4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[redhotchick]

I've just received a letter from British Gas telling me that my Direct Debit is going up from £20 ish pounds to £50 ish I can't believe it! (I'll be phoning to check that!)

This on top of a bill to get my render replaced; £'000s! A dentist bill for hundreds and a TV repair bill (TV broke last week)

 

I am cutting out all unnecessary direct debits, and switching to online utility management. I've already started putting a jumper on instead of the heating. I've got an OWL monitor and I turn everthing off as much as possible. At the moment I'm using the laptop from battery power, one low energy lightbulb and the wireless router. (OWL is varying between 0.0 and 0.6 pence per hour). I think I'm probably not tackling the items where my expenditure is worst, but it has to help.

 

I need to set myself a food budget next. I've let things slip financially. I used to be much better at managing my finances.

 

My water bill is £40 a month. Much more than my electric! I live by myself I'm a bit frightened of getting a water meter. Any advice?

[Guest]

we have a water metre (there's 2 of us), I have a bath every day and ours is still only about £27 a month. Of course, your water authority might charge an awful lot more than ours so it might not be a fair comparison.

 

Most energy providers web sites give you hints and tips on how to save energy.

 

Get individual thermostats fitted to your radiators then you need only heat the room you're in.

 

We also have dental insurance thru BUPA, it's saved us a lot of money as I always have composite fillings and I can claim most of the cost back.

 

Use moneysavingexpert.com It's the reason I ended up getting chickens! I saw a post about getting your own chickens to save on buying eggs. I can't say our girls have saved us money, in fact I know they haven't but I wouldn't be without them now

 

However, there are lots of hints/tips/voucher codes etc there anyway to help you save money.

[Janty]

The water board fitted a meter when I moved to Suffolk. I was living on my own at the time and my bills were really low. I was happy with it.

[Looney]

We have a water meter and the last 6 monthly bill was £160, the previous 6 months was £139. There are two of us here plus baby. I have been at home on Mat leave and OH was at home for 2 months between jobs so we've had plenty of extra toilet flushes etc in the last 6 months!

[Snowy]

I think they say if you have less people than bedrooms in the house, then you would benefit from a water meter. If you live alone, then it would probably save you money!

[Paola]

5 of us in a 4 bed house and we pay about £100 every 6 months We are on a meter Our gas and electric is £88 a month with Eon.

[aaronmusgrove123]

our gas bill is £350 a quater so about £100 a month

[jackiepoppies]

Hi there,

 

When we lived in the UK our water bills were horrendous. We used to pay about the same as you. Now we pay about £150 max. per year

 

Everyone here is on a meter and we find it very economical.

Because it is metered, we are much more aware of cost and try not to waste it.

For instance, we do not use baths, we do not leave taps on while cleaning teeth, we do not flush the loo for just a wee (unless we have visitors arriving ) and in the summer, as well as using saved rainwater for plants and dogs water, we attach a hose to the washing machine and use that waste water for plants (not veg.) as well.

People are much more waste conscious over here and everyone recycles. We even still get money back on empty wine bottles

 

Jackiex

[Guest]

I sometimes feel swamped myself.

 

Our house is really 2 joined houses and we thought we would save money but sadly it's not the case. We only have 1 Sky subsctiption (with multiroom so we still each have our own!) for £30 per month and one broadband/telephone line for £31 per month but that's about where the money saving stops.

 

Our buildings insurance is £53 per month because there was once a subsidence claim on the house.

 

Electric is £205 per month - Mum has storage heaters in her part of the house.

 

Water is £65 per month

 

Council tax is £240 per month.

 

We don't have gas and I am refusing to buy oil! I have the hot water coming on twce a day for 30 mins and 10 mins respectivley - seems to not be making a dent in my oil level. I'm spending about £35 per month on wood at the moment and we are spending about £30 per month on calor gas to suppliment the heating. Mum's storage heaters are on but my heating hasn't been on. I'm sitting here now with one small halogen bulb on (I'm SAD so I can't sit without a light on), the fire is going and to take the frozen edge off the room the calor heater is on full. I'm wearing thermals under my clothes, a big cardi and a wooly throw but from where I@ve been walking around the house my feet are like ice! James is in a T shirt but has snuggled under a quilt! It will be better once the room warms up. I'll throw on some big logs whilst I go out and it should be snuggly when I get back.

