2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Primrose

Cheery- Daff.  I recommend a pair of woollen fingerless gloves for typing in a chilly room.  They will keep your hands much warmer. 

cw18

Sweetlittledaydreams said:

Using the smart meter I can see that if I boil the kettle once - filled only enough for one mug,  and have a quick (but not timed so not sure how quick) shower, then leave the house at 6am and get back at 9pm and eat a cold dinner with the lights on for a total of around 90 minutes and TV for 1 hour -  then I am still using around  £1.50 - £2 worth of energy. So even with barely being there I'm going to be spending around £45-£60 a month, I moved here 4 years ago and remember my bills being around £28/ month. I prefer to shower in the morning to wake myself up but I'm seriously considering showering at work at night when I finish and maybe making myself a hot drink to take home in a flask and see if it will stay warm til morning. 

My energy bill for August should appear on my account in the next couple of days (I'm hoping my readings hit in time, as their website was down until very late on the day I normally submit them and they normally only just scrape in!), but my spreadsheet is indicating I should expect a bill of just over £59.04 (this uses last months calculations for gas from cubic metre to kWh, so is normally a few pennies out).    I've had a 'rest week' (I work 5 weeks of 6 days and then get a week off) during August, and also been at home for 2 additional days due to industrial action, so out of a 31 day month I've been home for 12 days and my OH has been here for just over 3 days/nights (which meant additional chargers and an additional laptop - plus extra water heating one day, and more use of the toaster).

This time last year (on a fix) that usage would have been £27.59 !!!    Looking at my records for the last couple of years, my largest bill each year was for January usage - and for January 2022 (still on the fix) that was only £62.27.    If I use the same amount of energy next January and apply the 80% October increase to my current charges, I'm looking at my bill for next January reaching £287   I'm not expecting it to be that high though, as in 2021 and 2022 I had a rest week in January, but in 2023 it doesn't start until 31st Jan.   However, that does mean my bill for February will have higher usage than in 2022, as I didn't have a Feb rest week this year....   Makes it harder to compare my usage for the same month across different years, as I always have to take into account my rest weeks !!!

I'm actually thinking it could be worth noting on my spreadsheet which bills include a rest week, a week of annual leave and/or a week away from home, as all those things will impact on my usage.....

Sweetlittledaydreams said:

That's so true about working from home. I admit to having at times feeling jealous of people who work from home and people who got furlough but now I amabsolutly so thankful to be in work and have a job that I have to be on site for.

I'm 100% with you on this.

I recall during the furlough period that some people (in FB groups I'm a member of) were moaning about the extra costs of being at home, but others were hitting back by claiming those people were saving on the costs of commuting / parking / coffees / grab & go lunches.     I was one of the many hitting back at those by pointing out that some people have NONE of those costs, so have no savings to offset the extra costs.   I was still working as normal, but felt it very unfair that those who clearly DID normally have those 'expenses' (some of which are a choice rather than a necessity) just assumed that everyone did.     I've been at my current office just over 3 years now, and I walk to/from work, drink tap water all day, and take a packed lunch - at the moment I'm jogging in, so I also take my own breakfast to work (long life milk in the fridge, and portioned up cereal in food bags in my locker).

bupster said:

Just for info, running a laptop costs next to nothing, as does lighting - it's the heating that's the absolute killer for most of us. Something like 75% of our energy spend each year is in the three months from January to March.

My spreadsheet indicates that January to March 2022 is only 33.4% of my energy usage (calculated from usage not cost) over the last 12 months - and that's with 2 rest weeks and a week of annual leave that I was at home for.    I didn't realise I was THAT much of a Scrooge with my heating

Primrose said:

I expect the next interesting social economy debate may centre around the question "How do you deal with people  who turn up at your home and ask if they can use your electricity to top up their electric vehicles???

