Little by little, and with love

RosaBernicia

So I have been playing with my energy cost spreadsheet.  I doubt the results are any less depressing than anyone else's but I'm kind of glad to have looked it in the eye now.  (I shall try not to fume too much here over the issue being the electric standing charge increase that shouldn't need to change if we had a decent system and had invested in renewables instead of propping up oil companies for decades.) 

Calculating with my actual usage for a full year, my previous fix from 2020 was £720.  On the Oct 21 price cap, it's £940.  On the April 22 rates, £1,530.  Over double.  And multiplying that by 20% for the potential further rise in Oct 22, it's £1,835.  A full £1,100 higher than the year before.  About 150% increase, then.

I don't particularly want a £200 loan that has to be repaid (no doubt the utility companies will find some way of creaming off admin costs of some sort and so far it looks like I can manage without for now) and I don't know if I will get any council tax help (Scotland haven't announced plans yet).  Fortunately I have some flexibility to manage the increase and now I've seen it, I can plan. 

So, the heating will be tweaked down, I will keep better track of closing windows shortly after airing rooms in the morning, garden office plans will be shelved (for multiple reasons - but including because it makes no sense to heat an outbuilding next winter if I don't have to, on those costs), and I'm rather glad I went for carpets in the bedrooms.  I haven't yet been able to think of much I can do for anyone else, apart from the usual voting, donating and offering friends the spare bedroom to visit for a low cost trip away. 

MuffinTops

Hello Rosa,

I feel the same as you with the energy costs rising so high.  It's infuriating.  The help they offer is to give us all that £200 loan you mention, which also doesn't seem like a well thought out plan!  The last place I want a debt with is the government, or energy companies so I'm starting to look at if there are any options to refuse it.

I also parked workshop plans based on not wanting to increase my energy bills.  I will need to use my workshop for the dirtier work I need to do, but will just have to make sure I'm well wrapped up for it.

It's great your van loan is close to the end to open up those funds if you do need them.  I think I'll get my windows replaced next year and see if the loft needs insulating as they'll help store the heat in the house.  I've also started to close doors behind me when I leave a room, as before I just prefer everything open.  That'll be a summer treat now.

I hope you're having a good weekend.

MTxx

RosaBernicia

Time for a catch up after quite a few things. 

The cat is no longer with us   - she went downhill quite suddenly and there were no other kind options.  It's very odd not having a cat around somewhere, despite the dog.  So glad she was insured, and in the process of claiming - it will still be £400 but that's a whole lot better than the £1500 it would have been without and meant I didn't have to worry about money for any of her treatment decisions (very glad about that, as it was basically a horrible situation but at least I was able to give her every chance). 

All plans for any form of money arrangements have been royally screwed by my employer, who have overpaid me but not yet managed to confirm by exactly how much or how it needs to be repaid.  I'm contacting my union and hope it can be sorted out (that's the short version, the long one includes much more details of incompetence on their part and a lot of swearing) but am so gutted to have this land just when I thought I could get back on my feet.  It's not my fault, nobody has suggested that, but emotionally it feels like I am being punished anyway.  There isn't really much I can do about it except negotiate repayment over as long as possible and find low cost options for work on the house. 

I was planning a trip away in March with a friend... that's unlikely to happen now as for various reasons neither of us have got much done to organise it.  I am hoping she will be able to visit, and if not I may go down there.  Either way I suppose it will be lower cost. 

Still haven't quite got the tax return done, but I did check my figures tonight so hopefully can get that done tomorrow. 

The budget this month has gone pretty much ok otherwise.  Groceries is spent but that's partly because I deliberately did a major shop yesterday - I was in town anyway so it saved a trip and it got me a petrol voucher which made it also worth filling the car while I was there.  I did also realise that I need to stay out of the pet shop in the village - much as I'd like to support local businesses, they are much more expensive than buying elsewhere and their stuff needs to be an occasional extra, not the regular treat options. 

So plans:

Untangle the pet insurance

Tax return

See if I can get a roofer to actually turn up and give me a quote... [sighs and grumbles - this is the third one... ]

Figure out what to do about week off next month

Hope all is well with you out there

RB xx

EssexHebridean

Oh Rosa I'm so sorry to hear about your poor puss-cat - it's awful losing them isn't it, and yes, I know that "cat-shaped hole in life" all too well. I hope that the fact that you gave her every chance and a wonderful life is of some comfort. 

