Are many missing the point of the £400

maxmycardagain

MattMattMattUK said:

The point of the £400 was a political bribe, as with all bribes it is up to the recipient what they choose to do with it.

If they think they can buy my vote they are absolutely 100% rock sold right, but £400 is just a down payment

[Deleted User]

maxmycardagain said:

MattMattMattUK said:

The point of the £400 was a political bribe, as with all bribes it is up to the recipient what they choose to do with it.

If they think they can buy my vote they are absolutely 100% rock sold right, but £400 is just a down payment

That will equate to very little if, as now being predicted, BoE interest rates increase to 5.5% by the middle of 2023. This is beginning to look like the 70s and 80s all over again; the difference being that we had a lot less debt.

The_Green_Hornet

Dolor said:

maxmycardagain said:

MattMattMattUK said:

The point of the £400 was a political bribe, as with all bribes it is up to the recipient what they choose to do with it.

If they think they can buy my vote they are absolutely 100% rock sold right, but £400 is just a down payment

That will equate to very little if, as now being predicted, BoE interest rates increase to 5.5% by the middle of 2023. This is beginning to look like the 70s and 80s all over again; the difference being that we had a lot less debt.

Looks more like the early 2000s to me when interest rates were at "normal" levels prior to the financial crash.

EssexHebridean

Exactly that about the interest rates - I keep seeing folk talking about the current increases in rates, and saying that they hope things soon "go back to normal" - but realistically, we're still not anywhere near "normal" as the graph above shows!  We took our mortgage out in 2003 at 6.74% I think it was. The lowest rate we saw throughout the 13 years we had it was - from memory - 4.34%. Strangely enough I don't recall all the folk who benefited from cheaper rates when they took a mortgage out while we were still dealing with a 4%+ fix being in any way sympathetic to our plight... So many of us having been gently warning folk for the last 10 years plus to be mindful that the interest rates we've seen in recent times have been absolutely exceptional. 

In terms of the energy bills, we began quite some months ago putting extra aside each month ready to cushion the blow first if, and then as things unfolded, when the increases hit. So £50 over and above the standard DD amount of £70, then the £150 payment went there. Now we pay by variable DD so I transfer £130 at the start the of the month, transfer back whatever is needed to pay the bill, and the balance sits there and mounts up a "credit" effectively but in our own savings. when the energy grant hits, the first month will very likely see us either getting a credit on the account or a refund to the bank while we won't be touching any of that months "internal transfer" amount. Subsequent months will see a far smaller than would otherwise be the case retrieval of funds from the energy account. Anything left in the savings next summer will sit and continue to be added to in the same way ready for the following winter. In another month or so I'll make a decision on whether I need to increase the amount I'm putting in there at the start of each month.  In real terms we also have the learning curve to deal with about the switch to variable DD as well - it will take some working out but at least we're prepared and - we hope - as ready as we can be. (And also financially privileged to have the ability to just voluntarily pay a little extra over each month - I absolutely appreciate that this is not something that can be taken as a given for everyone)

Exodi

I'd expect it will go the same way as the other energy grants -

In a financial product opened as a specific vessel for government energy grants as future subsidy of increased energy bills.

loljk takeaways

wrf12345

Finally got my council tax bill adjusted down by £150 over the next four months (after they tried to increase it using Chinese accountancy methods), when I emailed to say I would not be paying the Oct bill until it was sorted they actually replied within the hour to say it was done. I am with BG and my direct debit is only £30 a month plus about £40 in credit but that does not cover the winter heating bill, which hopefully will not kick in until November when I should be over £100 in credit including the first £67, perhaps even Dec. I was not going to switch the gas on at all but decided avoiding freezing pipework was more important than keeping money out of the pockets of the energy companies. Adjusting for the increase in gas unit rates, I suspect my gas bill will be around £300-400 depending on how desperate the winter gets, that is running it for an hour in the morning and night, fortunately a rather miserly newish combi boiler with the hot water switched off. Before prices went crazy I was paying £45 a month DD that would have around £200 in credit before winter set in so with the total govn handout of £550 I will be better off as I have got my electric consumption right down.

I actually thought that £45 a month was a complete rip-off (before prices went crazy) - you don't want to know what I think about council tax at £1450 a year - so the current situation is ridiculous but saved by the govn throwing "free" money around like there is no tomorrow. To pay for it going forward, energy prices are always going to be higher than they need to be even when Russia implodes and gas prices go back down.

QrizB

Exodi said:

loljk takeaways

Don't underestimate the warming power of a nice chicken jalfrezi!

BobT36

GunJack said:

[Deleted User] said:

. Sensible people should act like squirrels and put the money somewhere safe to pay for future energy costs: if not this Winter, then next

That is such a good way of putting it

..and to go along with my previous post, if it's in your energy account, it's still protected under SoLR. As & when that changes, then I'll move it somewhere else I see fit.

It's better protected in your own bank account... Why give it to the energy companies to loan out to their family businesses? 

Vegastare

Since last April have but £150 away for Utility bill, now they claim they have adjusted this to £83 something.
I will still budget for the £150 each month - if it stays in our DD payments account and builds up fine, if DD rises for utility bills it's there.

What really bugs me is the idea - and so many people have this idea- that no matter what they use this winter it will not be more than £2100 tops.  Hubby spent ages trying to get this over to his Uncle who just could not grasp that it was the average bill some people could pay less or more if they used more.  The conversation ended with Uncle still insisting his own bill was capped at £2500 less the £400 from the "Conservatives" so he isn't worried about what they use!!

Cardew

[Deleted User] said:

 Sensible people should act like squirrels and put the money somewhere safe to pay for future energy costs: if not this Winter, then next

With the £10 Xmas bonus payment, that pensioners get from the Government, we have a family conference, put the issue to a vote and normally save it up for four years and then blow it all on a bottle of half-decent malt whisky.