And now we go again...

greenbee

Cheery_Daff said:

I'm working at home tomorrow but it might be a day for having tea from the freezer,  let out to defrost and just warmed up in the microwave... 😱

I was thinking tomorrow is a microwave day! And that I might start work late tomorrow and work into the evening (that way I can at least be outside in the daylight in the morning). Although I'm not sure I use much less when I'm working... I won't if I sit on the sofa and watch a film on the ipad, then go and read in the bath! But no laundry or DW or 'proper' cooking tomorrow. Thankfully the freezers are pretty full so I can hold out for quite a long time!

themadvix

Go on, share, what’s the rate tomorrow? I don’t have easy access to see and I’m curious!

Sun_Addict

I need to do more yoga. I do a lot of cardio and strength but not so much of the flexibility things. I know someone who’s 72 and only started doing yoga when she was 67. She does it every day and has become very flexible. 

Cheery_Daff

themadvix said:

Go on, share, what’s the rate tomorrow? I don’t have easy access to see and I’m curious!

This is the worst of it, but it doesn't dip below 22p/kwh from 7.30am til 9.30pm 😮



They do cap it at £1/kwh, thankfully!

badmemory

Thank goodness for a gas cooker.  Have you checked how much the microave is using.  I thought mine was an 800w but it turns out it is using over 1kw.  It was a xmas present a couple of years ago & there was no manual in the box!!  Whya do I fall for these things & they say you should never look a gift horse in the mouth.

Sunshine_girl2

Thank you EH and Cheery , one for me to ponder . Adrienne , will give her look . 

rtandon27

Yikes Cheery - I'd not cope with such fluctuation in the rates!  Those are some scary numbers.

Our electric rate is 21.82 p/kWh with a standing charge of 64.28 p/day
and the gas rate is 5.66 p/kWh with a standing charge of 31.30 p/day

I think that my nature is to be risk adverse - I'm a planner & like to know what I'm in for - definitely not a gambler 🤣

Cheery_Daff

badmemory said:

Thank goodness for a gas cooker.  Have you checked how much the microave is using.  I thought mine was an 800w but it turns out it is using over 1kw.  It was a xmas present a couple of years ago & there was no manual in the box!!  Whya do I fall for these things & they say you should never look a gift horse in the mouth.

A microwave is, as far as I understand, a pretty efficient way of cooking food, and an extra 200w will make barely any difference - it'll take a little more power, but will heat up quicker, meaning you use it for less time. There are some calculations here - costs are different now but still pretty minor.

https://www.goodto.com/family/money-news/how-much-does-it-cost-to-run-a-microwave

Sounds like it was a good present! 😊

RT, sounds like you're definitely better off on a fixed tariff 😂

(Sorry EH, keep answering questions on your diary thinking it's mine since we're all talking about electricity prices 😂😂 I will scuttle back to my own kitchen table now!) 😂

themadvix

Ouch, that’s high! But it’ll balance it out in the end - when you’re being paid to use it 😊

EssexHebridean

Not a problem Cheery - loving the chat! 

Yes - our prices today are similar to Cheery's:



Vix I don't think you and I are quite in the same region - we're Eastern, but I suspect you may be too far west to come under that?  It's 8.30pm before ours drop down below the level we would have paid on our fix, anyway, and so I really am just taking the view that it's rough with smooth, and that this is a single day in the bigger picture. As at close of play yesterday we were around 80p up for the month, but that was after a huge saving last month - just for the part of the month we switched across. 

The microwave stuff is interesting - we too have a 1000w one, and it definitely does chew through power when it's being used particularly on high but because it is a combi I can use it for things like reheating stuff that needs to be hot through and also browned on top, for example - it will deal with a 2-portion dish of cauli or pasta cheese bake for example in 10 minutes - bubbling hot and beautifully crisped on the top. The main oven would barely be heated up in that time, and of course is three times that powerful too.  I view ours a bit like the kettle - yes it looks scary when I'm using it, but it's only for relatively short bursts of time! 

