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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Surely they can’t expect us to pay 240 per month for power!

999 replies

Ellie198712 · 08/03/2022 18:33

Just read Martin Lewis’s latest email and it’s predicting average bills of £2900 per year!! Surely the government will need to step in and subsidise this cost. Our current bill is about 100 per month, and this just seems untenable for the vast majority

OP posts:
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HoneyItIsntGoodLuck · 08/03/2022 23:44

£100 per month…..?!

I’m in NZ and can only dream of bills as low as $200 per month. Especially in winter.

We pay around $600 p/m in winter, so about £300.

pawpaws2022 · 08/03/2022 23:51

[quote Clarabe1]@labyrinthlaziness that’s true. I remember old people dying from the cold. I think we children were more resilient. A 70s child was always out playing but I certainly remember the old and infirm suffering.[/quote]
Not in the 70s but I ended up in hospital after a power cut as a child. Think I was about 6, I don't remember much apart from being so so cold and then how bright the hospital was
It was snowing, the power went off and it was only 3 days before I ended up in hospital as I was literally blue with cold and started with hypothermia

Calandor · 08/03/2022 23:51

We fixed ours in November thankfully. Extra £5 a month to fix it at £70 and thank god we did. I'd recommend looking into similar if you can!

lonelylou09 · 08/03/2022 23:51

My energy bill has risen from £80 a month for both gas and electric to £150. From the 1st April they are asking for a minimum direct debit of £176pm and advise that I also top up my payments to avoid falling behind. We have been very careful with what we use but I'm very worried about how I am going to manage next winter

Calandor · 08/03/2022 23:56

@HoneyItIsntGoodLuck

£100 per month…..?!

I’m in NZ and can only dream of bills as low as $200 per month. Especially in winter.

We pay around $600 p/m in winter, so about £300.

I believe the average wage is a fair bit higher in NZ than in the UK is it not?
earsup · 08/03/2022 23:57

I am not being smug...energy prices always always go up and up...why on earth didnt people fix the price a long time ago...??...my friend fixed for 5 years and i fixed for 3 years with large companies a while ago...if you call them up, they will do long term deals...not now of course...people ring up and haggle over car insurance and internet etc so why not the energy bills....they spend a lot more on that than internet or mobile phone rates etc..!!..luckily we both have good deals until they expire...gives time to fit the solar panels etc.

TheRealistBub · 08/03/2022 23:58

I do not understand how some of these prices are so high. Are you people swanning around in T shirts with the heating at over 20 degrees?

We have a medium sized house and are on a fixed rate which costs about £90 a month during winter for gas and leccy combined.

alltheapples · 08/03/2022 23:59

@bluetongue hotel rooms tend to be hotter than the average home.

alltheapples · 08/03/2022 23:59

@TheRealistBub because you are still on your fixed rate. Wait when it ends.

Ff10n · 09/03/2022 00:06

@earsup

I am not being smug...energy prices always always go up and up...why on earth didnt people fix the price a long time ago...??...my friend fixed for 5 years and i fixed for 3 years with large companies a while ago...if you call them up, they will do long term deals...not now of course...people ring up and haggle over car insurance and internet etc so why not the energy bills....they spend a lot more on that than internet or mobile phone rates etc..!!..luckily we both have good deals until they expire...gives time to fit the solar panels etc.
Yeah, I did this two years ago. It's just about to finish. Cheapest deal I have been offered to re-fix for next 10 months is almost three times what I'm paying now.
Freddiefox · 09/03/2022 00:09

@TheRealistBub

I do not understand how some of these prices are so high. Are you people swanning around in T shirts with the heating at over 20 degrees?

We have a medium sized house and are on a fixed rate which costs about £90 a month during winter for gas and leccy combined.

All good things come to an end. I was also on a fixed deal until last month, £80 a month and in credit. The cheapest I can find is £214 per month.
PickAChew · 09/03/2022 00:09

@Calandor

We fixed ours in November thankfully. Extra £5 a month to fix it at £70 and thank god we did. I'd recommend looking into similar if you can!
That ship really has sailed.
ChiefWiggumsBoy · 09/03/2022 00:10

I work from home and I wear a thermal vest, top and 2 warm jumpers, thick trousers and warm socks. Hot water bottle at night. If you dress like that, 15 degrees feels really warm

And if I don't WANT to dress like I'm going for a trek in the snow?

