Cost of living!

[TAR]

8 hours ago, RobinB5 said:

Create some kind of nose warmer that doesn't look like an IRA suspect's balaclava to wear in bed. 

Looking forward to seeing this. Here are the professional versions https://nosewarmer.com/

 

[RobinB5]

6 hours ago, TAR said:

Looking forward to seeing this. Here are the professional versions https://nosewarmer.com/

 

So tempted!!

8 hours ago, C8RKH said:

My electric bill was £58. Wtf are you doing with that energy?  That includes 2 cars on permanent battery chargers. Me working from home with pc, laptop and 4 screens being powered from 0730 to 2200. Etc...

Big house, lots of kids who really like long showers, no gas. We also stopped using the immersion heater. Just use a kettle as and when hot water is required.

[C8RKH]

Ok, I do sympathise then @RobinB5. We saw a massive drop (at least 40%) in leccy usage when our son moved out last year. If you have the equivalent of a few of them......yikes 😲

[Dan E]

15 hours ago, Kimbers said:

Mortgage of £170k which, because of our age we could only get over 12 years. Sky TV, Prime, Netflix, Disney+, Household and business insurance (for Art and my little sideline), 4 cars, New Kitchen & tiled floor. Expensive Pensions worth Shit all, (They're £700 a month between us). Daughters Rent (3 bed house) Food for 6 (sometimes 7 if the other daughter is skint), Far too much alcohol and not the cheap stuff, Holidays, Pets I could go on and on.

I know some of those are avoidable and many will have to go very shortly as my job, due to car supply (or Lack of) is paying £50k a year less since June than in the last 10 years. Plus Wendys wage won't exist as shes taking early retirement next year at 55.

@Kimbers have you taken some financial advice? We did  and the first bit of advice we got is why are you paying your mortgage off!! . Let me explain, due to inheritance tax it turned out it is better for us to service the debt than pay it off, so we have gone interest only saving about £1800 a month. Our LTV is at 87% though and I have no idea about house values where you are. As the advisor said, "you are a long time dead" it has made a massive difference especially if you look at the £1800 as if it was a taxable income 

[Barrykearley]

Absolutely correct @Dan E - that’s the advice of many in financial services.

However - they are the same folks whom presided over the financial crash. 

There’s two trains of thought

1 - pay off debt and mortgage and be secure

2 - service debt and live for the moment

 

there’s no right or wrong answer - it’s for every individual to decide what works best for them. 

Thankfully given my present situation I’ve no debts nor a mortgage - which means I can ride out the storm of divorce while supporting kids dealing with the issues of their abusive alcoholic mother. I’m not sure I could even begin to cope if I had mortgage and car loans to service.

[Dan E]

@Barrykearley I done all the figures and 100% it is the right thing to do because the mortgage is not part of the estate. I was always been "lets get everything paid off" to the point that I have never bought a car with anything other than cash. 

Now however I am investing the £1800 which fingers crossed is looking good. That is not to say I have this completely wrong and will be a member of the Lada forum in a few years 

[Barrykearley]

See you over there @Dan E once this divorce is finished 💪👍

[Bibs]

The EU are planning to separate gas and electric wholesale pricing - The connection has meant that cheap renewable energy has increased as gas prices have gone up. Whole costs in German are plummeting at the news which hopefully will have a knock on for us. 

[C8RKH]

Does the "cheap" bit include the renewable subsidy on your bill, or not?

[Bibs]

I'm sure I heard in the news yesterday that if it was removed from our bills, we'd only be saving £15/pa anyway. Not sure how accurate that is as it looks like they're 9-12% of the bills, which when it's going to be over £6k a year on average seems a little more than £15! 

https://news.sky.com/story/green-levies-why-scrapping-them-wouldnt-lower-your-bills-as-much-as-claimed-12619655

 

[RobinB5]

'Make hay whilst the sun shines' - chopping wood ahead of winter. Our living room has a wood burner, another room has a small open fire. Previously these were used purely for interest, not for cost saving. This winter we're thinking of changing our domestic ergonomics (what room to be in, to do what, when) to capitalise on this 'free' heating. (A few times in the past we've cooked on the wood burner top during a powercut). For any others out there who might have a prepper mentality, there's nothing more satisfying than preparing for the worst.

[PaulCP]

Ofgen, are they in the pockets of the energy companies?

The recent change to review the energy price cap every 3 months rather than 6 months has resulted in the rate/kWh rising from 28p to 52p 3 months earlier than previous, which can only result in the energy companies excess profits from this exercise become even more excessive.

Has there been any transparency published by Ofgen as to how they calculate the price cap, they sure as hell don’t calculate it in a way which allows the energy companies to have ‘normalised’ profits. Where’s the investigative journalism looking to examine if Ofgen are favouring the energy companies too much.

It appears that Ofgen, along with the Govt, have bought in to the energy sector’s claims that any windfall taxes will restrict investment. Well, in my simple way of looking at things, if the energy sector was investing say 50% of profits from £20m per year  (ie £10m) and profits now increase to £100m/year then are they saying such a tax will negatively affect the £10m of normal investments? They sure as hell aren’t going to invest £90m and keep the usual £10m as retained earnings!

Can someone please tell me where my logic is wrong?

