How do people live off £317.72 Universal Credit?

Takmon

I used £8 of gas last month with no heating and in the coldest months i will use up to £30 of gas a month. My house is well insulated, my boiler is relatively new and efficient plus i have a Nest Thermostat to only heat when i need too and don't heat rooms i don't use.

If i wanted to be frugal i could cut down but i don't see the point when it's so low anyway.

So low usage is possible but everyone house is different, so if you have the heating set a 25 degrees all day in a old house you can't expect it to be cheap.

8ofspades

Our gas is currently only for the hobs, hand washing and the odd bath (maybe once a fortnight) and it was still £12 last month. Our shower and oven are electric and we run a dishwasher, so don't use hot water to fill the sink every night. The heating has been switched off for months and I thought our tariff was pretty good! £4 would be incredible, especially on PAYG.

£7 of our gas bill was was the standing charge, so I looked up the SSE no standing charge tariff but apparently they will only remove the standing charge if you don't use gas or electricity at all. There are a couple of other no standing charge suppliers though.

K80_Black

8ofspades wrote: »

I looked up the SSE no standing charge tariff but apparently they will only remove the standing charge if you don't use gas or electricity at all. There are a couple of other no standing charge suppliers though.

Move to Belfast. This is why I said it's not relevant. It's a tariff only for Northern Ireland, most of which doesn't even have gas, and when you can, you only have a choice of 2 suppliers in Belfast. Everywhere else has no choice at all. Most of the country is on oil.

8ofspades

K80_Black wrote: »

Move to Belfast. This is why I said it's not relevant. It's a tariff only for Northern Ireland, most of which doesn't even have gas, and when you can, you only have a choice of 2 suppliers in Belfast. Everywhere else has no choice at all. Most of the country is on oil.

Fair enough. Is it the same as England where the no standing charge tariffs are nearly twice the price per unit? I think it works out well in summer or if you're out most of the day, but I'm not sure if increased winter usage would push it into being more expensive for us. Will have to sit down with our readings and work it out.

K80_Black

8ofspades wrote: »

Fair enough. Is it the same as England where the no standing charge tariffs are nearly twice the price per unit? I think it works out well in summer or if you're out most of the day, but I'm not sure if increased winter usage would push it into being more expensive for us. Will have to sit down with our readings and work it out.

I've only ever lived in rented flats here with PAYG meters, which don't have standing charges. I chucked in an old English postcode of mine to a comparison site. I was quoted a 25p a day standing charge and a price per kwh that's roughly 2/3rds of what I'm paying now. Chucked in a different English postcode, and it was 28p and half. Gas prices vary so much depending on your location and usage, discussing tarrifs in detail like this is just pointless. Just use a comparison site!

Bogof_Babe

I disagree with the old "put on a jumper" suggestion - when it's really cold you are breathing in icy air, and will never be warm without some means of warming the air you are breathing.

ska_lover

How many people are in your household OP / how many are you feeding?

Are you still following the thread?

Maybe we could come up with some budget meal ideas. (Old style thread is excellent for this)

moo121

Absolutely, this is a challenge, but it is possible. Just a few ideas for living on £31 a week:

Always write a shopping list - and stick to it
Try to develop a few simple, cheap meals you can rotate
If you can, shop at lidl or aldi, less chance of expensive distractions
Buy own brand/savers type goods, you don't need those expensive brands
Buy very few toiletries, non branded are fine, eg. just loo rolls and washing up liquid
Look for offers/discounted food such as yellow sticker bargains

Someone has already mentioned the old style board - a wealth of knowledge on there about living frugally.

Prinzessilein

How do people live on UC?

They pare things down to the bone, and scrape by.

Not everyone has the 'luxury' of switching energy-tariff....I have lived in a number of places where for different reasons I was unable to change provider.

If the OP does come back to read replies, I would echo the advice to look at the OldStyle Board....lots of help there, and some lovely , friendly people!

Own-label groceries are often a much better quality than you might expect! (Well...other than tea...I still budget for a decent teabag!)...get to know your local supermarkets, so you know when they drop prices at the end of the day, and when the restock the yellow-sticker shelves....make the most of your freezer (buy twofers and freeze one pack...yellow-sticker meat can be frozen….)….and consider investing in a slowcooker/multicooker (a basic slowcooker is £20 or less) which cooks cheaper cuts of meat to melt-in-the-mouth yumminess, and does so much more!...and ALWAYS meal-plan, and include using up leftovers in your plan.

seven-day-weekend

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

I disagree with the old "put on a jumper" suggestion - when it's really cold you are breathing in icy air, and will never be warm without some means of warming the air you are breathing.

I absolutely agree, and what a miserable existence it must be, huddled up in layers of jumpers and blankets. I appreciate that if you can't afford to put the heating on you have no choice, but to chose it?

Each to their own, but I won't want to visit their house in the winter