Blog: Well, at least the Christmas break was a lovely, worry-free oasis; a time of over-indulgence and hang the financial consequences – until the new year . . . writes Emma Suddaby.

We all knew this year was going to be a tough one, with purse-strings stretched to new limits, but I still wasn’t quite prepared for the fiscal slap round the face that was the first working day of the new year.

My home was heated by electricity but the system was old, with a faulty, overcharging immersion heater.

When my monthly direct debit to the electricity provider reached nearly £200, I knew something had to give so I arranged to have a new, energy efficient central heating system installed.

Unfortunately, living out in the Powys hills well beyond the reach of mains gas, the only real option was oil. Just in time for oil prices to reach new and unheard of highs . . . ouch.

So having raided my paltry piggy bank to buy in as much oil as I could afford – about enough to get me to next Tuesday – I contacted the electricity company to advise them of my new heating arrangements, feeling very smug that they’d no longer be able to bankrupt me with extortionate electricity bills.

Until they told me that in order to get me off the Economy (ha ha) 7 tariff and on to a cheaper, flat rate, they’d have to come out and change the meter. This would, of course, cost me £50, up-front, over the phone before the meter-man would come out. Double ouch.

My next call was to my long-suffering bank to make arrangements to increase my mortgage payments by over £200 per month after the Government, in its wisdom, slashed the help it was providing to enable severely disabled people to meet monthly mortgage fees.

Reeling from the trauma of it all, I decided to take a break and go run some errands in the car. But I hadn’t gone far before I realised the cold-snap has left my poor little motor with a broken back windscreen washer and that ice has damaged one of my side-lights too. To top it all off, I’m in need of four new tyres.

And if I’m not completely bankrupt by the end of all that, pulling up at the petrol pump will just about finish me off, with petrol prices reaching la-la land levels.

Meanwhile, experts are still arguing about the real cost of financial austerity and how much difference cuts will make in the pockets of real people.

As if we didn’t already know!

Welcome to 2011. Will the last person to leave the country please turn the lights off – unless you can afford the electricity bill!