UK inflation: 'There's not much more I can do to save money'

Prices in the UK are rising at their fastest rate for 40 years.

Higher energy and food bills, partly driven by the war in Ukraine, are pushing the cost of living up.

UK inflation, the rate at which prices are rising, jumped to 9% in the 12 months to April, up from 7% in March.

We asked people across the country how they are coping with the rising costs.

• Why are prices rising so quickly?
• When might the inflation rate come down?
• Energy bills push inflation to 40-year high
• Recession fears grow as rising prices hit spending

Cheryl, 33, lives in a rented house with her husband, nine-year-old son and one-year-old daughter.

She said: "Over the last few months especially since April I've really noticed a massive increase in my bills.

"My salary has remained the same but there's a little bit less because of National Insurance," she said. "My energy bill has increased by £52 a month, which is just over £600 a year, so I really notice the difference and then on top of that I've got annual increases like car insurance.

"I've cancelled my Disney Plus tv subscription. I'm trying to keep what clothes we are buying and my grocery spend down, across the budget I'm trying to keep my cost of living as low as possible. I don't really feel I can do much more. I've already for several years been turning the lights off in each room, setting the heating on a timer, making sure I'm using a full dishwasher and washing machine and I'm running out of ideas. It's a battle and it seems like there's not really much more that I can do. "

She said her main goal is to save towards buying a house and the cost of living crisis was slowing her down.

Mrs Holmes, who works as a health analysist, shares her money saving tips on her Instagram account Frugal Me Free.

She is concerned about further rises in energy bills in August when the next price cap is set.

"It can feel a little bit distressing you feel a bit helpless but I'm just trying my best to stay optimistic."

Kira Hayward, 19, from Hull is a second year student at Salford University and rents with her partner Josh.

She also works part time for a production company in Manchester.

She gets a student loan and the highest grant and pays rent four times a year.

"I don't expect my parents to help me out, they're not the highest earners in the world and I'd rather be independent," she said.

She said rising food prices mean her money does not stretch as far.

"My shopping is £10 more per week, the bread that I have has gone up about 50p," she said.

"I used to shop every week but I do it every 10 days or two weeks now and at the cheaper places and I try and get a big batch of chicken and freeze it all and make sure I split them up and make a batch meal like spaghetti bolognese. It is frustrating that even though I'm putting money aside I'm having to cap what I spend on everything.

"I went on Instagram and YouTube and I saw these physical budget binders. I take the money out of the bank and I budget for things like my shopping.

"If I know I have £80 in my personal shopping for the month I know I can't go over that.

"Before my student loan came in in April I had £17 in my bank. No savings, no nothing. I felt disappointed in myself. I don't want to get an overdraft. This has definitely taught me you need to budget."

Ms Hayward has tried to sell things online but has noticed, due to the higher cost of postage, she no longer makes any money from doing this compared to what it costs to post.

Mike Gibbons 75 and his wife Ev, 72, are pensioners living in Southampton.

They have six daughters between them and while hers live not too far away his are in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Milton Keynes.

The rise in petrol prices and energy bills means they've had to reduce how often they see their children and grandchildren.

Mrs Gibbons said: "They only have little houses so we can't stay so we have hotel bills and petrol on top of it is a bit of a killer at the moment so we are budgeting and we are not going so often.

Mr Gibbons said their energy bills had gone up by £88 a month after their provider PurePlanet went bust and they moved to Shell.

He said each 450-500 mile trip to see his family in Newcastle-under-Lyme now cost £25 more in petrol.

Mrs Gibbons said: "It's making it more difficult to see our family on a regular basis because you just can't afford it anymore the money's not there. We just can't see our children as much as we'd like to."

Clive Watson, executive chairman of the City Pub Group, said that despite rising costs, he doesn't believe that raising prices for customers is the "right thing to do at the moment".

Electricity has more than doubled, while food costs have gone up by around 15% and labour costs have risen by 7 - 8% for the pub chain.

Mr Watson said the business, which has 45 pubs across the south of England, was "trying not to put prices up" and had not shrunk portions to cut costs.

While menu changes can reduce costs, for instance by offering more pork dishes as it is cheaper than chicken, Mr Watson explained this was "just tinkering at the edges" and "doesn't disguise" the rapid supplier cost increases.

"We are having to take a lot of these costs on the chin which obviously affects the bottom line," he said.

Mr Watson explained that the government had supported hospitality during the pandemic but that his main concern now was its support for his customers.

Food and fuel poverty left unchecked he said, meant that people would not be able to afford to go out and spend their money.

"There is a crisis in consumer confidence and the government has got to address that," he said.