How the f*** are you all managing your electric bills?

[cofingalthetime]

I don't have gas...
Electric has gone up from 139 per month, to 225, and now the latest is 450...

I don't know how I'm supposed to manage.

Do you all pay by DD. I don't want a meter, I had one before, and it was a nightmare, so expensive.

If 450 goes out of my account next month I won't be able to buy food or petrol or clothes

I got the 150 from the council, and paid it immediately into my electric ,b ut that's a drop in the ocean. How are you all managing.

I'm really really scared.

One reason I worked full time without a break since 1983 even went back to work full time with a baby of 2 weeks old - weeks not months - you can imagine how hard that was. Thankfully for me and due to the type of work I chose I should be okay although my latest estimate came and it is £7500 a year !!!!! A lot even for me (big house and that is gas and electricity and higher because I choose to house adult student children - those bills went down when they left for their university a few years back and up again when home).

I remember the inflation of the 1970s, we had about 20% a year over 3 years which is SIXTY percent over 3 years - i t was terrible for people and we had power cuts - I still have my parents' oil lamps which I could use if we have power cuts again. Even in the 1960s we had some power outages due to strikes - I had forgotten that until today when I found some old notes I wrote about what I could remember in 1976 as a teenager writing about 1969 - we had each to bring a candle into school.

The immersion will be very expensive.

Can you set a. Reminder in your phone to put it on for a set period per day.

Google how long it should take to heat up your water tank with it and put it on for that exact amount.

Quite. Here the UC element for housing only covers the local rent rate with is often 30% lower than the current average of what’s available.

though I think that’s closer to 40% now.

If you have Facebook, take a look at the group Energy Support and Advice Uk. Lots of ideas on there for how to reduce your bills.

Our gas and electric is 255 a month (we’re on some monthly plan) this was up from our old deal which was 66 for both a month.

but we’re already 100 after one payment so I think they’ve gotten something wrong on our end

Doible check could be a mistake

Scottish Power has an 'Insights' that will give you its best guess about how you are using your power but a smart meter will only reliably tell you how much you are using/ have used.

Insights tool.

Get a smart meter that way you can see what is eating the electric, get it installed then turn everything off at the sockets, then turn things on one at a time, then you will see what eats electric, believe it or not u
just having the spot lights on in our house was eating electric, have now changed them all to L.e.d . lightbulbs, Turn heating down to 18 , wear more cloths (thermal underwear and fleece’s, cosy leggings, socks and slipper)and have throws, and maybe some candles and side lights with LED bulbs in next winter to make it feel cosy. Wash cloths on 30 degrees , double spin in winter to get as much water out, only wash cloths after you have looked at the BBC weather app to see if it’s dry and windy to dry cloths. I’m showering at the gym, but if you don’t go to gym maybe shower ever other day especially In winter ,quick short showers this summer. Batch cooking, I’m going to invest in a slow cooker and a air fryer and a soup maker this year. Also I invested in a electric under blanket which was used a lot last winter and fluffy bedding and a 15 tog duvet, and I have a tv in bedroom so went to bed by 8/9pm heating off at night. I know this is all s**t but you know what we are not been raped , bombed or killed by Russians. This is going to be a hard winter so let’s all just try and enjoy the summer .

I am not managing. I am a single mum and fast getting into debt. I don't know what I will do in the winter 😭😭❄️

A few years ago, we lived in an electricity only flat with E7, emersion heater, electric storage heaters in the living areas and electric wall heaters in the bedrooms. The first winter, our electric bill was horrendous! We put a timer on the emersion heater, and put thermostatic timers on the wall heaters. I can't remember exact figures, but it really helped to bring the costs down.

I know this is all st but you know what we are not been raped , bombed or killed by Russians.

But do you know we are exporting super cheap gas at the moment because we a sat on a glut that we cannot store?

You can sell it like we should all suck it up to beat Vlad but Herculean mismanagement is a significantly factor.

