2022 Frugal Living Challenge

London_1

I sadly never knew either sets of grandparents as my late parents were (Mum ) 45) and Father (55) when I was born.However I have two delightful little great granddaughters aged 2 & 4 and I love the bones of them. My eldest granddaughter is 29 and bring them to visit me regularly and the girls aand I have quite a lot of fun playing and chatting and the eldest wants Granny to teach her how to knit.I have told her when she is five I will do so. I was 44 when I first became a Grandmother and I was so pleased as its been fantastic seeing all of my seven grandchildren growing up and now seeing their children.My eldest grandson lives in New York but we face time quite a bit and we have longpolitical discussions and spend hours putting the world to right he is in his mid 30s now but I can still remember his face when as a little boy I had made him a Postman Pat jumper complete with Jess the cat on the front . He says I'm not in the least like his friends grandma's as I still drive, wear trainers and skinny jeans and can play a mean game of poker :)and we share a love of both the Beatles and Frank Sinatra but I also (according to him ) make the best sausage rolls and coffee in the world so I still have my uses  
I think the very young and old get on pretty well together as we both have few inhibitions and tell it like it is  

JackieO xx

Bluegreen143

@London_1 I hope I’m fortunate enough to have a lovely family of grandchildren one day and be young enough to see them grow up as you have! How lovely. 

My own paternal grandparents were quite young (late 40s/just turned 50) when I was born and were very active in our upbringing. They didn’t live nearby but took us for all our holidays. 

It’s lovely that they got to see their four granddaughters grow up and (in my case and my cousin is also expecting now) start a family. My nana sadly died six years ago but she got to meet my son a few times before she passed away when he was a few months old. My papa is still going strong in his mid 80s and is in good health. A bit cantankerous now as old men tend to be 😆 but he loves seeing my children. 

If I’m half the grandparents they were I shall be proud! 

London_1

Bluegreen143 what a lovely thing to say about your grandparents  

'If I’m half the grandparents they were I shall be proud!'  

I adore all my strapping great hulking five  grandsons bless them ,they pat me on the head and call me 'Little Nanna' scamps that they are. They are the light of my life bless 'em.

Having older parents I missed out on having a Granny and Granddad and even aunts as they were all scattered around the world by the time I arrived Australia, Canada and the USA. 

So I was always keen to be part of my own grandchildrens lives

JackieO xx

MazzieD

Just a very quick post for other Shell Energy customers with an on-line account.

Just checked my Account Summary and info about the suggested new October DD or suggested one off payment is there.  Not received an email yet so if you haven't either and want to check beforehand hopefully info should be there.

London_1

MazzieD said:

Just a very quick post for other Shell Energy customers with an on-line account.

Just checked my Account Summary and info about the suggested new October DD or suggested one off payment is there.  Not received an email yet so if you haven't either and want to check beforehand hopefully info should be there.

I'm a Shell energy user. They just reduced my October payment in early September to £36.00 from £42 then I just checked again and they want the payment back up to £42.00 again even though I am £271 in credit, and my last months bill was £39.25 I think the machine has a mind of its own at the moment . I am on a fixed rate until August 2023

MazzieD

London_1 said:

MazzieD said:

Just a very quick post for other Shell Energy customers with an on-line account.

Just checked my Account Summary and info about the suggested new October DD or suggested one off payment is there.  Not received an email yet so if you haven't either and want to check beforehand hopefully info should be there.

I'm a Shell energy user. They just reduced my October payment in early September to £36.00 from £42 then I just checked again and they want the payment back up to £42.00 again even though I am £271 in credit, and my last months bill was £39.25 I think the machine has a mind of its own at the moment . I am on a fixed rate until August 2023

They change the suggested amount quite regularly on my account and I don't change it that often but the amount of energy I use isn't the same every month in the summer and I'm on the SVR but yours does seem a bit strange!  It's estimated use so probably not that accurate but my DD does need to go up to cover the winter months.

London_1

I have been with Shell Energy ever since they took over First Direct and have always been very happy with them. My summer 3-4 months are usually around £35-40 a month for duel fuel and obviouslyit goes up in the winter months.
 I read my meters and send them the reading every 16th of the month so I know my readings are acurate.

My yearly totals for duel fuel is around £600-650 per year, and I know this will increase next year when the fix ends I was really lucky that last year it was coming to an end and instead of fixing it for a year I decided for two years, and a month later the prices started to increase.

