A terrible month

TheUmpteenth

My family is going to have a bit of extra "robbing Peter to pay Paul" this month. I say extra. Peter will be looking for his money soon.
We had to pay the car tax, and we're "tight as the proverbial" already. worked out that we will pay £250 in bills next week, and we have £130 in the bank to meet them. still £100 more bills after those.
We might make it fit with benefit payments coming (we only get child ben and tax credits, it's all we're eligible for) but it'll be close to the bone.
It's my first month of really looking at spending habits, so I'm not sure if I could have cut anything, but I doubt it. we've only bought the groceries and bus tickets this month.

Need a second income.

TheUmpteenth

Just recieved an e-mail saying that Scottish Power are bumping up my direct debit (dual fuel) for my 3 bed flat to £127. !!!!!!, this was meant to be the cheapest! no rises till 2014. I don't leave my stuff on at night, I go round turning off the lights all the time, thermostat's at 21. I can't win, everythings going up except my wages! I keep getting letter saying "Oh, you got too much benefit. give us it back," or "We forgot to charge you some tax. Gimme"
I'm at the end of my rope, I'm in debt crisis without spending any money, and it's just gonna get worse.
GAAAAH!

Nickyj

Do you have anything you could sell? eBay is one option but obviously it's not instant cash in your pocket. I've sold a lot on local Facebook selling sites, might be worth looking to see if there are any in your area or even car boot. Might not make a fortune but it all helps. Would be worth posting your SOA so people can advise if there are any other areas where you can cut back x

TheUmpteenth

did post my SOA this week. I'm in the process of working it out a bit better, but still, thanks.

I don't even think I have anything for car booty. can't believe it's going up! It just seems like nightmare follows nightmare!

365days

TheUmpteenth wrote: »

Just recieved an e-mail saying that Scottish Power are bumping up my direct debit (dual fuel) for my 3 bed flat to £127. !!!!!!, this was meant to be the cheapest! no rises till 2014. I don't leave my stuff on at night, I go round turning off the lights all the time, thermostat's at 21. I can't win, everythings going up except my wages! I keep getting letter saying "Oh, you got too much benefit. give us it back," or "We forgot to charge you some tax. Gimme"
I'm at the end of my rope, I'm in debt crisis without spending any money, and it's just gonna get worse.
GAAAAH!

Is it from an estimate or from a reading?

CH27

TheUmpteenth wrote: »

Just recieved an e-mail saying that Scottish Power are bumping up my direct debit (dual fuel) for my 3 bed flat to £127. !!!!!!, this was meant to be the cheapest! no rises till 2014. I don't leave my stuff on at night, I go round turning off the lights all the time, thermostat's at 21. I can't win, everythings going up except my wages! I keep getting letter saying "Oh, you got too much benefit. give us it back," or "We forgot to charge you some tax. Gimme"
I'm at the end of my rope, I'm in debt crisis without spending any money, and it's just gonna get worse.
GAAAAH!

Is that from an estimate or an actual reading.

Turn the thermostat down to 20. Then reduce it to 19.
Mine is set to 17. I reduced it gradually that from 21.

elsien

You don't have to accept the direct debit increase if you think it's unreasonable. Some companies do hoik them up a bit more than neccessary at times.
As long as it's from a reading, look at last year's figures add on extra for price rises, and see if you think there's good reason to tell them to do a smaller increase without leaving yourself in debt further down the line.

DebtFree2012

They tried to put mine up to £125 a month and I called them and kicked off. It's now at 90.50 a month - call them up and challenge it then make sure you don't go over it.
You sound like you're in the point where it gets worse before better so the good news is you should be seeing better soon. You will do it. Post the SOA you have rather than trying to update it yourself, or did you mean you were still completing it?

Thrifty_Pixie

they did that with me as well - from £100pm dual fuel to £128pm. their argument was that the increase was to cover extra winter usage based on my summer usage. i've let it lie for the moment (i've just moved into an old cottage and am not sure on its efficiency) but when we get our first full 'wintertime' bill (due 10/3) i will use that to extrapolate and ask them to take it down to just cover what i need.

and don't forget - keep an eye on the credit in your account with them. if it builds up too much you are within your rights to ask them to refund it to you: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/lower-energy-direct-debits

alendam1

Want some more information about this post......

TheUmpteenth

They're from readings. I don't have anything to compare with, as I've switched, and I've moved a LOT. I'm going to phone now, tho. Is that around the norm for a 3 bed with 2 adults 2 kids (1 teen)? seems v.high to me, but I really don't see us using a lot more than most.