I seem to accidentally be getting mine back. I'm with Shell and nearly £300 in credit. They tried to put my monthly direct debit up but I went on my account and dialled it back down. Then the £66 a month from the Government started which they deduct from my direct debit so I'm only really paying £32 a month so my credit is slowly reducing.
Discontent #9 food, energy, transport, cost of living, society etc
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Back to the pet food BS stories like that and the one I have linked to have so many holes all it does IMO is make those who are not suffering from the recession believe that no one is, so the media have to make up stupid stories. as they cannot find anyone really suffering.
A 20-year-old is sharing his daily battles amid the cost of living crisis as he struggles to pay his energy bills and feed himself. Ashley Goudou, from Mancroft, Bristol, lives alone in a one-bedroom flat along with his four dogs and four rescue cats. He works 10-hour shifts seven days a week on £6.81 an hour, and cannot afford a pedal bike to get to work.
The factory worker walks an hour in the dark to get to his night stint and lives off Pot Noodles, as that's the cheapest meal he can make. Ashley told the Mirror : "I shower at the gym because I can't afford the gas to wash at home. I always worry at the end of the month if I have enough money to feed the dogs - but I'd rather feed them than myself."
Much more BS on the link
www.mirror.co.uk
A 20-year-old is sharing his daily battles amid the cost of living crisis as he struggles to pay his energy bills and feed himself. Ashley Goudou, from Mancroft, Bristol, lives alone in a one-bedroom flat along with his four dogs and four rescue cats. He works 10-hour shifts seven days a week on £6.81 an hour, and cannot afford a pedal bike to get to work.
The factory worker walks an hour in the dark to get to his night stint and lives off Pot Noodles, as that's the cheapest meal he can make. Ashley told the Mirror : "I shower at the gym because I can't afford the gas to wash at home. I always worry at the end of the month if I have enough money to feed the dogs - but I'd rather feed them than myself."
Much more BS on the link
'I'm 20 and work 7 days a week to survive - I shower at gym and eat Pot Noodles'
Ashley Goudou, 20, from Bristol, is struggling to make ends meet and works 10-hour shifts seven days a week to feed himself and his pets - living off Pot Noodles and showering at the gym
We did this last year and its been great! We use it to keep the kids rooms a good temperature at night. We’re not turning on other rooms regularly unless its freezing but before it was great for adjusting each room to a desired temperature.
I would definitely recommend it as it has helped us control our bills a bit.
Thank you
I’ll look at getting some valves!I understand your point to some extent, but I don’t think it’s necessarily as black and white as that! Peoples circumstances can change very quickly, so someone may have been in a comfortable position and got a pet, then months or years later got made redundant or lost work or had their income reduced through no fault of their own. Yes, you could say get rid of the pet to save some money, but it’s not as simple as that. Pets are like family and I could never just get rid of my dog no matter how hard my situation was.
I agree that if you’re already struggling, getting a pet is only going to make it harder, but like I said, for some people circumstances change.
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We are in credit at the moment but we are with Bulb so i am not sure how it will work when we get moved to (possibly) octopus - on the online portal i am able to keep lowering the direct debit amount because of the amount of credit we have. They put our direct debit up to £260 initially and i have got it down to £169 at the moment but it is still more than what we were paying (we always had it set at £115) - we don't have a smart meter but i do send off a few readings a month just so i can try and work out how much we are using though to be honest it's all a bit gobbledegook to me 
I'm sure the energy companies are very creative in how they calculate stuff. I kept giving meter readings just before prices rose and you had to do it on a form rather than their site, they seem to have lost all of these 
.
My £1'200 surplus has magically disappeared in two months and is now £80is. Even though I give readings they show these bills that say we're using double the energy that we were last year, even though we know that we are using significantly less. It's deliberately made quite confusing so you're not in a position of power to dispute it. I know before this week we were using very little gas as it was so mild, shower at gyms etc.
