This is getting ridiculous (energy prices - Strictly NO referrals!)

[bigmike20vt]

I really think some of you guys need to change energy companies if they are taking the pi.. too much. I don't mind Octopus having a few quid of my credit.... the flip side is I have been in debit for months at a time as well however I have found their customer support to be excellent and they are happy to manually reduce my payments so long as I am not in arrears with the warning that if I go into negative they will up it.... and that is fair enough.
right now I am £77 in credit. I have been £120 in arrears these margins are kept with fairly minimal effort on my part.. I know different people's circumstances are different but with so much other crap going on is it really worth stressing over octopus having say £100 of my money in credit. it's not like I won't get it back so we are talking pennies of interest which will balance out in winter anyway.
people fighting to get back £500 sure I get it..... (and like I say if they are being a pain about it then move. - octopus will even give you and a referrer £50 credit) .. but for £100 or less I don't see the issue

 

[the shadow]

im still on pre payment meter and topped up the max before the new charges come in, SSE said they wont back track the new fees when i next top up, if this lasts me till prices rise again, ill have a heart attack at how much my electric has gone up

Did you top your key up to the max also ?

 

[LabR@t]

£400 in credit with ovo I normally reduce the excess in the summer months it's a nice was to stick some cash away each month but with coming price rises I am leaving it there with dd staying at £250pm

 

[ozaudio]

Did you top your key up to the max also ?

i forgot to do the key, i just did £250 on the meter

i did it with gas also, but then found out it wont matter as that had already been pre programmed to increase

 

[MatsyLR]

I really think some of you guys need to change energy companies if they are taking the pi.. too much. I don't mind Octopus having a few quid of my credit.... the flip side is I have been in debit for months at a time as well however I have found their customer support to be excellent and they are happy to manually reduce my payments so long as I am not in arrears with the warning that if I go into negative they will up it.... and that is fair enough.
right now I am £77 in credit. I have been £120 in arrears these margins are kept with fairly minimal effort on my part.. I know different people's circumstances are different but with so much other crap going on is it really worth stressing over octopus having say £100 of my money in credit. it's not like I won't get it back so we are talking pennies of interest which will balance out in winter anyway.
people fighting to get back £500 sure I get it..... (and like I say if they are being a pain about it then move. - octopus will even give you and a referrer £50 credit) .. but for £100 or less I don't see the issue

There is no need to faff around with switching companies, you are not going to get cheaper energy.
Just switch to direct debit whole amount so you pay the exact bill every month. That way it cannot go wrong and they cannot overcharge you. Customer support is more to do with pot luck on which person you get through to on the phone and if they are willing to do their job.

Most the energy companies use a system called SAP, while EON next and Octopus us a program called Kraken which is newer and "works better" than anything else available.

In my opinion NO ONE should be on anything other than whole amount direct debit (if they want to pay by DD) the only reason not to is if finances are an issue and you have very little money to play with each month, so you need a set amount to budget. Also bills will be higher in the winter for obvious reasons, you have to factor this into your savings.

Although the £50 credit is good for switching, all my family are on Octopus (I put them on it) we got lots of £50's haha

 

[theone8181]

There is no need to faff around with switching companies, you are not going to get cheaper energy.
Just switch to direct debit whole amount so you pay the exact bill every month. That way it cannot go wrong and they cannot overcharge you. Customer support is more to do with pot luck on which person you get through to on the phone and if they are willing to do their job.

Most the energy companies use a system called SAP, while EON next and Octopus us a program called Kraken which is newer and "works better" than anything else available.

In my opinion NO ONE should be on anything other than whole amount direct debit (if they want to pay by DD) the only reason not to is if finances are an issue and you have very little money to play with each month, so you need a set amount to budget. Also bills will be higher in the winter for obvious reasons, you have to factor this into your savings.

Although the £50 credit is good for switching, all my family are on Octopus (I put them on it) we got lots of £50's haha

I think you'll find a lot of people would soend the extra in summer and not have enough extra in winter. It's very easy for some people to live at their means (or beyond it!).

 

[MatsyLR]

I think you'll find a lot of people would soend the extra in summer and not have enough extra in winter. It's very easy for some people to live at their means (or beyond it!).

Very little sympathy for people who have a compulsion to spend money if its there tbh instead of saving. They are the people I hate speaking with, grow up and take some responsibility.
This is coming from a guy who has to justify any purchase. I have my bank setup so there is only about £5 in my account at any time, I have to manually transfer money from savings to my spending account if I want to buy anything through the banking app. Very simple and quick but it adds that extra barrier in place with a "do you really need that?" mentality attached to it. Also yes I'm an ahole.

