smart meter?

AnotherJoe

YoungBlueEyes wrote: »

Am I the only person who still does it the old fashioned way?

I give them my meter readings and they send me a paper bill, which I take to the bank and pay. If they're a bit on the steep side I turn the heating down and put a jumper on etc.

I genuinely don't understand smart meters. Only using less energy will result in smaller bills.

(Not including G_M's marvelous contraption from post #8 in that. I want one of those, obviously.)

Yes. Why would you do that?

YoungBlueEyes

I don't understand why folk do it any other way. There's never an issue with under or over paying, or estimated bills, or fighting to get back your own money from them when they upped the direct debit because they chose to.

Tell me what I owe and I'll pay you. Job jobbed.

snowqueen555

I find them useful, but I like to count calories too. The standing charge is a bit of a nightmare.

Just don't look at it while you are using the hairdryer!

AdrianC

YoungBlueEyes wrote: »

Am I the only person who still does it the old fashioned way?

I give them my meter readings and they send me a paper bill, which I take to the bank and pay. If they're a bit on the steep side I turn the heating down and put a jumper on etc.

If you embraced the DD, you might find your energy a bit less expensive.

BTW, all five of my nearest banks in two towns have closed in the last couple of years, and my nearest is now a 40 mile round trip. Unless I happen to get to town in the two hours the mobile bank is there... Oh, hold on. That's a different bank to the one I have an account with.

YoungBlueEyes

Sorry to derail your thread OP...

I think I remember reading something about 'the last bank in town isn't allowed to close'... so as long as your town's population is this many people there'll always be an actual bank... or have I just made that up...? Or did they go back on it, rather?

moneyistooshorttomention

YoungBlueEyes wrote: »

I don't understand why folk do it any other way. There's never an issue with under or over paying, or estimated bills, or fighting to get back your own money from them when they upped the direct debit because they chose to.

Tell me what I owe and I'll pay you. Job jobbed.

I understand your point - but I was off ill for several weeks at a time some time back (had done my back in). That made it a distinctly unwelcome thought to try walking anywhere I could help whilst I waited for it to heal.

It was at that point that I stuck all bills possible on monthly direct debit. That way I knew I'd never have to concern myself with how to get to somewhere to physically pay a bill and at least my only concern would be how to buy my food/household goods if it ever came to it again. So - one less thing to think about. You just don't know if an illness will come along (even if only temporarily) and disrupt things.

When one is on a low income too - it helps to have as few months as possible having a large bill coming out of them and wondering how much money one will have left for oneself. It helps to even things out so that there is always a noticeable amount of money for oneself each month.

I've had to keep my house insurance as a one-off yearly bill - as it would be dearer to put it on monthly installments.

But the fuel bill is definitely down as a monthly direct debit - along with the phone/broadband bill, water and Council Tax.

AdrianC

YoungBlueEyes wrote: »

Sorry to derail your thread OP...

I think I remember reading something about 'the last bank in town isn't allowed to close'... so as long as your town's population is this many people there'll always be an actual bank... or have I just made that up...? Or did they go back on it, rather?

No idea. But both the local towns are around 2,000 population - but cover much larger catchment areas, lots of villages. The nearest bigger town IS that 40 mile round trip.

Edit: Ah, a quick google says RBS promised never to shut the last bank in town if it happened to be theirs, but they dropped that a while back. And there wasn't an RBS in either town anyway.

moneyistooshorttomention

I've got an idea I remember that promise of "Last bank in town" and felt rather cynical about it at the time.

It doesn't exist now - I recall recently watching "the last bank in town" close at a town I can think of and yes it definitely is always described as a town (rather than a village).

Who would one turn to and say "You broke that promise...." anyway? If you could think of who to blame - they'd probably only turn round and say "Ah...but there is still a Post Office there - use that instead" and carefully skate over the fact it's not a proper/full bank. You just try paying a cheque into your bank account at the Post Office - well they certainly won't accept a cheque going into the account of my own bank there and I land up having to send it by post (or save it to pay into my branch of my bank when I'm back on a home visit)....

Not that that really impacts on you anyway if the nearest branch of your OWN bank is quite some distance away. You don't just swop bank because yours has now gone - but there is still A.N. Other bank there.

AdrianC

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

...they'd probably only turn round and say "Ah...but there is still a Post Office there - use that instead"

Want to buy a PO? The one in one of the towns I mentioned is for sale, due to the imminent retirement of the people who've been owning/running it for years. And it might be small, but it's a town you'll have heard of, a big tourist draw.


Oh, yes. And the cashpoint on the outside of the PO (a recent installation, the only one in town) doesn't take many foreign-issued cards.

Robin9

YoungBlueEyes wrote: »

Am I the only person who still does it the old fashioned way?

I give them my meter readings and they send me a paper bill,...................)

The old fashioned way was that the meter reader came every quarter - this was the 1950's and 60's - I think they were obliged to have 3 readings out of every 4.

We wrote a cheque and put it in the post

A meter reader also read meters on the day you moved.