Help needed please!!

Emmzi

is it possible a previous tenant had arrears and the meter is set to recover these?

he needs to speak to the electricity company and find out

TRYINGTOSWIM

just wanted to say how touched I was by this. it would have been the easiest thing for your son to just give up at another set back and turn back to drugs. sincerely hope he gets the job he is after as he sounds like he certainly deserves a second chance. wish him all the luck in the world

bensonsmum

RAS wrote: »

Thanks

This sounds like a serious problem. What is the price per unit?

If he does not get work tomorrow, can you ask him to turn everything off, then turn on each item in turn and see how much electricity it is using?

Does he have energy saving lamps?

I gave him energy saving bulbs to go up with, but your right will contact him tomorrow and get him to try turning everything off and see how far he gets!!

Will also do as the other OP said find out if he is being overcharged for his electricity due to previous tenants - thanks!! didn't think of that.

Now off over to the other board to seek cheap recipes that can be fully cooked using the microwave and are also "young man friendly"

Mikazaru

What help is available if he goes to Warminster? If it's still helpful for him to go there when he gets some money he should be able to go by bus for around £4.
I live in an all electric studio and I've used just under £20 in a month (with no heating on) so I'd definately check his electric usage/meter.
Frome library is open weekdays 9-5 and has computers with internet for looking for work. Theres quite a few charity shops that stock household bits and pieces in the town if you need to get him anything for his flat when you visit.

sp1987

I was just going to suggest an online shop for him! Brilliant idea, plus you know he will get decent 'meal' food with it and won't just go in hungry and buy whatever is there (a fault many suffer from, age irrelevant!)

As a failsafe, buy him some cereal and some small cartons of long life milk. Not ideal but can be made if there's no electric (to keep the milk in the fridge). I ate quite a lot of cereal when I was a student and I was lazy, but it is perfectly edible for a short time and is at least a 'meal', even if it's designed as breakfast, lol. When I started uni I couldn't even cook chips in the oven and now I can cook pretty much anything I fancy, so it isn't sentencing him to a life of corn flakes. Jacket potatoes in the microwave? You can get these little plastic trays that go in the microwave that allow you to cook bacon, sausages, eggs, chips etc (my dad found these somewhere and couldn't wait to tell me!). Pretty much every pound shop stocks them.

You can do scrambled egg in the microwave? Baked Beans? Toasted sandwiches (not as good as in another form, but cheese melts, lol). Tins of soup? Ravioli in tins?
Tins of tuna? You can mix it with whatever you have (bread, cheese, pasta) and it doesn't need cooking and will have some protein in it? I'm trying to consider means and also 'can be bothered' in what I'm thinking up as lots of 24 year old males won't have much 'can be bothered' to cook, lol.

I'm trying to think of other things that don't need a fridge/electric if the meter runs out and microwave doesn't work...


Good on him for giving it all such a go, especially at 24. It must be hard to break free of an addiction and try to move forward. I guess that is why so many people never do.

RAS

bensonsmum wrote: »

I gave him energy saving bulbs to go up with, but your right will contact him tomorrow and get him to try turning everything off and see how far he gets!!

Will also do as the other OP said find out if he is being overcharged for his electricity due to previous tenants - thanks!! didn't think of that.

Another thing to check re the electricity. How is the hot water heated? is there some sort of immersion that was turned on when he took over and needs to be managed?

RAS

And there may be a recycleing network place in Frome

http://www.frn.org.uk/directory/south_west.asp

I struggled with this because the link to places to get stuff from led to the list of places to which one can donate, but worth a try.

He would need a referral from Turning Point to get stuff free.

Another group to get in touch with would be http://www.transitionfrome.org.uk/index.php as there will be people there involved in things like food growing who might well give him stuff, either just because or in exchange for a bit of informal help. They tend to be inherently inclusive so would give him an alternative set of commumity links and potential friends.

flossyblog

Join the freecycle group in the local are to get furniture etc for his home.

Put in a work wanted ad in gumtree for jobs

Loopy_Girl

sp1987 wrote: »

It must be hard to break free of an addiction and try to move forward.

Mephadrone and cannabis aren't addictive - habit forming, yes - but not addictive.

Oldernotwiser

Loopy_Girl wrote: »

Mephadrone and cannabis aren't addictive - habit forming, yes - but not addictive.

If that's all he's been taking.