Discontent #8 food, energy, transport, cost of living, society etc

[Eeyore147]

You’re right, we have been fortunate with property, and I had an (almost) free university education, but I’ve worked hard all my life and sacrificed a lot too. I’m too young to be a WASPiE but like many, my retirement planning was absolutely stuffed by pension changes. Just making the point that it’s not ALL beer and skittles if you were born in the sixties! Still. Am living a simple and happy life now.

I wouldn’t say those sort of comments would come from gen X, aren’t they mid 60’s - 1980?
Property wise Boomers have definitely had it easier, and as you said with education, yes you have worked hard but I would say later generations have struggled to get that first step on the property ladder, poor interest for savings, house prices are astronomical and university debt is disgusting. I fear for my children’s future for sure.

I have no idea but apparently there's website called loop that monitors your usage and tells you if you're a low user

So 5 September by electricity was 5807 and 6 Oct it was 6063. No idea if that's good or not. In a 2 bed Victorian terrace with a 6 year old

That’s great, thank you.

 

[Thank(space)you]

Gas 5 Sept was 2404 gas 6 Oct was 2412

 

[IfTheCapFits]

We're all electric, summer months are around 450-500kwh & we can easily use 1500-2000kwh in winter really looking forward to it!

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

You’re right, we have been fortunate with property, and I had an (almost) free university education, but I’ve worked hard all my life and sacrificed a lot too. I’m too young to be a WASPiE but like many, my retirement planning was absolutely stuffed by pension changes. Just making the point that it’s not ALL beer and skittles if you were born in the sixties! Still. Am living a simple and happy life now.

No I agree with you and it’s definitely a nuanced conversation and seeing my MIL’s experiences have definitely made me think about this stuff a lot more… Like my MIL worked from 16 to retirement, single mum to multiple children and worked all hours god sent to pay her mortgage and went without as did the kids at points. So I don’t begrudge her her house, but I can also think wow she never earnt over £30k a year and now has a property worth over half a mil? Whereas no one I know around that salary now can think about anything more than renting a single room… Like there definitely is a consumption/consumer debt problem in my (Millennial) generation and lifestyle inflation has hit us hard, but that feels chicken/egg cos I see people say with property so unaffordable can you blame us for buying xyz to make our lives less miserable? Like wasn’t it reported the other day the avg FTB deposit is £120k in London, like buying a monthly fast fashion drop or going to glasto isn’t going to change your situation if you don’t have intergenerational wealth paying that for you. Sorry for the essay but fundamentally this government/capitalism isn’t for the working classes or working people so whether you’re 22 or 62 it’s gonna tit on us one way or another.

 

[Polythene Pam]

I’m going down the ignorance is bliss route. I realised I’ve made myself unwell worrying about one thing after another the past few months and listening to the media scaremongering does no good. The bills will be paid regardless and the food shop done so I can’t see the point in thinking about it anymore. It’s a massive drain on your mental health when you can’t change it anyway.

Same. I have a young baby so there's only so much I can do to cut consumption. Any debt will get paid eventually.

 

[Jc456]

On average what do you all use daily in kwh for Gas & Eleccy? Trying to figure out if we’re a high use house although I honestly don’t know what else we can cut back on. There is someone in the house 24/7. Plus teenagers flitting back and forth. I rarely use the dryer.

Ours works out to 6kw electric a day and 3kw gas

 

[Eeyore147]

Ours works out to 6kw electric a day and 3kw gas

Wow yours is low. I must try harder. Our gas is 10kwh just for hot water for us all. No heating.

thank you to who suggested loop app. Very impressive! Much more detailed than I can get on my main energy supplier app! Going to keep a close eye on what’s using what.

 

[CrystalWench]

Wow yours is low. I must try harder. Our gas is 10kwh just for hot water for us all. No heating.

thank you to who suggested loop app. Very impressive! Much more detailed than I can get on my main energy supplier app! Going to keep a close eye on what’s using what.

