jawa asks... How are you finding the current cost-of-living increases?

We're pretty lucky in that we haven't been hit too hard. Our mortgage rates are locked for 5 years, we own both our cars so no repayments and both only need filling up on average once every 3 weeks on because we both WFH 3/5 days a week.

We shop at Aldi so our weekly shops aren't too expensive (Aldi prices ) As parents of an 18 month old, our social life is reduced so we weren't eating out lots to cut back on anyway.

Energy bill going up I have noticed but I've just cancelled Sky because it wasn't being used enough. So that kinda balances out.

Nursery costs remain our biggest expense but they were already huge to begin with.

I haven’t had to change anything *yet*. I decided to clear a lot of outstanding debt as I saw things getting bad so my savings took a comfortable hit to wipe out some monthly expenses.

I’m a bit of a squirrel these days when it comes to money, mind. I make the maximum pension contribution my employer will match each month, make an additional contribution each month myself to double the overall pension payment, buy the maximum amount of share options in the company, premium bond direct debits for both me and my son, and recently I’ve doubled my mortgage payments to move the end date forward by 12 years. By the end of each month, anything leftover I have (currently about a third of my take home pay if I don’t have any big purchases) goes straight to savings. So I have plenty of breathing room if I save less or increase the term on the mortgage on the next renewal, but my partner is contemplating taking a career break which will make a decent dent, as I’d not only lose her half of the mortgage payment, but most of her own monthly spend will also move to me.

I did want a new car and we’re desperate to get an extension, but even though these are the kinds of costs I could eat *today*, it’d be unwise. So those plans are on ice.