Cost of living crisis/kWh Measuring Contest

Maybe just don’t fuck them in the first place?

www.theguardian.com/money/2022/aug/25/british-gas-to-donate-10-of-profits-to-struggling-customers

Do we know if the prices will ever return to "pre-crisis" albeit a few quid more as in any year and if we do how do we know they will, what guarantees

I'm waiting for the savings to trickle down.

Thanks. I've taken advice and now understand what is going on. Its because the mortgage is in my name only (complicated reasons that I wont bore  you with). This means they look at all outgoings without considering my partner's salary and that funnily enough makes it a bit unsustainable. I can get up to £120k, but the amount outstanding is a bit more than that. So, options were pay more with the few people who would take us or put my partner on the mortgage (legal fees and even possibly capital gains tax and delay) which would open up the providers again but by then rates would probably be a lot higher.

Then we got a third option which sounded nuts to me at first, but on reflection suits us best and that is extend the term of the mortgage  5 years) to reduce the monthly fee to 10% less than we are currently paying but allowing 10% overpayment so we can continue at our current payment. I think this is the best option as its 5 years fixed which will let us get over the current insanity with more money in my pocket to prevent freezing / starvation and at the end of 5 years, both our kids will be out of school which is a major expense. I'm also sadly expecting my parents to die within the next 5 years which means I can probably pay off the remainder of the mortgage at that point. 

So, think we're sorted. I've also started looking at gas and electric and where we can save money. I have noted that gas is 3 times the price it was this time last year per kwh and electric is not quite double, so people are going to struggle once it gets cold and the bills start rocketing. 

Thanks again all. I was panicking a bit, but with speaking to someone switched on (£99), I am happier with where we are and I think we're more setup for the insanity to come. 

Right, I need to replace this monitor (4k 44") with an HP 29" I've got in the attic as that uses a third of the power. 

It might not work for you but renting out a room if you have it spare would give you a good amount of money.

As somebody on a 37 year mortgage, extend away

(35 remaining, would pay off when 73. Which is when I told the bank is when I would be retiring). - but the relative value of the mortgage will be inflated away by inflation and pay increases, so expect we could pay it off waaaaay sooner.

Edit: we extended the time so we could borrow more. We could borrow more based on affordability, but we were actually limited then by credit score (probably because neither of us had really borrowed before and had lift abroad immediately preceding the purchase).

I'm fairly well protected against the rise announcement tomorrow because of my low usage but even I'm feeling a bit nauseous. Dread what it's like for others

Probably people submitting meter readings, it happened last time too.

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You keep banging on about riots but I can’t see it myself.

We are a nation that just sucks it up or moves away, depending on personality.

Poll tax is within living memory. We've had 2 MPs killed within the last decade. Football hooligans have come back in ways we didn't expect.

Perhaps "riots" in the traditional sense is off but there's more strikes than I've ever seen in my lifetime. Civil unrest and action is very possible.

Remember remember the failure of the 5th of November?!

Maybe we will have violence erupt. Of course, the bastards who caused all this will have swanned off abroad by then with their dirty winnings and post brexit obtained EU passports.

Meanwhile I’ll sit by the smouldering embers trying to keep warm, regretting that I didn’t sod off abroad whilst I had the chance.

I'm really hoping the strikes keep spreading. I'll be voting to strike when our poll comes around in the autumn.