I keep a sharp eye on useage, and as I have insulated walls and a double insulated roof, and I am in a  mid terrace in a sheltered southern part of Kent

My bills are quite manageable. I don't mind them having an extra couple of hundred in credit just in case of a cold snap or another 'Beast from the East' happens.

Living in a smaller property and making sure I eliminate any draughts  has helped as well I replaced my CH boiler about three years ago with an 'A 'rated one and that works a great deal better than the old one did.

I cook with my Remoska ,slow cooker and microwave , and batch cook quite a bit

My main oven only goes on about twice a month and thats when I have a big bake up.

Thick lined curtains help as well and throws on the sofa and chairs keep me warm and I just layer up as well  

JackieO xx

HelenaPinky

Have really enjoyed reading about all of the grandparents we on the the group either have or are. @London_1 JackieO, I often think your grandchildren are fortunate to have you…from your care packages to your grandsons at uni and your interest in their lives. 

I do agree with the people who speculated that maybe it is harder for working women to save money, compared to their predecessors who had more time to cook, save etc. I work part time so am somewhere in the middle, but I could certainly go a lot further with reducing the pre-packaged foods we eat and save money/be healthier in the process. Sugar is a big one for me - I am addicted and I worry I’m setting my children on a similar path. I don’t drink or smoke so it’s my only vice, but it’s a big one. 

My ‘spends’ have started arriving this month - all carefully considered and bought with intention to reduce future bills….an air fryer, a freeview box (cancelling the big red airline-come-trains-come telly contract), and thermal curtains. Luckily, DH is (quite) laid back and trusts that I very reluctantly spend, so knows that I’ll have done my research. Looking forward to the air fryer - I may have said on here before I’m not as confident with cooking as I wish I was, so I’m looking forward to learning a new way to cook. 

I have bought floor length thermal eyelet N3xt curtains (second hand off a bidding site) - I was considering doubling them up with the curtains already on the pole for extra warmth, has anyone ever done this? 

cw18

Yet another with Shell here.

I moved over to them in October 2020, which got me stuck in the middle of a mess which could have got complicated.....
As my move to them was almost complete, I went to the website for Tonik (my provider at the time) to check what it was saying on there  - only to see a message that they'd ceased trading and accounts were moving to Scot Power (who have been the company I'd left to join Tonik, and who I did not want to end up with again).   I couldn't get hold of anyone at Tonik through any method, so had to phone SP.   They said all Tonik customers had been emailed a week earlier, but I hadn't - so it appears I fell through the cracks because my move was in process.

The move to Shell was allowed to complete, but the credit balance I'd had with Tonik had to be sent to SP who then had to send me a cheque.   That took 4 months, and was only that quick because the lady I'd spoken to at SP gave me her direct email address so I could regularly chase it up!

I joined Shell on a fix, which ended on 31st Jan this year.   My costs immediately went up by 50%, and then by another 54% in April      At the current prices I calculate my monthly average usage to be just over £93 (based on the last 12 months), but I've been paying £100 to ensure I had a good credit balance towards further rises.   According to my personal calculations, from next month that rises to £116.35 - although Shell are saying £121.07 when I log into my account!!

I'm leaving my payments where they are, so after deducting the grant I should be looking at paying £33-£34/month for the next 6 months.   I'm then planning on putting the rest of my normal £100 to one side as if I were still paying that, so at the end of the 6 months I'll have the £400 I can use to cover the extra over the following 18 months (until prices next change).  £400 over 18 months is just over £22/month, so even if I go along with the figure Shell are saying now and raise my payments to £122 (the £100 I've been used to 'paying', plus £22 from the savings) I won't have to find any extra from my own money to cover the increase for the full 2 years this cap is in place

Having seen what some others are facing, I know that I'm in a VERY lucky and fortunate position....

But I'm still going to continue to work on reducing my usage

cw18

HelenaPinky said:

I have bought floor length thermal eyelet N3xt curtains (second hand off a bidding site) - I was considering doubling them up with the curtains already on the pole for extra warmth, has anyone ever done this? 

I couldn't find any thick, affordable curtains in the size I needed in a colour that wouldn't have me tearing them back down, so I have both curtains from a thinner pair on the same hooks - effectively making them double thickness.   During the cooler months, I can tell as soon as I walk into the hallway if I've forgotten to pull the curtains!!   I had to buy 3 pairs - one for my back door, and two for my front as it has a full length window alongside it.