RT we are generally pretty risk adverse too I think - hence it took pretty much a full year of reviewing information and keeping an eye on price fluctuations before we were willing to risk Agile! Some of that was MrEH not getting round to doing his side of the research, yes, but a fair bit of it was also "but what if" around that possibility of high price spikes!

Today has been planned to minimise use of electric as much as possible, unsurprisingly. MrEH's laptop was set up on a Tapo plug overnight so topped up its charge when the rates were lower, and was then set to come back on to charge as needed from 9am - ensuring that he wouldn't be depleting the battery dramatically on start-up. It will then switch off at the mains and across to the internal battery at just before 4pm, unsurprisingly! He is going to boil the kettle and fill a flask at some stage this morning, meaning that we will have hot water both for making drinks later and also for me to cook the couscous in tonight. I'll sort dinner this evening using the big frying pan - it doesn't get used a huge amount these days - I'd usually use the small and medium sized ones for stuff to go with couscous, but it will be more cost effective just to heat the single ring. We did talk about using the camping stove, and I have to say that idea is quite appealing - the far bigger kitchen where we are would mean I wouldn't even need to take it outside as I did when we were using it at the flat when the kitchen was done...Still thinking about that one as I know it will be a bit more faffy... but then again it would also mean I could just crack on and cook whenever I'm ready... 

Other MSE Stuff:
- A discussion at the weekend suggests we are agreed that when it comes up for renewal we will be ditching the TV package unless they come up with a really decent deal. It's now £35 a month, and we're pretty sure they are going to want extra for the second box when the deal finishes too. Even the basic stream deal is £26 to new customers now,  and to be honest, it feels as though we could do better with the combination of the smart TV and the Chromecast... That money will be moved across to the mortgage payment if we do cancel it.
- £20 shifted to the fuel fund ready for a log and coal purchase at some stage - MrEH is booking a Friday off next week so we may go and collect some then. 
- With that in mind, I have noticed that H0m3f1re currently have a 10% off deal - although whether they will honour that in person is another question... 
- CC all squared off and back to zero
- final payment will go to my FD reg saver in the next few days, I will then have the annoying wait until it matures and I can withdraw and hopefully open a new one!
- My NW Start to Save personal reg saver finishes this month. There isn't a replacement option for it, so as things stand I'm thinking I will just leave that money sitting - it will then be transferred to savings at the end of the month along with any other surplus anyway.
- The matured StoS will get moved across to my personal savings pot
- Last night's (very tasty!) pasta tea involved the roasted HG tomatoes, what might well be the last of the courgettes and the final runner bean (!), plus used up the last of last week's mushrooms and the end of the chorizo. 
- The chap is coming to finalise the detail for the replacement door on the office on Friday - we'll be paying the deposit that day and booking in when it can be done, which will be good. Final cost on that will be £1575 for a composite door and new frame in black to match the windows already fitted - and it will make a massive difference to the warmth out there I suspect. Hopefully they are also going to sort out the minor repair needed to the patio doors as well - it's just a bit of the rubber seal come adrift so we're hoping they will just do it as part of the job! The money for that will come from our long term savings pot  - it was budgeted as needed doing when we moved in, and the money is essentially sitting there waiting. 

One other office related job I want to discuss with MrEH is getting the flooring out there sorted - there are a few places where clearly it needs some repair as it is rather more "bouncy" than it should be - so at some point I want to strip back the flooring and see what we are dealing with - it will be complicated by the underfloor heating of course. I think in the longer term out there what we will probably do is go back to square one and get rid of the underfloor heating - although what we replace with is another question - it's too far removed from the house to make a radiator run from the house heating practical, so I think we're stuck with electric regardless. The way the building loses heat though I have a feeling it has no proper insulation under that floor so the heat just leaks straight back out again!