2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Floss

While my DD is going up by 89% this time, I have several positive financial changes due before October which will balance out that increase. And I can also gauge the accuracy of their prediction based on reduced useage.

nannygladys

My council tax refund/rebate whatever it is has hit my bank this morning, so they were spot on. I have transferred it to my annual bill pot as I'm not sure what to do with it yet. The monthly dd is manageable at the moment, so it may go to help pay the October rise in fuel prices, not sure.

MazzieD

@Floss and @cw18   Thanks for your comments.  I increased my DD on the website yesterday but not as high as I think it should be, I'll have a look at my smart meter readings at the end of April as it can vary from month to month depending on how much energy is used and start increasing the DD accordingly.  I really want to get a total overview of the impact of all the increases before finally setting my May budget.  I am pretty sure it's already accurate but want to make sure I've calculated the NI increase correctly as I don't get paid until tomorrow.   

This really is unchartered waters, we are all having to adjust to not having the choices we have become so used to like the MSE Cheap Energy Club, cheap food and possibly having to cut back on all sorts of things that would have been unthinkable a few months ago.  

Bluegreen143

You are all really organised with your CT refund, putting towards something specific. I just put it into my emergency fund/buffer as that’s my current savings goal. Perhaps I should have put it in my energy category to balance out the price rises, but I just think prices will be high for so long I may as well get used to the increased DD 😨

We got a smart meter fitted and it’s actually made a big difference to DH, who’s been keeping an eagle eye on it. He put a washing in the drier yesterday, saw the price shoot up and took it out and hung it on the line 😯

It’s funny because he is a smart meter fitter and always told me he knows what everything costs to run anyway so didn’t actually need the meter - but actually it’s shocked him having ours hooked up.

RateTartExtraordinaire

I'm battling with my energy provider at the moment. I have a complaint on the go.
Following migration from one provider to another, I was put on 'the wrong' tariff for 3 months which I was only informed about in April. They have issued a back-bill to December '21 at a higher tariff, meaning an extra £90 charge. I complained and at first they offered me £20, as 'the maximum goodwill gesture' they we able to offer. 

As part of the advice about complaints the email pointed me in the direction of the Citizens Advice Bureau website. The CAB have great templates for complaint letters for various situations with energy providers. I found a good one and adapted it and sent it as a reply. I recommend having a look if you are ever in a similar situation.

Now my energy provider have offered me £30 as a goodwill gesture! It seems £20 wasn't the maximum

I'm not sure if I have the time and energy to pursue it further, but I really feel that if the mistake was theirs (a migration billing error) and they tell me about it 3 months down the line, shouldn't they be the ones to loose out or are they allowed to back bill me for the difference. I feel misled at the very least. 

On a happier note, I got my £140 cashback from my bank switch this week. 

MazzieD

@RateTartExtraodinaire Sounds like a real nightmare, Shell Energy have been putting reassuring messages on their website and by email stating that they are well run and backed and unlikely to go out of business.  Not sure that guarantees anything in the current climate!. 

Haven't had any problems with them until I came off my fixed rate at end of January.  My DD hasn't changed since then so 2 energy price increases later I have now changed it myself.  What I find really annoying is during the cold weather in February 2021 they emailed me almost immediately and put it up due to my increased smart meter readings.  Probably didn't have much credit at that time!.

No sign of my CT rebate yet, on the website it says that they started the payments on 27 April (yesterday) so I'll just keep checking my banking app 

MazzieD

Bit bemused this morning, £150 rebate in my bank account but it is called an Energy Rebate rather than Council Tax!.  Doesn't matter what it's called really, just good that it's arrived and a Topcashback payment so transferred it all to my savings account for the moment.  Also got monthly salary so all is well until it starts disappearing on bills next week.

Not so good news is that I managed to go over budget in April.  Doesn't happen often but spent quite a lot on cat food and stocking up on food (all on offer) and a couple of other expenses cropped up.  Still under budget for the year but not by much. 

May budget is now set, my April energy bill is due next week so that's going to be interesting. 

Hope everyone enjoys the Bank Holiday weekend.

cw18

MazzieD said:

Bit bemused this morning, £150 rebate in my bank account but it is called an Energy Rebate rather than Council Tax!. 

That's because it IS an Energy Rebate, it's just being paid through the council tax system as they're using bands as an indication of income level - which really doesn't work, as a tiny house in an expensive area of the country will cost more (and be in a higher CT band) than a large property in a much cheaper area of the country.

Nonnadiluca

It's almost as if they didn't think it through!

dustydigger

My normal dual fuel payment was around 89 pounds a month for several years. I kept cutting down on usage,  so keeping the cost fairly level.In the usual assessment in March 2021 Scottish Power said my payment would stay the same,then in July  hiked my payment from £91 to £106,despite always having a credit balance of several hundred pounds.So you can imagine my trepidation when again on my winter 2022 assessment they say my payment will stay the same.

Mind you my OH was away all of February abroad,and I did no cooking,and was extremely frugal. I think I had a drop of around £40 in usage that month,which was an assessment month.I also have around £300  credit. So I have no idea what the new payment will be.

My granddaughter was paying £80 a month,they raised it to £120 a couple of months ago,and now say she must pay £240!!!. So I look forward with bated breath for my new payment for July.