Miss Thrifty

Today is a traumatic day in the Thrifty household. Our statements from our energy provider, Southern Electric, have arrived.

I have been able to scrrrrrrrrrrape my jaw from the floor and regain my composure - but it has not been a pretty episode. We knew our gas and electricity bills were going up - UK energy companies have all shuffled their tariffs skywards over the past couple of months - but we didn’t expect that the rises would be quite so steep.

We do everything by the Thrifty Book: we found the cheapest tariff using uSwitch, and we pay a fixed monthly direct debit, which qualifies us for a 5 per cent discount. We live in a brick mid-terraced house with small rooms, so our usage isn’t that high. For the past year-and-a-bit, we have been paying:

£21 ($39) a month for electricity

£25 ($46) a month for gas

Southern Electric has now written to us to let us know that from this day forth, we will be paying: (more…)

Is it just me, or are door-to-door salesmen multiplying like those half-Orcs in Lord of the Rings? Working from home, I’m finding that the interruptions are suddenly coming thick and fast. Already this week I’ve had a man from Scottish Electricity and a man from E.ON - another UK energy firm - trying to persuade me to change provider.

Of course, their noble efforts were doomed to failure - I have already snapped up the cheapest deal. Although my current provider must be getting cold feet too, in the current climate. They sent me two energy-saving lightbulbs yesterday - to keep me sweet, I’m sure.

I feel mean turning the men away, because it’s a tough way to earn a living in my opinion, but I know that I’ll find the best deals on www.uswitch.com, rather than on my doorstep.

Oh, and I also had a grubby-looking boy turn up on my doorstep, wanting to buy any scrap metal.

I can’t remember having so many knocks at the door. Who is next, I wonder? A dishcloth salesman? A gent shifting encyclopaedias? (more…)

As a tightwad who has lived in both America and the UK (currently residing in the UK), I find it interesting to compare the two countries from a personal finance perspective. Although the USA enjoys a relatively low cost of living and should come up trumps on this front, my experience has been quite the opposite. In truth I’m in awe of my fellow PF bloggers on the other side of the pond, and I’m in awe of any US frugal freaks who manage to live as comfortably as they do.

This is not an America! Yah boo sucks! post. Nor is it a Russell Brand-ish plea to vote Obama “on behalf of the world”. (Naughty Russell!) These are my straight-up observations and my first-hand experiences, and I would be genuinely interested to hear what others have to make of them.

First up, why America is a great country in which to try and live very well, on very little: (more…)

If you haven’t yet identified your cheapest energy supplier, there’s really no excuse for putting this off any longer. My quick and easy guide to doing this ASAP is at the bottom of this post.

As you may have heard British Gas, the country’s largest energy supplier, has today announced that it is raising its gas prices by 35 per cent. This is the largest single price increase in its history, and one that is going to affect an awful lot of people: British Gas supplies gas and/or electricity to nearly half of all households in the UK. Its electricity tariff is going up too, by 9.4 per cent. Since the beginning of the year, most families have seen their gas bills rise by £400 on average.

The new bills will hit pensioners particularly hard, but all customers are going to feel the effects. As The Daily Telegraph notes:

Households are defined as falling into fuel poverty when they are forced to spend 10 per cent of their disposable income on heating and lighting their home.

More than four million households are already estimated to suffer from this predicament. British Gas said it was not increase the amount it charges the 340,000 most vulnerable customers on its “essentials tariff”.

Charities pointed out that it was not just the vulnerable that would be hit, but many middle-class families, already feeling the pinch from soaring food, mortgage and transport costs would be unable to cope.

Like everyone, I was surprised to learn of such steep price increases. However, I was also stunned to discover that (more…)