What the fuck do I do about my gas/elect tariff expiring?

[AntiMaskersAreTwats]

Our gas/elec tariff expires tomorrow with EDF. If we drop onto the standard variable tariff it goes up from £100 a month to £161 a month. The only other deal EDF offers at the moment is a long term fix until 2024 at £306 a month!! We can’t afford that! I can’t find any other deals with other companies that we can afford as every penny per month is accounted for. What the fuck do we do?

@AtomicBlondeRose

And charging your phone costs about £1 a year so charging it on the bus won’t save much!

Depends if you're one of those people who leave it charging all the time. And £1 is £1.

@SandysMam glad you are happy with Octopus too . I like the way they can give you an updated balance/usage whenever you give your meter readings so you know exactly where you are with them.

It costs the same amount to charge your phone whether you leave it plugged in all the time or not. If the battery’s charged it no longer uses any electricity…what would the electricity be powering?

@AtomicBlondeRose

It costs the same amount to charge your phone whether you leave it plugged in all the time or not. If the battery’s charged it no longer uses any electricity…what would the electricity be powering?

Oh does it switch off the charger? Cool! I never knew that.

a smartphone charger consumes power even when it's not charging a smartphone.

www.zdnet.com/article/how-much-electricity-do-all-your-smartphone-chargers-waste-when-not-in-use/

1.5kwh per year which is about 25p at my current electricity prices. I’m not saying leave everything in and turned on all the time if you don’t want to but don’t kid yourself it’ll make even the smallest dent in a £200/month price rise.

I did a comparison on ours before - currently £110pm with BG, next cheapest was £150pm using our annual usage figures, it's such a huge jump! There's two of us in a 4 bed, it's fairly energy efficient but we both WFH currently so always lights on and charging things, televisions on etc. We tend to have the heating fairly high in winter as I have poor circulation, so our usage might be higher. We're also rural so colder in general outside!

I don't think threads about enjoying a cosy winter are in any way inappropriate though - I bloody love a cosy winter, because I am incapable of being comfortable in anything over 20•. I understand fuel poverty, and that some people seriously struggle to keep warm in winter - however this doesn't mean that people can't take happiness in their favourite cold time of year! Some parents on low incomes struggle to feed their children during the 6 week holidays when free school meals aren't available, I haven't seen a campaign on MN to tell people off or call them insensitive for enjoying summer. I think as long as it's mindful, and not a direct "I love being cosy in winter f**k the people without heating" there's no issue with it.

I'm an Avro customer and fixed in June. I'm now going to be paying c£60-100 a month more on emergency contract and then got to try to find a better rate.

We are mostly all in the same boat

Hats and jumpers here unless it's very cold

Our utility co just went bust so we signed up to British Gas, then my husband has an app that will automatically find us the best deal, though I suspect it won't be as good as usual.

The same is happening with us tomorrow. My dh has been trying to work it out for a week or more. He’s decided to stay Edf on standard variable. He works everything down to units and does all sorts of calculations to make sure we get a good deal and he says that the best we can do for the moment.

@charlestonchaplin

What you should be doing is feeling pleased now that autumn is here and winter is coming that you can feel all cosy. I’m assuming you do actually have the money to spend heating your home so it’s cosy after you come back from your autumn stroll through crisp leaves. Others, who are already at the point of heating just one room, or only putting the heating on when outside temperatures mean that central heating pipes might freeze, will just have to get their cosy feelings from imagining others getting cosy.

What's wrong with people. The op has every right to ask questions. I hope they fo feel warm and cosy. If you need assistance, start your own thread.

For those asking how people use so much fuel well ours costs 300 a month already before any price rises. Our direct debit has gone up to 360 as we are in arrears already and I think that is just the start of it.
The reason being that we have 2 children with severe disabilities who rely on medical equipment to keep.them alive. We also have to keep the house warm and deal with endless loads of washing created by frequent vomiting and wet beds etc.
In fact I read an article yesterday about a family in wales with 3 children on ventilators etc who are paying nearly 800 on electric just to run all the medical equipment alone. That doesn't even cover anything else . So what are people in that position supposed to do ? It is a nightmare.

@debbrianna the post was a tongue in cheek dig at all the summer haters who get orgasmic about the words cosy, snuggle and hot chocolate.

Just to say I'm with Octopus and looking at an increase of nearly 50% if I want to go for a two-year fixed term tariff.

@flapjackfairy you've probably already done this but have you looked at disability benefits for the children - they may well be eligible. Also speaking to the energy company as some have grants for similar situations

@user1471457751
Didnt know about the grants. I will check that out. Thanks for that x

@charlestonchaplin

What you should be doing is feeling pleased now that autumn is here and winter is coming that you can feel all cosy. I’m assuming you do actually have the money to spend heating your home so it’s cosy after you come back from your autumn stroll through crisp leaves. Others, who are already at the point of heating just one room, or only putting the heating on when outside temperatures mean that central heating pipes might freeze, will just have to get their cosy feelings from imagining others getting cosy.

@Chailatteplease the post was a tongue in cheek dig at all the summer haters who get orgasmic about the words cosy, snuggle and hot chocolate.

@FangsForTheMemory re Octopus - why would you go for fixed term?? Surely it's better to do pay as you go - and use less if you can -

There seem to be a few people who don't understand how gas/electricity bills work.

The fact that you pay a certain amount per month by direct debit doesn't mean that covers you for however much gas & electricity you use each month. The direct debit amount is calculated so that the amount you pay over a year is slightly more than the cost of the amount of gas & electricity you consume. In the end, you pay for however much you use, so if your direct debit amount is too high you will build up a credit and if it's too low you will accumulate a debt. In both of these cases, the direct debit amount can be altered to get you back to the right level.

When you sign up for a fixed deal, that means you will pay the same amount per unit throughout the term of the fix. It doesn't mean your monthly direct debits won't change. If you use more gas & electricity, you will have to pay more; if you use less, you'll pay less.

Our British gas and EDF just ended. Managed to get a deal with zebra for dual fuel at around the same as what I’m paying now, provided they don’t also go out of business before the switch over.

@FatOaf

There seem to be a few people who don't understand how gas/electricity bills work.

The fact that you pay a certain amount per month by direct debit doesn't mean that covers you for however much gas & electricity you use each month. The direct debit amount is calculated so that the amount you pay over a year is slightly more than the cost of the amount of gas & electricity you consume. In the end, you pay for however much you use, so if your direct debit amount is too high you will build up a credit and if it's too low you will accumulate a debt. In both of these cases, the direct debit amount can be altered to get you back to the right level.

When you sign up for a fixed deal, that means you will pay the same amount per unit throughout the term of the fix. It doesn't mean your monthly direct debits won't change. If you use more gas & electricity, you will have to pay more; if you use less, you'll pay less.

Well put.

Wholesale price of gas is over five times higher today than it was at the end of last winter so something is going to hit the fan if this carries on for much longer. Price caps and fixes are one thing but when the underlying price is so high something will give.