Financial Focusing update #7

Have you ever felt that something was just too complicated to get your head around and that there was no point in even trying to get a grasp. Well that is how I feel about the energy bills – all those Kilowatts and tariffs, standing charges, day rates, night rates, discounts, fixed fees and exit fees – who in their right minds made all this garbage up – must have been a man for sure!

In order to get some order going in my limited understanding of the energy usage I have downloaded graphs, figures and estimates from our energy accounts. This is obviously going to be a long job and more than a cup of tea, a packet of crisps and a couple of biscuits.

As you can see from the chart Gas Usage 2011 to 2014 I discovered that we used far less gas in 2011 than either 2012 or 2013.

In 2012 we had a big leap and that will coincide with my eldest daughter and her partner coming to live with us for a while. After their departure in October and throughout 2013 we saw a steady return to using less combined with a milder winter so far.

We have a four bedroomed house and the gas we use is just our central heating, hot water and gas fire in the living room. We cook electric. I think we are wasteful in the evening and at weekends – when the house cools down too much we may override the timer and put the central heating on again and then forget about switching it off until nearly bedtime.

It is especially cold in our kitchen / dining room as one of the corner cupboards has an outside ventilation grill which we cannot reach to block it off so a howling draft swirls around our feet (when we get our new kitchen this will be sorted – we have lived with it for 29 years – funny how time flies!) and we have double patio doors too which is a lot of glass even though they are double glazed. When we spend a lot of time in here we need more heat unless we are cooking or it is a sunny day.

Now I have an average usage for the year 22,000 Kwh I can start to compare prices available with greater accuracy. I can also see where we can make energy savings in usage as well as price. My focus tomorrow will be looking at our electricity usage. When I have all the facts I can then begin finding a good deal for the next year on the comparison sites.

Do you know what your energy usage is for the year?

On a different note today is a very happy day and I want to wish my mum in law a very Happy 90th Birthday and yes I did say 90. She is a wonderful person and has been a 2nd mum to me over the years. We will be seeing her on Saturday for a little get together – but because she has dementia now I am not sure if she will even realise she has reached this milestone….

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