‘If it looks like I’ll bust budget, I skip a meal’
SOME Gold Coasters are refusing to turn on their heating, scrimping on food and turning off hot water systems and power points, all in an attempt to save money on soaring power bills.
Eighty-year-old John Dickson, from Southport said it was a “terrible feeling” when you are forced to live on your bare bones.
“The prices are going through the roof,” he said. “Everything else is going up as well, there’s charges on everything, and to top it off there’s electricity, which is a necessary evil.
“We live in a very uncertain world.”
He said living sparingly had become his daily routine.
“I turn my hot water service off, I use my washing machine once a week, I vacuum once a fortnight,” he said.
“In the morning I boil my jug for a cuppa and put the rest of the hot water in a Thermos so I can have boiling water throughout the day. I turn off all the power points to stop drawing electricity.
“I cook meals two days ahead, so only need to reheat the following day.
“I wrap myself in a rug to keep warm. I don’t sit up all night, I don’t watch much TV, just the news and a bit of sport.
“And I use the torch on my phone to read.”
Mr Dickson said he doesn’t like to use candles because of the fire risk.
“I have little fairy lights I power with a solar box I put on the window sill to get the sun in the morning,” he said.
He said while all these things might not add up to much, it helped when living on a budget. “Nothing is cheap – petrol, groceries, rates, home care — everything is going up,” Mr Dickson said.
“I’ve always kept within my budget. I’ll go without if I have to. If it looks like I might blow a budget somewhere, I’ll just go without a meal here or there.”
Mr Dickson said growing up in a time when when things were tough had helped him live within his means now.
“I was one of a large family, things were difficult,” he said.
“And to think we’re almost back to that, as a pensioner.