Every debt this debt will go down

NeverendingDMP

Our gas and electricity I'm unsure of.
I set our d debit to 150 a month when we moved supplier (old one went bust) .  I've been tracking it and we are up to 115 pounds spent with 12 days still to go till our next payment .  The weather has been pants we are letting draughts in and it may not be a true reflection of what we will spend in months to come.

Do I up the d debit again or just log in at the payment date and pay extra to bring it to zero. Or leave it in the hope summer makes us use less and it evens out.  Really hard to budget for. I paid the same amount for 3 years with my old.supplier and it evened out over winter and summer. Now I have no idea what to budget as its higher rates cos we are on the price cap.. Ideally I want at 0 debt for when it all changes again in april.
Who knows eh!

3 bed semi, slate roof, draughty windows. Feel free to share your guess at what my bill might be!

jwil

Do you know your new charges per KWH and standing charge?  you should be able to get an idea of if you put last years use against the new prices.

I'd personally keep the dd the same until you have a better idea of what you are using.  Better in your pocket than theirs, especially if you can top up to ensure zero balance on the payment date.  Maybe tuck a little bit away in a savings account so you know you've got some to do that.

NeverendingDMP

Thanks jwill you are my voice of reason. 
I used to pay 2.6 p gas and  about 17 p per unit for electricity. Standing charge of 21 p each.
 I don't know my annual usage amount was to properly compare, but my current charges are 4 p gas and 19.94 p electricity with standing charges of approx 25p a day each. So I suppose an increase of 15% as a very rough guess. 
In April I'll be on the new rates but I don't know what they are yet per unit.

My d debit was always 120 and evened out. Its at 150 now so maybe yes I should just leave it and set money aside. Then I'll look.again in april

NeverendingDMP

Long time no chat ha ha.
My new gas and electricity rates are horrendous as is everyone elses. I've looked at my budget and I reckon I can manage just about but if they go up again in October we are screwed.
My council tax bill hasn't arrived yet but from relatives bills it will be about 8 to 10 a month higher.  Food etc all up.
I've spent a fortune on extras this month due to a littles unexpected stay in hospital which involved lots of hospital parking and meals from vending machines. Thankfully 1 parent was allowed to stay day and overnight and they are on the mend now and will be back at school soon. 
No comment about our debt. Think I'll fess up in a few days or just slyly change the signature at some.point when none of you are looking!

jwil

Welcome back!

Hope littlie is ok and it wasn't too serious.

It's just so awful about how expensive everything is all of a sudden!  I can't even imagine what it's going to look like in October.

NeverendingDMP

Little is ok. Had an operation but its not going to result in further problems,they just need recovery time. And in the midst of all that had the recovery team out to my car. Thankfully 120 quid for a new battery seems to have solved that. (Keeping fingers crossed)
and yes everything getting extremely expensive. Everytime I drove Past the petrol station next to the hospital (when we did a parent swap over) the petrol price had gone up again. 
At least we are in a safer place than most people at the moment. I have that to be thankful for x

NeverendingDMP

I'm thinking when all the new bills come.in I need to post a soa so people can point out the obvious and help me plan.  It's gonna need to be one I follow quite strictly as opposed to the last 18 months where I've been a lot more relaxed and reintroduced some   spontaneous spending to stop the guilt and fixation on the debt. An april budget plan. Once its on my spreadsheet it will be much easier to know what I'm up against. 

joedenise

I think something everyone needs to do at the moment @NeverendingDMP.  I now know how much all my bills are going up and it's going to be extremely tight and think there's going to be a bit of robbing Peter to pay Paul going on until I can sort out a proper budget once things start being paid!  It looks like it will work on paper but the proof is in the pudding as they say!

NeverendingDMP

Yes robbing Peter to pay Paul here too. Its a shame really as it's a while since I have had to do that as a matter of course.
First official bill is in. C tax has gone up. Mines spread over 12 months. Its increased by 8 pounds a month. I think in the current climate that's a win. And I have 3 littles so it's kind of balanced out by the increase in child benefit.
I've increased my gas and electric d debit to 175. I'm thinking if I get the rebate I can pay that to the gas and electricity and see how long that and my 175 a month sees me through till.

NeverendingDMP

I'm a low earner so the national insurance threshold will help me out a bit too. Only thing I am unsure about is if I will still count as a qualifying year for my state pension if I'm not paying as much. I think I will still pay some national insurance but maybe only five or ten pounds a week when it changes. Hopefully that will still tick the box till I can work more hours. I work 4 days now and go to work for about a tenner q day after child care. Working a 5th day I would earn more but overall then work for minus. As a result dh is full time and for the present I'm not.