A woman has told how she eats ready-made meals rather than use her cooker and sits in darkness as she is struggling to pay her energy bills in the cost of living crisis.
Marina Keohane, from Gainsbrough, Ipswich, says that she is brought to tears at just the thought of the rising prices and is now living on “nothing”.
Families across the UK will find out today how tough energy bills will be this winter with the new cap announced by Ofgem.
Around 24 million households are set to be told that their energy bills will rise by around 80% from the start of October.
The average household will pay somewhere between £3,550 to £3,600 according to predictions from consultancies Cornwall Insight and Auxilione.
This is approximately £2,300 more than a year earlier.
For Marina, 53, who through ill-health is unable to work, it is extremely distressing.
"You're scared about everything you do, everything you spend. I've never been rich but now there's more money going out than I've got coming in. I don't use anything, the only thing that's on all the time is the fridge freezer. I have a TV on, I don't have the light on - I sit in darkness,” she told BBC News.
“Eating wise, I'm scared to use my cooker. It's electric and obviously if you put something in the oven it uses more [energy] so I try to stick to ready meals in the microwave or do salads.”
Maria said how she used to be a care worker but even then she found it difficult as she had to pay for most of her own petrol for visits which would be up to £240 a month.
Her dad died last November and then she was diagnosed with long Covid which worsened her depression and anxiety, and led to her quitting her job.
Since then debts are starting to build up and she is applying for Universal Credit.
Marina continued: “I can't walk far because of asthma and my arthritis. But I can't afford to keep my car, paying the tax and insurance - insurance is £50 a month. When I was working I needed it but I've got no plausible reason to keep it now apart from my sanity, that's the only way I can get out my house."
For Marina and many others they are desperate to hear what the Government are now going to do to help and that will be when the new Prime Minister is announced next month.
As they wait for Government help, many will try to reduce bills by keeping their homes colder, cooking in bulk and taking shorter and less regular showers.
