On U Tube their is a section where by tips are offered to combat price rises what with Hugh gas and electricity charges , plus all the other charges as well,
do you have any suggestions or tips on how to save money as the bills come in and if so what would you advise,
Don't overfill the kettle for making tea etc. My wife used till fill it right up just for two cups.
If you live on your own only heat the room you are in most of the time.
I live alone with gas fired central heating. All turned off, just an
electric fire in one room and a small one near the toilet.
Good insulation is a must.. I have a porch and sunroom.. They give added protection against the cold..
I don't use my dishwasher .. I save washing-up water in the bowl longer..
I am cutting down on using washing machine .. Hand wash underwear.. but not in the washing-up water.. ! :shocked:
Fortunately warmer days are around the corner.. More salads.. and cold leftovers..
I have not turned my heating down.. Being cold can cause many problems too..
I'm carrying on pretty much as I always have. I was careful not to waste energy anyway and I'll just have to put up with the rising cost. Unless things really go tits up it's my kids inheritance that will be diminished rather than me freeze or starve anyway. I have no idea how the poor sods who live hand to mouth already will cope.
silly as it sounds it makes winter in Goa very attractive...
in India i wash my smalls in the shower, dry them on the bed-rail at the bottom of the bed, i use three pairs of Boxers tho two would do... but i am just showing off to the maid... there is a washing machine, but i hand wash my shirts once a week and hang them on my balcony, only my trackie bottoms take any time to dry, but the ceiling fan has them dried by morning.... i will post a photo mid summer... i dont yet know howe to get round the monsoon...lol... but i will manage... my friends are suggesting we do seven months by visiting SriLanka for a couple of weeks...mmmmm
All good tips, most of them we already do BUT, what bothers me is.......If everyone does the saving thing, then the fuel companies will not be happy and will find other ways to make us pay. :angry:
That's why the standing charge went up. There are virtually no switches available other than at really eye watering rates. I don't think they can be making huge profits on the new charges or they would still be touting for business.
I won't be altering my heating either, apart from turning down the thermostat but no idea if or how that will help. I feel sorry for those who are already struggling, how on earth do you choose heat or eat ?
2022 in one of the richest countries in the world, it's just unbelievable.
I get that there are households living hand to mouth, but I also think some people could do with budgeting help. We are on what is considered a low income, but we eat well, waste little, keep warm, and run a car. It will be different when there is only one of us, but if it's me, I'll downsize to a flat and probably ditch the car. We rarely use the dishwasher or tumble drier, and I shower at the gym when I go to classes, at least three times a week.
I think our generation can make money stretch, but there are younger people who never learned to cook, and think having Sky subscriptions and takeaways are necessities.
I was thinking more our age group tbh, I'm lucky to have a works pension, but a couple of my friends live on just the state pension, not easy.
they will just increase the bloody prices - surprise, surprise
Mike
Ofgen set the caps. Every 6 months. Next thrilling installment in October. Providers used to offer cheaper to switchers but that is all out the window now.
Quote from: Raven on April 03, 2022, 12:29:31 PM
All good tips, most of them we already do BUT, what bothers me is.......If everyone does the saving thing, then the fuel companies will not be happy and will find other ways to make us pay. :angry:
You have made a very good point there Raven, they won't want their profits slipping now will they.
ever since, years ago, we had an argument with the electricity company when the meters - we have four - all went haywire and they tried to charge us four times as much as usual, I have checked the meter readings every Sunday. This week I decided to really try and economise - turned the heating down, switched off light at every opportunity - didn't make a damned bit of difference!
Mike
If you have LED or CF lights the cost is low so any change compared to heating costs would be trivial. As we have just gone through a cold spell those heating costs could be expected to rise. If your electricity usage remained the same then your actions saved you money.
I normally have the main lounge around 22C. All last week it was below 20 except when solar gain - large windows - pushed it higher without the heating contributing, For the last couple of days it has been 18C in there - which is about what most of the rest of the house is most of the time. I am also wearing a vest for the first time in years, and my lined trousers, normally only worn out of doors. I can actually afford the extra cost, but I am really annoyed at the way the cost has been pushed up. This year, for the first time ever, my electricity will cost me more than my food and drink. This year it will cost three times what it did four years ago
Mike (not a happy camper)
just think back Alex, to how we used to live.... i drank seven nights a week and was a heavy smoker,,, and i knew lots of guys who did the same.... can you even imagine the cost today?... i drank between 8 and 10 pints a night and smoked 40 cigs a day, how much might that cost today.... but luckily i stopped both and became a monk....lol.... that how or rather why i manage today.... never mind owt else how much was i paying the chancellor a week?
Quote from: crabbyob on April 04, 2022, 10:01:10 AM
just think back Alex, to how we used to live.... i drank seven nights a week and was a heavy smoker,,, and i knew lots of guys who did the same.... can you even imagine the cost today?... i drank between 8 and 10 pints a night and smoked 40 cigs a day, how much might that cost today.... but luckily i stopped both and became a monk....lol.... that how or rather why i manage today.... never mind owt else how much was i paying the chancellor a week?
Same here with the fags , although not as many as 40 a day :grin:
Quote from: Raven on April 03, 2022, 12:29:31 PM
All good tips, most of them we already do BUT, what bothers me is.......If everyone does the saving thing, then the fuel companies will not be happy and will find other ways to make us pay. :angry:
As I've said in quite a few posts, the energy supply companies have already factored the reduction in usage into their calculations by doubling the standing charges.
If consumption drops dramatically then the standing charges could rise equally dramatically.
We've just, for the first time, switched off a couple of Bose Waveform clock-radios that are never used, a YouView box that isn't used & a Zgemma satellite receiver that isn't used.
We did switch off all the smart plugs but the difference it made was minimal compared to the resulting lack of convenience, so they're all back on.
Plus it'll only take the smart plugs that control the electric heaters, to switch them off automatically after a set time if we forget, to save far more energy than they probably use in a year.
We have also started to boil just the amount of water that we need, rather than a kettle-full & microwave meals that can be either microwaved or oven baked, even if the cooked result isn't as good.
If our energy bills double or even triple it wouldn't be a crippling problem but we want to stuff it to our energy supplier when our bills don't increase nearly as much as they estimated they would.