There's a huge difference between lounging about complaining of the cold while wearing a filmy negligee and what you're suggesting. I WFH and also wear warm comfy bottoms, thick socks and a dressing gown over a jumper - but in 2022 I shouldn't have to dress like this because I can't afford to heat my home!

Incidentally, I don't really understand my tariff which was apparently fixed in October but my bill has still increased by £200+ pcm. Prices are fixed till Dec 2023 though so I assume without that it would be much higher, and it's just my usage has increased? I genuinely don't see how but I spose that must be it...

pawpaws2022 · 09/03/2022 00:11

I just have nothing to cut back on
Single, live alone in an apartment and take home between £1200-1700pm
By the time i have paid mortgage, fuel, car insurance, car tax, contents insurance, tv license, water, council tax, internet, gas, electric... there's fuck all left
I have Netflix, that's it. No sky, no expensive car, don't drink...

bellsbuss · 09/03/2022 00:19

I feel sick , we are currently paying £200 a month dual fuel and the cheapest we can fix it for is £600 a month.

alltheapples · 09/03/2022 00:28

@earsup you are being incredibly unsufferably smug.

OverTheRubicon · 09/03/2022 00:29

@TheRealistBub

I do not understand how some of these prices are so high. Are you people swanning around in T shirts with the heating at over 20 degrees?

We have a medium sized house and are on a fixed rate which costs about £90 a month during winter for gas and leccy combined.

How did you manage to hop in on page 17 and assume that nobody but you had thought about fixing rates or putting on a jumper?
AuntTwacky · 09/03/2022 00:51

@bellsbuss

I feel sick , we are currently paying £200 a month dual fuel and the cheapest we can fix it for is £600 a month.
That's way over the top, you should try switching? I've been quoted 245 a month dual from April
BambinaJAS · 09/03/2022 00:52

@earsup

I am not being smug...energy prices always always go up and up...why on earth didnt people fix the price a long time ago...??...my friend fixed for 5 years and i fixed for 3 years with large companies a while ago...if you call them up, they will do long term deals...not now of course...people ring up and haggle over car insurance and internet etc so why not the energy bills....they spend a lot more on that than internet or mobile phone rates etc..!!..luckily we both have good deals until they expire...gives time to fit the solar panels etc.
You got lucky with timing.

My fixed deal expires end of April 2022. I am going to enjoy being carefree about heating & electrical till then.

After that, its variable tariff and being extra careful.

Keep in mind energy prices arr going to remain high till about end of 2023.

Thats a long time.

MrsPsmalls · 09/03/2022 01:09

@TheRealistBub

I do not understand how some of these prices are so high. Are you people swanning around in T shirts with the heating at over 20 degrees?

We have a medium sized house and are on a fixed rate which costs about £90 a month during winter for gas and leccy combined.

Yup ours was similar until today. Now it's gone up to £222. More than doubled.
NuclearBunker · 09/03/2022 01:20

My bill is 240 a month. It sucks!! To fix, it would be set at £430 a month. WhT the fuck?!

Roselilly36 · 09/03/2022 01:25

It is really worrying I agree, we downsized last year, really pleased we did. We are paying £200 p/m dual fuel, it’s just going up and up, I have stopped using tumble dryer, turned heating down, and generally very careful to use eco settings on appliances etc. We all WFH, so we use a lot of energy during the day. I can only see it getting more expensive sadly.

dipdye · 09/03/2022 01:34

The richer really are getting richer and the poor, poorer. And colder too. And hungrier it seems.

Oh but Kate and Wills and Boris and Co are all just fine. Not to mention the Shell bigwigs, do you think the could give a fuck if the plebs are poor, not a frigging drop.

When's the revolt?

dipdye · 09/03/2022 01:37

There's a huge difference between lounging about complaining of the cold while wearing a filmy negligee and what you're suggesting. I WFH and also wear warm comfy bottoms, thick socks and a dressing gown over a jumper - but in 2022 I shouldn't have to dress like this because I can't afford to heat my home

^
This. We all know you can layer up etc, but it's not the point us it? It's the fact that prices are basically doubling for a basic human necessity

HoneyItIsntGoodLuck · 09/03/2022 01:45

I believe the average wage is a fair bit higher in NZ than in the UK is it not?

It’s not!

There’s a reason so many Kiwis head overseas.
Or at least, they did before the pandemic.