And that is utterly APPALLING from your employers! I certainly hope they behave decently around the question of repayments, and also put steps into place to ensure that sort of thing can't happen again. Is it only you it affects or have they managed to screw things up for multiple staff members?

MuffinTops

Hello Rosa,

I'm so sorry for your loss.  Pet shaped holes are very deep, so I hope you're doing ok.  Sending lots of love to you.

The last thing you needed to also deal with is the company incompetence.  I hope they sort it quickly and waiver some of it for the stress this is causing.  Disgusting behaviour on their part.  

Thinking of you Rosa, and hope you're doing ok.  It's good to know you have the Union helping you.

MTxx

RosaBernicia

EssexHebridean said:

Oh Rosa I'm so sorry to hear about your poor puss-cat - it's awful losing them isn't it, and yes, I know that "cat-shaped hole in life" all too well. I hope that the fact that you gave her every chance and a wonderful life is of some comfort. 

And that is utterly APPALLING from your employers! I certainly hope they behave decently around the question of repayments, and also put steps into place to ensure that sort of thing can't happen again. Is it only you it affects or have they managed to screw things up for multiple staff members?

Thanks EH.  It is a comfort to know that I gave little rescue mog a good life, and that she was comfortable right up until her last day. 

The issue with my employer only affects me as far as I know, but they have a terrible reputation for various screw ups and I know they've done equally awful things to other people.  I have finally got a nominated contact now so it is progressing.  Disappointed that senior staff don't seem to understand why I am so angry, I think they forget that in some situations every penny really does matter and if HR are this rubbish to me arguing back, what are they doing to anybody who doesn't/ can't!  They are being more reasonable now, but only after a good kick about how awful and thoughtless they were being before. 

RosaBernicia

MuffinTops said:

Hello Rosa,

I'm so sorry for your loss.  Pet shaped holes are very deep, so I hope you're doing ok.  Sending lots of love to you.

The last thing you needed to also deal with is the company incompetence.  I hope they sort it quickly and waiver some of it for the stress this is causing.  Disgusting behaviour on their part.  

Thinking of you Rosa, and hope you're doing ok.  It's good to know you have the Union helping you.

MTxx

Thanks MT. 

I doubt I will get any waiver despite my employers incompetence as I am public sector, so it's all taxpayers money.  They did finally think to tell me that the amount they originally quoted included tax and NI which will not need to be repaid... goodness knows what it will do to my tax and pension records.  I think I've got the right person at the union today, so looking forward to hearing back from them and seeing if there is anything else that can be untangled to minimise my costs. 

RosaBernicia

Well a few little things have come in which will all help.  The pet insurance have refunded me over £20 in premiums, more should be coming back from the vet (who refused to believe that my policy included some cremation costs, despite it being clearly stated in my document, so I've paid out and they will have to refund me) and I realised that I can claim for a specialist treatment she had a few months ago, so hopefully that will put a bit more back in the pot.  Off to the postbox with those forms (paper again - weird!). 

TCB finally paid out after the usual 5 months, so I've claimed it immediately and am pleased with myself that I really did get the car insurance down to well below £200.  The roofer is due tomorrow and I think I've settled on a quote for another bit of work, so hopefully that can also get sorted soon. 

kerri_gt

Oh Rosa, so sorry to hear about mog. I often say the kindest act we do for our pets is often the hardest to bear. She was very lucky to have found you and shared some precious time together. 

Good news about some additional pennies coming in, and sounds an utter nightmare about your wages. Funny how taxpayers money is suddenly top priority in cases like that, but it's perfectly acceptable that it funds cheese and wine parties   

Let's hope this roofer turns out to be 'the one'

RosaBernicia

kerri_gt said:

Oh Rosa, so sorry to hear about mog. I often say the kindest act we do for our pets is often the hardest to bear. She was very lucky to have found you and shared some precious time together. 

Good news about some additional pennies coming in, and sounds an utter nightmare about your wages. Funny how taxpayers money is suddenly top priority in cases like that, but it's perfectly acceptable that it funds cheese and wine parties   

Let's hope this roofer turns out to be 'the one'

Thanks Kerri.  You're right that letting pets go is the hardest thing we do, but in a way when it is the only thing we can do, it becomes easier than trying to pick out the right decision from all the options. 

Best not get me started on appropriate use of public money... all the years my colleagues and I have spent pinching pennies to do the right thing... !!