Winter fuel budget

rhcp

Does anyone budget for their winter fuel use? My next bill comes at the end of November, so the quarter after that will cover the main 3 months of winter. I have set myself a target of £60 (which is roughly 66p a day). All I use is one gas fire and an electric heater for when I’m on the computer. My gas fire costs approx 10p per hour and the electric heater 3p per hour, so if I need to save money I just go on the internet!! I also budgeted £10 for November, but so far haven’t used anything (hope to keep it that way).

I found this really useful last year, as I was way over budget in December (but it was quite bad last December), so I could plan my fuel usage in January and February to bring it back into budget. I also check my meter weekly and put it onto a spreadsheet to see exactly how much I am using.

It probably sounds a little obsessive, but with little spare cash available, it ensures I can afford to pay my bill at the end of the quarter.

bottleofred

Hi rhcp,

If you use more than 10% of your household income, you are officially in fuel poverty and with rising energy costs, lots of people are in fuel poverty. In NI there is an oil stamp scheme that people can participate in and each stamp costs £5. They save the stamps over a period of time and then use them as part or full payment towards the oil, so it may be worth checking if there is anything available for gas/electric in your area. Worrying about heating your home is not obsessive at all and many people have got to the stage where they either heat or eat, but sadly can't afford to do both. It sounds to me as though you are doing pretty much everything right though, so good luck and lets hope for a mild winter for everyone.

Red

bouncydog1

I don't think monitoring useage is obsessive! By undertaking a similar exercise and making myself aware of the amount of power used by different items, I have managed to cut our consumption down from c£150 per month (not a misprint electricity is v expensive where we live and there is only one provider) to £100 per month and this quarter have £50 credit!

Could you look at your bills from last year for the same period and use them as a guide?

Simon7685

I don't think watching what you spend on heat/light is at all obsessive either. I have been obsessive about it for years now, always keeping a wether eye on what we spend. I pay £76 a month for a 2 bedroom flat and have been trying to get it down forever and a day but storage heaters are soooo expensive to run! Having said that 2 years ago we were paying £110 a month.