The Frugal Life: Blog

Frugal chill-outs: Ten ways to pamper yourself in the credit crunch

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:15:02 GMT

Thanks for your suggestions this week for frugal luxuries. They demonstrate that credit crunch or no credit crunch, you don’t have to spend a fortune to pamper yourself now and then! Here are some great ones to try out over the weekend:

1. Give yourself a home beauty treatment. Fill up the bath with cheap bath salts or make your own using Epsom salts or sea salt – here’s a great recipe. Put some music on, light some candles and relax. Why not take a book into the bath with you, as long as you don’t mind getting the pages soggy?! Then afterwards spend some time moisturising or painting your nails (guys –Brad Pitt moisturises so you’re in good company – nails are optional!). Make yourself a face mask too. Isla Marie likes to mix some aloe vera with a cheap moisturiser, rub it in and then relax in front of a borrowed DVD.

Borrow a good DVD from a friend or if you have a VHS player pick up a cheap old movie from a charity shop (our one sells them for 25p). Curl up on the sofa with a cup of tea and enjoy.

Get nostalgic. Spend a few hours going through old family photos or make up a scrap or photo album. Isla Marie loves to do this with her fiancé. A photo album of old pictures makes a great cheap Christmas present for family members.

Linger over a coffee in your shopping centre café with a friend. The staff probably won’t hurry you. Christine says there are so few customers in the credit crunch that the staff don’t mind if you outstay your welcome. They need some punters inside to tempt other customers in.

If you have countryside, the seaside or a nice park nearby enjoy a leisurely stroll there with friends or family. Turn your mobile phone off so nothing can disturb you. It can be chilly now, but if you have a back garden sit out there for an hour and watch the birds. Borrow a library book about meditation. There is nothing more relaxing than quietly meditating in a green space – don’t worry, you don’t have to sit cross legged and hum - no one has to know you’re doing it! But it gets rid of workplace stresses and strains.

LGreaves enjoys watching a roaring fire on a cold night. They’ve had their gas fire removed and replaced with a fire grate bought second hand for a fiver. LGreaves says: “I love looking everywhere for logs and watching them burn. There is nothing nicer than a roaring fire on a cold night. Especially when it is completely free!”

Cook one of your favourite meals for you and your partner or friends at home. Get dressed up as if you were going to a restaurant and make the table look pretty so it feels really special. If you’re feeling decadent then pick a night when everyone is out and cook a special meal for yourself! DJ likes to do this when I’m out.

Go to a busy WHSmith’s – ones by big railway stations are always good – or your library and read the magazines there for free at your leisure. This is one of my luxuries. If you like celebrity gossip, buy – or borrow - the National Enquirer. It’s only 99p and it’s packed with great stories, there’s no boring cosmetics adverts or fashion photos padding it out and there’s always plenty to read about movie stars. Lots of the stories end up in the UK gossip magazines a week later so you’ll be getting them first. It’s trashy but I love it.
Take down that book from the shelf that you've been meaning to read and take the time to enjoy it. Few things are as great as a really absorbing book.

Got pets? Spend time enjoying their company and their funny ways. Take your dog for a long walk or give your cat a good grooming session. Pet owners are thought to have lower blood pressure so let Fido help you to chill out! I love sitting in our back garden watching the chickens run about, it always brings a smile to my face.

Have I missed any out any other frugal ways to relax? Leave a comment and let me know.

Have a great weekend, Piper xxx

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How Does Your Garden Grow?

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:28:28 GMT

If you’re a keen gardener, how has your veg crop fared with the poor summer we’ve had? I’d be interested to know. As I said yesterday, our tomato crop was mixed due to the rain and lack of sunshine, although it’s fighting back and we’re trying to make the most of it.

DJ’s brassicas – kale, broccoli and cabbage - were a bit of a washout too. He put netting over them to keep out the cabbage white butterflies, but they managed to get in there anyway – and probably stayed there because of the netting - and decimated everything. Thankfully they have made a tactical withdrawal and the kale and cabbage are recovering. DJ was also excited about growing basil from seed this year, but he found he didn’t like the flavour of the variety he grew, so it was a bit of a waste of time!

