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.

She is very likely to actually, if she’d wiped out her credit in Oct/Nov, then you’d have a point. But she hasn’t. Yes she should monitor it and keep being energy efficient, but she is over-reacting ime and taking drastic measures that affect her health. There’s no need to push a panic button over this.

I am becoming addicted to the energy crisis threads even my main concerns tonight was a leaking toilet.

Bills varies hugely, if someones fixed their bill for low price and is still in the low price contract then earning the great benefit. Couple of my friends and my neighbor are an example. We had our contract rolled last August and our DD has been £500 which helped to build up for a healthy credit for these winter months, we used £600 for Dec(away for 10 days) and so far £500 for Jan. We are not home much so only heat 4 hours a day, washing machine, dryers and bathroom’s underfloor heating(2 hours each day/each). The house is not warm as I would like it to so I go to bed earlier.

Feel for you, Op.

That's impressive. I have so much washing. Loads of sport (all of us) but also DC are nightmares for putting barely worn stuff in so I've been trying to extricate & educate!

@FusionChefGeoff
You know that doesn't get you on an 'all you can eat' tarriff don't you?? You still pay for what you use which is what OP is doing?

Yes I know this. But you don’t pay for what you use straight away with a DD plan. You carry forward the credit or debit and have a annual recalculation.

There’s no need to push a panic button over this.

That's so patronising of you.

OP has explained why this is a concern to her.

Although I agree she should try not to affect her health, I too am so worried about how I'll continue to meet the costs. And I'm far from being in as difficult a position as so many on MN.

FFS that is why everyone’s DDs have also been sooo much higher since the summer. So, it has all been accounted for. Unless you’re one of those that raged about the unfair DD increases and demanded the energy company lower your DD amount? Well then yes, your lack of planning would result in a huge debt and huge DD increase.

I've already done some approximate maths in another post which show I could in fact have a point

More to a point I'm in a similar house with similar bills and can have already made the decision to up my direct debit to avoid burying my head in the sand

In front of the fire. I can dry sheets on under an hour in front of my wood burner.

I also dont wash every item each time.
I do 2/3 loads a week, big loads. 1 adult, 1 teenager 1 child

airing cupboard, over doors and on rads

I feel your pain. Your bill is higher than ours but we are struggling with how expensive it is. We don't use a tumble dryer and the heating is now down to 18 in day instead of 20.

18 in the day? Luxury. I sometimes push the boat out and turn the thermostat up to 15.5

that is why everyone’s DDs have also been sooo much higher since the summer

Honestly I'm trying to stay polite (despite your eye rolls & 'FFS' 😑) but what are you on about?

My DD hasn't risen since the summer (it was quite high already).

As my credit is now used up, it will now increase to a level I'm worried I will not be able to afford (good job, but single parent to 3, limited support).

In Ireland, like the UK but different system, we got help with the increases and that's the only reason I didn't run out of the credit sooner.

it has all been accounted for.

No it hasn't been 🤷🏻‍♀️ I'm in Ireland so perhaps different but I imagine broadly the plans with energy companies are the same? How can it be accounted for, seeing as costs keep rising????

Unless you’re one of those that raged about the unfair DD increases and demanded the energy company lower your DD amount? Well then yes, your lack of planning would result in a huge debt and huge DD increase

Don't be so silly, inaccurate and downright offensive.

This wasn't an issue in Ireland, never heard of anyone doing this so it's irrelevant.

Time for bed for me I think, it's quite extraordinary what you feel capable of directing at some posters.

I find this swearing offensive and unnecessary... but I get what you mean🙄😥

I too can use approximate maths to illustrate any scenario that is possible. Doesn’t make it probable.

Our DD has been high since July. We saw the writing on the wall, and knew we’d need to commit early on given the (then pending) price hikes.

If your DH is using the immersion a lot and you've had faulty pumps then these are likely to be major culprits. The immersion won't run constantly (unless it's faulty) but if he's constantly boosting the hot water via the immersion that will be making a dent. Most immersions are about 3kw, so every hour it's on will be costing you about £1 or so.

We're an all electric house too, but ours is new and quite well insulated. You mentioned night readings, do you have a cheaper overnight rate? If so you can try to shift as much use as possible; your dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer may have delayed start functions (mine all do). Similarly, our hot water is programmed to come on earlier than you would expect as it's cheaper for us to do the main heat of it before the rate gets more expensive.

In the long run, it's worth investigating whether there are changes you can make. We already had an air source heat pump which seems to work very well for us, and we've just had solar panels and batteries fitted. This was funded through an interest free govt loan (Scotland) which will cost us less per month than we are going to save in the reduced bills. If you have to tumble dry then it might be worth looking at a heat pump; ours uses under 2kW for a full load (I think it's about 1.7) which for us works out the cheapest way to dry clothes.

