Why are our bills so high? 6k a month...!

[NewtothisFBK4921]

Is anyone able to workout why our bills so high aside from suggesting we move house?! Are other people in similar size houses (5 bed, very old single glazed farmhouse) paying similar?

We pay about:
2k nurseries fees as work full-time (cheapest local village nursery, another year still school starts!)
£400 electricity bills each month (this is so high as bloody kitchen is only heated by underfloor heating, no radiators, which we didn't realised cost so much when we moved last year, we set it to 17 degrees so always freezing still)
£400 oil (thermostat to 17 daytime, 18 evening, single glazed house)
1.3k mortgage
£35 tv subscriptions
£35 Gigaclear
£100 for x 2 phones (£50ish each)
£265 car (Renault Clio)
£368 council tax (!)
Rest on food and baby wipes and trains to work etc.

Don't get me wrong we live in a gorgeous 5 bed in a village and appreciate we have a wonderful life but we moved from a terrace house in London and just can't workout why our bills have got so high. Especially as never eat out or anything like that anymore. Struggling to afford everything but on our salaries it shouldn't be so hard... am I missing something blindly obvious we can change (besides selling the house!) or is life just crazy expensive?!

You could try some DIY magnetic Perspex double glazing. Magneglaze is one company that supply to your measurements. It has made a lot of difference to our single glazed windows.

I should have added, you don’t need listed building consent because it is totally removable and you don’t need to alter the original windows at all. We have a house that sounds similar and our bills are a lot lower. We keep it at a steady but lower temperature around 15C and boost the rooms we are using. The log burner heats the main living area and we use heated throws too if necessary.

I'm in small old house which still has single glazing at the back, weirdly I prefer it, the front double glazing is giving problems even though brand new 12 years ago, one leaks if rains heavily and another has condensation in it. I have thermal blinds on the back windows in the recesses, very cheap from argos or dunelm and curtains on a curtain pole. I can vouch for the oil filled radiators, I have three of varying sizes and they work well with cheap running costs.

Everyone has different wants and goals, some like to see a healthy bank balance, some like to know they've got that holiday all booked and paid for, some like a nice 5 bed house, when your working hard you want to have or see something that makes it worthwhile.

Turn off the underfloor heating.

Do you have your other heating on 24/7? That will push your bills right up.

Something I saw on here and is good advice, warm the person not the room. I have a couple of heated throws that keep me warm, I realise with children that might not be an option.

Your phones are ridiculous, I have a £5 a month Lyca SIM card. I don't get much data but I don't use much.

Detached houses will always be colder than a terrace as you don't have the insulation of the houses to either side.

Make it an annual task to price compare for fuel / insurance / mobile etc.

You are paying £1200 a year for the phones. You can get a brand new iphone for £700, I know you need two phones but you don't need top of the range.

You can have double glazing in a listed property but it’s expensive. Secondary glazing it much cheaper and easier to get permission for. You can get the made to measure that opens or the cheap Perspex sheet version or the really cheap film.
Get some more insulation in the loft. Either use fireplaces or shove something up the chimney.
Thick curtains for windows and doors.
Find an alternative to the kitchen electric heating. Oil filled radiators, portable catalytic Calor heater, log burner, electric stove like an everhot, oil aga
Its expensive and hard work to heat large rural houses most people are cold in them.

We had underfloor heating downstairs when we moved in - it was awfully expensiver to run. We switched it off and used plug in radiators and gradually put normal radiators in downstairs. We didn't bother with the kitchen as it is warm enough when we are cooking. Much cheaper with radiators.

Can you minimise your childcare costs by one of you reducing hours. For example, you can legally do a 6 hour stretch without a lunch hour. So you could do 7-1 and only do morning sessions for example? How old are the kids? Will you be entitled to some free hours? I dont understand why they are so high?

Your heating costs are insane. I don’t understand why of you have underfloor heating, your gas bill is also mental? Is it set to 17 all day? Does it need to be on all day? We don’t have ours on when working from home, just use heating blanket or hot water bottle.

Could could definitely bring your food shopping down by £300. Where do you shop?

I was raised in an old listed big house. Things that we did to cut heating bills that are worth a try (apart from the obvious turn off the underfloor heating):
Only heat the rooms you are using. Use draft excluders to isolate the rooms that you aren't using.
Secondary glazing and ( if appropriate for the house) shutters which get closed at dusk.
Thick, thermally lined curtains in every room, including kitchen.
Curtains over external doors.
A porch or hallway that can be isolated from the main living areas as a sort of airlock in winter ( we used to come and go through the boot room in winter).
Oil radiators has already been mentioned.
Wall paper with insulating lining paper under paint or more paper. It also prevents condensation on solid walls.
Warm the people not the space: dress warmly, stop draughts, limit heat loss through windows, doors, roof and walls.
Good luck!
Rugs, slippers, warm pyjamas and dressing gowns.

See if you can investigate adding some rads to the heating. We have underfloor heating in our conservatory which is double glazed with special glass but it wasn’t enough in the depths of winter. We installed a single radiator 10 panels wide and almost 2 meters high - it’s now fabulously warm so the underfloor heating doesn’t come on a great deal.

Your bills are huge because your house is not insulted so you’re burning money keeping it semi warm. I wouldn’t have entertained buying a house with single glazing and rules around that due to it being listed. I lived with my Nanna for a year in a house with single glazing and there was ice on the inside of the windows in winter. That had no central heating either though. I guess if you love living there then definitely invest in some secondary double glazing or you’re just throwing money away every month.

The £800 oil and gas is ridiculous. Should be £200-£300. Look into that first.

This is really interesting thank you. The main freezing ones (has a crack!) are stone mullion with sloped walls so might be tricky but will look into