I’m a mum-of-3 & can’t afford my bills – my home is 7C, I sit in the dark when the kids are in bed & ration cups of tea
SAT with her dressing gown over her clothes, mum-of-three Michelle Rutter Hughes desperately wants to turn on the heating - the temperature in her house is just seven degrees.
But, like so many others, she can’t - the cost of living crisis means she simply doesn’t have the money.
And even though she knows a cup of tea would warm her, she won’t boil one because soaring electricity bills means her kettle is too expensive to use.
Michelle, who works between 20 and 40 hours a week, uses it just twice a day, storing excess water in a flask.
Since Friday Michelle’s electricity bill has gone up from £120 a month to £300. Her gas bill is now £145 a month whereas before it was £50 a month.
It’s not a case of choosing between heating and electricity - the family can barely afford either.
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She is just one of one of around five million Brits who fear they will not be able to pay their energy bills from April, Citizens Advice reports.
Charities have also warned 2.5million households are facing "fuel stress" as prices rocket.
The price cap will go up by nearly £700 this month from £1,277 to £1,971.
The Government is trying to help people with rising energy bills as part of wider package on tackling the cost of the living crisis.
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From October, all domestic energy customers will get a £200 rebate on their gas and electricity bill.
But it will need to be paid back from April next year with an extra £40 per year added to bills for five years.
Asda worker Michelle, 33, who lives with her full-time council worker husband Jonathan, 37, and their three children, Lucas, 12, Jessica, nine and Autumn, five, in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs., told Fabulous this is the hardest the family has ever been hit financially.
And she’s not the only one - on Mumsnet other women have also shared their stories of frustration with one mother telling how she had spotted some reduced goods in her supermarket’s bakery section and wanted to buy some for her children.
But she was unsure if she had a spare 55p for them. “I had £30 for a two-week shop including nappies and it just broke me that I actually had to wonder if I could afford a 55p treat for my kids,” she wrote.
Michelle can relate. “My husband Jonathan and I are not enjoying life at the moment,” she said. “We’ve no disposable income and are living hand-to-mouth.
“We’ve had to cut back on everything. My kids love fruit and their favourite is strawberries. I want them to eat nutritious food.
“But it’s £5 for two punnets of strawberries and 25p for tinned carrots so I know what I have to choose.”
She said, despite buying yellow sticker goods, using money-saving apps like Olio (where you can claim unwanted and free food) and Too Good To Go and cutting back on everything, they had been forced to slash fun family days out. “We go to the local church as there are free events there on Sundays,” she said.
“But other fun days out for the kids are sadly a thing of the past. And I highly doubt we’re the only family impacted by this.
“We went to the cinema using Tesco Clubcard points which was good.”
However, mainly the family has slashed their spending on electricity and heating.
“I’ll only boil the kettle twice a day and all the family will have a cup of tea,” she said. “Excess water will be stored in a flask-style mug.
“Every single plug is turned off in the house if practical. The wireless router is turned off and my husband will nag the kids to switch all the lights off.
“At night time we sit in the dark. Often we’ll go to bed when the oldest kids do at 8pm.
“My husband will watch something on his iPad, which he can charge once or twice a week, and I will read.
“As soon as the kids get in they put their dressing gown on over their clothes. It’s cold but we can’t afford the heating. I’m just desperate for them to be warm and happy. They are being brilliant.”
Keen baker Michelle has stopped making her favourite breads and cakes.
“It’s not financially sensible to use the oven,” she said. “So even though I love cooking I won’t.
“I only want to use my oven once a day so I will cook and heat everything up once. The kids eat at 5pm and my husband and I will then quickly reheat our food in the microwave.”
Big fry-ups were once a family tradition with Jonathan’s two sons from a previous relationship also enjoying them.
But now the kids regularly eat Pot Noodles.
“I’m desperate for them to eat healthy food though, so will buy cut-price fruit and freeze it,” said Michelle.
“And once a month they will go to my dad’s and get a treat like Chicago Town pizza.
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“It’s a really tough time at the moment.
“I don’t know what we will do if it gets worse and I am praying for warmer days - we’re barely surviving as it is.”
