Which will you be choosing this winter…?

[Venturi Swirl]

Heating or eating?

[Venturi Swirl]

Is anyone having to make drastic changes to their lives in preparation for the oncoming energy and cost of living crisis this winter?  My fuel bill doubled this year to £200 a month and will double again by January to roughly a quarter of my monthly income.  Personally I feel I will have no option but to put my house in the market and move into a much smaller property though god knows what I will do with all my and my kids’ stuff.  I wouldn’t say I was a hoarder exactly but I do have lots of books, records, cds and other collections that I will really struggle to part with.   And yes, I have read that book about de cluttering your life by that Japanese woman and it didn’t help (apart from it’s the one book I don’t  mind taking to the charity shop).

[Eleanor]

Living in France, I appear to be more fortunate than most.  I get an allocation from the local Food Bank due to my low income from The British State Pension.  And I get help from The French State with my electricity.  So I shall be Heating and Eating this coming Winter.

Sometimes it pays to be poor.

[Venturi Swirl]

Living in France, I appear to be more fortunate than most.  I get an allocation from the local Food Bank due to my low income from The British State Pension.  And I get help from The French State with my electricity.  So I shall be Heating and Eating this coming Winter.

Sometimes it pays to be poor.

I guess.  My parents are poor pensioners (wholly reliant on state pension) and they are receiving I think around an extra £1000 this year towards their energy costs and the “cost of living crisis”.  I don’t think this is likely to cover the increase in their bills though.

[Eleanor]

I guess.  My parents are poor pensioners (wholly reliant on state pension) and they are receiving I think around an extra £1000 this year towards their energy costs and the “cost of living crisis”.  I don’t think this is likely to cover the increase in their bills though.

I don't understand what is going on in England.  There is no shame here attached to Food Banks.  A lot of which is coming up Sell By Date stuff, donated by the Super Markets, which appears to finish up in bins in UK.  This of course is the real disgrace.

I don't know anything about Central Heating because I have never had any.  But I do tend to wear more clothes in Winter, which also get donated to The Food Banks.

[Venturi Swirl]

I don't understand what is going on in England.  There is no shame here attached to Food Banks.  A lot of which is coming up Sell By Date stuff, donated by the Super Markets, which appears to finish up in bins in UK.  This of course is the real disgrace.

I don't know anything about Central Heating because I have never had any.  But I do tend to wear more clothes in Winter, which also get donated to The Food Banks.

I may have to give living without central heating a go this winter, though it’s not good for the house as it will get damp.  TBH, I am really dreading this winter, hard to believe it’s on its way soon as I sit here in sweltering heat.

[Eleanor]

I may have to give living without central heating a go this winter, though it’s not good for the house as it will get damp.  TBH, I am really dreading this winter, hard to believe it’s on its way soon as I sit here in sweltering heat.

This is really quite funny.  My house is in excess of 100 years old, stone built and without anything remotely resembling a damp course.  Just dirt floors underneath the stone tiles, most of which I had laid.  But it never smells damp, even the part that I don't actually live in.

These old Breton builders must have known what they were doing.

[mrswah]

I don't understand what is going on in England.  There is no shame here attached to Food Banks.  A lot of which is coming up Sell By Date stuff, donated by the Super Markets, which appears to finish up in bins in UK.  This of course is the real disgrace.

I don't know anything about Central Heating because I have never had any.  But I do tend to wear more clothes in Winter, which also get donated to The Food Banks.

I find it very sad that so many people have to rely on food banks.  I remember a time when benefits for the poor were generous, so that nobody was in danger of starving. Same with benefits for people who couldn't work, owing to illness or disability. I really despair of the UK sometimes.

[Eleanor]

I find it very sad that so many people have to rely on food banks.  I remember a time when benefits for the poor were generous, so that nobody was in danger of starving. Same with benefits for people who couldn't work, owing to illness or disability. I really despair of the UK sometimes.

I have no complaints at all, beyond my disgraceful British State Pension which is considered to be a joke here in France.

[Venturi Swirl]

I find it very sad that so many people have to rely on food banks.  I remember a time when benefits for the poor were generous, so that nobody was in danger of starving. Same with benefits for people who couldn't work, owing to illness or disability. I really despair of the UK sometimes.

Only sometimes?  There is very little going on in this country to celebrate right now IMO. 

[mrswah]

I have no complaints at all, beyond my disgraceful British State Pension which is considered to be a joke here in France.

I'm grateful for my state pension!

[Eleanor]

I'm grateful for my state pension!

I don't know about yours but I worked for 40 years for mine with a young family to support for a lot of that time.  Now I am happy to accept help from The French State, who have been much more generous to me than Britain ever was.

[Myster]

I'm grateful for my state pension!

Time to up sticks, mrswah...

https://www.frenchentree.com/living-in-france/retiring/retiring-to-france-life-in-france-for-the-over-60s/

[Myster]

This is really quite funny.  My house is in excess of 100 years old, stone built and without anything remotely resembling a damp course.  Just dirt floors underneath the stone tiles, most of which I had laid.  But it never smells damp, even the part that I don't actually live in.

These old Breton builders must have known what they were doing.

But Brittany has a milder, warmer climate than even southern Britain, so any rainfall on the roof, walls or ground should evaporate quickly by comparison... hence a drier building fabric.

[Eleanor]

But Brittany has a milder, warmer climate than even southern Britain, so any rainfall on the roof, walls or ground should evaporate quickly by comparison... hence a drier building fabric.

Try iy here in the middle of Winter.  But the Wood Burner is a God Send.