1st April, 2022.
Right …
It’s April 1st: and technically, the start of a new month.
It’s also the day utility prices start to rise.
Frankly? I’m looking at rises that are difficult: but could offset, were I working.
I’d be out of the flat, part of the day: so heating, lighting and optional appliances — the TV, the computer — wouldn’t be on.
Right now? Things are going to be difficult: I’m in for a longer part of the day, so using more resources.
So? I’m trying to write this with radiators turned down, and extraneous lights turned off.
I’m very aware there’s only so much a body can do. My bathroom, for example? Has no external windows: so I need to turn the light off and on, as and when.
There’s a cold snap on: so I’m not saving money by having the heating off, regardless of radiator settings.
~≈🥶≈~
There’s stuff I can do: although I don’t know how much help that will be.
I’m …
Well …
Not panicking.
But certainly concerned.
I’m also — wouldn’t you know it — wondering who to blame.
Or be annoyed at.
Remember me mentioning the twenty pound uplift Universal Credit claimants like me got, at the height of the COVID 19 pandemic?
That was very useful: it gave me enough money to cover my bills, and eat.
And, occasionally, a treat: a DVD, a blu-ray, a book.
Then it got removed. It should have been made permanent: when it was removed, people were predicting a rise in the cost of living.
At it’s removal, things got tougher. And with the expectation that things will get rougher.
The cost of living trends, and the Government’s removal of the cap on energy prices over the past few months? A cost the Government has been aware of for months, that’s been known about for months, that’s been predicted to be bad even without the Ukrainian War factored in, for months?
And the Government’s refusal to increase benefits in line with current inflation, will leave me, and many like me, with serious issues.
As will their refusal to freeze the National Insurance raise, in last week’s Budget. That will leave many working families with issues.
The Governmentº may be saving money with these things.
But it’s is not helping.
~≈☹️≈~
