Cost of Living - How are you handling it?

I still don't get how they can justify drastic increases on the standing charge. I thought was supposed to cover costs of the network itself and was nothing to do with the price of actual energy. The costs of maintaining the network haven't changed so drastically so what's the justification for any increase of it?

I wonder if the government will eventually cave to the idea of a windfall tax. The pressure on them to do it is going to be seriously intense by the time October rolls around. It would secure them an enormous number of votes, but it would piss off the people they actually care about keeping happy and it would look like they're doing what Labour tells them to.

Grumpy David wrote:
Grumpy David wrote:
Qikz wrote:Just noticed my gas/electric bill has gone from £47.99 to £93.39. I've even been doing everything I can to cut down my excess usage. strawberry float. I can afford it thankfully but that's scary as hell how much it's gone up.

Hasn't the standing charge (literally the cost to just be connected rather than consuming energy) gone up too?

Even if you've been extremely good with cutting back, you'd still find your bills going up.

Or this could be affecting you:

Energy firms investigated over claims of direct debit rip-off

Energy suppliers face “substantial fines” as regulators begin an urgent investigation into claims they are ripping off customers by inflating direct debits to ease cashflow problems.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, said companies had three weeks to respond to allegations of “completely unacceptable behaviour” relating to unjustified direct debit increases.

Although oil giants’ profits are rising, suppliers are paying more for gas and electricity and passing the costs on. A price cap restricts the amount that customers can be charged, and some suppliers are paying out more for energy than they can pass on. As a result, government sources believe that some suppliers are trying to use higher customer direct debits to build up cash reserves to cover their short-term costs.

Energy companies must inform customers if they are increasing the amount taken each month by direct debit and give them an opportunity to challenge rises based on meter readings. However, since the energy price cap rose by 54 per cent last month there have been anecdotal reports of companies increasing direct debits beyond what customers are using without justification and ignoring or rejecting appeals for a review.

If it is this they can go strawberry float themselves. At least I'll get it back in credit on my account I guess. They did this to me before, my account was like £1000 in credit. I didn't pay any bills for months.

Base Rate up to 1%. Highest rate in 13 years. Recession pretty much baked in now.

twitter.com/EdConwaySky/status/1522179177369280513

I got over of those Pret A Manger drinks subscriptions for £25 a month. Get upto 5 barista made drinks a day! I get around 2 of them each day and I also opt for oat milk as I'm lactose intolerant which again saves me money as I don't have to buy as much oat milk myself.

So what exactly is causing this?

Grumpy David wrote:Base Rate up to 1%. Highest rate in 13 years. Recession pretty much baked in now.

twitter.com/EdConwaySky/status/1522179177369280513

GD, you seem to know your stuff on this kinda thing, should I be worried about our savings in Stock ISAs if we're heading for a recession?

YouTube

pull it all out now and reinvest once the recession hits 8-)

Fade wrote:So what exactly is causing this?

It's a perfect storm of lots of factors, some of the main things are:

> Impact of covid on various things including supply chain
> The Government raising taxes
> Brexit
> Supply chain costs increasing for various reasons (including both the above) and other actors
> High demand for energy against reduced supply pushing prices up

YouTube

the main factor is:

> The Tories

Stugene wrote:the main factor is:

> The Tories

Yep.

Some of this stuff would still be happening but we'd be far better prepared for with a competent Government and it wouldn't be as bad.

Tomous wrote:
Stugene wrote:the main factor is:

> The Tories

Yep.

Some of this stuff would still be happening but we'd be far better prepared for with a competent Government and it wouldn't be as bad.

If the Tories were competent we'd still be strawberry floated. We need a government that is both competent and not actively seeking to funnel all of the national wealth into the upper classes.

YouTube

Oblomov Boblomov wrote:
Tomous wrote:
Stugene wrote:the main factor is:

> The Tories

Yep.

Some of this stuff would still be happening but we'd be far better prepared for with a competent Government and it wouldn't be as bad.

If the Tories were competent we'd still be strawberry floated. We need a government that is both competent and not actively seeking to funnel all of the national wealth into the upper classes.

uh no that would be cringe bro. they're wealth creators

Stugene wrote:
Oblomov Boblomov wrote:
Tomous wrote:
Stugene wrote:the main factor is:

> The Tories

Yep.

Some of this stuff would still be happening but we'd be far better prepared for with a competent Government and it wouldn't be as bad.

If the Tories were competent we'd still be strawberry floated. We need a government that is both competent and not actively seeking to funnel all of the national wealth into the upper classes.

uh no that would be cringe bro. they're wealth creators

were all in this together xx

YouTube

Qikz wrote:
Stugene wrote:
Oblomov Boblomov wrote:
Tomous wrote:
Stugene wrote:the main factor is:

> The Tories

Yep.

Some of this stuff would still be happening but we'd be far better prepared for with a competent Government and it wouldn't be as bad.

If the Tories were competent we'd still be strawberry floated. We need a government that is both competent and not actively seeking to funnel all of the national wealth into the upper classes.

uh no that would be cringe bro. they're wealth creators

were all in this together xx

one moment, just need to finish rending all of the flesh from my body

Qikz wrote:
Stugene wrote:
Oblomov Boblomov wrote:
Tomous wrote:
Stugene wrote:the main factor is:

> The Tories

Yep.

Some of this stuff would still be happening but we'd be far better prepared for with a competent Government and it wouldn't be as bad.

If the Tories were competent we'd still be strawberry floated. We need a government that is both competent and not actively seeking to funnel all of the national wealth into the upper classes.

uh no that would be cringe bro. they're wealth creators

were all in this together xx

twitter.com/andrew_graeme/status/1523250821869318144

Haha poor Katherine.

Another horrendous day for the FTSE. Time to take profits - if you still have them - for any funds or crypto, IMO. Recession can't be far away.

speedboatchase wrote:Haha poor Katherine.

Another horrendous day for the FTSE. Time to take profits - if you still have them - for any funds or crypto, IMO. Recession can't be far away.

Katherine is the person answering the question, not asking it

Tomous wrote:
speedboatchase wrote:Haha poor Katherine.

Another horrendous day for the FTSE. Time to take profits - if you still have them - for any funds or crypto, IMO. Recession can't be far away.

Katherine is the person answering the question, not asking it

I now realise that :fp:

Tomous wrote:
Grumpy David wrote:Base Rate up to 1%. Highest rate in 13 years. Recession pretty much baked in now.

twitter.com/EdConwaySky/status/1522179177369280513

GD, you seem to know your stuff on this kinda thing, should I be worried about our savings in Stock ISAs if we're heading for a recession?

Depends on your timeline for when you need the money and how recession-proof your job is / how recession-proof your employer is.

With cash, you're guaranteed to lose money to inflation but your money is protected by the FSCS and if you need money in the short term, it's best kept as cash (I'd consider premium bonds as essentially the same thing).

Equities have been the best way to protect your money against inflation in the long run but if you need to sell during a recession then that's not much comfort.

Cost of Living - How are you handling it?

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