To be a bit pissed off that having our heating on is a luxury we just can't afford...?

[theSuburbanDryad]

I know we're not the only family in this position, far from it, and I should be grateful that I can at least afford to feed us adequately and keep ds in nursery so I can work, but still.

ARGH - just want to rant really. I'm cold and pissed off! I don't see where else we can economise - we have a condenser boiler but the insulation in this house is a bit shite. Nothing we can do about that as it's rented - but our new house is poorly insulated as well, and bigger so will be even colder. Ah well, i suppose it's character building, or something.

crikey, if you really can't afford it, I'd feel angry, too.
You could look into how to get insulation grants on your next house.
It's quite bad for your health, long term, to live in cold conditions, so I would earnestly look very hard at any options for economising anywhere else.

Do you really have no heating on at all?

Are you sure you don't qualify for an insulation grant? They cover private renters as well. More info here

I've switched it off for good now - we were having it on for half an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening, and this (presumably along with me using the tumbledryer) has somehow managed to hoik up our gas & electric bill up by £40 a month! We use energy saving light bulbs, we don't leave lights on, or leave the TV on standby. we switch our laptops off when we're not using them...I just don't see where else we can save electric, so it's the gas which has to go!

I think it's the tumbler that's put us up so high, tbh, but it's been too cold to dry outside, and we don't have room for an airer inside, plus I absolutely refuse to live in cold and damp, so the tumbler goes on!

yanbu. We are in the same boat. We do heat one room cos dd is quadraplegic but I am sick of worrying and not being able to afford to be warm.
We've had the heating off for 2 days now although dh has just lit a fire in the front room to keep dd warm.

Thanks for the link combustible - I think we would qualify as we get working tax credits and a childcare element. Definitely worth looking into though, for when we move (which should be at the end of this month!)

We are the same. We are in a draughty victorian conversion, can't afford double glazing to the original sash windows.

We have prepay gas and it is costing too much.

Just heat one room, we have a coal fire and when the DC's go to bed we turn off the heating and just have that on.
I've had the heating off all day despite being at home and am sat in my coat waiting for it to heat up.
YANBU though.

Short term, you could try stuffing old tights with scrunched up newspaper/rags to make 'snakes', which will stop drafts from under doors. You could even make it an arts and crafts thing by decorating them and adding googly eyes!

I'm just worried because if we're struggling to heat our current 2 bed terrace, how are we going to manage to heat our new 3 bed semi??

Not boasting about upgrading our house btw, but it is bigger and draughtier than our current place.

Great ideas combustible - you are my new favourite MNer!

Will get some draught excluders ready to make with ds on Wednesday! May even brave getting some glitter out!

draught excluders. And that platic window stuff. I'm getting some of that cos none of our windows fit properly.

I don't want to do anything that could affect our deposit though nmc - we're moving soon and we need that money back!!

A foam insulator gun, thick lined curtains with a good drop below the windows and loft insulation can go a long way.

I know how you feel UrbanDryad but I absolutely refuse to be cold. I don't require many "luxuries" for me or the kids, but I won't be cold and I won't scrimp on hot water (God I hate being at people's houses where the water keeps running cold!)

I'll worry about the bills when they come in.. and I will undoubtedly struggle with them. I just pay on fortnightly payment cards and pay extra throughout the summer to cover the winter costs. I know it'll be worst after this winter though with the rising cost of fuel.

YANBU

have had massive row with British gas lately after they increased our bill by a whopping £100 a month to £244 a month ..

we have just had new condensing boiler fitted, hope it makes some difference to the amount of gas we physically use..

For your new place- NMC's window film will help there too.

[brave] At glitter

We have hot water on tap, which is lovely, because of the condenser boiler. I shudder to think what the gas bill would be if we didn't have that!

I am hoping this baby inside me will keep me warm until Spring! And ds never seems to feel the cold - and dh has plenty of padding to keep him warm!

Meh - we'll be fiiiiiiiiiine.

I just never thought I'd see "being warm" as a luxury ffs!

Could I just ask, could someone please explain to me why the gas and electric is so expensive? It's a genuine question. People can't afford it and are going cold, so why is it so expensive?

lulu - @ £244 a month!

That's fucking absurd!

I bet none of the MD's of British Gas or E.On are going cold this winter...

RagingHormone - I don't know, tbh, but i'd hazard a guess at rising oil and coal prices (fossil fuels etc) going up, so fuel bills go up too. And people have less money coming in, so they can't afford the rising costs of living.

That's my guess anyway.

I think the plastic stuff peels right back off. I've not seen it yet.
I hate being cold but there's no choice

Right - well I'm going to go and cook our delicious roast. See? We're fine - we can afford to eat and I have MN, so why am I even complaining?!

What are those devices called where one can monitor how much energy is being used per appliance?

DS and I sleep on the 3rd floor, and it's cold. I want one of those electric blanket fleeces....

me and dd are on the 3rd floor too. Up where the atttic would be. Its buggery cold up there so I have a 15 tog duvet, 2 blankets and hotties.
DD wears a hat to bed plus 3 layers and her cardo cos she is so thin and little.

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