The cost-of-living is affecting everyone with the cost of everyday essentials, like groceries and bills, rising faster than ever before.

At Radius we recognise that everyone is finding it difficult to manage, so we’ve created a quick guide to help our tenants.

Cost-of-Living Crisis Advice

At the bottom of this page, there are a series of links where you can get further help and advice with respect to helping you through this on a day-to-day basis. We also have a few handy tips on how to save energy - helping you and your family to create good habits to reduce the bills in your home.

Christmas is a festive and joyous time of year, but it can also be a busy, stressful and an expensive time - it's all too easy to get carried away!

Here are a few tips to keep on budget this Christmas:

• Think budget and plan ahead
  Start saving early and set a realistic budget to cover your festive activities. Look and assess how much money you have available to spend over the festive period. Be realistic, taking into account all the extra things like festive food, decorations and gifts.
  
  Keep track of your spending and remember the other everyday costs that you have.

• Gifting – manage expectations
  If buying for larger groups of family or friends, consider agreeing a price limit or having a ‘secret santa’ when everyone buys and receives one gift rather than buying multiple gifts.
  
  Draw up a list to avoid impulse and duplicate buying. Plan ahead for the better deals.
  
  If children have an endless and ever-changing list of gift suggestions, talk to them and manage their expectations.
  
  Remember it’s the thought that should count when gifting not the cost of the gift.

• Try not to leave shopping to the last minute
  You have more choice the earlier you start. Starting early can also avoid the queues and disappointment if sought after items have sold out.

• Consider selling or passing on items you no longer need or use:
  This could be a source of additional income over the festive period and also free up space within your home.

• Keep receipts
  It is always good to keep your receipts together, especially if you need to return an item. You could also ask for a gift receipt.

Radius have a dedicated Welfare Advice Team who are here to assist our tenants throughout the year. If you require benefit related assistance, income maximisation, budgeting or energy efficiency advice, please contact us to discuss further.

Here are a few top tips to help you along the way:

• Switch off / Standby
  Switching off screens, lights and appliances that don’t need 24-hour electricity
• Unplug devices
  Leaving devices plugged in when they’re fully charged and while you sleep, means you’re paying for unnecessary electricity usage
• Bathroom
  Take a shower rather than a bath, showers generally use 20% less energy than baths
• Brew smart
  Boil smart and making sure you only boil enough water as required, making sure you have enough water to cover the element
• Cook smart
  Use other more efficient methods of cooking rather than your oven as it uses significant amounts of electricity, such as a microwave, steamer or air fryer. If you do use your oven, make sure you cook either larger meals and fill the oven for better efficiency or batch-cook multiple meals which you can refrigerate or freeze and eat during the week or later
• Check your thermostat
  Keep your main room’s thermostat to a comfortable temperature – normally 21oc. Turing it down by 1oc to 20oc can save significant amounts of money on your bills. In halls and bedrooms ideally, thermostats should be set between 15oc and 18oc to keep bills down and at the same time avoid freezing pipes in winter
• Wash cooler
  There are plenty of products on the market that work at lower temperatures to use when washing dishes or clothes that will help reduce your energy consumption

A well-insulated home will reduce heat loss and conserve energy, resulting in lower fuel usage and reduced fuel bills.

We’ve put together a couple of other energy-saving tips that can help reduce your energy bills:

• Check your thermostat
  Keep your main room’s thermostat to a comfortable temperature – normally 21oc. Turing it down by 1oc to 20oc can save significant amounts of money on your bills. In halls and bedrooms ideally, thermostats should be set between 15oc and 18oc to keep bills down and at the same time avoid freezing pipes in winter
• Boiler Service
  Make sure your boiler is regularly serviced and working safely and efficiently as this will keep you safe and help reduce your energy consumption

Keep in mind that not heating your home correctly or sufficiently may lead to issues relating to damp and the formation of mould.

Reducing Home Heat Loss

• Install radiator foils behind your radiators to help reflect heat back into the room and reduce heat loss through your walls
• Use draft stoppers at the base of doors to keep heat in rooms
• To reduce drafts and heat loss drawing the curtains when it’s getting dark helps keep heat in the house. By filling these gaps, it’ll make sure you are limiting the amount of cold air that is coming in will massively increase the temperature of your home