(all figures quoted are as an example only, I know they bear no relation to the reality of the profits etc)

[Rambo]

On 26/08/2022 at 20:57, C8RKH said:

My electric bill was £58. Wtf are you doing with that energy?  That includes 2 cars on permanent battery chargers. Me working from home with pc, laptop and 4 screens being powered from 0730 to 2200. Etc...

Me too. £57 per month with Octopus, fixed until Sept 2023.  I can't believe how much money, and electricity, people are wasting a month 😯 

[Kimbers]

Just been told its going up again, another £60 a month increase.

I'll be at £400 a month soon. 

Just went into the house from the Office out back. Midday, its sunny and 3 lights on from when I was last in there! Son went to work an hour ago and his fan and computer are both still running in his bedroom. 3 loads of washing done yesterday, mine and Wendys a full load and the boys both washed a pair of trousers and a shirt for work (yes 2 items a load) and already one today, dishwasher was turned on with half a load. I have given up trying to tell people. And I get told off for getting "Shouty" as they are Autistic and I am "Making a fuss over a little bit of money".

 

[Techyd]

Taking your post in isolation, I would offer up the following advice:

Speak with your wife first so that you can explain these costs are excessive, then you can both agree that the costs are way too high, and that as a family, you have some bad energy usage habits that have to change.  Then list out a plan of change which would be to 

It sounds like both your sons work, you could put up their rent, or more specifically, have them pay a % of the energy costs each month, that way, they can bring their cost down by improving their own habits.  You can increase the % they pay if necessary as the months roll on.

My own son is autistic, but but right at the bottom of the spectrums ladder as it were; the main tool I have is two-fold: 1) Be as logical as I can be when explaining what I need him to do and why and 2) I build up the rules / changes one a time so as not to overwhelm him or have too much change at once.

You are certainly not "making a fuss over a little bit of money"; I would counter that by explaining that you have a legitimate worry and concern over your family homes running costs and these are actionable, with support.  I genuinely think we're about to head in to some very tough times for a protracted period and those that can adapt will make best of the situation.

[pete]

Go on a pay as you meter

[Kimbers]

Great Advice. I must admit I was thinking of Divorce and putting them on the streets, but your advice seems a little less extreme!

[pete]

9 minutes ago, pete said:

Go on a pay as you go meter

 

[RobinB5]

I wonder what the main energy culprits are in order in a typical household?

1. Heating
2. Hot water
3. Cooking
4. Lighting
5. Cooling (fridge/freezer)
6. Consumer electronics

'Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves' is a trite saying when it comes to energy costs.

Insulate everything first, including your kettle

[andydclements]

29 minutes ago, pete said:

Go on a pay as you meter

I think that would increase the cost of the electricity that they do need. It might make people realise how much the washing machine costs, the fan costs etc, but it would cause the price per unit to increase, so you need a big saving immediately else you just pay more overall.

[red vtec]

3 hours ago, RobinB5 said:

'Make hay whilst the sun shines' - chopping wood ahead of winter. Our living room has a wood burner, another room has a small open fire. Previously these were used purely for interest, not for cost saving. This winter we're thinking of changing our domestic ergonomics (what room to be in, to do what, when) to capitalise on this 'free' heating. (A few times in the past we've cooked on the wood burner top during a powercut). For any others out there who might have a prepper mentality, there's nothing more satisfying than preparing for the worst.

This is ok if you have those options, but I live in a 1930 house in an urban setting with no fire or log burner (clear air zone!) with Gas heating

I have put together an emergency box with Candles, Matches, camping gas cooker and fuel etc. as I can see there being power cuts. Also been up in the loft adding extra insulation, a joyless job. 

 

[Sparky]

We're burning maybe £120/month in electricity right now, so I'm looking at efficiencies (yes, MIL euthanisation is high on the list).  We have 2 small freezers which, combined, burn 2.6kWh a day.  I've figured out I can buy a big efficient upright for £600 and retire the others, and my ROI looks like it'll be only 2 years.  Madness.

[Techyd]

Apparently LG TVs use more leccy than Samsung ones.

[pete]

59 minutes ago, andydclements said:

I think that would increase the cost of the electricity that they do need. It might make people realise how much the washing machine costs, the fan costs etc, but it would cause the price per unit to increase, so you need a big saving immediately else you just pay more overall.

Depends who has to the money in the meter. Also could put in £10 per day say and when it runs out that's it until the next day💰💰

Just now, pete said:

Depends who has to the put money in the meter. Also could put in £10 per day say and when it runs out that's it until the next day💰💰

 

[andydclements]

I just checked and the last few months we've been 10-15% down on electricity usage, whether we can realistically improve on that I don't know. The plan is to massively improve the loft insulation which in itself doesn't really alter electricity usage (oil heating) but if that means the boiler has to come on less and the pump circulate the water less, then it may also reduce electricity very slightly.

Water cost was due to increase (we're near the lower end of the spectrum for usage for 2 people in the house) but I've managed to get to a 10% cost reduction there (compared to what it would have been. It's only a few £s a month but hopefully it all adds up.

heating oil, well it is what it is for cost. I bought it when it was reasonably low for the current rates, in the last week or so it seems to have gone up 12/l so that would have been an extra 1500@12p. I feel sorry for those whose oil tanks are c500l or so, firstly you can't generally get the same price per litre and secondly you may have little choice but to fill up twice/year at least one of which will be mid winter when prices traditionally were higher.