It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!

Sea_Shell

With a little bit of an increase in our pensions/ISAs values this month, we're actually up £1800 in total from last month, even after spending that £5000.


Still £69,000 down on this time last year mind. 

Albermarle

Sea_Shell said:

With a little bit of an increase in our pensions/ISAs values this month, we're actually up £1800 in total from last month, even after spending that £5000.


Still £69,000 down on this time last year mind. 

I have worked out that from Nov 1st 2021 to today , my investments/pension are 10% down. Then of course my spending is 10% up., or thereabouts.

Ibrahim5

Shame I'm unlikely to be accepted for any new CCs with a worthwhile limit, as stoozing is back on the table too.

I applied for M&S card. 24 months 0%. The pre-approval said I would definitely get one. Took ages after applying. Finally got it. Credit limit is the same as my normal credit card spending for ONE month.

NedS

Ibrahim5 said:

Shame I'm unlikely to be accepted for any new CCs with a worthwhile limit, as stoozing is back on the table too.

I applied for M&S card. 24 months 0%. The pre-approval said I would definitely get one. Took ages after applying. Finally got it. Credit limit is the same as my normal credit card spending for ONE month.

Yes, I guess companies are being a lot stricter dishing out credit in the current climate.

I was looking for a 0% credit card I could use to rack up 3-6 month's spend at 0% and then pay off in full, rinse and repeat, but that seems like a non-starter.

Sea_Shell

Luckily, we have got about £19k of available balance between us should we need it.   These are on cards we've had for years, at (now) standard interest rates.   I have no idea what!!

They are for convenience, protection and Clubcard points.    We always pay off in full every month, so the rate is irrelevant. 

Tesco did write to DH early 2020 saying they were going to reduce his limit, but they then changed their mind (due to covid?) and wrote saying they'd leave it as is.

Sea_Shell

In energy news...well my news anyway...

Just goes to show how mild October has been, as going by my spreadsheet, we used only 24m³ of gas this October, as opposed to 31m³ last October.

This equates (roughly*) to a saving of £6.68.


7m³ x 11.2 = 78.4 kwh x 8.53p = 668.75p = £6.68





*This isn't the technical calculation, but close enough.  



Electricity was unaltered at 125 kwh for the month.

NedS

Sea_Shell said:

In energy news...well my news anyway...

Just goes to show how mild October has been, as going by my spreadsheet, we used only 24m³ of gas this October, as opposed to 31m³ last October.

This equates (roughly*) to a saving of £6.68.


7m³ x 11.2 = 78.4 kwh x 8.53p = 668.75p = £6.68





*This isn't the technical calculation, but close enough.  



Electricity was unaltered at 125 kwh for the month.

We don't have gas (we use oil for heating), but we have been on a drive to try to cut our electricity consumption. We used 464kWh this October versus 549kWh in October 2021, so a 15% saving on usage but all of our hard work has been totally eclipsed a 69% increase in cost (per kWh, excluding standing charges, VAT etc), even with the decreased usage. I dream of 125kWh usage in a month but that's closer to our weekly usage.

I estimate that this year the support we have received through all the various government packages has pretty much offset the price increases we have seen in 2022. I am less hopeful for next year.

michaels

October gas usage was 25% lower vs same month last year for us - but then our rolling 12m is down from 38k kwh to 26k - amazing what mild weather and a price incentive can do to consumption....

Albermarle

michaels said:

October gas usage was 25% lower vs same month last year for us - but then our rolling 12m is down from 38k kwh to 26k - amazing what mild weather and a price incentive can do to consumption....

Yes the environment is probably the big winner in all this. 

cfw1994

Sea_Shell said:

In energy news...well my news anyway...

Just goes to show how mild October has been, as going by my spreadsheet, we used only 24m³ of gas this October, as opposed to 31m³ last October.

This equates (roughly*) to a saving of £6.68.


7m³ x 11.2 = 78.4 kwh x 8.53p = 668.75p = £6.68


*This isn't the technical calculation, but close enough.  

Electricity was unaltered at 125 kwh for the month.

Wowsa...that is impressive.  I know everyone's house is different, but I think we use around 6-8x your amount of gas 😱
(eta - just checked Octopus app - Oct was 115m³ for us, so not quite as bad as I thought......still not great!!!)

However....since having 15kW of batteries installed recently, it looks like we now get 97% of our electricity at our Octopus off-peak rate....which is pretty acceptable!