The cost of living increase has impacted greatly on our household. mum is 81 has very poor mobility indoors and outdoors . Keeping the house warm and comfortable for her has had a massive increase in our outgoings. Having to constantly watch the prices of heating food etc is weighing heavy on us and another hurdle that already adds to our daily workload