money saving Archives - Page 4 of 8

My Blasted Energy Bill

Nicki CawoodJanuary 19, 20148 Comments

I am with EON and currently pay £220 a month for dual fuel gas and electricity.

Yes. TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY POUNDS A MONTH. Better still that rather stinging payment isn’t covering our monthly consumption apparently and I expect it to hike up in the next few months.

energy bill — Another thrilling read hits the inbox

I live in a three bedroom terraced house. It is a fairly large house but has a new-ish boiler which is maintained yearly and we are as frugal as possible with our energy.

I am on the cheapest tariff (fixed) available to me and have maximised all discounts to go towards my bill rather than Tesco vouchers etc.

We have a tumble dryer (yes I know it eats electricity but I’ve always had one and we use when needed).

We have lots and lots of lights, 40 spotlights embedded into the ceiling and in the lounge and dining room we have drop down lights which take candle bulbs. I have replace the candle bulbs with LED varieties and am slowly changing over the other spotlights (or in some cases stubbornly refusing to replace a bulb when it runs out).

We are very frugal when it comes to light and heat, or as frugal as possible and I take steps where possible to reduce my bill.

Still my bill is through the roof. We are insulated etc and fairly savvy with the old being green and saving energy lifestyle so what is the plan? Surely we won’t always be paying this horrendous amount? Gawd forbid it keeps rising?

Does anyone else have such a ridiculous bill for a similar sized property? I’m waiting on specific usage information from EON to do a comparison with other companies but would be interested to hear what other people pay / their energy bill experiences are.

*The tumble dryer stays.

In Food, General, MoneySaving

A Look Back on 2013 – But Not My 2013

Nicki CawoodJanuary 2, 2014January 2, 2014

I could tell you about my year but if you’ve read the blog or followed me on Facebook / Twitter you’ll have had the highlights. I’ve spent the year with my fabulous family, writing for some brilliant clients, loving living in and exploring my fabulous home in North Yorkshire.

Now, being a keen moneysaver, a fan of all things frugal, reducing waste and plain old common sense I follow a woman called Ms Jack Monroe. If you’ve never heard of her then I suggest you look her up. She shines a light on the plight of many who live below the breadline and has done some fabulous work which has helped many.

Why is Jack such a great person to follow? Asides from her fabulous budget recipes (I’m talking pennies) Jack actually knows and understands what living on a very sparse income means and so writes from a perspective that others perhaps don’t have such a clear insight into.

So, in an effort to highlight her work, share with you the fabulous resource her website is and to open a few eyes my first post of 2013 is not about my 2013, but hers. Read more here, it makes for great reading.

If you are a Tweeter you can find Jack here.

*Jack isn’t a personal friend or colleague but I admire the work that she does, applaud her attitude and have fallen in love with her kale pesto recipe. Three good reasons to points readers who haven’t heard of her in her direction.

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