But he’s had his successes too. The house is overflowing with potatoes and I keep being told to cook with them as often as possible to use them up. DJ grew pink firs and Anyas, which I thought turned out well. He estimates he’s produced £60 worth of them, which is no mean feat! But he thinks he probably won’t bother to grow them again next year. He grew them in a raised bed and they overshadowed everything else. Plus while they're good tatties, DJ reckons they’re nothing special and he prefers to use the space to grow something better than what you can obtain in the supermarket. I’m still lobbying for him to stick a few in a separate container as it’s useful to have a few around, not to mention cheaper than buying them.

We had a bumper crop of garlic and there are lots of courgettes in the fridge, which we are planning to make courgette pickle from. DJ’s aubergine plant has also been a trooper, producing loads of very cute little fruits. The sweet corn was another highlight, as are the parsnips which we’ve recently started harvesting. Although they grow so far down into the ground that you can give yourself a hernia trying to pull them up. There’s also beetroot on the way, tonnes of borlotti, dwarf French and runner beans and – something I’m excited about – a beautifully formed butternut squash. It’s the first time we’ve grown one, so I’m looking forward to trying it out. We were waiting for it to colour up, but apparently it’s a variety that doesn’t go golden. And with Hallowe’en not far away, next year I want to grow pumpkins!

What have been your gardening successes and failures this year? Got any good frugal gardening tips? Leave a message and let me know.

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Frugal Luxuries

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:32:41 GMT

After a week of testing Asda Smart Price products, some of which were fantastic, others I’d prefer to live without, I have to say that it was seriously good to tuck into some of DJ’s fresh produce from the vegetable patch over the weekend.

The summer having been disappointing, his tomato crop was fairly mixed. Generally they turned out nice and red but some had a rather watery flavour thanks to too much rain. But recently with the warmer weather their flavour has been improving, so DJ made a gorgeous roast tomato soup from a recipe he found in Grow Your Own Magazine, actually from Waitrose.com. It was delicious, especially with fresh homemade bread. You just can’t beat simple homemade soup.

That combined with reading a top 20 list of money saving tips from readers of Glamour Magazine – including a home-made spa treatment a lady who used to spend $10,000 on pampering at spas now uses - got me thinking about frugal luxuries.

It may sound like a contradiction in terms – surely the frugal life is all about self-denial? Stopping yourself from spending cash on things you don’t need and scrimping and saving? Well, it can be, but as some of you have pointed out in your blog comments it should also be about enjoying a simpler, better quality way of life - if possible - by scrimping in some areas of your finances so you can spend money – or time - wisely on other things that matter to you. That might be working fewer hours, and surviving on a smaller salary, so you can spend more time with your kids or on a project you care about. Or saving the cash you used to spend on cigarettes towards a holiday. Although it’s clear from your comments on the blog that everyone’s circumstances are different, and for some people frugal living isn't a lifestyle choice but a necessity.

But even in the depths of the credit crunch – perhaps especially so, because life right now is stressful for many people - we all need a little pampering now and then. For some it might be good home-cooked food, for others it might be a home pedicure or curling up with a favourite old film on TV or a gripping book. I’ve realised that one of the most pleasurable things in life for me is enjoying the company of good friends or just going for a walk in the woods. And it sounds bonkers, but one of the most decadent things DJ and I enjoy is tucking into a warm sweet corn cob, freshly picked from the garden. If you’d told me ten years ago I’d list that as a luxury, I would have laughed in your face! Back then I was more used to treating myself by going on a clothes shopping spree paid for by credit card which usually came back to haunt me later.

So what I’d like to know is – what are your favourite cheap ways to pamper or treat yourself? Please get in touch and let me know, and I’ll put a list of the best ones up on the blog.

