Money saving ideas?

[Amber4]

Omg, so today my bill came in for the gas and eletric. 600 pound in 3 months. Geez. Before we moved here we were on meters as that what our rented house had and we are now on pay quarterly. Anyways, I know it's not that much broken down but because we used to pay weekly it's just been a shock. I don't know what I was expecting tbh lol. Anyways, so thinking about it today I've been working out my out goings and what comes in etc. We have enough coming in to pay these bills but never seems to feel like it. I have a spare bank account so money is being taken out of our accounts and it's gonna be a bill account and I'll transfer over DD after the bills are paid next. I'm gonna give the bank card to my Mum so I can't get tempted to dip into it. I'm thinking this should help massively as money will always be there in the account to cover them.

I have already cut back on washing machine and only do full washes now. I use the dryer a lot but when weather is warm everything will go on the line instead. We have a dish washer and that's put on once a night. We always turn the tv off and things by the plug when not being used (how much this helps I don't know lol) Our big down fall is buying unnecessary shopping or takeaways =/ I always order shopping online and it comes to about 80 pound for a big shop. Which is fantastic I think as it feeds 3 adults, 1 baby and 2 cats and we usually have full cupboards for 10-14 days. (I'm quite proud of how much I have cut that down) but when we walk into town we always seem to pass bloody Morrisons that have things on offer and these offers add up every time we nip in!! Or I'll just feel too lazy to cook and blow 15-20 on a takeaway and then not even want it (like I did the other day!) uhh. I'm trying to cut down and have done a lot and we always seem to have money spare at pay day now. Not much, but we always used to run out the week before and scrimp for the week leading up. Just any ideas anyone has - We walk a lot as we don't have a car

Just to add I do buy toys and clothes second hand as long as I can clean them up or wash them up. I don't fork out too much there either x

 

[holly2234]

Wow that seems a lot for 3 months! Mine is about £250 for 3 months. Have they estimated your bill?

 

[Amber4]

Wow that seems a lot for 3 months! Mine is about £250 for 3 months. Have they estimated your bill?

Nope. Not estimated. Meters were read and bill was updated. I just don't know how it's that high tbh really

 

[tina_h75]

I cancelled my monthly direct debits and set up a weekly payment. I pay £15 gas, £11 electricity and £10 water each friday. Its still seems a lot to pay but its easier to deal with then a big bill once a month or once a quarter.

I have started to empty my purse at the end of every day. I have a tub for coppers and another for notes/pounds/50/20/10p. Its surprising how quickly it mounts up.

 

[nic18]

I cancelled my monthly direct debits and set up a weekly payment. I pay £15 gas, £11 electricity and £10 water each friday. Its still seems a lot to pay but its easier to deal with then a big bill once a month or once a quarter.

I have started to empty my purse at the end of every day. I have a tub for coppers and another for notes/pounds/50/20/10p. Its surprising how quickly it mounts up.

that's a really good idea!!

 

[x Michelle x]

can i ask if you TV is a plasma? reason is we were getting electric bills of £600 a month and we had a 50" plasma... this was fine when we worked all day but since i'm a SAHM it was on a lot more. We bought a new LCD (or LED) and our last bill was £175!!

 

[special_kala]

£600!!!!

I put on £40 a month and thats with tumble dryer, 50inch TV, playstation.

Who ar eyou with?

 

[Nats21]

That does seem excessive, in winter ours was 400 and that was with the heating on most of the time, the last bill we had was only £90 for 3 and a half months. It might be a silly question but have you checked that they have definitely read it correctly? Was the last bill from them estimated or did they read the meters then too? Just wondering if they've underestimated the last bill and thats why this ones so high xx

 

[x Michelle x]

Sorry, I meant a quarter, not a month but we have still had a drastic reduction!

 

[Amber4]

I have a flat screen tv 40 inch? Not sure it's plasma though =/

I am with EDF. I got a bill through the post of 220 and I rang up to check it was for both. Then they asked for meter readings and then it jumped up to that. I read the meters myself with him telling me and he said I was correct.

I have a jar where I save change of 1p, 2p and 5p. Any other spare money goes into Brooke's money box like 10p, 20p, 50p It mounts up fast you're right x

 

[special_kala]

Was it you who gave the first reading?

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I pay weekly and pay about £15 electric and £10 gas

We run 5 fish tanks (all over 4ft), 3 tvs when kids off school, pc, laptop, etc I couldnt pay monthly lol would be to much of a shock!

 

[RubyLouise]

I had a bill from British gas of £600 for 3 months at my last property. It turned out the metre was wrong and I actually owed £220. I would give your electric provider a call and have them look into it. That doesn't sound right at all xx

 

[Amber4]

Yes I did the meter reading online. Then called and he properly explained it as I thought I had done it wrong. I was right and the bill is right. So not sure what more I can do as he was adamant and explained it all. It was a bit complicated but I am sure he was right. I don't know how to get them to think it's wrong though as he said he was right x

When I say complicated it's because the first bill I paid was only eletric and then there was a period where the gas bill hadn't updated, but it hardly gets used as I only use it to cook. I don't use heating and haven't in months. Plus our shower is electric. Like I also stated I also eat a lot of takeaways so oven gets used not that much either. So I was shocked. I do use a fair of electric but not what I would consider too much. I've just put my dryer on and now I'm worrying about that. My stepdad is helping me change over to a company he uses and reckons i'll save more. Lets hope x

 

[Nats21]

I have heard dryers do use lots of electric but we've never had one so i'm not sure how much they come to if they're on lots, maybe someone else could let you know who's got one. I hope you get it sorted hun, the bill just seems so excessive to me xx