I'd stick one of my energy monitoring pugs into the socket before they plug in, and then charge them accordingly

Or point them in the direction of my local A!di (or even Lid!), both of whom have 'pay by card' charging points!!

Seriously, it would depend on why they've come visiting, and the circumstances of their visit.

If I had an emergency I needed help with, and the person I called on had an EV, then I'd expect them to charge enough for the round trip (and extra they did for me whilst here) in the same way as I'd offer to pay for petrol.

If I'd invited someone to come and visit (for a meal or a stop-over), then I'd expect them to pay for it, in the same way as I pay for petrol both ways when I go and visit/stay with someone else.  If they didn't offer to pay then I'd be much less likely to invite them over again, but wouldn't ask them for the money.   I wouldn't expect them to pay towards additional household energy usage, such as more heating/hot water and charging of phones (and laptops if staying over) as they're an invited guest.

If someone asked to use mine as a stop-over on a longer journey, then I'd definitely expect them to pay for charging their vehicle and would be very upset if they didn't offer to pay - and would probably make a point of handing them an energy monitoring plug with a comment about 'then we can calculate the cost'.   If they plugged in without asking, then they'd never get to use my place as a stop-over again!   But I still wouldn't ask for a contribution towards additional household energy use.

newlywed

The Ev charging request dilemma makes me glad I live in a flat, where finding on street parking is difficult… so highly unlikely to ever be asked 

Cheery_Daff

Primrose said:

Cheery- Daff.  I recommend a pair of woollen fingerless gloves for typing in a chilly room.  They will keep your hands much warmer. 

Ooh yes - I have a pair of Turtledove that I got by sending in a cashmere jumper I'd had from a charity shop and they're great 😊 I don't always remember to put then on 🙄 But clearly I need to!

florianatwobob

@Cheery_Daff I get cold fingers too. I splurged on recycled cashmere fingerless gloves when the company was having a significant sale! 

Jellytotts

Our EV costs around £11 from fully flat to fully charged at our current rate, charging at anyone else’s house (without a fast charge point) is pretty pointless unless you’re there for hours as the charge gained by plugging into a domestic supply is very very slow.    We need to do a top up charge when we visit my parents so stop for a coffee at a Tesco store near to them as they have 2 hours of free charging (we normally stop for half an hour and that gets us what we need)

bupster

I'd stick one of my energy monitoring pugs into the socket before they plug in, and then charge them accordingly

This is my absolute favourite typo ever 

cw18

bupster said:

I'd stick one of my energy monitoring pugs into the socket before they plug in, and then charge them accordingly

This is my absolute favourite typo ever 

Ooops!   I had one eye on the clock as I was typing my post, as I needed to get to the shops for the essentials to make packed lunches for this upcoming week.   Guess I didn't proof read it as well as I thought I had

Jolaaled

bupster said:

I'd stick one of my energy monitoring pugs into the socket before they plug in, and then charge them accordingly

This is my absolute favourite typo ever 

Best energy saving tip everrrrr!

Bluegreen143

I’m a bit curious about the extra WFH costs as I WFH and was assuming I save way more in petrol than I use in electricity. In the winter I’ll probably need some heating but I can cosy up in jumpers and blankets to keep the heat low. Obviously if you can walk to work that’s different, but I can’t and I’m sure the cost of commuting four days a week wouldn’t be small (I work part time).

I don’t personally care that much about the social aspect of going into the office. I am quite sociable, but I see friends/family often and am married with young kids, not living alone - so in my case I don’t feel isolated working from home but totally appreciate others might. If anything I appreciate a few hours of peace and quiet each day 😆 I’m also meant to finish work at 3, which works when I’m at home, but I need to leave the office at 2.30 to be on time for the school run (just because the office is much further away from school and nursery). Work are fine with it but I do need to make that time back later so wouldn’t be keen to do that every day. Currently I only work in the office one day a week.

But I guess I do need to do the sums and double check that working from home isn’t costing a lot more than commuting.