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Brand vs Budget Brand: Food for Less

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 09:21:18 GMT

It may have been the rain or the quick blow dry I gave my hair, rather than the Asda Smart Price 14p shampoo and 27p conditioner, but my crowning glory was like something out of a horror movie all day on Wednesday. In the end I put it in a bun to save myself from a nightmare of static. Although, as a dry skin sufferer, my scalp was a lot less itchy than I’d expected. Not to be deterred, I persevered with sampling my Smart Price food products this week.

I forgot to mention in my shopping list that I’d also purchased the Smart Price spaghetti – a steal at 22p for 500g. And I was a happy customer. DJ used it in a prawn chilli pasta dish and I couldn’t taste the difference between that and the 84p Napolina spaghetti I sometimes buy. I’ll definitely be purchasing that item again. The 41p mayonnaise was also good quality – a bit fattening as I normally try to buy a reduced calorie mayo - but very tasty.

This morning I tried out the 74p (for 750g) cornflakes. These don’t come in a cardboard box but a plastic bag - presumably to save on packaging costs, but possibly because the real cardboard was inside the packet. The flakes looked like Kellogg’s cornflakes so I was surprised they had so little flavour. They weren’t inedible but after a few minutes of munching away on them and listening to gloomy tales of the credit crunch on the radio I felt a bit depressed. Not the greatest way to start your day! But after I cracked and sprinkled a few Crunchie Nut Cornflakes on top they became surprisingly more palatable, so perhaps that’s a solution to economising on breakfast cereal. Mixing and matching budget and conventional brands.

The chopped tomatoes (21p) tasted exactly the same as any mid-range brand I might buy. I’m a bit fussy with tomato pasta sauces, though, so I probably wouldn’t use them in one, but I’d happily throw them in a casserole or chilli. The baked beans (20p) also got the thumbs up.

As for the sweet corn (19p), it obviously wasn’t as tasty as the cobs DJ grows on his vegetable plot but it wasn’t bad and the chickens were quite happy with it. The tomato soup (18p) was a bit bland but nothing some salt and pepper and a handful of dried herbs couldn’t sort out.

I expected the washing up liquid (44p) to be runny but it was actually fairly thick and I didn’t need to use much. Another good buy.

All in all, while with my sensitive skin I probably wouldn’t buy the Smart Price toiletries again - apart from the 14p soap and 37p loo roll – I was impressed with the staple food stuffs, the chopped tomatoes, beans, sweet corn, pasta, etc. and the washing up liquid and will definitely be stocking up on them.

Have a great weekend, Piper xxx

Would you buy budget food brands? Or do you get what you pay for? What can you recommend?

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Brand vs Budget Brand: the Toiletry Test

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:38:08 GMT

It’s day two of my Asda Smart Price brand experiment and already I’m feeling slightly off colour after dining on cut price goodies and…well…itchy.

Today I tried out the range of toiletries I’d stocked up on for a mere £1 - 37p toilet roll, 8p shower gel, 14p soap (3 bars), 14p shampoo and the 27p conditioner. I was chuffed with these bargains – normally I might spend £1 on 3 bars of supermarket brand soap, 99p on shower gel, 95p on Asda’s anti-dandruff shampoo, £4.48 on Aussie leave-in conditioner (one of my few luxuries – it’s pricey but lasts much longer than normal conditioner I used to buy) and £1.69 on 4 rolls of toilet tissue – total: £9.11.

I felt a bit anxious about using the shampoo after Tattyhousehastings’ tales yesterday of washing her kids’ hair with a value brand. I have a delicate scalp and am prone to dry skin.

The toilet roll was rough and ready, as you’d expect - like wiping your backside with the roughest kitchen roll on earth. Fine really but you wouldn’t want to blow your nose with it if you had a cold or you’d rub your nostrils off. The rolls are also much smaller and thinner than standard brands, so you’d probably use more.

In the shower I tried the soap first. It smelt of detergent but seemed just like normal soap otherwise, until I washed my face with it and could immediately feel my skin tightening and becoming dry. Next I used the shower gel. It was green and looked suspiciously like washing up liquid but smelt of nondescript shower gel. Despite Christine’s concerns yesterday that it might be runny and you’d have to use more, it was actually quite thick and I didn’t have to use much to get a lather.

