These are my Winter energy costs as of this morning 😲😲😲 From 1st December to 1st March. The actual bill is due later this week. I pay my gas and electricity bills quarterly. I don't do direct debit or monthly payments in advance. In the past (about 20 years ago to be fair) we did this and ended up with a huge amount of credit that was a lot of hassle to get back. I think the regulations are different now and energy companies can't hold above a certain amount of credit. Anyway, I like to just use it and then pay for it.
I switch my gas heating completely off between the start of May until September ish. So I know I have a high bill in Winter and a very low one in Summer due to just cooking and heating water with gas. I also buy wood in bulk during the Summer for the woodburner (technically a multi fuel burner.) And I've just realised I've not factored that cost into my annual house costs. Another benefit of tracking every single purchase!
Normally I switch off or turn down the radiators in unused rooms but as my son and his GF are currently living with me (and she works from home 3 or 4 days a week) I haven't done that this Winter. But that is still one big bill!!!! Luckily they will contribute towards it but I'm on a mission to cut my energy use before the energy increase starting on 1st April. Martin Lewis (the Money Saving Expert) said it could be as much as a 54% increase 😨
So, it's a new month to keep on saving money starting with good intentions to make use of every scrap of food before getting a supermarket delivery. Over the last few days I've been using up stuff in the fridge and freezer.
I had a large bag of potatoes that were beginning to sprout a wee bit! So I did a huge pot of mash! 😋 I made tattie (potato) scones from the leftovers. 4 parts warm buttery mash to 1 part flour. Mix to a soft dough and dry fry in a pan. I used my son's electric griddle. I ended up with 12 decent sized ones. They freeze easily (if they last that long!) and can be reheated in the toaster or fried.
I made a vegetable gratin with the ends of frozen vegetable bags in the garage freezer. I'm trying to run it down to defrost it. I topped it with a mixture of GF breadcrumbs, crushed rice cakes and grated Violife 'cheddar.' The cheddar didn't melt but it still tasted lovely 😋 I also poached some frozen plums with maple syrup and tossed in some homegrown frozen blueberries when I turned the pan off. It's a lovely combination.
I'm out of fresh fruit but I do still have home grown rhubarb from the allotment, plums (from my lovely mum's garden) and some mixed berries from my garden in the freezer. I've surprised myself at how long they lasted. Plus I found a tub of tomatoes last week when rummaging. I thought I'd used them all. That's the downside of a chest freezer, you don't know what's at the bottom!!
I'm going to try and wait until at least Sunday before getting a supermarket delivery. Really challenge myself to cook healthy meals using what I've got in the freezer and storecupboard. In fact, I have a renewed enthusiasm to keep a closer eye on my spending if I'm going to have to pay a small fortune for my energy bills!!!!
I'm with bulb energy for my gas and electricity, in april my monthly direct debit will more than double! myself and my family will be cutting back on everything else to cover it, i also had emails from anglian water and BT informing me of their price increases, we're luckier than some as there's three of us earning so we will be ok but many people will struggle, i wonder where it will all end x
ReplyDeleteI was with SSE but they've just been taken over by OVO. In Scotland you don't pay for water, it's all part of your council tax. But I see that will go up in April as well. It's worrying when costs are going up dramatically but salaries aren't
DeleteGood job on feeding yourself from your freezer! I've never had a chest freezer, just the small one on top of my fridge, but there are still surprises lurking there!
ReplyDeleteIt's the one thing I have total control over when everything else costs so much! I have a medium sized chest freezer which holds all my home grown surplus fruit and veg nicely plus supermarket bargains :-)
DeleteOur tree surgeon was here last week and I asked him about logs (he occasionally sells, it is not normally a main part of his business).
ReplyDeleteHe said he was no longer selling but stockpiling at home, admitting he wasn't exactly sure why, but it seemed like a good idea.
Thankfully we are still working our way through the timber supply created when we had monster leylandii taken out. Don't know what you are charged, but round here prices for logs have gone from £85-90 to £125-150 per dumpy bag 😱
Yep that's about the same cost here. In the past I've had wood that wasn't seasoned so you have to be careful where you get it from. I'm also going to start making paper brick logs as I have a multi fuel burner. I have access to a lot of scrap paper at school so free resources just time and effort required
DeleteI understand why you pay the way you do but it's probably time to have another look at that. Many/most? suppliers now charge you more to pay on receipt of bill. If you pay by direct debit you will normally get a cheaper rate. They are very good now about not letting your credit build up to silly levels. Some let you adjust your payment or use your online account to request money be returned to you. It really isn't a problem anymore.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are continuing to feel better each day. I had a really bad chest infection some years ago. It went and left a really irritating cough that meant everyone thought I was ill still. That lasted for months until I went on holiday to somewhere warm and dry. It cleared up immediately then.
As I was writing I was thinking maybe I should look at the direct debit thing again.
DeleteYes, slowly improving every day but it feels too slow!! I really could do with a nice warm holiday but I've got a few big things coming up this year (including my son's wedding) so not sure it's doable. I can dream!!
My potato cake recipie is for example: 1 lb cold plain mashed potato, 8 oz flour, and 4 oz fat...I use melted butter...mix. Add a handful of sultanas and bake in the oven. Eat hot or cold with godlen syrup...delicious! x
ReplyDeleteOoooo, that sounds yummy!!
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