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themadvix

I think that’s a good idea NG! Sorry Jessy, didn’t mean to sound negative - just know that once the mortgage company have got that money back they’re not inclined to give it back to you and while you’re OK this week at work, next week might be another matter! It’s great that BF totally gets it now though - it’s so good to be on the same page.

Jessy103

That's a great idea, thanks NG!

Oh no Vix, I know what you meant, don't apologise! It seems I'm easily swayed by others instead of really thinking about what I want for myself. Must work on that! 

I've had a very big annoyance this morning in the gas/electric department. I submitted meter readings the other day and I was hoping since we now have the nice new gas boiler, the direct debit will finally come down because we're not using as much electric, well the little swines only want to put it up from £116 to £184 a month!! I just don't get it! The period was May to October so there was when me & bf were on furlough for a bit and when boyo came to stay for a month but I'm starting to think there are little imps that come and use all the electrical appliances when me and bf are at work! I've just had a mad hour on the comparison website and swapped to another provider for a monthly payment of £80 a month. I've told bf he is to reduce his boiling of the kettle and the dogs will have to go without the radio on while we're at work! I've started charging my phone at work in the past couple of weeks so hopefully that will help and I will be going round making sure everything is switched off at the plug! 

The mortgage now stands at £62,768.69, so that's another box ticked off the chart! I have paid £18.69 just to round it down to £62,750. I will make another small op towards the end of the month when the interest is added on but that will be it.

BF's birthday is in a couple of weeks so I've ordered his presents while he's at work this morning and arranged for them to go to my parents house. I had a £5 amazon voucher to use which I'd claimed from Pinecone research the other day so it came to under £50. Just need to get him a card from me and get boyo to pick him a card off moonpig which i will then get sent to our house for him.

Going to be looking at doing a bit more Christmas shopping this weekend too. I want to get it done nice and early!

Have a lovely weekend x

South_coast

Have you got a smart meter Jessy? They're great for identifying which appliances are using the most electric, so you can pinpoint whether some things might be more cost-effective to replace. You can also scroll back to see if there are patterns when the consumption is higher. If you put the display somewhere you can easily see it, you can spot if something's been left on in another room too x

greent

That's a crazy amount they want to put it up to! We pay £140/ mth for combined gas and elec - for a 5 bed detached house with 5 or 6 people living in it (depending on if DS1 is home from uni) with 2 kids who like really long showers (like an hour for DS2!!) and obviously lots of washing with all of us (inc smelly sports kits etc) TBH, I'm expecting our monthly payment to increase with DH wfh this Winter (I rarely have heating on in the  if it's just me) but I'd still expect it to be probably less than your figure you were quoted! 

Jessy103

No, unfortunately I don't SC. I was waiting for them to come fit one but that's another thing covid has delayed! BF suggested (I believe sarcastically) taking a meter reading, using an appliance and then taking another meter reading. I might just blooming well do it! 😂

IKR greent! I turned the air blue when I saw it. Me and BF had a good chat about it and believe a big part of it's still the old electric boiler haunting us. For a month of that bill period BF's DS was here too, so that boiler was heating up water for three of us to have showers. BF also seems to think the TV we have isn't helping because it's a plasma TV and a few years old so not very efficient. I am also guilty of putting the dryer on for our washing instead of putting it on the clothes horse in the bathroom because it's the easy thing to do as we don't have any outside space to dry it. Well not anymore! 

themadvix

Expect the dryer has quite a bit to do with it. You could always ask on your local Freegle/freecycle if anyone has an old fashioned electricity monitor you could have. I gave  ours away a couple of months ago on Freegle (Sorry, I should have sent it to you!)

Think BF is probably right that some of it’s a hangover from the old boiler too.

Jessy103

Thanks vix. In all honesty I've never heard of electricity monitors! I'm going to look into it now

QueenJess

Definitely look at that monitor.  That bill is outrageous!  I have a fairly big house and although I know it is very energy efficient (rated A or B I think), my bill is £80 a month.  I don't use the dryer though.  I hang all my clothes in the family bathroom and shut the door.

South_coast

It might be worth giving them a nudge about the smart meter, indoor appointments are still going ahead for other things so as long as they can socially distance it might be OK? The top culprits for me are the oven, hob and kettle - although I have a feeling plasmas are known to burn through it so your BF could be right on that. My old hoover used to use 15p/hour as well, much better since I switched to a battery one!

themadvix

South_coast said:

My old hoover used to use 15p/hour as well, much better since I switched to a battery one!

How many hours were you hoovering?! 😂