The shampoo was bright orange and smelt strongly of chemicals, though. Strangely enough my hair didn’t feel clean after I’d finished washing it and after I used the conditioner - which was thick and white, like a regular conditioner, but smelt of nothing in particular – my hair felt weirdly like it was all sticking together in a clump. I was tempted to reach for my regular shampoo and my Aldi Lacura moisturising shower gel but resisted.

When I got out and dried off, much of my body was itching so I had to smear myself with lots of moisturising cream. Usually I just put it on my face and legs, but I had to put it on my arms and torso too. And I’m still itchy now! I’m unsure whether it’s the soap or the shower gel – although I suspect it’s the gel. My scalp is slightly itchy and my hair is a bit dry, but it’s not as bad as I thought it might be. Maybe if you don’t have sensitive skin you can use the soap and gel without any problems, but I’m not sure I could switch to them for the longer term.

Do you use value brand toiletries? Would you recommend any of them?

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Brand vs Budget Brand

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:27:22 GMT

The bad news this week is that, according to research by Asda, families are £11 a week worse off now compared to last year. And all thanks to a 7.4 per cent jump in the cost of living. The good news, though, is there seems to be a proliferation of supermarket budget brands that could help us all save a few pennies if we switched to them.

But would we sacrifice quality? I’m carrying out my own experiment to test some of these low price products, and determine whether I could see myself switching to them for the longer term.

Shopping in my local Asda I stocked up on an array of Smart Price products, the chain’s own low price brand. My trolley was a sea of plain green and white labels. Here is my shopping list:

Orange squash 16p

Peanut butter 55p

Bourbon biscuits 18p

Baked beans 20p

Tea bags 31p

Butter 50p

Hot chocolate 55p

Mayonnaise 41p

Tomato soup 18p

Chopped tomatoes 21p

Cornflakes 74p

Porridge oats 59p

Sweetcorn 19p

Toilet roll 37p

Washing up liquid 44p

Shower gel 8p

Shampoo 14p

Conditioner 27p

Soap 14p

Total: £6.21

I was pleased with my purchases, especially the shower gel - normally 23p but cut to a credit crunch-busting 8p!

So far I’ve sampled the orange squash, peanut butter, butter, porridge oats, tea bags, bourbon biscuits and hot chocolate. I have to say, I was unimpressed with the 55p peanut butter. Tucking into some on toast, I thought it smelt a bit funny and tasted horrible. It didn’t have enough sugar or salt for my taste, and later on I felt a bit sick. So I think it’s worth spending another 23p to get the Asda crunchy nut brand for 78p.

After that, I had my doubts about the 16p orange squash but was pleasantly surprised. It’s fairly mild in flavour although there’s a slight aftertaste, but it’s not bad at all with no added sugar and or preservatives. The hot chocolate was ok too. Slightly insipid in flavour – I probably needed more than my 3 teaspoons – but good for 55p. Although not necessarily for those watching their weight - at around 141 calories per mug.

I love tea, so I was wary of the 31p tea bags. As a student I bought cheap Happy Shopper tea bags that made grey cups of tea and tasted disgusting. The Smart Price tea looked slightly grey in colour too and lacked flavour but was drinkable. The 18p bourbons were a bit dry but improved when dunked in the 31p tea. The butter and porridge oats, however, stand up to other brands I’ve bought elsewhere.

I’ve yet to test out all the toiletry products and the other food products, so I’ll report back later in the week.

Do you buy supermarket budget items? How well do you rate them?

