What are you all up to
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I must say, I'm bewildered by this concept of paying a fixed amount per month for gas and electric. An amount over which you have no apparant control!
Does anyone also pay this way for their supermarket shopping, their petrol / diesel, their milk delivery,........etc??
Just submit a reading every month and pay for what you've had.
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It's based on an estimate of yearly usage and if you send meter readings in frequently it's automatically adjusted so you are in control. Using direct debit means a slightly lower bill. Our bills aren't small so I'm glad to spread the cost. Unfortunately energy prices have just gone up so whatever payment method is used there'll be an increase. I pay this way because I get an overall reduction.
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Flew down to Wolverhampton Halfpenny Green airfield......a delightful airfield!
Ran into some low cloud on the way there (just as we got to the higher ground
) but then it brightened up and was bright and sunny when we got there.Sat outside at a picnic table to have lunch, in the sunshine.
Thermals had picked up on the way back, so a bumpy ride, but at least the cloud base had gone up
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Energy companies suround their product in mistique.......they talk about monthly / annual costs, rather than what they charge per kwh.
This is all designed to prevent you from making an actual comparison. They will say that "with us, you will save £x per year".
Does anyone decide where they buy their petrol or their bread based on an annual or monthly charge?
No. Then why do it with gas and electric?
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TG, no need to warn me about "Cool Nights In Scotland" == this old codger started camping in Scotland with ex - Army tent without sewn in g/sheets & Flock s/bag -- Well before the days of big gas bottles, mains electric, duvets etcetera
Sometimes I wonder why I am still free of the aches & pains of the Elderly Variety 
!! At times I suppose the Diabetes is punishment enough though 
Keep those weeds down -- I checked under my few plants last week &, would you believe it, not a single sign of ivy could I find == so going back to S/Savers for another check !!
Sky clear here, temps dropping fast, but beautiful view right now !
Night All, Keep Safe.
Brian A B M
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How very naughty of British Gas to try that on. They are obviously not basing your DD on your usual use of gas and electricity.
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You're welcome ABM.
(Sorry this is out of sync.)No, actually, I wish we were heading up that way. Maybe later in the year.
Well that's the end of a busy week, just about. OH is in a fishing match tomorrow, early start and I might find I have a day to myself. All I need now is nits.....babysitting my grandson on Friday, he produced a bottle of spray and said would we spray him! Forgot to ask his parents later whether this was necessary or just a precaution!!
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We have been to a lovely lunch to celebrate a friend's 70th birthday today. Apparently her grandparents used to run the city centre pub before the war. Very fitting place to hold it. Mind you her grandparents wouldn't recognise it now as it has been totally refurbished. Excellent meal and great to catch up with old friends. 70 is the new 50.
Enjoy your Scottish trip ABM. Keep warm.
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What is a milk delivery
With regard to paying monthly for gas and electric it seems sensible to pay a fixed sum each month as it spreads the cost over the year. We all know how much we use so it's easy enough to work out an annual figure which is just divided by 12. Often the are discounts for payments by direct debit and also managing your account online. Currently with Co-Operative Energy and pay £50 for gas and electricity. It's a slightly false figure as I have a large carry over from my previous plan.
David
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Thanks everyone for the good wishes about the new job with Pizza Hut. Sorry if I didn't sing too many praises about my last job but it was all rather sudden! If I could at least have had some notice, I would have had some continued work and income to tide me over until I started this new job. They do need to think before making such an impulsive decision about what the employee is going to live on because when the income stops, it is an unfortunate fact of life that the bills don't stop!
Life is full of new beginnings but any change can be stressful. You get comfortable doing what you are used to doing and a new job means a new and different way of doing things.
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There will also be other things to sort out. Previously I was submitting tax returns as self employed. So my tax status will have to change now that I'm employed rather than self employed.
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Brighter here this morning in East Kent,some broken cloud .Off to do some tree pruning at the B/yd today.Have a good Sunday You-all.1
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Malc, remember-always take a phial of Holy water & some Garlic when dealing with the HMRC. . . .Good luck.
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It was all I could think of while typing.
I agree about spreading the cost. We pay a fixed amount into a savings account each month to cover all our bills. Then the bills are paid out of that account (mostly by DD, some by bank transfer and a few by cheque / debit card).
So that way all our bills are effectively spread evenly over each month.
The reason I favour paying for gas and electric the same way as we pay for everything else (i.e. pay for what you use) is that some utility companies let the 'estimated bills' go on for far too long - several years in some instances. I've seen a number of people with massive bills that have built up, despite them paying what the company told them to pay.
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As soon as a gas and electricity bill comes in Mr H reads the meter and then rings them with the correct reading. That way hopefully we don't build up too much credit or debit. We never accept an estimated bill.
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Ian we have always saved a fixed amount into a bills account preferably one that attracts interest. I resisted DD for gas and electric for years on the basis why should they have my interest? However as interest rates dropped I checked it out and the discounts offered for DD outweighed the pathetic interest I was able to earn and went for DD. That said I watch the bills and if we get an estimated one notify them of the proper reading. They issue a revised bill. Keeps it all simple. I dislike online bills but to have paper ones is jolly expensive, again £4 say in my pocket better than it theirs! At present it's just mobiles and house phone package that are online, we still have paper bills for other things and I find it easier to spot irregularities! If they start to charge it will jump to online. I do feel for those like my 86 year old mum who doesn't have that option, but then paying for the equipment and connections is more than the additional bit on the bill. Yes we could do it for her but she's quite capable of managing her own affairs still. And it's good for her.
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B2 - we also call ours "the bills account".
Just to be clear.......some people think that paying your gas and electric by DD means paying a fixed amount every month. As seen by the comments above, it is perfectly possible to pay by variable DD and only pay for what you've used.
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It's a long time since we had a milk delivery. When we first moved here, the local farmer used to deliver to us and it was raw milk. Delicious!
Trouble is, he started to come later in the day and it ended up being left in the sun - not at all delicious!
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The area covers Lancing as well as East Worthing so I think some of the deliveries will be over two miles but on average it will probably be less than two miles, IanH. Also I'll be using the Smart car which is very economical. 80 pence would probably buy me 8 miles worth of fuel. I have a service plan of £20 per month that covers the cost of servicing and replacement car whilst it's being done.
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I do the same except I do it on line. The problem now is energy costs are creeping up. Our fixed dual fuel tariff which I can change at any time, no penalties, covers this just now, when I looked at new tariffs they were quite costly. I am going to have another look around to see if I can get a better tariff but it looks increasingly difficult.
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Yes I do the same if we get an estimated bill and the readings are more than a few out - but they rarely are anyway.
At the end of the day, we all pay for what we use, there is no right or wrong way is there? it's just what's most convenient. I guess some months we pay for more than we use and some months we pay less. It's bit like that old chestnut of whether electricity should be metered on sites. To be honest, life's too short to worry abut a couple of quid here or there!
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