To be sick of not being able to afford the heating on

[KeepMeCalm13]

Thankfully no children involved.

We are yet to have any form of heating on this autumn/winter as we just cannot afford the bill. We only have central heating, no fire. I'm currently sat in a t-shirt, thick jumper, dressing gown, jeans, 2 pairs of socks, and slippers and I've got a hot water bottle and I'm frozen. The thought of another 4 months of this makes me want to cry.

Yanbu.sorry I don't have any helpful tips :-(

Can you get some more hours at work or a second job to help?

Yanbu. It is very miserable.

It's horrible being cold. Can you go to bed with the hotwater bottles? Even read books in bed if you're not tired. Get out/go to others houses as much as possible.

As uhohohdear said, is there anyway you can increase your income to cover the costs?If you don't have DCs, could you do a second job in the evenings as childcare's not an issue? (which also would mean you didn't need your heating on yourself in the evenings because you'd be out)

Same here. I have electric storage heaters which take about £5 a day to heat up but don't come on til late night and off by morning. Utterly pointless and unchangeable.

I have duvets downstairs now. Candles lit and I left oven on longer than needed to for a little bit of heat

I am working 30 hours as it is, there are no extra hours going. Can't get a second job as I work anything from 9am til 11pm.

keep i feel for you honestly. I am skint as hell. I have one ds 13. I have only just this weekend put the heating on just for couple of hours in the evening. I am so scared of the bill it makes me feel ill. I like you have been sitting about in the evenings when i get home from work in thick socks, pj's, jumper, fleece gown plus towelling gown on top of that. I wore all of that assemble in bed plus 10.5 tog quilt and another giant old blanket on top. Then wake up in the morning all tangled up. Bloody miserable. The two hour heatng in the evening makes massive difference. Its off now so starting to really cool off. Will be wrapped up again soon. Wish you all the best, its so horrible. Also are your hands like bloody ice?

same here . were asthmatic too. sitting here with fingerless gloves, scarves, hats, wooly socks and ugg type slippers, thickest pjs, just put eectric blankets on bed otherwise sheets feel damp,, got candles lit for a teeny bit of warmth, yet cant put heating on. its only November.

I was so sparing and careful with heating last winter yet in so much debit with heating bills from LAST year I just cant do it. I will have to at last once a wee for an hour, ive got a little fan heater we put on for 5 mins evry hour.

I'm just grateful that the toddler never gets cold. Always saying he is warm.

Have you called your utility company to see if they offer any sort of assistance programs for people who are having difficulty with their bills? I admit I am not sure how that works in the UK; here in the US the gas and electricity is provided by private companies. All of the ones that I know of offer something called PIPP (Percentage of Income Payment Plan), where you only pay a certain percentage of your income, or "even billing," where they average your bills over the last 12 months, and then charge you a flat monthly rate based on your average usage. Might something like that be available to you?

Same here - I'm in a towelling onesie, thermal vest and fleecy pyjama top, the thermostat says it's 12.5 degrees, and I can see my breath in the air.

I want to knit little jumpers for the cats.

I am allowed one hot chocolate with Baileys in before bed, it makes me toastie and warm!

SPs we spend all our evenings by candle light. Have them everywhere in my flat. Which is circa 1700's, high ceilings and only single glazing. There is no insulation in the walls. The light of the candles does cozy it up bit. Hate living like this. I work full time and there is still no money left at the end of the month.

Do candles make much difference? It would cut down on the electricity bill if so.

cat you say you want to knit little jumpers for the cats.......omg that is so lovely. That little line has warmed the cockles of my heart

I think its an illusion but it makes me feel better. I have 2 tea lights burning and one large glade one which is honey and chocolate.

I wish I had carpeted the living room, probably been a bit warmer then.

We're hoping to change suppliers soon so we can afford the heating on more - only we're on ore-payment meters at the moment which already installed when we bought the house, and we're with n-power who charge £60 to change each meter to a credit one - we're switching to EDF who will change the meters for free after 28 days, then hopefully to whichever supplier is the cheapest!

Until then, it's loads of warm layers.

*PRE-payment meters

I recently invested in two single electric blankets for myself and ds. They get switched on for 20 minutes. That helps also. Cold beds to feel wet and damp.

I was unable to afford heating a few years ago so DP and I moved into a shared house (also no kids). It's great as we can blast the heating out as much as we like and the bills are split between six adults. Yes, it means sharing a house but living by ourselves was just too unaffordable and I like being warm!

Pre-payment meter here as well. It gobbles money.

30 hours a week is pretty much part time.

OP

try this

keep candles make absolutely no difference with regard to heating a fair size room. I think its the orange/yellow glow that flickers off and gives light onto walls and stuff gives the cold person a false sense of being cozy. I stare at mine

Candles do make a difference i once put lots of tea lights around the bedroom to make it romantic on valentines day even before anything romantic happened I was sweating like a pig!

Also its layers that will help so i always do vest top, t shirt, shirt, jumper, dressing gown, tights under fleecy PJ bottoms, socks, slippers then sit under a couple of blankets.

Warm the bed with a couple of hot water bottles before you get in and i normally take the blankets ive been sitting with to bed as they still warm of your body heat.