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Credit crunch munchies

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:01:26 GMT

Am I the only one, or does anybody else out there have a severe case of credit crunch fatigue? At first I was calm when the HBOS furore began this week. Then it dawned on me our mortgage is with Halifax, part of HBOS, and I felt a bit panicky - even though the sensible part of me knew it was unlikely to affect us much. If it went bust then the administrators would then hold our loans and the mortgage book would be sold to another institution. But with the endless hysterical news coverage, it’s difficult not to get caught up in it. The fear is contagious. My neighbour approached me the other day asking if I thought their money was safe in the bank. And a relative rang asking if they should split their savings between different banks in case one goes bust. People are obviously concerned.

However, I have to say I am now filled to the brim with credit crunch boredom. After the news last night and then 45 minutes of nothing else but the banking crisis on the radio this morning, I’ve had my fill. It’s time to turn our attentions to something positive or we will all go potty. And the obvious thing that springs to mind is grub. Many of us – me included – eat more when we’re stressed. And in anticipation I’ve been busy buying The Sun this week to collect my Jamie Oliver vouchers. Mr Oliver has a new book coming out called Jamie’s Ministry of Food, which is aimed at teaching even the diehard kitchen-phobics among us how to cook, and if you save up the vouchers you can get his dvds of tasty recipes.

So in the spirit of Mr Oliver’s crusade, I’ve been digging out my favourite tasty recipes that won’t break the bank. Here are a selection, and please feel free to tell me about yours as I’m feeling very hungry now!

Tasty Sicilian tomato pasta (adapted from Cook Organic by Gilli Davies). Ingredients: Pasta for two, 2-3 garlic cloves, olive oil, good quality tinned chopped tomatoes (one with herbs or olives is great in this), balsamic vinegar, herbs, salt & pepper. Add any extra veg you fancy. Feeds two people.

Cut up the garlic cloves into small slices, fry gently in about 3 tablespoons of olive oil until light brown. Put the pasta on to cook in a separate pan of boiling water. Then add any extra veg you want to the sauce, although it doesn’t need it – courgettes, onions or peppers are nice – and fry for a few minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes and heat through. Just before you serve it up add some herbs (fresh thyme is good) and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and stir in. Serve the sauce on the pasta with some grated parmesan/cheddar cheese and lots of black pepper.

Toad in the hole (adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe)Ingredients: sunflower oil, two eggs, 2-3 sausages each (depends how piggy you want to be!), ¼ pint milk, 55g plain flour, salt & pepper. Fresh rosemary if you have it. Feeds two people.

Put the oven on high – 230degrees Celsius/ gas mark 8. Get a baking dish – we tend to use two small metal loaf tins as it cooks better this way, but you can use a lasagne dish – fill it approx. 1cm height with sunflower or vegetable oil, and when the oven is hot, put it in to warm up. When the oil is nice and hot, put in your sausages. When they’re brown on one side, turn them over. Meanwhile make the batter – put the flour in a bowl, add the eggs and then the milk gradually, whisking. Add some salt and pepper. When the sausages are light brown on both sides, pour in the batter and add the sprigs of rosemary on top. Cook in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Don’t keep opening it to check or the batter won’t rise! This is great with onion gravy. I could tell you my Dad’s gravy recipe but then I’d have to kill you! Serve with gravy and peas or French beans.

Chilli vegetable cobbler (various/Country Cooking edited by Valerie Ferguson). Ingredients: oil, 1 tin of tinned tomatoes, roughly 180-200g whatever veg you have in: potatoes, carrots, parsnip, swede, celery, peppers, leeks, celeriac is nice in this, aubergine etc., chilli or kidney beans, 1 tablespoon tomato puree, ½ pint vegetable stock, 1 garlic clove, 1 onion, herbs, black pepper & salt, 2 teaspoons flour.

For cobbler – 60g butter, 112g self-raising flour, 60g cheddar cheese, 1 tablespoon chives or herbs, milk. Feeds two people.

