Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

minnie2

cw18 wrote: »

I pay £30/year for them to send water to my house (regardless of amount I chose to use)
Then £15 for them to take away waste water (regardless of how much I send back to them)
And £64 year (:eek:) for them to remove my surface water and drain the highways

On top of that I pay £1.374 for each cubic metre I take from their supply pipes - and they assume I return the same amount, charging me £1.084 per cubic metre for doing so

This effectively means £109/year in standing charges, and £2.458 for each cubic metre my meter shows I've used.

Had a panic but I will be different water supplier to you, so its probably different. I cant wait untill they have different companies like elect and gas so we can get better deals!!
I pay at minute £69 a year for all sewerage uses. And havent had water bills since i moved as its between people but want to go on solow rate on a meter

seriouslyfrugal

Hi

Just popping in to say i'm still around

welcome to everyone new

i'm sorry alec your leaving us but do look in when able


not much news for me at the moment so will catch up the weekend

take care have a good frugal wednesday everyone

youngmummy

NSD today for us, hope everyone is well x

rising_from_the_ashes

Hello everyone, just been catching up on all the posts today while the bath was running (this thread moves so quickly, it's great)!

Narrowly averted a flood so a really quick visit as I'm freezing and can't wait to had a mini-soak in lovely hot water! (simple things keep me happy).

NSD today so quite pleased with that (been chucking it down all day so wasn't tempted to go out at lunchtime).

Just a couple of VERY quick mentions to say "Welcome" to Inspirespirit:) and ....

Dizzie that apple pie looks FANTASTIC, I could almost taste it from here!:T

Have a good evening all.

rising_from_the_ashes

Now, I know what is the right thing to do here, but I'm really stuggling as my heart is wanting to take over......

As some of you may know, I'm trying to work out ways of raising £1800 to pay next years' Uni fees - thought I'd found a way to raise part of this by helping out with the elections as I'm on hols then (what a way to spend my precious time off - but needs must).

Have signed up and hope to make around £300 which is fantastic (could they not hold these every month & I'd be sorted)!

However, my head is telling me that I should actually put this money towards my OD (which is coming down but VERY slowly). I know that you should always pay off debts first and the thought of having it go down by that much in one go is fantastic but .......

mooomin

If you're a student is your overdraft not interest-free anyway?

Could you pay a portion to your OD and the rest to make it a little easier to live month to month?

rising_from_the_ashes

flying_fresian wrote: »

If you're a student is your overdraft not interest-free anyway?

Could you pay a portion to your OD and the rest to make it a little easier to live month to month?

Ohhhh I wish!

I work full time so study in my "spare" time and... this is where "the system" really bugs me ... if I gave up work I'd get all my fees paid but as I have to go part time, I get nothing towards them (never mind that I've worked for over 20 years, paid my taxes etc and actually want to get the degree to get a better job etc) - sorry, moan over but it really annoys me ......

I'm also single so that's not an option (and by the time I've paid mortgage/bills - which would be about the same if I had a partner and we were splitting these - there's really not a lot left & so really stuggling to save any money).

I really wanted to try to raise this as I've spent years paying off my debts (and am nearly there) & am therefore really reluctant to take out a loan to pay these.:(

Guess that's an improvement on "the old me" as before I'd have just borrowed more and not even thought about it.:o

dizzy_lizzie

[QUOTE=rising from the ashes;.
Dizzie that apple pie looks FANTASTIC, I could almost taste it from here!:T.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, couldn't believe wrinkly apples could taste so good

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Now, I know what is the right thing to do here, but I'm really stuggling as my heart is wanting to take over......
However, my head is telling me that I should actually put this money towards my OD (which is coming down but VERY slowly). I know that you should always pay off debts first and the thought of having it go down by that much in one go is fantastic but .......

Hmm that's a tricky one. I think I'd put it towards my fees but then wish I'd done the other!! How long do you have till fees are due? Could you put it towards the OD and then ebay/amazon like mad to pay the uni fees?
Luv dizzy x
♥

enjoyfinancialchallenges

inspirespirit wrote: »

Just wrote a really long post, computer crashed and I lost it all. Story of my life at the moment.

To cut a long story short, I moved into an old 3 bed semi victorian rented house in Sept 2009 (me and two sons, one disabled). I took electric and gas meter readings and set up DDebits for monthly 50 and 60 pounds respectively. Thereafter, just let the little man who came round take the readings as the meters were in cellar and I hated going down there. Stupidly, I didn't take a lot of notice after that as I was happy thinking I was paying monthly which I had done in my previous 3 bed semi without a problem.
We were moved last month into a housing association property suitable for disabled people as son is having hip replacement in April and the other propery was deemed unsuitable for him. So, on last day, myself and landlord took the meter readings and phoned them through.

They have just sent me a bill for £1,040 final bill for the leccy and gas !!!!!!!! I phoned and asked them why they had not let me know I was in arrears and they said the little old man who took the meter readings must have been getting them wrong !!!

I feel stupid now because I thought setting up everything up on Direct Debit meant I didn't need to worry. have worked out a payment plan with them to pay it off before the end of the year but it is leaving me so short I don't know how I'm going to manage.
Is it worth complaining do you think? Don't see what I can do, cos if I owe it, I owe it.
The other thing was, when I rang them to tell them I was moving, I said would my DDebits just continue as is and everything just transferred and they said yes. So again i didn't worry. however, they closed the old account instead of transferring and tried to take the £1,040 out of my bank account instead of the usual 50/60 pounds (obviously I hadn't got that amount in there), and now I have 2 charges of 15 pounds for unpaid DD's.

Really hope being on this thread will help me sort myself out !:(

sorry it's so long.

Hi , I really cant see why you are being held responsible for their employer who got the readings wrong, You seem to have fulfilled your part of the bargain by allowing entry to your home to the meter reader surely the rest is up to them to give their employers suitable training. You said you were feeling stupid because you thought everything was sorted, the meter was being read and your DD was set up, well I suspect there are loads of us who let the meter be read and then fail to read it themselves, I don't for one.

cw18 wrote: »

I believe it's quite normal to have accounts closed and opened with a house move, as they're linked to the meters. But normally they transfer the debit/credit balance between the two - and the only reason I know for trying to take anything owed would be if you're moving to a different supplier.

But I'm sure they should have given you notice of their intention to take the money, which I'd assume is when they sent out the letter. And if you got in touch straight away to work out the payment plan, then there's no reason at all they should have tried to claim the money.

In your shoes I'd certainly be getting in touch with them, and as part of the conversation I'd be asking them to refund the bank charges.

I agree with Cheryl do ask them to refund the bank charges especially if you acted immediately by asking the banks to stop the DD. It sounds very stressful and I'm sending you hugs and good thoughts. XX

tumptyteapot

Danger day today, I have to go into town later as my son is doing something there, usually I mooch around poundland and the charity shops, may be Primark and fritter £20 or so. Today I am going to take a fiver