 

[Goodie]

Very little sympathy for people who have a compulsion to spend money if its there tbh instead of saving. They are the people I hate speaking with, grow up and take some responsibility.
This is coming from a guy who has to justify any purchase. I have my bank setup so there is only about £5 in my account at any time, I have to manually transfer money from savings to my spending account if I want to buy anything through the banking app. Very simple and quick but it adds that extra barrier in place with a "do you really need that?" mentality attached to it. Also yes I'm an ahole.

That’s an extremely narrow minded view given the current situation that people find themselves in.

 

[Tony Edwards]

im still on pre payment meter and topped up the max before the new charges come in, SSE said they wont back track the new fees when i next top up, if this lasts me till prices rise again, ill have a heart attack at how much my electric has gone up

i forgot to do the key, i just did £250 on the meter

i did it with gas also, but then found out it wont matter as that had already been pre programmed to increase

Isnt all you have done is put the amount of money you can spend on the key rather than pre bought the amount of energy you can use?

 

[Tony Edwards]

That’s an extremely narrow minded view given the current situation that people find themselves in.

I think that may have been covered in the last sentence.

 

[MatsyLR]

That’s an extremely narrow minded view given the current situation that people find themselves in.

For old people on a fixed pension sure, get plenty of grannies calling who are begging/crying, I feel for them as they have paid into the system all their lives and now they are abandoned.
But for others who chose to be where they are, no sorry. That includes having children when you know fine well you can't afford it. When going through affordability/expenses checks, they always have many expenses that they just don't need.
Smoking, drinking, netflix, hulu, sky, expensive phone contract among other things they are not a necessity, they they complain they are a broke. Also add on top buying only branded food, branding clothing every few weeks, xbox/pc/PS games on the regular, loads of stuff that they just don't need.

 

[Goodie]

For old people on a fixed pension sure, get plenty of grannies calling who are begging/crying, I feel for them as they have paid into the system all their lives and now they are abandoned. But for others who chose to be where they are, no sorry. That includes having children when you know fine well you can't afford it.

I don’t think you quite have a grasp of the situation or life in general, empathy not high up on your personal qualities eh?

 

[MatsyLR]

I don’t think you quite have a grasp of the situation or life in general, empathy not high up on your personal qualities eh?

I have very little empathy for irresponsible adults who don't know how to stop themselves spending.
Keep in mind this only applies to people who are capable workers, not retired/pensioners/disabled etc
I only come out with £20k a year, that's enough to get just under £1400 every month after pension/taxes. After all bills apart from petrol/energy I'm left with around £400 a month spare. £60 petrol and £80 energy (currently...) so around £250 spare money every month to spend on what I want. Guess where most of it goes? straight into savings for emergency situations or to buy what I want when I want. Although this only for 1 person with 2 cats. Couples have no excuse as they have much more income coming in.

Also I'm fully aware of the situation as I have to discuss it daily with people, I just don't understand why people are terrible with money. Again this isn't in relation to old people/no job/disabled etc.
One thing I have learned however, don't have kids if you don't have a good stable job.

 

[Haggisman]

In my opinion NO ONE should be on anything other than whole amount direct debit

Why not? I've asked you this before but you ignored it.

One thing I have learned however, don't have kids if you don't have a good stable job.

No such thing as a "good stable job" these days. I take it you have no sympathy for anyone with kids in the hospitality and travel industries who have lost their jobs and businesses thanks to the double whammy of covid and now people cutting down on their luxury spending? Or anyone else whose circumstances have changed due to events outside their control, e.g. redundancy, relationship breakdown, death of a partner etc.?

I'm alright Jack and screw anyone else eh? What a lovely (and out of touch with reality) attitude to have.

 

[MatsyLR]

Why not? I've asked you this before but you ignored it.



No such thing as a "good stable job" these days. I take it you have no sympathy for anyone with kids in the hospitality and travel industries who have lost their jobs and businesses thanks to the double whammy of covid and now people cutting down on their luxury spending? Or anyone else whose circumstances have changed due to events outside their control, e.g. redundancy, relationship breakdown, death of a partner etc.?

I'm alright Jack and screw anyone else eh? What a lovely (and out of touch with reality) attitude to have.

The DD thing first. The other way of paying by DD is the fixed amount with the idea that it evens out at the end of your annual period. Although it doesn't work too well from what I've seen. You then have PAYG etc but those are different methods. Best to use pay your full bill. I've very against debt of any kind.

