My SOA

RhiBi

Thanks for that Eschaton, also with all due respect, you don't know everything about our lives, and to make a judgement based on a set of figures is unfair. Yes, I have made mistakes, ones I am desperately trying to rectify, and until your post, was feeling really pleased with ow I was doing.

I'm not a person who likes to cause any bad feeling, so was unsure whether to reply or not, but I do think your reply is a little hurtful. I posted asking for help and advice as to a way forward, criticising what has gone I don't find very constructive at all.

Take care x

whiteguineapig

you could phone scottish power
i have just done it myself, when you phone they ring you back , the lady was quite helpful and i got my direct debit reduced by £7 a month, not a massive amount but its a step in the right direction for us, they reduced it on the next monthly debit as well , i thought they might make me wait

RhiBi

whiteguineapig wrote: »

you could phone scottish power
i have just done it myself, when you phone they ring you back , the lady was quite helpful and i got my direct debit reduced by £7 a month, not a massive amount but its a step in the right direction for us, they reduced it on the next monthly debit as well , i thought they might make me wait

Thanks, will definitely do that, nothing to lose

KiKi

Hi RhiBi

Re Scottish Power, all I'd say is that they are the one energy company who *do* review your payments based on actual meter readings across the year. The get out fee is usually £30 for each of gas and elec. I'm with them - def the cheapest for me. I'm a mid-terrace 2 bed flat and use £46 per month, total. It's usually lower than that, but I used a lot of power over Winter for stuff.

Turn off *anything* that's on standby. A TV on standby uses something like 80% of elec as if it were on. Chargers use elec even if they're not plugged into your phone / laptop etc. Change to energy saving lightbulbs.

Instead of having my heating on all eve, I set the timer - 30 mins off, 30 mins on. That way it's half the usage but actually doesn't feel much colder!

HTH in some way
KiKi

whizzing

With regard to school holidays. Think up ideas on the track you are on. E.g teach each daughter how to make a meal. For older girls Thai curry and Spaghetti Bol and for younger two carrot cake and mars bar cake. Also ask them if anything don't want. List on e-bay and agree a percentage between you and them.

RhiBi

Thanks Kiki, we do try and turn everything off, even the microwave which has a digital clock gets turned off when not in use. However, with a teenage girl things do get left on (and she gets nagged about it!) sometimes!

Dh is planning on calling Scottish power back this evening to see what we can sort out, also, E-on called last night and they said they could do gas and electricity for £93 a month. This would mean paying a penalty to get out of the Scottish power contract, but might be worth it in the long run.

Thanks for your help

RhiBi

whizzing wrote: »

With regard to school holidays. Think up ideas on the track you are on. E.g teach each daughter how to make a meal. For older girls Thai curry and Spaghetti Bol and for younger two carrot cake and mars bar cake. Also ask them if anything don't want. List on e-bay and agree a percentage between you and them.

You must have been posting whilst I was typing!!

We love cooking, we're already planning hot cross buns for good Friday, and I have all the ingredients here, so no need to buy a thing!

Good idea about clearing their clutter that way too, they have a load of dvd's that probably never get watched anymore to start with, I'll definitely get them on board with that one

dancingfairy

Hi. With regards to the electric I would do a comparison on one of the comparison sites that Martin recommends as a first step.
Also you need to check what the penaly is to exit your current tariff - it might well be worth it.
If you do end up staying with your current provider I woudl definitely look at claiming some of that credit back and getting the DD set at a reasonable level - you probably want to have a bit of credit going into winter but probably not quite so much as you have now.
Let us know how your DH gets on tonight.
Best of Luck
df

RhiBi

Just checked my Nationwide account in case the money transfer had gone through! It hasn't as yet, but not expected until tomorrow anyway. However, They have slapped 3 'interest' transactions on me, one for £75, one for £20 and one for £12.14, so over £100 in bank charges for going into the 'reserve limit' of the overdraft.

This makes me more determined than ever to sort this out, I can't wait until the money transfer is through, and I can cancel the overdraft and that damned reserve overdraft.

Today I am having another NSD I've made soup for lunch and sorted tea with food thats here, I've sent an invoice to an ebay winner, the auction finished yesterday and they haven't paid yet! I'm going to make a birthday card for my friends son, I have all the card making stuff here, but normally I'd pop out and buy a card out of convenience. I've also got to finish the children's easter bonnets. That should keep me busy! Oh, I also want to update my signature to list my LBM and to watch the numbers decreasing over the coming months!

I know I'm continuing to post on this thread when its gone on from the original question, but its helping me to write down exactly what I'm doing, and what I'm trying to achieve!

PiggyBankShaker

Hi RhiBi,

You are doing really well. You need to keep up the positivity and momentum. The first few months are the hardest and then things get a lot easier. Keep looking for savings everywhere, its suprising where you can squeeze extra ££ from.

Ignore the trolls, and the naysayers - you are doing the right thing for you family and it will pay off in time.

Good luck.