Anyone else feeling a little sick right now

london21

Can be overwhelming.

I have taken a break from the news.

Will have to reduce usage and try to increase income.

No need getting stressed and worried before the change comes. 

johnbhoy70

I was just joking about powerbanks guys!! We do have a couple though admittedly for back up travelling etc should we need. I've also binned the idea of taking the fridge on the daily commute.

Seriously though we all need to be more aware. So far I've turned the boiler water temp to 50 and nagged the kids. I think even these small measures are helping. My expected usage when I started with Sainsbury's was approx 12000 gas and 4000 leccy. The last bill a couple of weeks ago predicted just over 10000 gas and under 3000  leccy. That's from start of last October so includes a winter and hopefully 3 months of fairly light usage to go 

poppy10_2

johnbhoy70 said:

Still plenty coming off 1 year and especially 2 year fixes going to find what the news has been banging on about. I'm still shocked by the amount of people that have no understanding of how the price cap really works and what the actual headline percentages actually mean for them. Really think the media's coverage and understanding  of this, especially initally, was very poor and has contributed to some people sleepwalking here.

Yes, media coverage of this issue and the "price cap" has been very poor. Got several friends/relatives who seem blasé about the forthcoming energy rises, thinking that they will be capped at £3800 which will be tight but affordable for them. Yet they live in large houses/barn conversions and have way higher usage than the average household that the price cap is based on. Their bills could easily be £6-7k but they are under the impression that they will not pay any more than the price cap.

johnbhoy70

poppy10_2 said:

johnbhoy70 said:

Still plenty coming off 1 year and especially 2 year fixes going to find what the news has been banging on about. I'm still shocked by the amount of people that have no understanding of how the price cap really works and what the actual headline percentages actually mean for them. Really think the media's coverage and understanding  of this, especially initally, was very poor and has contributed to some people sleepwalking here.

Yes, media coverage of this issue and the "price cap" has been very poor. Got several friends/relatives who seem blasé about the forthcoming energy rises, thinking that they will be capped at £3800 which will be tight but affordable for them. Yet they live in large houses/barn conversions and have way higher usage than the average household that the price cap is based on. Their bills could easily be £6-7k but they are under the impression that they will not pay any more than the price cap.

Luckily my mum just hands all her stuff over to me and i deal with as much as i can remotely as she lives on the islands and is 300  miles from us. I fixed her for 2 years last August and tbh given up on trying to explaiin the details to her. I realise not all relatives are as easy to win over. I think a lot possibly feel they're losing a bit of independence. All she needs to know is that she can carry on using as normal just now, whilst not being wasteful, and like us she's in for a real whack next Autumn. 

All the advice given when asked for on here is well intentioned but for every help post that comes on there's one slating Martin Lewis for saying do this and do that and now, for example,  they're shafted for not picking a fix. I can't recall one update when the guy's told people to do anything. He's constantly stated afaic that 'IF' people want to fix then in his opinion here are the relative percentages to think about if 'YOU' want to. These people also seem to forget by not picking a fix they've saved by the protection of the cap they were/are on. Just more of the misunderstanding of the whole situation we're talking really

elsien

Parent is aware that she needs to consider when her fix ends. Unfortunately she is far less aware of the need for speed before offers vanish never to be seen again. Which is why, having spent the last 3 days telling her to call them back promptly about an offer phone call, I nearly lost the will to live when she advised it wasn't a recent letter, it was one she'd had sometime back in July. 
Going round tonight to look at things in more detail.

I'm also waiting for the posts next year in the unlikely event that the predictions turn out to be doom mongering, along the lines of "Martin advised me to fix and now I'm paying well over the odds." 