This was my September usage. Electric shower which is used daily, tumble dryer 3 times in a week, charging an electric wheelchair at least twice a week and I frequently fall asleep with the tv on. Me and a 8 year old, I’m at home all day.

 

[Eeyore147]

This was my September usage. Electric shower which is used daily, tumble dryer 3 times in a week, charging an electric wheelchair at least twice a week and I frequently fall asleep with the tv on. Me and a 8 year old, I’m at home all day.

I’ll compare that to mine thank you. We always have at least one person home 24/7, usually me, and TV on for company. Electric shower used daily by several of us. No electric wheelchair but I do use the heated throw often for pain relief. Thank you x

 

[Anne1448]

No I agree with you and it’s definitely a nuanced conversation and seeing my MIL’s experiences have definitely made me think about this stuff a lot more… Like my MIL worked from 16 to retirement, single mum to multiple children and worked all hours god sent to pay her mortgage and went without as did the kids at points. So I don’t begrudge her her house, but I can also think wow she never earnt over £30k a year and now has a property worth over half a mil? Whereas no one I know around that salary now can think about anything more than renting a single room… Like there definitely is a consumption/consumer debt problem in my (Millennial) generation and lifestyle inflation has hit us hard, but that feels chicken/egg cos I see people say with property so unaffordable can you blame us for buying xyz to make our lives less miserable? Like wasn’t it reported the other day the avg FTB deposit is £120k in London, like buying a monthly fast fashion drop or going to glasto isn’t going to change your situation if you don’t have intergenerational wealth paying that for you. Sorry for the essay but fundamentally this government/capitalism isn’t for the working classes or working people so whether you’re 22 or 62 it’s gonna tit on us one way or another.

Even without debt it is impossible to buy a turn-key property with the average wage. Speaking from experience.

99% of the FTB who buy a property nowadays do so with the help of their parents who bought during the pre-90s days. The 1% who do it without their parents save for years and eventually settle for anything.

In Ireland the last time the wage to house price ratio was deemed in-line was 2013. Which means that for the last 9 years, your wage could not guarantee a step on the property ladder. Yet your wage is what banks use to provide a mortgage.

 

[smellsofbiscuits]

I’m of an age where I remember the 70s power Cuts. it was fun as a child and we didn’t have any fancy schmancy lanterns or hundreds of candles as we all do now, we used to scramble in the dark for the long Prices candles and try to melt the bottom onto a saucer so they’d stand up! I have enough candles now to light my house fully . The blackouts didn’t last for long, a couple of hours at the most and I wouldn’t worry about your modern freezers as they’re now programmed to last 12-24 hours without power before food begins to defrost.
There’s so much daily scaremongering on the news about everything, they’re even now counting Covid cases again!
I'm trying my best to switch everything off, and limit our heating etc. We have a woodburner but the prices of logs has now risen dramatically.. Home Bargains logs were £3.99 per bag and now they’re £5.69 and we easily burn a bag a night! I just wish my husband would take it more seriously he just doesn’t do anything to help, he fills the kettle for 2 cups, ofetn leave the bathroom light on with fan for ages before I see it, he put the dishwasher on today half empty..I was livid! He uses tonnes of butter on toast, sandwiches, cooking..just doesn’t get it!

My (very gendered/sexist however you prefer to interpret it theory) is that men are largely not brought up to know how to manage a household. That traditionally has been considered "the wife's" domain and has remained the same attitude even today. I'm in my late 30s, share a reasonable amount of the domestic load with my husband and even he was unaware of how much the weekly shopping bill or our energy bills cost. He never thought to ask although he bloody well found out when he asked why I was spending so much on our food bill. Now he knows he does make an effort to switch lights off etc. But the thought never even entered his head until we had a bit of an argument about it.

 

[Sglodion]

On average what do you all use daily in kwh for Gas & Eleccy? Trying to figure out if we’re a high use house although I honestly don’t know what else we can cut back on. There is someone in the house 24/7. Plus teenagers flitting back and forth. I rarely use the dryer.