[Cooks]

when I moved to this house 4+ years ago it had already had a water meter fitted and I was worried that being a family of 4 it would work out expensive (the water board dont remove the meters once they are fitted, they are fitted for life) but in reality my water bills are tiny compared to my other house, we still have baths and showers, I still use water as I did before, although I was never wastefull so the big change in price must be that I am only being charged for what I use. I wish I had been on a meter years ago!

 

British gas contact me to put up my gas bill I am paying £53 a month here which I think is an awfull lot to be honest. But aI guess a lot is for the underfloor heating in the kitchen, which I wont give up for anyone.

The Electric I believe is about £40 although I seem to get credits build up so they might want to re look at those figures...

We still use the log burner and that cuts down on gas costs so I would hate to think what they would be without it..

[Snowy]

We are in the process of switching fuel suppliers. Had a very nice cheque this morning for over £300 as refund of overpayment to Scottish Power Very nice, but I wonder if they would've told me had we not been changing? My own fault for not keeping tabs on them I suppose

There are 5 of us in a 4 bedroom house and our water rates are £400 a year. Wonder if it's worth considering a meter for us

[Olly]

My direct debit went up this year, and that was before they announced the increased prices! I'm on my own, in a 3-bed house, and pay £39/month for gas and £33 for electricity - it seems an awful lot to me. I bought an Owl Monitor earlier in the year and it's made me very conscious of how much electricity I'm using. My woodburner is being installed next week - it's costing quite a lot, but I have got a garage full of free wood already so I hope the bills will be less next year.

 

Re food: I spend much, much less if I plan ahead - lunch is usually last night's tea in a Lock-n-Lock, or soup; I use a slow cooker to produce lovely soups and stews, and I try and use up everything in the fridge (some pretty unusual combinations!) I'm also going to make a lot of Christmas presents this year.

 

I'm opposed to water meters being forced on people, but have to admit that since moving here where one was already installed, my bills have gone down. I only flush the loo once a day

(unless necessary! ) and try and make sure the dishwasher and washing-machine have a full load.

 

Worth looking at your bank account, are there any direct debits/annual payments you could dispense with? I'm thinking of things like annual charity or magazine subscriptions that you could do without, they can add up to quite a bit.

 

You're not alone, redhotchick - belts are being tightened all over the country! I am surprised at how much I ENJOY saving money - seems hard to start with, but then it becomes an achievement in its own right!

[redhotchick]

Thanks for replys

Poet, I have been onto the UU website and printed off their charges. I completed the online quiz. I'm going to assess my usage over the week based on the questions they asked me. I was on MSE for ages on Sunday looking at energy prices. I've decided to stay with my current suppliers, but watch my usage more carefully. I've got stats on the radiators and insulation to the walls and loft. I've been replacing bulbs with low energy ones as I went along. There is one in particular, on the landing, that I am going to replace even though it has not blown. I think I'm getting there with gas and electricity. (fingers crossed)

I am in BUPA through work, I phoned up about my teeth but I've been told I'm not covered. I might double check that now!

 

Penguinmad, I am so glad I don't have your bills! £275 for hot water, heating and electric! OW! You might be able to identify some good savings by using a WATSON, I would have liked one but they are £100 So I got an OWL, which does the job for £30!

 

Paola, £100 every 6 months for water for 5 people! Well done you!

 

Olly, food is definitely an area where I can economise, and also as you say, all those little direct debits that add up!

 

Thanks again for replying. I'm going to invest in some stamps to cancel various direct debits and agreements! and get on the phone tonight to sort a few bits out.

[Guest]

Penguinmad, I am so glad I don't have your bills! £275 for hot water, heating and electric! OW! You might be able to identify some good savings by using a WATSON, I would have liked one but they are £100 So I got an OWL, which does the job for £30!

 

You have to remember that is effectively for 2 households. Mum's annexe has a large (prev double garage) bedroom, a living room about the same size, a bathroom, kitchen and a huge dining room/conservatory. Attached to that I have a large 4 bed detached house. The door between is an external door so even walking through that you feel a temperature difference.

 

I already checked all the stuff thats switched on and installed various energy saving devices but Mum WILL NOT use the special switch to turn off her TV;s at the mains as she is INSISTENT that mucks up her Sky. It doens't as the Sky is in the living room and totally unaffected by what happens to the bedroom and dining room tellys. Oh and she sleeps with her bedroom tv on.

