It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

EssexHebridean

I’m not convinced that councils claiming they don’t know how they’re meant to be paying it are being entirely transparent… https://www.gov.uk/government/news/households-urged-to-get-ready-for-150-council-tax-rebate

(There is actually a link within that webpage for the information provided to councils which sets everything out very clearly!) 

Doom_and_Gloom

We pay as the electric bills come in and they have been sending them monthly recently! We used to have a bill come in every quarter and now they demand it monthly.
They have been around the £80-£90 a month mark. Now this is winter so higher usage, but with the price increasing again in April I have no choice but to increase the amount I put aside for this bill per month. We don't use as much electricity in the warmer months and the money not spent is accumulated to cover the extra for the colder ones.

I am positive our rent will be going up soon, we are paying much less than the market rate for a 1 bed and even will with an increase so can't complain too much. If we are asked to leave we would likely struggle to find somewhere in this area to rent, especially given my disability. 

I am going over our costs to see if anything can be reduced or cut out but there isn't much. Our income isn't a huge amount and many people I know already wonder at how we afford the things we do as well as being able to save a little, but the household budget is something I've been doing for 16+ years now so it's almost second nature.

A way we save money is to repair clothing rather than buying new. 
We rarely buy cloths due to repairing instead.

My OH kindly bought me a huge pillow for Yule to help make sleeping more comfortable/less painful and it really works! It only came with one cover though. We looked through our material collection and found one that would make another cover (the materials mostly are free, low cost or even old bed covers. Time to time we pay a normal price for fabric but the result have always been cheaper than buying). He cut it to the specifications needed, took that to the sewing machine and with not much cost I had another cover so one can be on it and one for wash. Very happy.

euronorris

Floss said:

joedenise said:

When we get the £150 CT rebate I think it will be paid straight to the gas and electric company to hopefully reduce the monthly amount needed.

Check your council's website - I know mine still haven't had direction from Westminster as to how this will be applied, and it may well be knocked off your 2022/23 CT rather than given as a £150 rebate.

Our council have confirmed that it will be paid automatically to those paying via a DD, starting in April, and they will contact others to obtain bank details and arrange payment. How well they actually do this though, is another matter.

ladyholly

Our council has said anyone who has an account will be be paid directly and everyone elase will be contacted. It all seems a complicated way of doing things. I would have thought reducing the bills would have been easier e.g. a reduction in months 1 &2 depending how much CT is and a straight reduction for anyone paying 12months up front.

I just wish our council would send the bills so I kknow how much it is going up by. Water has risen by about £5 pcm.

Nonnadiluca

Our energy bills are based on actual usage as we give meter readings every month and our DD has gone from £54 to £118, a rise of about 116%! We've turned off the radiators in the bedrooms and dropped the thermostat down a degree. Hopefully that will make a little difference. We have a 2 bedroom bungalow, relatively new double glazing, loft insulation and cavity wall insulation, led light bulbs and everything is turned off at the wall when not in use. We run the dishwasher on the eco cycle, the washing machine usually on a quick wash cycle and don't have a tumble drier, so not much more we can do. Luckily we can just about afford the rise but with everything else going up as well it's not looking rosy. 

[Deleted User]

We get our electricity bill monthly; I give weekly readings via the app to ensure the bill is accurate and I pay on receipt of bill (I only have one direct debit for the internet). I am awaiting February’s bill with bated breath, I suspect it will be uploaded tomorrow. 

I have been using an awful lot of eggs from my girls to keep food costs down, so much so that I’m down to my last egg (unheard of in this house!) I’ll send the children out to check for eggs shortly.

I have been having quite a bit of success with eBay recently for sale outgrown kids clothes, toys etc. I haven’t sold on eBay for many years, but it’s so much simpler than it used to be and the money goes into your bank the next day. I also find the app very user friendly. I’ve made £39 in the past week, which is a huge huge help for us. I just wanted to mention it in case some were interested but reluctant - it’s been a life saver xx

joedenise

Greenqueen_2 said:

Do check your fuel figures.  Like you, we have been paying £88 per month for gas and electric. I was expecting the rise to reach around £100-£120.  It came as £302 !!!!!!!!

I will do but I just wish they could tell me what they think I'm going to need to pay!  I really hope it isn't anywhere like as much as £302!  We only have state pensions plus my small works pension so something like that amount will be taking an awfully big chunk from our incomings!

joedenise

Floss said:

joedenise said:

When we get the £150 CT rebate I think it will be paid straight to the gas and electric company to hopefully reduce the monthly amount needed.

Check your council's website - I know mine still haven't had direction from Westminster as to how this will be applied, and it may well be knocked off your 2022/23 CT rather than given as a £150 rebate.

We've already received our bill for CT 22/23 and it states on it that as we pay by DD it will automatically be paid into the bank account the DD comes from.

Greenqueen_2

Success!
Managed to get in contact with EDF chat bot to explain that our smart meter figures and minuscule debit of £5 does not warrant a rise of 250% especially as we are on a 3 year fix!

It was agreed that this was ridiculous and a much more reasonable £110 direct debit has been sorted. 

To say I am relieved is an understatement as we officially live “below the median” with hubby on a pension and my 4hours a week job.

Rosa_Damascena

Greenqueen_2 said:

Success!
Managed to get in contact with EDF chat bot to explain that our smart meter figures and minuscule debit of £5 does not warrant a rise of 250% especially as we are on a 3 year fix!

It was agreed that this was ridiculous and a much more reasonable £110 direct debit has been sorted. 

To say I am relieved is an understatement as we officially live “below the median” with hubby on a pension and my 4hours a week job.

I am impressed you got this level of co-operation from a chatbot!!

I haven't got my council tax bill as yet but am now minded to look at the website to see how painful it's going to be - am expecting a banding hike on top of everything. DD for road tax came out of my account last week, I now have an invitation to service the car which is going to cost another £150 at least but is a false economy to hold back from given I have had to use my car a fair bit over the last 3 months, it also doesn't help that fuel prices have gone crazy. All this does is make me feel that it's costing the earth to merely exist!