Household Budgeting During The Cost Of Living Crisis

The last few years have without question been unprecedented. The challenges and difficulties that we have all faced locally and globally have been in relation to health and finances.

Globally we faced a pandemic. Something that the majority of people currently living have never faced. The pandemic curtailed our lives in such a way that was very difficult to live with at times. Lockdowns in particular were very strange and something we hopefully won’t have to deal with again.

As the pandemic was ending and it looked like our lives would return to normality, which to some extent they did, Russia invaded Ukraine. This consequently kick started a cost of living crisis that would have a global effect on our daily lives and put pressures and strains on household budgets because of rising inflation and interest rates and interest rates rising would of course increase the cost of our mortgage payments.

To survive the cost of living crisis many households, including our own household, has had to question how we’re spending our money and how to make savings where we can. The most effective way of doing this is to have a household budget and account for where every pound is spent. Here are a few ways where money can be saved and help you through the cost of living crisis. Of course budgeting is not always the answer and you could easily find yourself short of cash once you have paid all your bills. This may mean you need to borrow money to help you through to your pay packet or possibly longer term. You could also be self-employed and it could be quieter than normal and may need to borrow money to help you keep the business ticking over until better times.

1. Food

One of the biggest costs for any family is the weekly household shopping bill and as inflation keeps rising this will have an impact on our household shopping costs.

One way to help you keep your food bills to an affordable level is to shop at cheaper supermarkets where you can quite often cut your food bill by a third and also buy the value own brand products.

Most importantly always set out a certain amount to be spent on food and don’t go over that figure. It will mean cutting out certain luxury products but will help you keep within your household budget.

2. Energy

One of the biggest consequences of the war in Ukraine has been the dramatic rise in energy prices in our home, governments have helped in different ways but it still hasn’t seen the dramatic rise of the cost of energy slow down.

There are many ways to save money on household energy costs. From turning down the thermostat on your boiler and not having the heating on as much as you would normally to keeping doors shut. This will help keep the heat in your home. Using a blanket to keep warm while watching TV will all help to keep your household energy costs down.

3. Fuel costs

Fuel for your car has also seen big rises in the last year and it has become expensive to run a car.

One way to save money on fuel costs is to consider walking more or catching a bus or train. You may well find its cheaper to catch a bus than drive a car. So before you just jump in your car stop and think is there a cheaper way to get to my destination.

4. Better mortgage deal

Mortgages have seen a huge increase during the cost of living crisis due to rising interest rates which has happened to try and control inflation.

Now is a good time to talk to your mortgage lender and see if there are ways to save money on something like a 5 year fixed deal.

To make sure you budget your household properly it is really important to write down everything you spend and set out how much you have for all needs such as food, energy etc.

Have you been budgeting through this cost of living crisis? I would love to hear tips in the comments below.