It's also a myth your better off.for one the amount paid is little.there us no emergency cash for something breaking or needed.
Often the most vulnerable are on such a low amount( disability) and worse if your very ill because needing a carer can mean u get less because your somewhat supported! And it's harder to get anything alongside disability.
The payments the forms the box to tick are horrific and criminal.weve had people wetting themselves in interviews being so ill but still having to report and interview.
The staff, like society also have no idea on many disabilities.oh especially mental illness.
The amount of people suffering mental illness living in absolute shit is terrifyi g and are screwed over by the benefit system.
Everyone we work with I can categorically say is not surviving.they are given the very bare minimum and it's not enough to live on I promise you that.the people about I g they'd be better off are hearing from the wrong ( or anomaly) script or listening to Twitter.bwcause it just isn't true.
It's hard to face the people on benefits some days because there lives are at this moment very much hopeless and terrifying.and you go in and go home with their terror etched in your mind.please don't believe the hype.

news.sky.com/story/the-surreal-but-also-real-problem-of-britains-gas-glut-12614797

Forgot to say make sure the freezer is defrosted, and if you can clean behind in fridge do so as it will work more efficiently turn it down a bit in the winter. clean filters in dishwasher and washing machine. Trying only to put dishwasher on ever other day I’m a Jedi warrior when it comes to filling the dishwasher. I’m trying not to use tumble dryer only using it for finish stuff off if it been online and just needs a few mins to soften it and just to make sure it fully dry.

@mustHaveA

I'm also a full time carer for my severely mentally disabled 10 year old. I have had to give up work for now when my marriage ended. I wouldn't be able to survive on uc alone. I'm presuming like me you also get the higher rate carers and mobility and dla. They are entitlements not benefits for everybody that's jumping on you .

My gas and my electricity are in credit. I don’t see a different tbh

I have witnessed requests from electricity companies for DD increases (I work helping others to budget and find employment, so am very aware of the differences in income and expenditure from last year to this), to cope with the next rise due in October!! At home, we've put in a meter that plugs into a socket and we turned everything off, then checked what energy is pulled when items are turned on. We have dealt with the vampire pulling, so no standbys, no adapters left in and plugs off at the socket, as we worked out the tv box was pulling about £70 a year at current rates and anything that heats up really send the metre into orbit! No longer use oven for toast and have bought a toaster, using hob wisely for cooking by using steamer pan tops and larger pan to cook items together, don't have a tumble drier so all dried on outside line / rack and smoothed, so minimal if any ironing required, all lights led and dishwasher only when very full. Washing machine needs to be full loads now too. We have oil heating (that's frightening), calor for gas hob, so electricity should be minimal but it is not and really not much more we can cut.

We've spent this afternoon turning figures around. We previously had a comfortable monthly dual fuel DD (£60) with a local energy company which has since folded. We'd built up approx £200 credit with old suppliers, which we're so grateful for now, as our new bill feels extortionate: £400 for the last quarter. This is a shocker, but unfortunately correct as based on readings since January. We always thought of ourselves as greenies who not use much energy (don't own a TV, both go out to work, heating on for 90 mins a day at 17°C October-April, super insulated house, air dry all washing, no dishwasher, turning all lights and sockets off when not in use etc) but clearly not! £1600+ pa is going to hurt...

Staying on the variable at 500pm rather than opting onto a fix art 720pm

I give a meter reading every month and just pay what I use.

Our gas and electricity went from £100 a month to £160, which we've fixed for 12 months. This is our direct debit based on our historical usage.
We've always switched off lights not in use, never used the dry setting on our washing machine, and our shower isnt electric. The main change for us is that we've bought a microwave for the first time, to avoid using our electric oven to reheat food (which we've always done loads).

I don't want a meter where you put money in it. They are so expensive. You end up paying so much more for your electric

This is what I don't understand about my 'usage'.

We moved in October to a bigger house. Previously we were on top ups with Utilita; now DD with Scottish Power (luckily capped till Dec 2023).

But we're apparently using twice as much electricity . I don't understand how. We have the same number of appliances being used at the same time, we don't have storage heaters, my work situation hasn't changed.

When I signed up with SP the estimated bills were lower by about £30 but they're very clearly not!

That doesn't sound right, if your wage was that low you should of been claiming uc along with getting your wages.

I have a pay as you go meter. I put in about 15 a week