My journey to a debt free life

Onebrokelady

Just been down to the post box to send off my second PCR test so hopefully the results won't take too long to come back. I have phoned work this morning to let them know I won't be in tomorrow but I'm going to wait and see what my results are and if I feel ok by Saturday I will go back then, at the moment I don't think I will be well enough, just walking down to the post box has wiped me out.

 I'm just sitting down for a bit before going out and checking on the 🐓🐓I know their water needs topping up and I'm sure they will need more food. I didn't go anywhere near them yesterday so they will need doing today. I took B with me when I went to the post box and she got very excited because she thought we were going down to the river,I had to drag her back up the hill so now feel very guilty, she is sitting next to me and keeps sighing 🙄

In other news I got my annual rent review letter today and my rent has gone up by £14 a month 🙀 it goes up in line with inflation and its normally about a £3 increase so this is a lot. I also got my new water bill and that has gone up by £18.50 a month 🙀I'm thinking that must be down to the leak that was under the kitchen floor so I might contact them about that. I owe them £86 so I'm wondering whether to pay that off and then ask them to do a smaller increase on the monthly bill.


Im going to try and work out a new budget this afternoon if I can concentrate enough. I need to keep a very close eye on everything and I'm going to be cutting my present budget to the bone, I might even suggest we don't do presents next Christmas because this is only going to get worse over the year. I still have DDs money but want to save as much of that as possible in case of other emergencies 

Sunshine_girl2

See if you claim for a leak allowance , I am sure your water company offers it. My cousin lives in your parts and he applied for it. 

Onebrokelady

Sunshine_girl2 said:

See if you claim for a leak allowance , I am sure your water company offers it. My cousin lives in your parts and he applied for it. 

I did see something about this on the bill ,I will investigate ....thank you 😊

foxgloves

Oh that's bad news about the rent & water increases, @Onebrokelady. If that water bill rise can in anyway be partially linked to your leak, I think it really makes sense to see if there's any chance of an allowance/adjustment. I know you've needed to cut your hours to a more manageable amount healthwise, so it I can understand it's a big worry for you seeing everything shooting up in price. Something I got wound up about at the weekend was reading about the reasons for the hugely increased electricity standing charge. Ours has pretty much doubled, yet it is the price of the energy itself which has soared. Apparently, the main reason for the big jump in standing charge is (I can't remember the actual term used) to cover the costs of companies having to take on lots of other customers when smaller energy providers go bust. I very much felt that this isn't the rescuer companies' fault, but it is certainly isn't ours either & we are paying for it. To borrow a term my Nana was fond of using, it does feel like a 'big swizz'. 
F x

Onebrokelady

foxgloves said:

Oh that's bad news about the rent & water increases, @Onebrokelady. If that water bill rise can in anyway be partially linked to your leak, I think it really makes sense to see if there's any chance of an allowance/adjustment. I know you've needed to cut your hours to a more manageable amount healthwise, so it I can understand it's a big worry for you seeing everything shooting up in price. Something I got wound up about at the weekend was reading about the reasons for the hugely increased electricity standing charge. Ours has pretty much doubled, yet it is the price of the energy itself which has soared. Apparently, the main reason for the big jump in standing charge is (I can't remember the actual term used) to cover the costs of companies having to take on lots of other customers when smaller energy providers go bust. I very much felt that this isn't the rescuer companies' fault, but it is certainly isn't ours either & we are paying for it. To borrow a term my Nana was fond of using, it does feel like a 'big swizz'. 
F x

😡😡😡😡😡😡I didn't realise that was why the standing charges had gone up, that's just a bloody cheek considering how much profit these companies are making. Honestly this whole thing is making my blood boil just thinking about it 😡😡😡😡

badmemory

Don't get me started on the £200 "enforced loan".  In my whole life I have only borrowed for a mortgage & now I am being forced to take a loan that will have to be paid back when money is even tighter.  I suspect it may be about trying to get you to stay with whichever provider as you will be in debt & they won't let you move.  But then I have a nasty suspicious mind & wouldn't trust these money grabbers as far as I could throw them.  Profiteering would be a good way of describing them.

Onebrokelady

Right I've had a productive afternoon on the phone.

First up was Virgin, I phoned them to get rid of my landline and tv package because I don't  use my landline and very rarely watch the tv and if I do it's Netflix. They noticed I have my mobile with them and they have partnered with 02 so I can get a £6 a month sim only deal with them instead of £10.45, my virgin bill will now be £30 a month instead of £62 and my phone is £6 instead of £10.45. I am aware that I could get broadband cheaper elsewhere but I need a really good connection and virgin are the best in the area where I live so while DD2 is still living here I will stay with Virgin. When she moves out I can shop around for a cheaper supplier because it won't matter so much to me. I've saved £36.89 on my media bills today.

Next up was the water company. I phoned them and explained about the leak which got me a £30 deduction on the amount I owe them so I now owe £56 instead of £86 she then said my original direct debit wasn't covering my water usage but £57 was too much so I agreed to set it at £48 a month this should cover my water usage and pay off the £56 I owe. 

This only makes a small dent in the increase but it's better than nothing 😊my bills had gone up by just over £100 but I've managed to claw back £45.89. Everything else is at rock bottom so I don't think I can make savings anywhere else but I will keep trying 😊

Cherryfudge

Well done for a very MS afternoon! Nearly halving the increase is amazing.

I'm sure more cost-reducing things are hiding out there waiting to be discovered.

Onebrokelady

Cherryfudge said:

Well done for a very MS afternoon! Nearly halving the increase is amazing.

I'm sure more cost-reducing things are hiding out there waiting to be discovered.

Thanks,I'm pleased I finally phoned virgin and sorted that out, I've been meaning to do it for ages but get anxious when having to phone people so that's a weight off my mind 😊

Cherryfudge

I hate making phone calls too. Email was invented specially for me - plenty of time to think and can be sent at any time of day or night.  
I think that makes it a triple or quadruple victory for you.