How is the cost of living crisis affecting you?

[flypanam]

We just got notification that our rent is going up by 15% and that the nursery that our wee fella is going to attend is putting up it’s fees too.

My wife is doing some GCSE marking for extra cash, while I’m back on the bus for work which means three hours of my day going to and from work.

Feels very bleak, right now.

 

[Looby]

Has anyone renewed their car insurance recently? My renewal was 28 a month more so I did quotes elsewhere and they’re not much better unless I have a black box. I’m in my 40s and been driving 15 years.

I had two accidents in 2019 so that wouldn’t account for a big increase now.

 

[bellaozzydog]

Has anyone renewed their car insurance recently? My renewal was 28 a month more so I did quotes elsewhere and they’re not much better unless I have a black box. I’m in my 40s and been driving 15 years.

I had two accidents in 2019 so that wouldn’t account for a big increase now.

I’ve had two car insurances take money off me for auto renewal.

I was furious rang them both up and told them to go fuck themselves and rebate the money they’d taken out my account

Both refunded me then offered 150 quid less policy if I thought again…

Fucking thieves the lot of them

Push hard on negotiations always have an alternative and a lower price

 

[marty21]

Has anyone renewed their car insurance recently? My renewal was 28 a month more so I did quotes elsewhere and they’re not much better unless I have a black box. I’m in my 40s and been driving 15 years.

I had two accidents in 2019 so that wouldn’t account for a big increase now.

Mine went down slightly - maybe £40 compared to last year.

 

[platinumsage]

There’s been a massive change in the car insurance market with companies no longer allowed to offer cheaper prices to new customers. Expect shopping around to be a lot less productive, and renewal quotes from your existing insurer to be a lot more reasonable from now on.

 

[8ball]

Has anyone renewed their car insurance recently? My renewal was 28 a month more so I did quotes elsewhere and they’re not much better unless I have a black box. I’m in my 40s and been driving 15 years.

I had two accidents in 2019 so that wouldn’t account for a big increase now.

Yeah, I did recently - prices seem to have gone up substantially.

 

[onenameshelley]

Having Another row with British Gas for over charging me again. Pricks.

 

[Looby]

There’s been a massive change in the car insurance market with companies no longer allowed to offer cheaper prices to new customers. Expect shopping around to be a lot less productive, and renewal quotes from your existing insurer to be a lot more reasonable from now on.

I don’t think an increase of over 300 a year from my insurer is reasonable though!
I’m furious as I was really happy with my previous insurer but our finance company forced me to put my husband on the policy so we had to change insurers for complicated stupid reasons. With LV it was decreasing slightly each year.

 

[onenameshelley]

Oh and I have taken to soaking pasta so it takes less time to cook, as my new favourite pastime is watching the smart metre.

 

[Looby]

Oh and I have taken to soaking pasta so it takes less time to cook, as my new favourite pastime is watching the smart metre.

I don’t look at ours, I feel like it’s bullying me.
Most of our electric is me having the fan on I reckon but me always being too hot saves a fortune in winter.

 

[bellaozzydog]

I got my poverty key meters replaced with direct debit and smart meter
.
.
.
.
Three + months ago and not a fucking peep out of any energy bills. Starting to worry that I’ll get a massive shock when/if they arrive

 

[marty21]

Oh and I have taken to soaking pasta so it takes less time to cook, as my new favourite pastime is watching the smart metre.

We can't get a smart meter , tried to get one , but you either have to go through my neighbour's flat , or climb down a 4 rung ladder. Something I've managed to do regularly over 25 years , but seems too difficult for power companies I could arrange for them to go through my neighbour's flat, but I can't be arsed

 

[onenameshelley]

I don’t look at ours, I feel like it’s bullying me.
Most of our electric is me having the fan on I reckon but me always being too hot saves a fortune in winter.

My Dad is driving himself loopy checking his all the time.

I threw ours up in a cupboard around 2019 as Eon fucked us about and we ended up in debt because it wasn't sending a signal for the leccy or some such bollocks.

I got it back down after the rebate drama with BG in February (we were sent across to BG when People's energy went bust in September 21).

We have always been a family of extra layers on and blankets on the sofa, the only exception to this was Magoos first winter where I had the heating on for 4 hours at a time (wouldn't even dream of that now). Now I appear to be sailing towards Meno Island I might not even need blankets this winter.

 

[onenameshelley]

We can't get a smart meter , tried to get one , but you either have to go through my neighbour's flat , or climb down a 4 rung ladder. Something I've managed to do regularly over 25 years , but seems too difficult for power companies I could arrange for them to go through my neighbour's flat, but I can't be arsed

I wouldn't be too sad about it marty21, they are shite, I want ours removed as my bills were far more trustworthy when I gave them the metre readings every month. To have them removed it's going to cost £150 +.

 

[agricola]

We just got notification that our rent is going up by 15% and that the nursery that our wee fella is going to attend is putting up it’s fees too.

My wife is doing some GCSE marking for extra cash, while I’m back on the bus for work which means three hours of my day going to and from work.

Feels very bleak, right now.

Of course they will not do this, but a rent freeze has to be one of the first things done by the government - for a private landlord there is no justification for 15%, and there is only a tiny bit more for a council or housing association.

 

[MickiQ]

I wouldn't be too sad about marty21, they are shite, I want ours removed as my bills were far more trustworthy when I gave them the metre readings every month. To have them removed it's going to cost £150 +.

I didn't know they would take them out, I knew they couldn't force them on people but I thought once you'd got one that was it, you were stuck with it.

 

[bellaozzydog]

Of course they will not do this, but a rent freeze has to be one of the first things done by the government - for a private landlord there is no justification for 15%, and there is only a tiny bit more for a council or housing association.