The kWh setting on the smart meter doesn't work so I'm not sure how it translates, but in the last week I've used just over £3 of gas and just under £9 of electricity. The leccy one is really low because my shower is broken and I've eaten out/at friends' houses most days this week so haven't been using the oven, so probably double that for a normal week. I'm one adult living alone in a small terrace, not home during the day on weekdays, haven't had the heating on yet.

Edit: just did the maths and I think that's roughly 1.5 kWh of gas and 2.2 kWh of electricity per day this week, but most weeks it's probably more like 2 kWh and 4 kWh respectively.

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Last year we used around 4500kwh of electric and about 17000 kwh of gas for the whole year.

2 adults 2 kids and Id say we are above average usage

 

[Jc456]

Wow yours is low. I must try harder. Our gas is 10kwh just for hot water for us all. No heating

That's going by last months for 1 adult, 2 kids. I'm home in the day but don't tend to have anything on. No dishwasher or tumble drier, only gas for washing up and kids baths at the moment.
My estimated annual use is 4496 (12kw a day) for electric and 3400 (9kw a day) for gas. In the winter heating is on 19/20 all day and 16 at night, its a new build so keeps the heat well.

 

[Littleelf]

Our house used £4 of electricity the other day. I don't think we used an excessive amount that day compared to others, perhaps thr prices increase is starting to show.

From our smart meter we are averaging about £3.50 a day since the 1st Oct. Haven't changed much as we can't really reduce much else electricity wise we are concentrating on gas usage instead. So thats with a load of washing a day, hubby working from home, tv on most of the day, oven used probably most days for varying times.

 

[JOHN1967]

My (very gendered/sexist however you prefer to interpret it theory) is that men are largely not brought up to know how to manage a household. That traditionally has been considered "the wife's" domain and has remained the same attitude even today. I'm in my late 30s, share a reasonable amount of the domestic load with my husband and even he was unaware of how much the weekly shopping bill or our energy bills cost. He never thought to ask although he bloody well found out when he asked why I was spending so much on our food bill. Now he knows he does make an effort to switch lights off etc. But the thought never even entered his head until we had a bit of an argument about it.

As a man, I disagree. My wife sees 50% discount and she says it must be good value.

She doesn't look if it is over priced. Sometimes bulk buys are cheaper but she doesn't understand it. It drives me mad.

She leaves lights on, she says it's only a light. Though I moan she has a lot of good qualities.

 

[DanDanTheIceCreamMan]

I've had a brief look and in the last month the average is 6.5KwH electric and 8.5Kwh gas per day. Heating isn't really on yet (although it has kicked in twice in the mornings). Currently 2 of us at home (most of the time as still mostly WFH) small well insulated end terraced house.

 

[smellsofbiscuits]

As a man, I disagree. My wife sees 50% discount and she says it must be good value.

She doesn't look if it is over priced. Sometimes bulk buys are cheaper but she doesn't understand it. It drives me mad.

She leaves lights on, she says it's only a light. Though I moan she has a lot of good qualities.

Yeah, I appreciate that it doesn't apply to every heterosexual relationship.

 

[Laughingforlife]

Do we actually think there will be blackouts? Allegedly it's a worse case scenario.
It doesn't really impact me considering I'm quite happy to sit under a blanket and have lanterns and stuff. But I understand that it would be difficult for others.

 

[Seonag]

Where I used to live had power cuts every winter . It’s not as bad as people think . Just keep a torch handy , battery operated candles or normal candles . Have a camping stove for making tea , hot chocolate etc .You can buy cheap stoves with gas on Amazon or camping shops . Just keep the widow open a wee bit when using .We played board games with the kids so they actually enjoyed the power cuts as we all spent time together playing games under candle light . The kids loved going about with a torch .If it’s going to happen just be prepared with a torch handy so you can see where things are .