How the fuck am I meant to afford this? Electric bill this month

[LadyFlumpalot]

My electric bill is £643 this month. SIX HUNDRED FUCKING QUID.

It's correct, I've checked and double checked. It was £400 last month. In the summer it was approx £180 a month.

I'm in a three story attached town house thing, fully electric. Two adults, two children. One fish tank. Usual tumble dryer, appliances etc.

I've got a balance built up of £450 so with my usual monthly payment I will just about break even this month. Next month will be a challenge though 🥶

And it's only going to get worse.

Not really looking for advise - just sympathy and solidarity. We are about to go full fucking Victorian. There will be no tumble dryer, no dishwasher, no charging appliances at home during the day.

I think there's probably a lot of us hoping for a mild February. I am sat here with a vest, pyjamas and a dressing gown on, woolly socks. And I'm still very cold!

It's starting to get very dull to never be properly warm enough.

It’s not the electric when I look at what impacts ours. It’s the gas heating that makes it soar. How often and how high do you have it and do you have a smart meter to keep an eye on it? We have it on for 3.5hr a day at 16.5 and it’s sufficient, we’re not cold. It’s a mid 80’s house.

it’s an absolute shit how and I feel for you. I can’t see how it’s sustainable.

Is your heating electric? Unless the weather takes a turn for the worse it wont get worse it will get better in the next months.

Same. Ours was £676.

No idea what's happening, but this is absurd.

It's fucking ridiculous. Both DH and I earn reasonably well. We should be comfortable. We don't do luxuries, we don't do holidays, we don't eat out. We shouldn't have to be dipping into our savings every month. We're not rich by any stretch but we damn well should be comfortable.

Five years ago we were on the bones of our arses when the kids were in the awkward childcare period but too old/young for funded hours thing. We were choosing between food and rent some months but at least we could stay warm.

We did have a fault with our heating last month where the heating pump was constantly on - that's been fixed now so fingers crossed that's at least some of the culprit and next months won't be so high.

What’s your heating set to? And how many appliances do you run? That’s very very high.

Yup, fully electric. Hot water, heating and cooking. No gas to this village at all.

Crikey that's awful. Can you get a smart meter? It would really help. I can only afford £100 a month alongside the government top up so I make sure I average £6 a day. You soon get used to it. Definitely doesn't allow me to use the tumble dries though - gets used very rarely.

Well that’s what you sign up for when you reject a monthly fixed direct debit 🤷‍♀️

We've just gone through the thermostat and shaved the degrees down brutally. We don't have a smart meter (DH doesn't want one for reasons I don't quite get).

We've been a bit blasé over it as our balance was high (or so I thought). This has been a massive shock and wake up call.

Gosh you're a treasure

Heh? Where did you get that from. I've got a fixed direct debit. It was more than enough for our summer/autumn bills and built up a credit.

Who says she's rejected a monthly fixed direct debit? You do know they're not "all you can eat", and prices have gone up astronomically?

Like you said you've been a bit blasé about it. You know now. No tumble dryer. Wash less. Shorter showers etc. It's what lot of us have been doing since October.

Are you getting the government discount whatever its called applied to that amount?

Your summer usage was already high so it's not just heating that's causing it. Do you need to use the tumble dryer?

I visited an old disabled man as part of my work. He only had 2 small radiators in the whole house and an electric fire which he has on most of the day, but his was £400. I've no idea how people are affording it.

Bloody hell that’s awful, I thought mine was bad at £150.
Contact the company now before you end up with next month’s bill to contend with too. I don’t know if they can do anything but you’re better off keeping them in the loop.

I'm fully electric and my December bill is similar.

Thankfully January is looking to be a bit less and I am just crossing fingers and toes for mild months ahead as it is heating that has a dramatic impact on the bills.

All I can suggest is overpaying from Feb/March onwards to try to build up a war chest for cold winters.

Like others said, it should get better from here. I think Feb is usually quite cold but hopefully some milder months until next winter. I'd reconsider a smart meter though.

On the plus side, when your usage is high at least there is room to manage savings/cut usage.

Sorry I presumed from the panicky tone. If you’re on a fixed DD, then why worry? You’ll go into the red a bit, interest free, and then in summer will be building up a credit again. There’s no need to go all Red Alert over this.

Yeesh that’s almost unbelievable, I’m not saying I don’t believe you. I know that bills are horrific now.

It’s only DH and me now, DDs are in Uni, and he’s a hot bod (not in the sexy way) . Thermostat is on 18 degrees. I’m wrapped up in blankets and he and the dog are comfortable our neighbour, elderly, said he bill was over £500 last month.

Haven't we got snow forecast in a fortnight. I'm sick of being cold now. I can hardly remember being warm enough.

I don’t really understand why some people’s bills are so much higher than others for what seams like pretty typical usage.

Sorry yours has been such a shock OP.

Try and talk your husband into a smart meter, there won't be any nasty shocks each month. I keep a close eye on mine and when it's starts going up I turn everything off.