AIBU to be feeling bleak about bills?

[PocketRocket12]

Quarterly electricity bill arrived… am actually in tears. Could people possibly share what they’re paying at the moment, just for some sort of anxiety relief that we are all in this together?

AIBU to let it get me down so much? I can’t sleep through worry.

Huh? You don't think there is a difference between profit and creditors? 🤣

Our monthly DD is currently set at £175 for gas and electric. Our bill for July was £58 - not quite sure how we managed that!!

Forgot to say - 4 bed semidetached house.

YANBU OP!

We are 2 adults & 2 young children, in a 2 bedroom split level maisonette

We pay gas/electricity to same provider, large well known company, not BG

Monthly DD went up to over £200/month when our fixed ran out a few months ago. Before then we were paying around a quarter of that

I submit monthly meter readings but presume we're on fixed amount as still paying the same, when I log in online can see we're in debit which doesn't make sense as it's summer & heating has not been on since around April!

Now just trying to work out where we can cut back- broadband/TV has just gone up again, am considering cancelling it & just going with basic broadband provider and leaving out TV option, we have digital TV & Amazon prime anyway

Need to save money in other places, can just see utility bills going up & up, so depressing

This sounds great but I'm scratching my head how it coul be right. Just don't add up when standing charge has shot up and your usage is not low.

1 adult & 3 teens (plus pets) in 3 bed Edwardian house, which is tricky to keep warm - we have cavity wall/loft insulation but the windows are poor, and an extension done by previous owners wasn't done with energy efficiency in mind (stupidly high ceiling and single glazed windows). I'm having the coldest rooms double glazed in the autumn but no way i can afford to do whole house at the moment.

DD this time last year was £95 pm, now £187. I'm with Octopus, and using their crystal ball gizmo I'll need to increase to at least £300 pm to avoid going into the red over winter. Am pretty frugal - heating isn't on a timer, i switch on only when needed, usually an hour morning & evening over winter. I'm home most of day but only put it on if there's washing to dry. Tumble dryer only use in winter for sheets & bedding. No games consoles but dcs all use laptops for school work.

It's the increase in the daily standing charge that's pissed me off, elec almost doubled, as no way of altering that.

My standing charge made £6 difference. Which is proper annoying

There’s 3 of us in a large period 5 bed house. We submit monthly readings and pay what’s owed. May to July have all been around the £140-150 per month. So that equates to approx £430 per quarter. Higher than normal but not astronomical.

We use between 150-250kwh per month (so 5-8 per day). No idea what we do differently to make it fluctuate so much. 3 bed, 3 storey house with two teens and reptile heating/lighting.

I am absolutely tearing my hair out about it all. ☹️

We are a family of 4, 2 of us disabled on highest rates of dla etc. dh works full time but on a low ish wage. I can’t work due to my own disabilities and caring for Ds who has complex needs. We currently spend £250 a month on energy. We can’t afford any increases. The various things we will get from the government in the coming months will barely touch the sides when matched against the increases coming in October and January and the general cost of living.

The fixes being offered to us are for £500 a month! We just can’t afford that so we are staying in variable but I just don’t know what we will do when the prices increase.

We are not going to be able to have the heating on at all, none whatsoever.

No one should have to live like this.

Can I also say I am SICK of people on various groups telling people like us to reduce our usage - there is nothing left to reduce!! If you have a disabled child you use more energy for all sorts of reasons.

Our 5 year fixed mortgage expires in November and we have arranged a new one. Best we could get is £200 more a month.
for context our mortgage is £220,000 with 18 years left and we were paying £1200 which is now set to increase to £1400 a month.
Since arranging the new mortgage Nationwide have increased their rates (+£) again.
The end of this year and next year will be beyond bleak for home owners with fixed rate mortgages ending! Families/individuals who have maxed out their mortgage will be in for a shock, add to this the general cost of living and there will be a lot of repossessions.
I hope everyone can ride out this storm… good luck everyone x

We are all in the same boat ...I'd love it if everyone refused to pay...ain't gonna happen i guess. We are all to scared to get cut off. Going off grid looks very tempting!

Not paying really isn't the correct answer here. I can't have non payments and ccjs on my credit. Nor can anyone.
But Ofgem deserves to be burried in 3mails and complaints

Just wanted to share this group- I’ve found it very helpful -

www.facebook.com/groups/966754150512356/?ref=sharewww.facebook.com/groups/966754150512356/?ref=share&exp=9594

@WifeMotherWorkRepeat I looked at mine just out of curiousity and the payment would go up nearly 20%. I have tiny mortgage so I genuinely feel for everyone with big ones.

Frankly, I am actually now exploring emigrating.

5 bed detached with 3 adults, 2 wfh. Tumble Dryer on most days.
Washing machine on every day.
Hot tub filter on every day. Heating it couple days a week.
Big fan on overnight. Every night - menapausal 😂
2 PCs and 4 monitors on every day.
House often like Blackpool illuminations as husband seems unable to turn lights off.
TVs, chargers, hairdryer, straighteners etc every day.
5 showers a day.
Oven and hob on every day.

Gas quarterly £140
Electricity quarterly £300

I think our saving grace is solar panels. I shudder to think what our leccie would be without those and I really feel for people with crazy high bills x

Rolo I think there must be something you can do about your bills that’s really quite high. Have you got a smart meter and app? If so you could start by turning off as much as you can at the switch and seeing how much that reduces your usage by?

I would agree. @123ROLO - that’s basically double what I pay for a family of four.
Do you know what your average monthly usage is for electric and gas? You are either a high user or something isn’t right.

Yeah we have a meter and it says we have used £3.50 today so far, and today has been a pretty average day.

That was a fixed rate quote, so we aren't actually paying that. It is currently roughy £350 a month on a variable, we are going to stay on a variable and just watch what we are doing and just hope that it doesn't come close to £690!

Rolo £350 a month sounds excessive if your summer usage is only say £125 a month. You should be able to argue for a lower payment if you want to, maybe even £250 a month. You could use your last years usage in kwh to calculate a reasonable monthly payment. On the other hand you might prefer to overpay so that when prices go up again in the autumn you are cushioned

@HairyKitty

Thanks

We are going to enquire about it next week

Sorry but here’s another post that seems to be almost bragging about how much energy they use.

3 adults = 5 showers a day?
Washing machine on every day? Mine’s only on 3 times a week with 3 kids!
Tumble dryer on most days?

Have you ever thought that you could maybe be a bit more mindful?

Sorry to say it but it’s reassuring to know a lot of us are in the same boat. Have only just caught up with the thread and to answer a question asked a few times - we are metered so our latest bill was actual not estimated (£650 for the quarter). We are going to be as frivolous as possible and knuckle down….

may the odds be ever in our favour!!!

By saying you are metered you mean you give them reading or you have smart meter?