Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Paper plates and gym membership?

22 replies

amylou8 · 29/04/2022 06:32

I know this has been moaned about to death....but my gas bill. I have a combi boiler (2 years old just serviced) which does the heating and hot water. The heating is off, all it's doing is hot water. No other gas in the house. In the last 4 weeks I've used almost £40 in gas, this includes a standing charge of about £8. I'm only home 4 days a week, at partners for the weekend. I have one full up bath a week, then strip washes with a bowl of water the other 3 days. I wash up by hand with a bowl of water everyday I'm home. I wash my hands with the cold tap, mop the floors and clean with cold water. HOW is it costing 10 quid a week for a bath and 7 bowls of water. And it's going up again in October. I can get 100 paper plates off Amazon for £6, cups and cutlery can rinsed cold. A gym membership for £20-25 quid a month will get me a nice hot shower there every day. An electric blanket and some nice thick jumpers for the winter. I reckon I'll save a fortune.

OP posts:
Mouthfulofquiz · 29/04/2022 06:41

I joined a nice gym a month ago and I only have one shower a week at home now and I’m getting fit! The cost increases are astronomical and shocking.

polarbearmagnet · 29/04/2022 06:46

It's really awful how we used to see convenient/extra things now aiding basic living such as heating and electric. Paper plates and cups are for convenience and a gym membership is maybe a luxury? So now these are compensating the astronomical increases. A hot shower while getting fit and plus you spend 1-2 hours less at home which means less electricity, water and heating. What a pathetic country we are living in right now. Do what works for you because I would be doing the same as well.

FlyingFlamingo · 29/04/2022 06:46

How many kWh does that equate to? For comparison we’ve used 900kwh in April which on our current rate is £27 and that has bought us heating in the mornings, hot water (combi boiler, daily showers and occasional baths) and gas for the hob. Our fixed deal is about to end but even on the capped rate 900kwh is about £70 including the standing charge.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Cost of living
MushMonster · 29/04/2022 06:49

Gym membership is a great thing. It will make you happier! Do it!

itsgettingweird · 29/04/2022 06:52

I pay £32 a month as my son trains 6 times a week at the centre for swimming.

I actually had my water bill the other day and they've reduced my DD by £5 a month due to us showering there after using the facilities Grin

LoveSpringDaffs · 29/04/2022 06:53

For a while I lived in a wee flat that only had a bath, it couldn't have a shower put in because of some plumbing issue. Nightmare, but I got used to a functional bath - few inches in the bottom to get washed, you don't need a deep bath, it's a luxury you have to choose whether to pay for or not.

it's utterly ridiculous in the U.K. in 2022.

Gym membership sounds worth considering. That's so cheap. The community Gyms here are 4x that

BarbaraofSeville · 29/04/2022 07:15

Gyms are probably not going to remain as a cheap source of hot showers. Their heating and water bills must be astronomical.

It's not costing you a tenner a week for 'a bath and 7 bowls of water' it's costing £32/4.33 so more like £7.40 and the bath could be nearly half of that.

Paper plates won't be much of a saving as you'd still need to wash pans, ladles etc.

But it sounds like you live alone and spend a lot of time away from home, so the floor won't need mopping that often or ever?

Snoken · 29/04/2022 07:26

Yes to the gym membership, no to the paper/plastic plates/cutlery would be bad for the environment.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 29/04/2022 07:28

It would be cheaper and far more convenient to stop having "full baths" and just switch to short daily showers.

And please don't use paper plates.

00100001 · 29/04/2022 07:28

Well, don't have a full up bath....? Have a couple of inches bath

MrsLargeEmbodied · 29/04/2022 07:28

can you change so you pay quarterly for your gas?
might that reduce the rate?

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 29/04/2022 07:30

Surely the gym will start passing on their increased power costs to members before too long.

BarbaraofSeville · 29/04/2022 07:31

MrsLargeEmbodied · 29/04/2022 07:28

can you change so you pay quarterly for your gas?
might that reduce the rate?

Why? If anything it would make it more expensive as you'd lose the DD discount.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 29/04/2022 07:55

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 29/04/2022 07:30

Surely the gym will start passing on their increased power costs to members before too long.

I suspect so.

It must be costing them an absolute fortune to open their doors at the moment.

Neversaygoodbye · 29/04/2022 07:57

Our local leisure centre has already reduced the temperature in the main pool to save costs! It's freezing when you first get in.

Ariela · 29/04/2022 07:58

You could look at installing a solar system for heating your hot water. Ours is set to heat the hot water to a few degrees higher than the boiler would (we have a hot water cylinder, well insulated), meaning the boiler (which is only set to heat the hot water from 6am-7am and again in the evening for a short period) rarely kicks in for the evening and often the water is still warm such that a very short spell of heating is all that's needed in the morning

Nonimai · 29/04/2022 08:15

We are just using water too - 3 showers a day, occasional washing up - the washer heats it’s own water so we are not using that. We use between .6 to 1.3 metre cubed a day. Which equates to an average of a pound a day - plus the daily charge - we are about the same usage as you. £40 a month.

emmathedilemma · 29/04/2022 08:20

Since i got a smart meter and realised how much the electric shower costs to run I'm also making more of an effort to use the ones at the gym!! They're really good showers and I've paid my membership for 12 months up front so any cost increases won't hit for a while yet.

MrsLargeEmbodied · 29/04/2022 08:28

go Wim Hof
have cold showers

NewbieDivergent · 29/04/2022 08:32

Unfortunately my gym doesn't have private showers

Nanalisa60 · 29/04/2022 08:57

I don’t really use the shower at home I use the gym showers, and also get a towel every visit to the gym. Not sure if they will put up the prices much as they are worried about people cancelling there memberships. Would not use paper plates and cups as not good for the planet. I do have a dishwasher but we try and only put it on ever other day, I’m a jedi master at filling it!! Also make sure the filter of dishwasher is kept clean. Also using the washing machine on a quick wash on 30, but still do a double spin on machine at 1600 so have not really been using the tumble dryer. Electric under blanket is great for keeping you warm in bed , especially with brushed cotton bedding, have bought a set of teddy bear bedding for next winter got it cheap in the sales. Like every one else I’m very worried about the bill for next winter so throws , slippers, socks, thermal underwear, fleece’s and cosy comfy cloths in the house, and temperature turned down to 16 in the day and 18 in the evening, going to try and only have it on for six hours a day next winter. Early bed for us as have TV in bedroom.

Tynesider007 · 29/04/2022 09:16

amylou8 · 29/04/2022 06:32

I know this has been moaned about to death....but my gas bill. I have a combi boiler (2 years old just serviced) which does the heating and hot water. The heating is off, all it's doing is hot water. No other gas in the house. In the last 4 weeks I've used almost £40 in gas, this includes a standing charge of about £8. I'm only home 4 days a week, at partners for the weekend. I have one full up bath a week, then strip washes with a bowl of water the other 3 days. I wash up by hand with a bowl of water everyday I'm home. I wash my hands with the cold tap, mop the floors and clean with cold water. HOW is it costing 10 quid a week for a bath and 7 bowls of water. And it's going up again in October. I can get 100 paper plates off Amazon for £6, cups and cutlery can rinsed cold. A gym membership for £20-25 quid a month will get me a nice hot shower there every day. An electric blanket and some nice thick jumpers for the winter. I reckon I'll save a fortune.

We used 140kwh of gas in March, heating still being used, hot water for washing hands and washing up, occasional bath. 7p per kWh.

If you are paying the same as us, you have used over 450kwh.

What on earth are you doing with all that hot water?

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread