Families across Harrogate and Yorkshire Dales making sacrifices to curb rising cost of living
People are switching supermarkets, cutting back on non-essential shopping and making fewer journeys to try and save money
As #TheBigSqueeze on household budgets continues, one in three of us have reduced the amount of money we spend on the weekly shop.
The impact of the rising cost of living on family finances is forcing people to make changes to the way they live just to get by.
It comes as an Offices of National Statistic survey found 51% of people from across our region are spending less on non-essentials like family days out and other fun activities.
A dad-of-two from Harrogate has noticed his children are asking why they aren't spending as much time out as a family as they cut down on costs to tackle rising energy bills.
Jim, who didn't want to be named in full, said:
"They're constantly asking us if we can go places and do things and it's hard to try and explain that we can't, because we can't afford it anymore.
"It makes me and my partner feel bad. It makes us feel like we can't even provide for our kids and give them the little luxuries that they enjoy.
"We've definitely had to cut down. Even just going out and doing stuff with the kids. We're taking them on walks to get them doing stuff but they're missing the activities."
Jim is taking on extra hours at work just to be able to keep up with rent payments.
He's worried his family might have to move if costs continue to rise.
"I just feel like we're going to end up further and further into debt to the point where we have to move out", he said.
"No one wants to have the hassle of moving house, just to be able to live. We've been in that house for three years now and we're all happy and comfortable".
Energy prices
The cost of energy is skyrocketing because of increased demand since economies opened up after months or years of coronavirus restrictions.
Most of our homes are gas-powered through central heating, and a large part of our electricity comes from gas too.
The price cap, which was designed to stop companies charging too much, is now setting the minimum amount you can pay, after looking at national and global supply factors.
Earlier this year, Ofgem decided 54% was a fair increase for energy companies to charge, pushing bills up to around ÂŁ2000 per household.
It's thought it could go up to closer to ÂŁ2500 a year if prices on the wholesale market continue to rise.
Petrol and diesel
Demand for petrol and diesel has done the same to prices at the pumps, which saw record amounts charged at filling stations throughout March.
Unleaded now regularly costs more than ÂŁ1.60 a litre, and its more than ÂŁ1.70 for diesel.
Wholesale prices are rising, as people return to workplaces after months or years of working from home, and demand for items in shops and online means fuel is in massive demand.
That means higher prices too.
Grocery shopping
The route items take to get to our supermarket shelves has also been disrupted by coronavirus, and new rules and red tape introduced because of Brexit.
That's pushed up prices too.
At the moment, prices are increasing by more than 5% on last year, which could hit as high as 8% later this month.
National insurance
The government announced last year they were pushing up the National Insurance rate to pay for social care.
For most people it comes directly out of your wages, just like tax.
A 1.25 percentage-point rise introduced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak will mean someone earning ÂŁ20,000 per year will take home ÂŁ89 less compared to last year, but a change to thresholds announced in the Spring Statement now means a typical employee will take home an extra ÂŁ330.
Pay rises that don't match inflation
At any other time, we'd be celebrating the highest pay rises in a decade, with some staff seeing a 3% rise in their salaries this year.
But given inflation is currently higher than 5%, it actually means you're actually worse off, as your new pay amount won't match the increase in the things we want or need to buy.