Hope is not an Effective Financial Strategy 13 March 2015 at 1:18PM edited 3 March at 8:18PM in Mortgage-Free Wannabe 3.8K replies 314.9K views

shangaijimmy

I love that cash till sound on my phone when there's an eBay bid!

I've TT'd £1 this morning but looking at our account we're not so healthy. We're waiting on Mrs SJ cash return for 3 osteopath sessions which is £135, only its not so easy to reclaim the cash when she's off on maternity. Added to that our automatic payment date for child benefit has moved back to 22nd since we added baby SJ on, and that's an additional £137 that we get at the end of the month rather than the beginning...

On a positive note today triggeres my 60 day Gas & leccy switch without penalty. So I'll get onto that and look forward to the £30 cash back. Naturally I'll use the energy saving club and after a quick look we should knock £10 or so off our monthly payment.

shangaijimmy

Astonishingly First Utility have agreed to refund my £103.41 credit!! So going to hang on a few days to receive it before I action my switch! Naturally the £103.41 will be going straight to the mortgage as there's no better place for it to rest!

kirtsypoos

Well done on your FU success SJ, if I ever decide to go with them again I'll be sure to request my credit before the switch

shangaijimmy

I'm still anxious until the cash arrives!

Ali-OK

Brill news on FU response and the amount.

I had my standard bill online with no mention of leaving etc, but a letter in the post acknowledging I was and DD now variable to tie the account up - looks like I owe them @ £6. Watching bank account like a hawk to see what they take!

shangaijimmy

Might be worth cancelling the DD and paying manually over the phone by card.

I had a quick look at utilities switch, and we have several options at virtually the same fixed DD amount. So I may go for a green company!! £1 TT'd this morning, account looking terrible but we have Mrs SJ claim going in today and they usually pay within 2 days so hoping to have a cheque by Saturday or Monday. In the meantime we have some euros that need changing back so we do have a bit of cash.

turtlemoose

I pay a small amount more over the year (under £30 a year for us) to Ovo in order to have 100% renewable electricity. My conscience overrules my MSE head in this instance

mrsp1987

turtlemoose wrote: »

I pay a small amount more over the year (under £30 a year for us) to Ovo in order to have 100% renewable electricity. My conscience overrules my MSE head in this instance

Wow, I didn't know you could do that. I knew some companies had green tariffs but I thought they were from the smaller companies or from the green companies

edinburgher

I was a staunch defender of green tariffs and was a Good Energy customer for several years. I've read a lot more since then and while I don't disagree with the principle, there are easier ways to reduce your footprint closer to home that will save you money and have a greater impact.

I think that the case for the economic benefits of renewable energy has definitely been 'made' globally and I fully expect their use to increase dramatically over the next few decades (regardless of what the UK government decides to do!) As a result, I no longer feel that there is as much of a case to be made for subsidising the development of renewables through green tariffs.

In order of preference, my suggestions would be:

• Use less power
• Generate your own power
• Invest directly in renewable energy, through community energy schemes or similar

That said, there's a good chance that any green evangelists out there are already doing all 3 of those, already!

mrsp1987

We have solar panels on the back of the house. Whenever the sun is out we try and do a load of laundry or put the dishwasher on or something. Least that way we know we're definitely not spending anything.