Do you know roughly ohw many kWh you are using daily?

We don't possess a tumble drier but I hang duvet covers over doors and pillow cases on maiden but keep moving stuff around. We have our heating on sporadically through the day as we look after grandkids 4 days a week so a fairly warm house makes it easier to dry stuff. But once GCS are gone I sit with a blanket and heating goes off.
Our Electric/Gas was actually £12 cheaper recently but we have solar panels so have made a concerted effort to use gadgets when sun is shining as electric is free at those times. Not much good though when washing basket is overflowing while we wait for good days lol!! But sunny days mean kitchen is warm as sun shining through patio doors means sun all day on back of the house. 😎
But that said most of built up credit will disappear with next bill so will be in debt to Octopus for once - makes a change for me to use their money instead of them having the benefit of mine!!

Ours has been £500 last month and this month. It's disgusting that the energy companies can get away with it. We have been trying to be careful too. We are hoping to get a smart metre fitted next week so hoping that can help. Roll on summer.

Go on then..

If you are so sure you are right and I am wrong, using the OPs figures do your maths to prove it

Otherwise you are just posturing about how much more intelligent you are than a worried, stressed poster.

Cut showers down to one very quick wash every other day.
Dont wash clothes unless they are actually smelly or visibly dirty
Wear at least 4 layers on the top and fluffy leggings on the bottom with 1 pair normal socks and 1 pair Wolly / fleece lined socks.
Buy a Sherpa blanket and use it in the evenings rather than have the heating on.
Dont use the tumble dryer. At all. Dry clothes on an airer near a radiator.
Spring will be here soon!

i do my washing machine an extra spin at end of cycle that gets a lot of water out of it, while cold weather i spread on clothes airer during the day it drys a bit evan with no heating on, then only do towels and bedding in tumble dryer ,no heating in morning just 4pm till about 8pm,really fill dishwasher so not on every day,i use a slow cooker make meals to freeze a bit,big chicken in the oven does a few meals,its getting warmer soon, will start drying my washing outside as soon as i can.

Honestly I'm trying to stay polite
I am too.

How can it be accounted for, seeing as costs keep rising????

The energy companies know the forecasted rates based on the wholesale costs. It’s not hard to project cost increases and account for them in an annual estimate. I used to project manage and this is as natural as breathing to me. How do you think any business or government department estimates their budget for each calendar or fiscal year? Costs are always going up or down, usually up.

My DD hasn't risen since the summer (it was quite high already). As my credit is now used up, it will now increase to a level I'm worried I will not be able to afford (good job, but single parent to 3, limited support).

And that’s fair, but that won’t be due to being on a DD plan, but due to further price hikes that they are projecting will happen in the year following your DD renewal. To worry because you have run out of credit now, in Jan, isn’t something to worry about too much. It’s honestly what is supposed to happen. The price hikes from Oct, Jan, Apr have been factored in to a certain extent. It’s not 100% accurate, but they did not take your average usage x current prices. They will have built in a bit extra to cover forecasted price hikes.

I have a smart metre and try to keep the bills down in the all electric housr
This last month was the highest ever at £370
Or should I say was there highest ever.

I challenged my energy company about payments I had made and were on my account for months and then they disappeared and I was being told that I was behind with my payments. Even had a debt collection agent threaten me with prison if I didn’t pay

Finally I was told that the payments I had made to my account had been transferred to an account I had no access to, to cover a bill I had never received

When they sent me the bill it was for nearly £700.

I can’t keep up with this company. They change things and then act like the new statement was always there

Thanks but no thanks. I’m not posturing, I’m trying to reassure a poster who seems panicked about her statement balance on a DD plan going into debit. It’s exactly what is supposed to happen and perfectly normal.

You on the other hand are using fabricated figures and faulty assumptions to feed her fear and make her feel worse than she already does, when there is no need for it. Especially since she is already taking risks with her health due to her fear of a debit balance. No DD plan exists where you don’t carry a credit and then carry a debit.

My bill for December/ beginning of January is nearly £550, found out today. For gas and electricity. I'm in complete shock. We were over £500 in credit a couple of months ago, now it's saying we are around £250 in debit. We were away for a few of those days.
I'm always on at DH as he always puts the heating on but will sit with a T shirt on. He has a shower at least once a day. Well he's had a shock today and is not in a good mood. I feel like I'm the one turning the heating down, well tough it's going off unless the children are in. It's actually now cheaper to use the wood burner.
It's more than our mortgage now.