My story - determined

twinklie

Well done you! I still don't understand how your gas bill is so low. lol. We are with Scottish Power and do all payments and charting online so have the graphs etc too. Mind you, it's always cold and horrible here so that could be we probably have our heating on more.

That and we have very ill fitting doors (where we have them) until we replace them all. And a hole to the outside in the kitchen which needs filling. Hmmmm....maybe that just answered my question. lol.

Lister_2

Glad you enjoyed your hols. Centerparks wasn't it?

I'd be interested in details as we've often thought of going to centerparks. Which village did you go to?

determined1_2

twinklie wrote: »

Well done you! I still don't understand how your gas bill is so low. lol. We are with Scottish Power and do all payments and charting online so have the graphs etc too. Mind you, it's always cold and horrible here so that could be we probably have our heating on more.

That and we have very ill fitting doors (where we have them) until we replace them all. And a hole to the outside in the kitchen which needs filling. Hmmmm....maybe that just answered my question. lol.

I think the primary reason is how little we use the heating. As I mentioned in a previous post, we turned it on mid nov and off by mid march.

Being we both work during the day, we don't bother having it on in the morning, just get up and then out. I then set a timer for it to come on for about an hour just before we are due to get home. Them just turn it on as and when if it is 'too cold'. Another thing to note, the diverter valve does not fully close when we are running hot water (so my dad tells me, ex plumber) the upstairs radiators get hot through convection currents. This isn't a problem from a functional point of view, it just means we are getting hot rads when running the bath. During the summer, we just turn the radiators off.

I can see it being a bit higher this year as we've only recently finished decorating the lounge so have basically been living upstairs until now. So as heat rises etc, the cold downstairs didn't really bother us.

If you have children, I feel it would be almost impossible to get the costs down this low as, obviously, you want to keep them nice and warm.

Put simply, I just always think when flicking the switch or standing in the shower, that this is costing me dosh and hence mortgage interest :rolleyes:

determined1_2

Lister wrote: »

Glad you enjoyed your hols. Centerparks wasn't it?

I'd be interested in details as we've often thought of going to centerparks. Which village did you go to?

Yeah it was. We went to elveden forest in suffolk.

From a cost perspective, it did seem quite high. But I guess your view is always relative to what you're use to. I always went camping in a tent/caravan as a child as my parents wanted rid of their mortgage.

Our accompotaion was £237.50 for staying in the riverside hotel as this was the cheapest option. This wasn't self catering but we did a pretty good job at that and only went out in the evenings for meals. Had I known you are supplied with a fridge (well we were) the food cost could have been reduced a bit further.

Activities came in at £141 and we did the following:

Adrenaline high ropes (a must)
Aerial adventure (again a must)
Rollerskating (my bum does now hurt. note to self, don't try going backwards)
Golf (take your own clubs as I didn't know these had to be hired on top of the course itself)
Pedaloes on the lake
Hired two bikes (really quite necessary as things are quite far apart but there are cycle stations close to everything. You also get a complementary padlock aswell. You can take your own bikes if you have them)
Swimming is free but brilliant (the rapids especially)
There are lots of paths and tracks for bike rides and walks where you see a whole range of wildlife (rabbits, squirrels, deer, peacocks, duck, fish (in the lake :rotfl:))
Good supply of children play areas as well, but I didn't make use of those :rotfl:

We budgeted £500 for a four night break for too adults (or children if you see post #56) including food, petrol etc and we came in just over this.

It was all paid for by match betting which made it even better.

But.......the best thing of all was the OH said it was the best holiday she's been on

It's a shame that on the last nite I came down with a rotton cold and sore throat. I'm actually sitting here now with blobs of vicks at on the end of my nostrils. Now that's a picture for you :rotfl:

determined1_2

After looking at my gas and leccy annual usage, I thought I'd see how I'm doing on the water front!

We're metered and our water in DD in £12.35 and water out DD is £19.

326 @ 16.05.08
375 @ 15.05.09

49 units = 49 metres cubed

According to the Consumer Council for Water, the average annual consumption for two people in a household is 110 metres cubed

Therefore, we come in at 44.55% of the national average.

So how does this equate into an annual cost?

In:

Usage: 49 x 97.79p = ..................47.92
Annual fixed charge = ..................30.00
Annual DD discount = ..................(3.00)

Total water in cost = .................£74.92

Out:

Usage: 49 x 90% x 131.94p = .......58.19
Standing charge: 365 x 19.73p = ...72.01

Total water out cost =..............£130.20


Complete water costs = £205.12

So, my monthly DD should be as follows:

Water in: 74.92 / 12 = £6.24 so............£6.50

Water out: 130.20 / 12 = £10.85 so ......£10.50

If I can get this changed, it will free up an extra £14.35 a month for OP.

According to my spreadsheet, as of 'today' my current account balance for water in and out is £59.21 and £23.03 respectively.

I think I should be able to get these credit balances back as they are only going to get bigger. Not sure. Def the £60 one. Will have to see what it is after the next bill. Maybe I'll ring them up and supply them with a meter reading?

What would you guys do in this situation???

littlemrtinkle

we have moved to a water meter, instead of paying £47 a month , our last bill came out at £110 for six months, both of us do shower at least once a day :-)

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

Just read through your whole thread...

You certainly live up to your username!

determined1_2

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice wrote: »

Just read through your whole thread...

You certainly live up to your username!

Thanks. I do try

determined1_2

determined1 wrote: »

According to my spreadsheet, as of 'today' my current account balance for water in and out is £59.21 and £23.03 respectively.

I think I should be able to get these credit balances back as they are only going to get bigger. Not sure. Def the £60 one. Will have to see what it is after the next bill. Maybe I'll ring them up and supply them with a meter reading?

What would you guys do in this situation???

Any suggestions

determined1_2

Hmm just finished budgeting for next month:

Income:
My salary.....................1,250
OH salary.......................920
3 x halifax rewards.............15
Profit on mileage claims.......26

Total...........................2,211

Expenditure:
Mortgage........................790
Stooze CC min pay. 1.........25
Stooze CC min pay. 2.........15
Regular saver SO...............25
Life cover.........................18
B+C (annual)...................260
Phone..............................16
Internet...........................16
Council tax......................117
Water..............................31
Gas.................................30
Leccy..............................27
Food................................95
Travel..............................75
Service and MOT..............200
Clear CC.........................365
TV license........................12
Misc (going out etc)...........50

Total...........................2,167

Over budget last month.......45

Net effect: 2,211 - 2,167 - 45 = (1) :eek:

Gonna have to stick to it this month

Pssst, will still OP mortgage as I with be taking out my initial investment to my match betting float