5 Things I Can’t Live Without

What 5 things can’t you live without? Food? Your smartphone? Family and friends? But what about those daily luxuries that you can’t live without, like a coffee, a can of diet coke or paying for parking closer to work instead of walking?

Taking people out of the equation, for me, the 5 things I cannot live without are (in no particular order):

1. Foundation. I finally discovered a great foundation that really works for me – MAC’s studio sculpt. At over £20, it definitely isn’t thrifty, but the difference it makes in my confidence levels is worth every penny.
2. My smart phone – I’m not a die hard Apple fan, I just happen to have an iPhone. Being able to do so much on my phone is important to me. Whether it be snapping a picture, connecting on social media or using apps to make extra money, I wouldn’t be without it.
3. Daily can of diet coke. 3pm rolls around and I look forward to my can of diet coke. Yes, large bottles are cheaper, but there is something so comforting in my 3pm can of diet coke.
4. Food. I enjoy the art of cooking, taking time to put together recipes and experience, and I also enjoy eating the food.
5. My laptop. It has provided so many opportunities for me – blogging, making extra money, staying in contact with friends and so much more.

The Source at British Gas scoured the country asking people for things they couldn’t live without, and the results might surprise you. Food topped the list, followed very closely by mobile phones. I would have thought family and friends would have topped the list. People from the South East revealed that they find appliances more important than people.

Surprisingly, the internet appeared way down the list. People find it difficult to put a value on what they pay out for their daily internet service, with 39% in the dark about their home broadband cost. The phone’s triumph over the computer is also clearly marked, but only up to a certain age. For those aged over 55, the phone drops down to number seven on the list.

This age category is also the first to recognise energy as one of life’s essentials. It scores highest with respondents, at number nine. In every other age group it doesn’t even make the top ten. Which throws up another interesting observation.

Over a third of those spoken to overestimated the daily cost of energy. People also overestimated the amount of profit that energy firms made on their bills, with only 3% of people correctly guessing the amount was less than 5%.