No not really in regards to the 2nd part. Get a new job (regardless of what it is), jobs are difficult to come by these days but do whatever you can. Relationship breakdown/death doesn't really change anything, although I'm quite unemotional when it comes to those. Also where are the savings? You should have a good chunk to fall back on if times get tough. I have 20k sitting in a Chase bank account (1.5% interest) that only ever gets added to. Not the best use of the money but its there to not be touched for emergency situations. Stop spending your entire paycheck and cut back on "luxurys".

 

[Haggisman]

The DD thing first. The other way of paying by DD is the fixed amount with the idea that it evens out at the end of your annual period. Although it doesn't work too well from what I've seen.

The only reason it doesn't work too well is because people are either terrible at estimating usage, or don't bother keeping on top of it. If you know your annual usage then dividing that by 12 to get your average monthly usage and from that combined with your unit rates working out average monthly cost is literally primary school maths.

That still doesn't really explain why no one should use it, when you have a fixed income every month, it makes perfect sense to have your outgoings as fixed as possible as well

Relationship breakdown/death doesn't really change anything, although I'm quite unemotional when it comes to those.

It has nothing to do with the emotional side - purely pragmatic - you've said you don't have kids, so obviously have no idea of the cost of childcare (not a criticism, just an observation). If your partner is looking after the kids while you work, and then suddenly they are out of the picture, your same wage suddenly has to cover an extra £200+/month for school age kids during term time (after school clubs) and £700+/month during holidays or for younger kids. That's not exactly easy on most salaries! If the partner is working then your costs are the same, but suddenly "half" the household income disappears, same issue.

"Get a new job" in the case of redundancy doesn't necessarily solve the issue either, if you go from a £40k job to a £15k minimum wage job then you're basically just working to pay for childcare

 

[Richie]

I only come out with £20k a year, that's enough to get just under £1400 every month after pension/taxes. After all bills apart from petrol/energy I'm left with around £400 a month spare. £60 petrol and £80 energy (currently...) so around £250 spare money every month to spend on what I want. Guess where most of it goes? straight into savings for emergency situations or to buy what I want when I want.

What do you spend the other £1000 on each month?

A general location may be helpful as well. You say you "only come.out with £20k/year but that can go further in some.places than others.

One thing I have learned however, don't have kids if you don't have a good stable job.

And what if you have a good stable job, have kids, then the employer makes you redundant and you end up in a job with a far lower wage?

People's circumstances can change through no fault of their own. You appear to have been over exposed to people needing help in your.job to the point you're immune to it.

 

[chrcoluk]

Very little sympathy for people who have a compulsion to spend money if its there tbh instead of saving. They are the people I hate speaking with, grow up and take some responsibility.
This is coming from a guy who has to justify any purchase. I have my bank setup so there is only about £5 in my account at any time, I have to manually transfer money from savings to my spending account if I want to buy anything through the banking app. Very simple and quick but it adds that extra barrier in place with a "do you really need that?" mentality attached to it. Also yes I'm an ahole.

You are assuming of course they not spending it all on living costs, and even if they not I think there is nothing wrong with spending providing you dont default and have other people cover your losses.

I can flip this round though, I have known people who put a chunk of their income in savings, and then plead poverty pretending the bit they not put in savings is their entire income. When asked why dont they use their savings to pay their bills its along the lines of "I cant touch that". One example is someone who had 14k in a bank account but decided to not pay a 6k credit card bill.

 

[fredwi]

You are assuming of course they not spending it all on living costs, and even if they not I think there is nothing wrong with spending providing you dont default and have other people cover your losses.

I can flip this round though, I have known people who put a chunk of their income in savings, and then plead poverty pretending the bit they not put in savings is their entire income. When asked why dont they use their savings to pay their bills its along the lines of "I cant touch that". One example is someone who had 14k in a bank account but decided to not pay a 6k credit card bill.

I was a bit like this but without the credit card debt, I fixed it by dividing my savings into pots by an excel spreadsheet so I know I can afford x

 

[fredwi]

Very little sympathy for people who have a compulsion to spend money if its there tbh instead of saving. They are the people I hate speaking with, grow up and take some responsibility.
This is coming from a guy who has to justify any purchase. I have my bank setup so there is only about £5 in my account at any time, I have to manually transfer money from savings to my spending account if I want to buy anything through the banking app. Very simple and quick but it adds that extra barrier in place with a "do you really need that?" mentality attached to it. Also yes I'm an ahole.

And what happens when the banks have an outage and you cannot move money