Family snuggles under electric blanket is a lot cheaper than central heating – Hayley Matthews

With inflation at 11.1 per cent (and it's probably gone up more since I typed this), prices seem to be increasing every time we blink.

An electric blanket is a way to stay warm without putting on the central heating (Picture: Adobe)

With the weather being, well, manky for the want of a better word, the go-to option for many of us is to crank the heating up. But heating up an entire house seems a bit dated nowadays and I have a new way: an electric blanket!

I'd gotten one a few years back for my joint pain but my kids took it and then the dog claimed it, chewing through the cable so now it's just a blanket. But back to the drawing board and, as I scoured the web for electric under- and over-blankets, I found a world of heated items that all seem a much much cheaper way to warm up than putting on the central heating.

Looking at the price comparison, an electric blanket definitely seems a more cost-effective way of defrosting ourselves. So now all four of us squeeze together on our three-seater sofa (we're a bit short on space) with the heated blanket over us. The cats and Dolly dog love it too – my only moan is it can't dry the washing. Nope, that definitely needs the radiators on for that as we don't have room for enough seats to sit on never mind a tumble dryer!

Or maybe I could get one of those heated pulleys and we could all sit on that, whilst the washing dries too obviously! But seriously – get yourself a heated blanket and turn the thermostat down.