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius or gas mark 4. Heat the oil in a casserole dish on the hob, add garlic and onion and fry for 5 minutes. Then add the chilli powder and stir for a minute. Add all the veg (if you’re using potatoes it’s a good idea to parboil them first) apart from the tinned tomatoes and kidney beans and cook gently for 5 minutes. Then add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Make up the stock and add to the casserole, along with tomato puree and tinned tomatoes, herbs and salt & pepper. Bring to the boil and then stick in the oven (with a lid on) for 30 minutes. While it’s cooking, make the cobbler. (If you’re watching your waistline it’s fine without the cobbler – just serve with couscous or rice). Rub the butter into the flour, add half the cheese and the herbs, then add enough milk to make a dough. Roll out the dough onto a floured work surface until it’s about 1cm thick and then cut into triangles. When the casserole has been cooking for 30 mins, add the kidney or chilli beans, then place the triangles on top and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on them. Cook for another 25 minutes or until light brown.

Egg fried rice (my own)

Ingredients: oil, 150g rice – short grain, basmati - whatever you have in the store cupboard, two beaten eggs, 1 onion, 1 ½ veg or chicken stock cube, leftover veg – a couple of mushrooms, spring onions, chopped up carrot, half red or green pepper, handful peas, handful sweet corn etc. chilli powder or Tabasco (or half a red chilli), plenty of soy sauce. Feeds two people or nice as an accompanying dish.

Cook the rice according to the directions on the packet. While you’re waiting, chop up your veg into small pieces. When the rice is cooked, take a wok or large frying pan and stir fry the onion and vegetables. Then add the rice and a generous helping of soy sauce, the stock cube and chilli powder or Tabasco to taste. Cook through. Then push the rice to one side and add the beaten eggs one at a time. When the eggs are cooked through then mix the egg up into the rice. Serve. (If you don’t have any eggs, it’s still nice without them).

Got a good cheap recipe? Spill the beans and tell me all about it.

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Redundancy – 11 ways to soften the blow

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:22:26 GMT

Looking at newspaper photos today of Lehman’s employees carrying their belongings out in boxes brought back memories today.

I was made redundant after September 11^th. I was working for a new company trying to do business with airlines which, after the attacks, didn’t materialise. They axed half the workforce, which was a big shock. I’d never been given the push before. It was a small company and the thought that our bosses had been sitting in a room deciding whose names would go on the list was unpleasant. I felt humiliated clearing my desk that day and worried about how I would pay my bills.

But I was lucky. Our company wasn’t bust and I got a small redundancy payment though I’d only worked there nine months. Plus I didn’t have a mortgage or children to support. However, I’d just moved into my friend’s flat and she worried I couldn’t afford the rent. Her mother suggested she kicked me out, but fortunately she didn’t.

I wanted to save my redundancy money, so I tried to live cheaply. I learned to cook. And there were other positive aspects, despite how glum I felt initially. Eventually I found a more rewarding career.

Many people out there are currently concerned about redundancy or worse. But armed with that knowledge, you can plan ahead. Here are some ideas:

1. Start saving now. If you’re on a tight budget it’s tough, but if you can start squirreling away money each month into a bank account with a decent interest rate – preferably instant access. Experts say you need three months’ salary put away, which might not be practical. But do the best you can. Get a bonus? Put it in the bank. If there’s any overtime or extra work available then take it on and save the proceeds.

2. Scrutinise your budget. See if you can cut down your spending to save cash and prepare for meagre times. Do you really need to eat out every week or run a costly mobile? Check direct debits in case you are still paying for services you no longer receive.

3. Consider redundancy insurance. Research your options. Personally I think you’re better off putting money away because some of these policies only pay out if you lose your job and don’t work at all. But if you’d feel more comfortable, then root out the best policy you can find and read the small print.

4. Know your rights. Check your redundancy entitlements. If yours is a large company these may be on the staff intranet or dig out your contract. If you’ve worked there many years it may be substantial. The statutory requirement is one week’s pay for every whole year worked to a 12 week maximum. 18-21 year olds get half a week’s pay for each full year of service, 22-40 year olds get one week’s pay and over 40s get one and a half week’s pay, to a maximum of £330 a week. But your company may be more generous. If more than 20 workers are shed legally the company has to negotiate with the unions. If you don’t belong to one, consider joining.