Blondetotty

Alternating between feeling sick and burying my head in the sand.  4 bedroom house that has barely any insulation and high pitched ceilings so doesn't retain any heat, with full length windows facing the Irish sea and our estimates have gone from paying around £3k a year combined to looking like £12k come October and £14k ish in January.  Just had our summer bill from BG and it's over 1k with zero gas usage.  I've turned everything I can off at the mains but he works from home so has to have lighting in the garage which is burning electric, plus a pond and filter.  I'm despairing.  
We're not wealthy by any stretch, I work and he's retired with a pension with a plan to sell this money pit in a couple of years for redevelopment but for the moment we're stuck and the energy bills are literally going to wipe us out.  I've no idea how we're going to pay them and I can't figure out what else I can turn off!  I've got the electric heated blankets out airing ready for cooler weather as I can't see us being able to afford the heating on as well. 
I feel like jumping into the sea sometimes and not coming up for air as I'm pretty sure my life insurance "might" cover the winter bills :-(

gazapc

Blondetotty said:

Just had our summer bill from BG and it's over 1k with zero gas usage.  I've turned everything I can off at the mains but he works from home so has to have lighting in the garage which is burning electric, plus a pond and filter.

A 1k bill for 3 months (?) usage is high. There must be a signficant demand consuming power. Unless you are using multiple old school 50 Watt GU10 bulbs, lighting will not be it.

BROKEN

spot1034 said:

Looking on the bright side - at some point this seemingly unstoppable rise in prices will come to an end. Several factors might bring this about including  a mild winter, an easing of tension between Russia and the west (perhaps Putin 'removed' in one way or another) and a concerted effort by politicians across the world to ease supply problems in the next decade or so. That last one will take a while to bear fruit, but just a sign that it's being done will tend to bring more confidence to markets and ease the panic that there clearly is at present.

When that happens, we could see future prices fall quite sharply. I don't think it will happen for a while, perhaps not for a year or more, but when it does that should mean suppliers will be able to agree contracts at lower rates than we are seeing right now, and that should finally bring some more cheer to the retail market. 

It will happen, it's just a question of when.

When we only get 4% of our gas and oil from Russia all the other produces of this liquid gold are making a fortune. A good wind turbine would power over 4000 homes and if all paid there energy over the next 12months they could have bought the Turbine outright and have free clean energy, just clubbing together to maintain it.

elsien

Blondetotty said:

Alternating between feeling sick and burying my head in the sand.  4 bedroom house that has barely any insulation and high pitched ceilings so doesn't retain any heat, with full length windows facing the Irish sea and our estimates have gone from paying around £3k a year combined to looking like £12k come October and £14k ish in January.  Just had our summer bill from BG and it's over 1k with zero gas usage.  I've turned everything I can off at the mains but he works from home so has to have lighting in the garage which is burning electric, plus a pond and filter.  I'm despairing.  
We're not wealthy by any stretch, I work and he's retired with a pension with a plan to sell this money pit in a couple of years for redevelopment but for the moment we're stuck and the energy bills are literally going to wipe us out.  I've no idea how we're going to pay them and I can't figure out what else I can turn off!  I've got the electric heated blankets out airing ready for cooler weather as I can't see us being able to afford the heating on as well. 
I feel like jumping into the sea sometimes and not coming up for air as I'm pretty sure my life insurance "might" cover the winter bills :-(

It may be worth you posting a separate thread to see if anyone has any suggestions around reducing your usage? Are the bills based on regular readings? 

Inigo_Montoya

My guess is if the government does not step in and help the millions of people who cannot afford the coming price increases then it may end up bring the government down through marches, riots, civil disobedience, civil un-rest etc ... - we will get a general election & labour will win because the public will think they are the party that will reduce their bills

Sadly when the government decided to spend 400+ billion on covid measures such as lockdowns & furlough we were always going to end up with out of control inflation & the current crisis - Im just worried that the government spending 10's of billions more now to help people with their energy bills will just fuel yet more inflation

Lots of people were quick to praise the chancellor for all the free handouts during the covid lockdowns but didnt seem to be able, at the time, to think about the consequences of the eye watering levels of spending 

Im just glad I dont live in Turkey with nearly 80% inflation