I expected the surplus to disappear, but by the end of the winter not the second cold week of the winter! Even thought we're paying in £220 a month and this alone should more or less cover the bills with the price rises and our reduced use.
.My £1'200 surplus has magically disappeared in two months and is now £80is. Even though I give readings they show these bills that say we're using double the energy that we were last year, even though we know that we are using significantly less. It's deliberately made quite confusing so you're not in a position of power to dispute it. I know before this week we were using very little gas as it was so mild, shower at gyms etc.
I expected the surplus to disappear, but by the end of the winter not the second cold week of the winter! Even thought we're paying in £220 a month and this alone should more or less cover the bills with the price rises and our reduced use.
agreed completely, but reading that article it sounds like a pisstake so whoever has written it is 100% playing to the right with the idea no one is really suffering because this bloke’s story does sound ridiculous with no additional context, sorry? They’ve listed off 8 pets and a gym membership no one is going to take this seriously, when the reality for most poor people is dangerous unsafe housing by scum private landlords & struggling through the month with kids.Thank you
I understand your point to some extent, but I don’t think it’s necessarily as black and white as that! Peoples circumstances can change very quickly, so someone may have been in a comfortable position and got a pet, then months or years later got made redundant or lost work or had their income reduced through no fault of their own. Yes, you could say get rid of the pet to save some money, but it’s not as simple as that. Pets are like family and I could never just get rid of my dog no matter how hard my situation was.
I agree that if you’re already struggling, getting a pet is only going to make it harder, but like I said, for some people circumstances change.
The press need to be careful as not all skint ppl are in the same boat even if they’ve got exactly the same £ disposable income at the end of the month. Someone on a low wage in private rent may very well end up with the same post outgoings disposable income as a mid earner who’s massively over leveraged with a mortgage, car lease, and high consumer debt. Who deserves gov intervention though versus who needs to face the facts and sell off the assets they’ve got loans against…? Like this recession I don’t want to hear from the interest only mortgage morons who squandered the opportunity of a lifetime to buy their house at 90s/early 00s prices.
I’m taking weekly meter readings and currently paying £30 a week thereabouts ( cooking, lights, showers, laundry) and will be £800 in credit tomorrow , not intended as a boast ; I’ve become anxious about maintaining a decent amount of credit ready for Christmas, Jan/Feb weather.
We’re working full time and not in the house during the week until the evening and more importantly we haven’t put the heating on for a significant amount of time but we’re cracking and the house feels damp, I’ve had to clean off a lot of little patches of mould in our bedrooms and bathroom .
We’re working full time and not in the house during the week until the evening and more importantly we haven’t put the heating on for a significant amount of time but we’re cracking and the house feels damp, I’ve had to clean off a lot of little patches of mould in our bedrooms and bathroom .
Peoples circumstances change, disposable income reduces.
If you have a pet theyre part of your family you dont just 'get rid of them' this isnt to say I agree people are eating dog food because I know how much it costs and its definitely not a cheaper option and its very much a click baity headline.
Ive spoken before about how much my dogs cost me and its a lot but Id really cut back on everything before I even considered rehoming them. Theyre living creatures who are attached to everyone in our home.
The thought that people would even have to consider getting rid of pets due to the COL crisis makes me so sad.
If you have a pet theyre part of your family you dont just 'get rid of them' this isnt to say I agree people are eating dog food because I know how much it costs and its definitely not a cheaper option and its very much a click baity headline.
Ive spoken before about how much my dogs cost me and its a lot but Id really cut back on everything before I even considered rehoming them. Theyre living creatures who are attached to everyone in our home.
The thought that people would even have to consider getting rid of pets due to the COL crisis makes me so sad.