5. Remember freelancers, temporary staff and the self-employed aren’t eligible for redundancy pay.

6. Keep your CV updated. You never know what’s around the corner, whether job losses or a fantastic new job, so keep your CV ready to send out. Some companies provide training for redundant workers or help finding work. Don’t be too proud as it may prove useful.

7. Don’t be rash. If you lose your job, try to keep your cool. You may be dying to tell your boss where to stick his executive toy, but you’ll need a reference from him (make sure you get it before you leave) and you don’t want to jeopardise your financial package. Bite your lip and do your complaining at home. I burst into tears when it happened to me, but I took pains not to be rude to anybody and they did help me get work.

8. Don’t get depressed. It’s hardly your fault if the company faces tough times. Don’t beat yourself up – it’s an opportunity to do something new with your life. If you’re feeling down, find somebody sympathetic – maybe a friend in a similar boat – to talk to.

9. Be upfront with new employers. Don’t fib. Be honest and explain what happened, but don’t dwell on it or complain about your previous employers. Say you’re looking forward to a fresh challenge. Careers advice from the government.

10. Get your entitlements. If you can’t immediately find a new job, then if you’ve paid sufficient class 1 National Insurance contributions you’re entitled to the Jobseeker’s Allowance (£46.85 a week for those aged 18-24 and £59.15 for those aged 25 plus). But if you received a redundancy payment you can’t claim it until the notice period your payment covers has ended. Payments vary so check out the Jobcentre website for more information. You may be able to claim housing benefit and council tax benefit. Talk to your mortgage provider if you're having difficulty with payments. You may be able to take a payment holiday.

11. What if your employer goes bust? Sadly you probably won’t receive any redundancy, and you might not even get your wages. The TUC website says you will, however, be one of the company’s ‘preferred creditors’ – meaning if money becomes available then you’ll be one of the first creditors paid. You may be able to claim from a National Insurance fund setup to cover your redundancy payment etc. Contact the BERR (former DTI) for more information. Take advice from a union if you can.

Worried about redundancy? Got any tips for coping with losing a job? Leave a message and let me know.

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Our gas bill shocker

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:42:04 GMT

So much for my advice on trimming energy bills. I thought I was being clever recently changing gas and electricity suppliers from Npower to Scottish Power through USwitch. I felt smug when details of the new direct debits came through and they were much lower than our previous ones. And when Npower generously sent us a cheque for £132 for overestimated use of electricity I was very happy. What nice people they must be.

But that changed this morning when the post arrived with yet another envelope from Npower. What did they want this time? They must be missing me already. When I opened it, I had a bit of a shock. It was a final gas bill for £171. The sting in the tail. I had to sit down for a minute.

Our previous bills were based on estimated meter readings, but now they’d received my actual reading, quite different from their estimated one, and it seems that the direct debits for the year were nearly £200 out. Fortunately the electricity rebate will cover most of the bill, but I thought it best to query it.

Danielle in customer services was surprisingly polite and efficient, but as I’d suspected she said my meter reading confirmed we’d used more gas than they expected us to. There I was kidding myself that with the loft lagging and cavity wall insulation we’d put in a couple of years ago (by the way - nobody tells you but you end up with giant marks on your outside walls from where they pump in the gunk, so it looks like your house has measles) DJ and I were at the forefront of environmentalism, when all the time we’re two big fat gas guzzlers and part of the problem. I was still a bit confused as we’ve not had the central heating on for months.

But then it occurred to me - the one difference between this year and last year is that I’ve been working from home and - during the winter - using the heating during the day, which must be why the bill is so big. I am the gas guzzler. Oh dear…

The good news, for me at least is that, besides the electricity rebate which will cover most of the bill, because I’m self-employed I can claim a percentage of our heating bill as an expense from the taxman. I'm lucky - other people out there who are struggling won't have that luxury faced with a £200 bill. But with prices soaring, I have to make a bigger effort to conserve energy during the day in the coming winter. Time to take my own advice I think…

Have a great weekend, Piper xxx

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