 

We also use a whopping 75% of our electricity on the night rate econ 7. but what I really want is solar PV panels, we can even have them facing the "right" direction to get maximum benefit as they can stand on the flat roof to the annexe.

[Paola]

Paola, £100 every 6 months for water for 5 people! Well done you!.

 

The only down side to that is that we stink

[quickcluck]

Olly

 

We are installing a log burner also.... It's the chimney lining that's causing a problem and is the majority of the cost!!

 

My monthly utilities are 50 + 30 for gas & electric, but we live in a house without cavity walls so can't insulate

[chelsea]

I cant believe how cheap some of your water bills are

 

ours is £75 a month for a 2 bed semi in a rural village.

 

We pay for the beaches down here which really gets on my wick!

 

I know how you feel redhotchick, all our bills add up to another mortgage (and thats just utility bills/council tax etc)

[Guest]

Don't start me on the cavity walls

 

Mum was looking into this last Spring and got one quote. I pushed her to get more and got Eon to call her. They surveyed last week and NOT ONLY do we NOT get any reduction as we are not on any benefits.

 

We have to WAIT until ALL THE BENEFITS poeple have been done before parting with our 1k to get it done in FEBRUARY.

 

I told her to see if anyone else could do it sooner but she's done nowt

 

I can't organise quotes etc as I'm not home to see the people.

[missuscluck]

I get really stressed about our utility bills. We have our water reasonably under control now. We are on a water meter and it just dosent work for a familly of 5. It should be lots better for you though. I just would not reccomend it for a familly at all.

 

Our water is now £54.00 a month. My gas is £65.00 per month and my electric is £62.00 per month. I am tbh a right pain in the bum over it and march about turning things off. Our water used to be £65.00 per month and our gas bills hit £90.00 a month at one time so cutting back does help.

[Christian]

I am horrified by what some people are paying for water/electricity and gas

 

We are lucky that we have a private water supply which costs £60 a year or so (more now that my irrigation system is up and running for the veggies in the summer).

 

We pay £70 a year for the septic tank. £39 a month for the electricity - no gas.

 

The real expense is our oil tank! We filled up in April £600 compared to £280 for the same amount in August last year. We are doing really well with the oil and hopefully won't need a top up until next year (fingers crossed)

 

We had cavity walls insulation last year and it does make a difference. Did it through British gas (work that one out ) and it does make the house warmer. We have a relatively large (i think so) 3 bedroom semi and it cost around £300 for the insulation.

 

We have thermostatic controls on all the radiators and with most of them on low. An open fire in the lounge - on most evenings in the winter.

 

We recently had the front door replaced and had the back door adjusted as the wind was whistling through both. That does make a difference. I do now put a jumper/fleece on, if at home on my own, but sometimes it is just so cold I put the heating on for an hour to take the chill off. I often fall asleep on the sofa with the fire glowing, really nice

[Chicken Licken]

British Gas also wanted to put up my direct debit - but they had calculated it on a series of estimated readings. I phoned in an accurate reading and they sent me a new bill that did not include the hefty increase to the direct debit Definitely worth checking up on this. I also switched to online billing but some of the savings are invisible ones as they are benefits I already get e.g. dual fuel discount

 

I live in a 2 bedroom house on my own and my gas is £30 a month for heating and hot water and my electricity bill is £20 per month. I supplement my heating with a selection of fleecy jumpers and an old rayburn in the kitchen and open fire in the living room - both burning tonight to keep me warm! I have a water meter too and pay under £20 a month for water - dishwasher, washing machine, showers etc.

[redhotchick]

I am horrified by what some people are paying for water/electricity and gas

 

Fascinating though isn't it!

 

Chicken Licken, I will check my gas reading at the weekend. It's a bit awkward to get to.

I still can't believe how much they want to put it up!

(gets up to turn off heating...)

[quickcluck]

Pengy

 

Can you not get a grant for it? My sister did last year, and she's NOT on any benefits...

[Lisa]

We got our cavity wall insulating done through the local council at a reduced rate. It has made a huge difference an we have a 4 bed semi. I believe it cost about £250. Your quote of £1000 Pengy sounds very high!! Perhaps see if you can arrange for them to come and give you a quote in the evening as some will!

 

Good luck

[Guest]

Pengy

 

Can you not get a grant for it? My sister did last year, and she's NOT on any benefits...

 

They said NO, went through everying, Mum is an OAP too but still no go.

 

So no grant AND have to wait until after all the grant people get theirs done!