Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

South_coast

Could you get a smart meter, NG? I'm sure the plug-in gadgets are great, but they'll only show you what's being used on a particular socket at any given time, whereas a smart meter would show you the usage for the whole house in real time

badmemory

South_coast said:

Could you get a smart meter, NG? I'm sure the plug-in gadgets are great, but they'll only show you what's being used on a particular socket at any given time, whereas a smart meter would show you the usage for the whole house in real time

But it still doesn't tell you what you would benefit from turning off which must be the main aim surely.  That is why those gadgets are so useful.  A smart meter would not have told me that the thing in my house which is using the most electric is NOT all our computers (minimum 4) but the old freezer, followed by the old fridge.

newgirly

I did have a plug in meter thingy that was free from am energy company many years ago,  no idea where it is now though. I have been reluctant to get a smart meter so far as I wanted to wait until you could easily change provider. But I read an article recently I can’t remember where which said if things get even worse there may be a possibility of charging more at peak times, which is easier monitored on a smart meter than an old one, whether this is a load of rubbish or not I’ve no idea but it’s not making me want to get one still 🙄

You have made me feel a bit better if we decide to change the trip, I think I’ve been suffering from a lot of “life’s too short” since lockdown and have gone from one extreme of not spending too much to another of booking lots of things 😆 
 

newgirly

 Not much to report today, I will update everything tomorrow as it will be the first day of the new mortgage deal and hopefully the start of the end of the mortgage at some point, this must be the longest ever running mortgage free diary, will it ever end? 😆 

themadvix

Smart meters are all second generation now NG and should work when switched from one provider to another. We have both a smart meter and a plug and they are both useful in different ways. Our smart meter display is in the living room and I often find myself checking what the read out is and panicking because it’s on orange (it has green, orange and red LEDs to indicate usage), only to remember I’ve put washing machine or dishwasher on, not that I’ve forgotten to turn oven off! The plug is useful for determining how much things use, but less so for thinking there’s a lot being used, what can be switched off.

Re peak hours usage, we were part of the trial done by Octopus into this - they gave a us a reduction on our bill if we could reduce our energy by a certain amount in peak times (2-hr periods). It was interesting but not terribly difficult for us - we tended to eat a bit later if it was over the evening peak (and wandered around in the dark a bit!). I wouldn’t get too panicked by this - I think the likelihood of shortages is low and that’s when it would be introduced widely. It’s more likely to be something you could opt into if you have a smart meter.

newgirly

Hi vix, thanks for that it’s quite interesting, I’m going to keep a close eye on it, I may even see a f we can locate the old plug in smart reader. 

I managed to get into my online energy account finally and took screen shots of yesterdays yearly usage and estimated annual cost:

Yearly usage elec 6730 kwh
yearly usage gas 18628 kwh

Est. Yearly cost 30th sept both £3,620 
Est. Yearly cost 1st Oct both £4,523 

So an estimated £903 rise per year, I’m unsure if they have factored in the £400 from the government? I have a credit £412.42 at the moment but the bill is due on 6th and next DD is not until 21st for £280, I shan’t put the dd up yet as I feel like we shouldn’t need to for a bit, but we don’t have the heating on much normally and it’s already chilly here! 🥶 

Back soon with the mortgage update 😬

newgirly

💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜OCTOBER MORTGAGE UPDATE💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Start balance Jan 2022 £64,938.05

Balance today £61,452.11

Reduction 2022 so far £3,485.94 


The new mortgage (starting today!) is a five year fixed offset at 4.01% until 30th sept 2027 , I’m hoping to clear it (bar the token amount that needs to keep it open five years to avoid repayment penalties) in more like three years or even less if it’s at all possible. 

So October’s normal payment is £396.18, then there’s an extra planned op of £1027, plus £560 towards next years holidays for the next three months. Novembers extra op should be £1102 - due to me putting the keep up with the kids by £25 pm each. Then from January with no holiday payments the extra op should be £1662 😱 how feasible this is I’ve no idea, time will tell with the energy and food costs, as well as the security of dh’s job! 

South_coast

I'm keeping everything crossed for you 🤞🤞🤞

killerpeaty

Those are fantastic figures. That's so exciting.

Mrs_Money_Penny

Good luck. Love a plan xx