St Vincent de Paul Society Tasmania president Toni Muir said people around the state were making hard choices when it came to making ends meet.

Mrs Muir said people were choosing between turning on heaters and putting food on the table.

‘‘We’re finding the need for doonas and blankets quite demanding ... people are rugging up in blankets for fear of turning the heater up,’’ she said.

Mrs Muir’s comments come in the same week that the latest CHOICE Consumer Pulse survey results were released, which showed electricity was the biggest cost of living concern for those surveyed.

It also revealed that 19 per cent of respondents had deliberately missed paying a bill by its due date because of financial strain.

‘‘People are not opening letters because they know it’s going to be an overdue bill,’’ Mrs Muir said.

‘‘We’re going around to people’s houses and there are piles of unopened letters.

‘‘They are frightened to open them because it just triggers more mental stress.’’

Vinnies, and other Tasmanian charities, have grants from Aurora Energy to allow them to assist people struggling to pay their electricity bills.

Mrs Muir said other strains were as basic as rent or mortgage, which could be up to three quarters of a person’s wage.

She also said medicines not on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and costs for families with school-aged children imposed notable financial strains.

‘‘We also see an increase in demand at school holidays, when children whose parents are separated spend the holidays with the other parent who might be on a low-income or government pay outs,’’ Mrs Muir said.

■To support Tasmanians in need this winter, donate to The Examiner’s Winter Relief Appeal, which benefits City Mission, the Benevolent Society, the Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul. Donations can be made at The Examiner’s Cimitiere Street office, in collection tins around Launceston, or online at www.gofundme. com/winterreliefappeal.