Cost of Living Crisis

 Hi SwanTV Viewer

The cost of living is rising at an alarming rate that I cannot see how a new government team can stem the on-rushing tide of inflation and ease the burden on everyone, and in particular those with smaller incomes. Pensioners on fixed incomes who cannot increase that through working extra hours or often re-entering employment. Many have taken up work again either as full or part-time but this is not easy. As you get older you it takes more effort and more rest so that working even 4 hours can leave you ready to sleep. Those on low incomes and claiming Universal Credit can be trapped too. They may find that if they work longer hours then their universal credit payments decrease more than the increase in wages, so some may decide to continue with the status quo. 

And the government is now hanging fire on the announcement about pension and credit increases. Will the pensions triple lock increase be given or the government election promise be broken for a second year? Will universal credits be raised in line with inflation or a lower amount? And now the financial budget has been put back another three weeks so that millions are left in limbo wondering what their income will be in coming months.   

Contrast this to government and local authority pensions. All of these will increase with the rate of inflation. Nobody is making a comparison here. This increase appears to be under the radar. Should this contrast be allowed to continue in view of the fact that we are all paying for this increase in our taxes and council tax (the local authourity pays two thirds of the pension costs) when pensioners and those in receipt of Universal Credits are in the dark about the size of any increases?

So this leaves many families struggling. There are now on total more than 20 Food Banks or Food Shares in Swansea, and I find thgis unbelievable in the UK in 2022, it's almost as if we are a third world country! So what can we do? 

We have had 3 Prime Ministers in as many months and have become a world-wide laughting stock. Will this now settle down and we can start to grow again? Can our education system produce more scientists, linguists, doctors? More practical skills such as carpentry, domestic science? More life skills that will make life easier post-school, money matters, etiquette, job interview techniques, entrepreneurism? Apprenticeships are as important as a university degree, many skills are being lost! Can we believe in the current government or should we have a General Election because the trust has gone or the mandate that Boris Johnson won upon has changed with a new PM? Would the Labour Party have sufficient experienced MPs to be in the Cabinet? There are so many questions unanswered. So what should we do?

Food prices have rocketed in just a few brief months so that even basic dishes are becoming expensive, and ingedients such as milk, cooking oil, pasta, tea and most other essentials are sky-rocketing. You can cut back and go to own products and cheaper stores but it isn't helping right now. Gas And electricity may be pegged in price for a few months but the figure bandied around is an average one and for many people the cost will be much higher. Older people who need to keep warm and feed are finding it impossible and we hear distressing storiues daily. So what can we do?

Do you have an answer to any of these questions? Do you have a money saving idea? What are your views? Let us know. 

Mike Leahy  SwanTV

 

FREE Energy & Money Saving Stickers

 Hi SwanTV Viewer

SWITCH OFF!  That's not what you want to read on the first line of a blog!! No, I mean switch off lights when you don't need them. And we have FREE labels coming in a few days.

The UK government and utilities companies are talking about power cuts. And they are asking us to save electicity where we can over the winter months. As an ex-boy scout I remember their motto "Be prepared".

I remember vividly the power cuts in 1974. I was working in London and driving throughout Central, North and West London seeing customers. Those were the days when face to face meetings were normal and you could build up firm business relationships, knowing and trusting each other. This was before Zoom calls or even mobile phones. In fact to contact the office I had to find a public call box and insert money to speak and they contacted me by my pager which just bleeped to tell me to call them!!

The power cuts brought chaos in many ways to business. Some were unable to operate at all, such as restaurants where ovens and hobs couldn't be lit, many factories where machinery stood still, banks where newish computers stopped and customers accounts were suddenly not on screen. And one of the most difficult things then for me was driving through black street, sometimes unable to clearly make out kerbs (headlights were not as powerful as

todays). And in particular I remember driving through side roads in Kilburn which were badly pot-holed and I was unable to see some, so I bumped along, slowly. I see that they have tried removing traffic lights in the Netherlands and it is working well, speeding up traffic. But I remember the nightmare in London at night with no traffic lights.

But of course there were benefits for some businesses and opportunities for others. The company I worked for had offices and camping shops in Dublin. I remember we hired a 3.5 ton lorry and I drove to Liverpool, across to Dublin and the warehouse. Here we filled up with gaz lights and canisters to take back to London. It was winter time and the seas were often choppy. I found that my lorry was stowed on deck, rather than with the other freight lorries below decks. This was so that my vehicle could be cut loose and ditched overboard if there was a problem. Just imagine a load of gaz cylinders exploding on board a ferry!! I arrived back in London and the banks were lining up with cash to collect and take. I think this was one of the few times when the banks paid in advance.

But now everything depends on electricity. A power cut will mean none of these: lights, kettle boiling away, recharging mobiles and laptops, stair-lifts, microwaves, recharging electric vehicles, even putting fule in a petrol driven vehicle. So maybe prepare now. Some very basic things are camping Gaz lights and single burner cookers are inexpensive and can easy to use for continuous light and heating a saucepan, certainly a supply of  tea candles, keep mobiles charged and possibly get a power pack. Keep fuel topped up, at least sufficient for any emergency journey, make sure freezers and fridge doors stay closed. They say a full freezer will stay colder longer but certainly they will be ok without power for 4 hours. And have some exra layers of clothes handy because there will be no central heating for most.

But back to NOW! There are  some small things we can do with the dark nights here with a vengence. One is to switch off lights that are not in use. I know I often leave lights burning unneccessarily. It's too easy. Now one or two lights burning isn't going to make a huge difference to you or I short term but there is a saving long term. But far more important is that if we all switched of lights when we finish then overall there will be a big saving and it will help with reducing power cuts. So SwanTV have launched their "SWITCH OFF" campaign and are offering free labels for you to use.

These will be available from 20th October free of charge. Just become a supporter on Patreon click here https://www.patreon.com/swantv/membership and we'll send you a dozen plus other benefits you'll see there. We are looking for pick-up points too, where you can get these useful labels free in Swansea so watch this space.

And please keep an eye out for frail, old and disabled neighbours who might need a friendly hand. Talk to them now rather than leave till a power cut happens.  

Stay safe. Prepare with SwanTV. Get your FREE stickers now.

Mike Leahy  SwanTV

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