Yes, how will the Russia/Ukraine conflict affect our bills? That's the question I've been answering on TV and radio for the last few days.

 

The main areas are, of course, gas (only 5% of our gas comes from Russia but we also buy from Europe and the conflict is increasing the price of gas there), petrol as Russia is a major exporter of oil and the sanctions will reduce the amount they send out, food as Russia and Ukraine are the bread basket of Europe (we can't produce the right wheat in this country to make good bread so we have to import it) and components, particularly for cars. 

 

There's also the possibility of a hit on your pension investments as the bulk of pensions are invested in the stock market which could get ever more jittery as the conflict continues.  

 

Oh, and interest rates are going up - they were going to anyway but as inflation is getting even worse (it was bad before but sanctions are putting prices up more) the Bank of England will have to raise rates which will put the price of taking out loans and mortgages higher.

We could do without all of the above given that costs were going to go up anyway thanks to the astounding amount of Quantitative Easing (money printing) the government has been doing over the last couple of years in particular. The one good thing I can see is that interest rate rises should be welcome to savers although you know what it's like: when the Base Rate rises, mortgages and loans immediately go up while savings accounts slowly add maybe 0.1% here and there!

 

So here at MoneyMagpie we're constantly discussing how we can help you, and everyone else who looks to us for information, to make the most of the money you have and pull in extra to help pay the bills.

 

For a start, we are launching our new 'Pay the Bills' campaign with lots of ideas to help you get more cash in to pay the rising bills each month. 

 

We're also continuing our quest for hardship grants all over the country (today you'll see we have found grants to help families and workers in particular), together with ways to get things for free or cheap, including how to save money in the kitchen.

 

And why shouldn't you have a fab holiday this year to get away from the tough times at home? I've interviewed TV travel expert Simon Calder all about how to get away to the sun for less so have a watch of that and start your plans for your 2022 dream holiday!

 

Love Jasmine :-)

 

P.S. don't forget to sign our petition to legalise Freeganism. We need make sure that less and less good food is thrown away and more and more diverted to those who really need it.  Thank you!

With Spring approaching, it's reaching the time we all start to think about booking our summer holidays. So we’ve invited travel journalist, Simon Calder to share his 2022 travel tips.