A question I keep asking people and various renter advocate organisations is

What’s the equation for a fair rent. As a percentage of earnings?

Is there a standard agreed figure for a fair social rent

 

[SpookyFrank]

Expecting to be 'offered' a new contract for our house soon. A 10% rent rise or anything on that scale would put us out of business. Alternative is they don't renew at all, forcing us to move somewhere that will also have higher rent, take time off work and spend a small fortune we don't have on deposit, costs etc.

 

[onenameshelley]

I didn't know they would take them out, I knew they couldn't force them on people but I thought once you'd got one that was it, you were stuck with it.

You can have them removed, but my reading shows companies will be reluctant about it but if you request it, they will do it, but you the customer has to pay for the removal at around £150-£180. Some people are desperate enough to do it.

 

[MickiQ]

You can have them removed, but my reading shows companies will be reluctant about it but if you request it, they will do it, but you the customer has to pay for the removal at around £150-£180. Some people are desperate enough to do it.

OK genuine question here,why would people be desperate to have them removed? The only reason I can see is that someone might object to the fact they make it a lot easier to cut someone off/force onto prepayment than a non-smart meter.
Fair enough but if you find yourself in the position of defaulting on energy payments but have £150 to spare it makes more sense to pay it off the energy bill rather than get rid of the meter because sooner or later you will get cut off.
I have smart meters (gas and electric) and once my obsession with watching how much I was using had worn off, I've been fine with it. The electric and gas are the same (ridiculous) price that they are on a non-smart meter though the reason I had them fitted in the first place is that the best tariffs were all on offer to smart meter customers.

 

[marty21]

I wouldn't be too sad about it marty21, they are shite, I want ours removed as my bills were far more trustworthy when I gave them the metre readings every month. To have them removed it's going to cost £150 +.

Blimey , we did ask about them moving the meters but there's s similar charge for that . So until we move , this aging body will have to climb down into the basement to take readings

 

[onenameshelley]

OK genuine question here,why would people be desperate to have them removed? The only reason I can see is that someone might object to the fact they make it a lot easier to cut someone off/force onto prepayment than a non-smart meter.
Fair enough but if you find yourself in the position of defaulting on energy payments but have £150 to spare it makes more sense to pay it off the energy bill rather than get rid of the meter because sooner or later you will get cut off.
I have smart meters (gas and electric) and once my obsession with watching how much I was using had worn off, I've been fine with it. The electric and gas are the same (ridiculous) price that they are on a non-smart meter though the reason I had them fitted in the first place is that the best tariffs were all on offer to smart meter customers.

Mine is more about the fact that they don't seem particularly accurate (which I have some been told was a bit of a problem in v1) and it annoys the shit out of me that I cannot therefore give them readings because it's done for me, yet I have to triple check them. No one wants to deal with it at BG, as they didn't install it, our previous providers were not so uptight and let me enter my own readings each month. Basically it's not helping me, it's hindering me so it needs to get to fuck, and get out of my house

 

[seeformiles]

Until the start of this year, neither of us had had steady employment contracts for several years - Mrs SFM on short hours and me on zero hours - so we’ve got used to living carefully even though things are a bit more stable now. We’re lucky enough to have paid off the mortgage some time ago and both of us have pretty decent “side hustles” that bring in an extra £300+ per month (cash in hand). The fuel and leccy rise is a bit of a jolt but the former isn’t too bad as Mrs SFM works from home 4 days a week and my daily commute is only 10 mins. If gigging out of town then I’ve started to add a fuel surcharge to our performance fee. Otherwise a full tank of petrol can last about 4 weeks.

 

[onenameshelley]

I am going to attempt to make my own butter this arvo, saw a "hack" so will see how it goes. And yes we eat an actual fuckton of butter in our house, so if it works and is worth the faff it may be a keeper.

 

[MickiQ]

Mine is more about the fact that they don't seem particularly accurate (which I have some been told was a bit of a problem in v1) and it annoys the shit out of me that I cannot therefore give them readings because it's done for me, yet I have to triple check them. No one wants to deal with it at BG, as they didn't install it, our previous providers were not so uptight and let me enter my own readings each month. Basically it's not helping me, it's hindering me so it needs to get to fuck, and get out of my house

Even if they won't give you an old meter back with stiffing you on cost, can you not demand they at least replace it with one of theirs?

 

[Elpenor]

Seeing a big increase in people opting out of the (public sector) pension at work.

More and more each month including two in my team now.

Anecdotally it’s the young, the part time, and more women than men based on what I know the gender breakdown of our employees to be

 

[onenameshelley]

Even if they won't give you an old meter back with stiffing you on cost, can you not demand they at least replace it with one of theirs?

I might try it, but as I am still waiting on a response about the £30 over charge that magically appeared on our bill this month, I am not hopeful.

 

[pinkmonkey]

I might try it, but as I am still waiting on a response about the £30 over charge that magically appeared on our bill this month, I am not hopeful.

I’m just grateful that I’ve read your posts, it’s made me decide I am not getting smart meters for my parents, I send readings in every month anyway.

 

[onenameshelley]

I’m just grateful that I’ve read your posts, it’s made me decide I am not getting smart meters for my parents, I send readings in every month anyway.

In my honest opinion, I suspect it will just worry them and if you are doing it religiously every month, you can see what they are spending. In principle I am all for a smart metre, but my reality has been married by it not sending the data properly, cutting in and out etc.

 

[pinkmonkey]

In my honest opinion, I suspect it will just worry them and if you are doing it religiously every month, you can see what they are spending. In principle I am all for a smart metre, but my reality has been married by it not sending the data properly, cutting in and out etc.

Thats the other thing, my parents are always fighting over the thermostat, a smart meter would only cause more arguments.