Electricity and water meters

plinth

Hi All

In addition to looking at ways to reduce my outgoings and maximise my incomings I was looking firstly at electricity meters you can buy one for £29.99 and they tell you the current running cost of your electric at that time so you can switch things off and see the price come down!! I think that how it works has anyone tried them and if so what’s the verdict?

The same question goes for water meters apparently you can have them installed and you can see the water you are using again encouraging you to be more water aware-Has anyone tried these methods?

I am ripping through my budget and now with sky gone and phone contract changed I am saving around £90 per month coupled with my wife quitting smoking and me giving up the booze we are saving around £200 on the fags and about £100 on the booze so a massive 390 going towards the isa, any other tips on how to save money or increase income would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards

Barry

brixham

Can't remember where I got my Owl energy monitor but it was free ( British Gas maybe ?)
I was looking at it constantly to start with but less so now as I am aware of what makes it go through the roof. Surprised at how little it uses to keep a TV on standby (as that is what they always seem to bang on about) and how much it takes to boil a kettle.:eek: They also need loads of batteries to work !
Water meter saves me loads without even thinking about it much. Water rates in the south west are one of the most expensive.

plinth

Wow I will look for free offers did you have the water meter fitted? If so was it expensive?

Cheers

Barry

McKneff

Water meters are fitted free, at the end of a 12 month period you can compare what you have used in that year to the cost of what you paid for your water the year before and decide then whether to keep your meter or revert to the RV water rates.
If you miss the deadline of 1 year, you have to keep the meter.

You seem to be a bit obsessive about saving, ie the smoking and drinking, whilst we all agree its not good for you, dont live your life to the point where you have no quality of life at all. moderation, moderation, moderation.
Apart from anything else you'll get a name for being a tight git.

brixham

Yep water meter fitted by SW Water and that was free too !!
You have a year to change your mind and revert to water rates but I now pay about a quater of what I was paying without making any effort to save water. I do live on my own so use less than a family but garden still gets a good old soaking when the water butt is empty ! Another freebie from SW Water !

plinth

Ha ha I think your right!! but to be honest im far from tight but need to take control of our finances we save nothing a month but take in 2 wages. I dont think quitting smoking decreases your quality of life and quitting drinking is in support of my wife (il quit if you help so I have no problem with that). The taking control thing is important ,we spend money like water and have nothing to show for it loads of take aways, drinking at home and buying crap. So we agreed that we will look at it and we have the shocking thing is how much we were spending on things we didnt need or just let run for example

sky
fags
booze
home phone and internet
gas and electric
letting car, house and life insurance policies just renew on dd

So its not being tight far from it its taking back control which we have not done for over 5 years. I want to get fit and lose weight so does my wife and our kids are at an age now where they realise we are out of shape so its not just a money change but a lifestyle change as well I think the 2 go hand in hand!! I will not turn into one of those guys who wash there hair in the toilet:) wait there can you do that lol

McKneff

In that case, good for you and the best of luck.

cha97michelle

Just reading the meters and reporting weekly on imeasure made me reduce our usage. We bought an OWL too and it is on, but we rarely look at it now. Probably better to borrow one for a little while till you get used to what uses most.

Water meter - we have always had one, so i am used to being careful. IT works for us but we are fairly light users compared to some. We pay about half of what our neighbours do on rates.That is with 2 small kids and the inevitable mountain of washing they create.