I'd like to add - with the 8 pet article shared above, it's unfair on the pets to be left alone all day 7 days a week too 
I was thinking that tooI'd like to add - with the 8 pet article shared above, it's unfair on the pets to be left alone all day 7 days a week too
working 10 hours 7 days plus the time to walk there and the time he's at the gymYep in a one-bed flat. he works 7 days a week and then goes to the gym to shower. So when do these dogs get walkedI'd like to add - with the 8 pet article shared above, it's unfair on the pets to be left alone all day 7 days a week too
I have rehomed two of my beloved dogs ( still cry when I think about it ) due to my circumstances changing and not being able to give them the best I could anymore.
Has anybody got one of those foot warmer things? They look ridiculous and the last thing I want is more clutter. But I'm using a hot water bottle for my feet when on the sofa and I know I'm going to stand on it and pop it sooner or later
Amazon product
Amazon product
Did the article say they were rescue dogs too?!?I'd like to add - with the 8 pet article shared above, it's unfair on the pets to be left alone all day 7 days a week too
Dont know about anyone else but if youve ever attempted to get a dog from a rescue but if you have a job where you need to leave the house its usually an automatic no
Easier to rob a bank than adopt a rescue dog. Tongue in cheek I understand why the rescues have to be so much picky.
I got one similarish from Home Bargains that I push my feet into. A bit like a cushion I can push my feet into so I can have it on the sofa or the floor. Was £7.99 last year.
This month has been an expensive one so far. My car finance came to an end so I had the balloon payment which I'd been saving for leave which means with rent/council tax/car/other expenses over £7k left my account in 1 day 
. I've moved my one remaining bit of debt, about £850 onto a new credit card with 0% on balance transfers for 20 months and then, once I've cleared that, will be debt free. Debating on still keeping a credit card or something open for that credit score benefit as having no debt/finance agreements could make it difficult for me to get anything like that in the future - should house prices fall to a level where I can actually afford to buy somewhere on my own in the South East which is highly unlikely I know - I don't want having no credit at all to affect that. Not sure if that does though?
I transferred over to Octopus at the beginning of October but there was a bit of an issue with my tariff disappearing from my account and they never set my direct debit back up when they said they would too so I have a feeling I've missed the November £66 so I expect that'll be a hassle to try and trace. Got the October one with my previous supplier and on 1st December got what I assume in Dec's one. Anyone else on Octopus know when their payments go in and if there is a delay so it might well be Nov's payment on 1st Dec?
. I've moved my one remaining bit of debt, about £850 onto a new credit card with 0% on balance transfers for 20 months and then, once I've cleared that, will be debt free. Debating on still keeping a credit card or something open for that credit score benefit as having no debt/finance agreements could make it difficult for me to get anything like that in the future - should house prices fall to a level where I can actually afford to buy somewhere on my own in the South East which is highly unlikely I know - I don't want having no credit at all to affect that. Not sure if that does though? I transferred over to Octopus at the beginning of October but there was a bit of an issue with my tariff disappearing from my account and they never set my direct debit back up when they said they would too so I have a feeling I've missed the November £66 so I expect that'll be a hassle to try and trace. Got the October one with my previous supplier and on 1st December got what I assume in Dec's one. Anyone else on Octopus know when their payments go in and if there is a delay so it might well be Nov's payment on 1st Dec?
Not having a credit history affects your ability to buy a home.Not having debt in the UK affects your ability to buy a home?
You don’t have to have debt
I wonder if this trend to make the whole downstairs open plan will come to an end? With heating costs it's much better to have walls and you can heat the lounge without it all wooshing up the the stairs
I personally hated it. I don't like to feel that im cooking in the lounge and I want walls and doors to shut away stuff (and people
).
I know lots don't like south park, but the depth of research they put in to things does often highlight stuff in society so well. "Take out the walls for an open concept"
I personally hated it. I don't like to feel that im cooking in the lounge and I want walls and doors to shut away stuff (and people
).I know lots don't like south park, but the depth of research they put in to things does often highlight stuff in society so well. "Take out the walls for an open concept"
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