I am trying my best to survive winter with no heating at all, even though I am home 24 hours a day throughout winter (when not at any medical appointments).
Last year was really bad too and my boiler broke leaving me with no heat or hot water for a long time, but this year is even worse. Not sure if it is just colder, or if it is down to the mould and damp making it worse.
I am struggling more than ever, just to keep warm. The cold makes all my chronic illnesses worse too, not to mention the risk of health due to severe mould and damp.
I can’t work as you may know, and tried everything possible to earn money, but I am so physically limited due to severe chronic fatigue and severe chronic pain so I can’t do anything more and I am struggling severely on just over £350 a month which is all I can get (read FAQ about About Me for more information).
I try my hardest to keep warm inside with no heating by:
- wearing 4 layers of clothes
- wearing a thermal base layer
- wearing a hat
- wearing gloves
- wearing a scarf
- wearing leg warmers
- wearing 2 pairs of socks, 1 pair being winter socks
- using a hot water bottle all day every single day of the entire year
But even with all this, I can barely keep warm and shiver most of the time with the unbearable cold.
My fingers and toes are reddish purple with very white hands, and I they are very numb, sometimes painfully numb, other times I can’t feel anything all day. I have been warned by my doctor about the cold, but I can’t do anything about it with no money and I can’t work.
I am spending more and more time in bed due to the cold. It is absolutely unbearable.
Weather around here is usually bad due to location, plus being pretty high up from sea level, it snows and is colder here than even 5 miles away.
It is cold pretty much 365 days a year and I have a hot water bottle every single day of the year, 365 days a year. All day every day.
For example, the last week the weather outside has been -2c/28F to 6c/42F, and inside has been very similar with temperatures indoors being 3C/37F to 7C/44F! And yes that is indoor temperatures!
Why is it so cold, you may wonder. Well I can tell you why!
There are a few reasons why it is freezing inside:
- Can’t afford any heat due to cost
Main reason it is so cold is because I can’t afford to put the heating on nor my little heater, due to the cost. I am also over £800 in debt for energy bills and it just keeps going up. Standing charges are high and they are a fee you pay whether or not you use any energy. You pay this fee daily on top of energy usage.
I haven’t had heat since last winter and that was only for 5 minutes a day, again, due to cost. - 2 foot thick solid stone walls
Obviously not insulated as we don’t insulate solid walls much over here, usually just cavity walls get insulated. Plus it is a listed building meaning you can only do certain things to it. - Severe damp and mould
Due to multiple reasons such as flooding to the door whenever it rains heavy, broken gutter for many years that needs replacing but as it is a listed building, it has to be a wooden gutter and look the same, plus a broken soakaway that lets water on the back wall 24 hours a day.
The damp and mould is in every single room and covers the entire exterior walls, as well as other places in each room. It is really bad and I feel unwell with it, but I can’t do anything about it with no money.
This is something we can’t afford to fix as it would cost over 5 figures to fix the damp it as it is so bad and all the plaster would need taking off and replacing. The gutter costs over £700 to replace and the soakaway again is thousands of pounds.
(Reminder that I can’t afford rent so don’t have a landlord so this is shared responsibility if we could fix it. Read FAQ and About Me for detailed info)
I can’t work as you may know, and tried everything possible to earn money, but I am so physically limited due to severe chronic fatigue and severe chronic pain so I can’t do anything more and I am struggling severely on just over £350 a month from PIP, which is all I can get (read FAQ about About Me for more information).
So I just have to carry on and try not to die from the cold.
I don’t get anything other than PIP and the only help I had from the government was the £150 for being disabled. I didn’t get the over £600 help because I didn’t get the qualifying benefits, even though I am on “credits only ESA” which is the national credits only, no money. But even with that I didn’t get anymore help throughout the cost of living crisis.
It continues to get worse for me, but I can’t do anything.
As for food, well I am still on around 30p a day for food (was 50p-60p a day before the cost of living crisis) which allows me a can of value baked beans or a can of value spaghetti in a can a day. That is it! One meal for dinner of a can of beans, and nothing more.
I do have food and medical items on my wish list, but of course I don’t expect anything and rarely get anything from there.
If you would like to help, you can in so many ways, some FREE such as sharing on social media.
I have a whole page with ways you can help on my Support Me page, from donations, buying gift cards for supermarkets, buying from my wish list, or FREE ways such as sharing with your friends, as someone might be able to help who you know.
If anyone does donate, you can see all previous donations on Ko-Fi. I rarely get any, but if I do, ALL the money goes on food, heat or bills. I don’t buy anything, ever other than food, as the rest goes on bills.
You can even buy gift cards for the supermarkets I use online, so you can donate like that if you don’t wish to donate money.
I also have a goal on Ko-Fi for money for heating as I can’t afford any heat without help, but as always, I never expect a penny.
If you don’t want to help, sharing is FREE and can help!
You can share my support me page, or just share a blog post. Anything is appreciated!
I can’t do much as I am literally in bed so much trying to keep warm, plus my chronic illnesses mean I can’t type much anyway, so I don’t get much support as I simply can’t promote my blog much because of my health, I physically can’t do it.
I know that sometimes people make a post on social media for people in similar situations, to try to ask for people to help them, and I would love that one day for me. I don’t expect it at all, but I am in a really bad situation and have been posting about my health, income and life for years on here.
You can see how much I struggle and many posts have photo proof of this.
I would love some support, but as always, nothing expected, just appreciated.
