Jack Monroe #359 Hoops I Did It Again

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I was discussing this issue with mr story and he said we will just reduce our consumption as best we can. We rarely use the heating apart from an hour/2 in the evening when everyone is at home and an hour in the morning.
We have a combi so the water is heated as and when we need it and we will use a flask for things like tea and coffee making.

We only really use the cooker once a day, breakfast is usually toast and cereal with whatever fruit and condiments required
.

Lunch is usually sandwiches by request. My kids never want hot lunches.

So we only tend to use the oven or hob once in the evening too cook for everyone. We bought a ninja foodi combi during lockdown( from money we saved from doing feck all) and we actually use it more and more now as it cooks most foods in alot less time than the oven.

There is lots of hacks to save money. Getting into debt is not it.
 
Onestorytoomany said:
I dont know say you set up your standing order for xx amount ( you calculate) but then the price increases or for some reason you use slightly more. By leaving a light on or your kid forgetting to switch of their phone charger etc. Wont thst incur a debt? Its seems risky you would constantly (under the conditions)have to change the standing order.
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Yes indeed! Your bill will accumulate at whatever your contracted rate for paying for energy is dependant on how much energy you use. So its a bit like knowing you will spend £5000 for Christmas but only being able to save £100 a month and then being surprised when in January you are carrying a bill on your credit card of £3800!!! And you can’t amend direct debits as they are controlled by the person getting the money. You control STO as the person paying the money. It’s a ridiculously short sighted arrangement to just pretend you can set the amount you pay monthly to what you can afford and that you just then wait for the bill to arrive!! All it does is kicks the (tin) can down the road until bill time. But the bill will still be there (sadly).
 
As someone who just pays by direct debit, I thought one of the benefits of doing this is that you pay extra over the summer months and accumulate a bit more ‘in the bank’ so to speak. I know this benefits the energy company and times have changed, but paying as you go over the summer just means you’re going to be landed with whopping bills over winter. I can’t see a benefit to doing this except the bills will be relatively low atm, because you’re not having your heating on. If I’ve got this wrong, can someone explain it to me, because I’m lost?
 
Bringing this over from the last thread. @Wood Spite is right this is not a money saving idea.

When I moved into my house my DD was set up too low, I said to the electricity company that I thought it was low, they didn't agree. I was using more than they had me paying for so ended up with a debit. Then I had to increase my DD to pay the debt.

Strangely a few years later this did happen again, the company didn't take enough cash each month and I had another debit. (I had also had a rebate from them at one point as they had a few hundred pounds of my cash sat in my account.) This was because my bills were estimated for 6 months based on previous usage!!!!! Again I was in debt. It was such a mess, I'd had a rebate then I was back in debt.

I had a choice to increase my DD or talk to a debit management company. I chose to just pay the arrears and then set myself up to pay my bills monthly untill I had a year's worth of smart meter readings which would mean an accurate DD being set up.

I am fortunate that I could pay this debit, I am grateful that I was in that situation.

Suggesting people set up payments that they think are correct/affordable is such crappy advice because that debit will come back to bite.

The companies aren't going to accept people paying £75 because the customer says that is what they can afford and write off the other £125 that they might use that month. It doesn't work like that! I hate this advice being given as it's just not true.

My electric company have online billing now so I can adjust my DD based on usage. I also have a smart meter that means I am much better at analysing my usage. Like another poster explained -I have my hot water tank turned off as I only need that source for washing up or baths. My shower is instant hot water from another source. This has saved me money as I can put it on for half an hour to do washing up or an hour before I have a bath. Before the smart meter it was on all day!!!!!

I have to say in the whole muddle I was in I talked to the company and they were helpful. Talking to the company would be my advice not trying to be a smart arse and tell them what you will pay as you won't save money but will be in debt.

She gives such horrifically dangerous advice and I am fuming about this!
 

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boombalat said:
Just listening to this posted from previous threads:

https://www.greenbelt.org.uk/talks/i-was-hungry-and-thirsty-were-you-there/

The bit where she started singing had real David Brent vibes. Remember the episode when Dawn was crying and David said, "Pass me my guitar!"

Of course, I remember when Jack described herself as middle-class and well-educated (here) yet now describes herself as working class and having 'failed' grammar school having left without the 5 A*-C. At around 11:45 she describes herself as 'not very well educated' because she used to smoke with the boys!

Which is it?
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"not very well educated' because she used to smoke with the boys"

At a girls school?

Django said:
I don't understand, Jack is 34?
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Tbh. I'm a 2018 truther.
 
OhhBacon said:
Bringing this over from the last thread. @Wood Spite is right this is not a money saving idea.

When I moved into my house my DD was set up too low, I said to the electricity company that I thought it was low, they didn't agree. I was using more than they had me paying for so ended up with a debit. Then I had to increase my DD to pay the debt.

Strangely a few years later this did happen again, the company didn't take enough cash each month and I had another debit. (I had also had a rebate from them at one point as they had a few hundred pounds of my cash sat in my account.) This was because my bills were estimated for 6 months based on previous usage!!!!! Again I was in debt. It was such a mess, I'd had a rebate then I was back in debt.

I had a choice to increase my DD or talk to a debit management company. I chose to just pay the arrears and then set myself up to pay my bills monthly untill I had a year's worth of smart meter readings which would mean an accurate DD being set up.

I am fortunate that I could pay this debit, I am grateful that I was in that situation.

Suggesting people set up payments that they think are correct/affordable is such crappy advice because that debit will come back to bite.

The companies aren't going to accept people paying £75 because the customer says that is what they can afford and write off the other £125 that they might use that month. It doesn't work like that! I hate this advice being given as it's just not true.

My electric company have online billing now so I can adjust my DD based on usage. I also have a smart meter that means I am much better at analysing my usage. Like another poster explained -I have my hot water tank turned off as I only need that source for washing up or baths. My shower is instant hot water from another source. This has saved me money as I can put it on for half an hour to do washing up or an hour before I have a bath. Before the smart meter it was on all day!!!!!

I have to say in the whole muddle I was in I talked to the company and they were helpful. Talking to the company would be my advice not trying to be a smart arse and tell them what you will pay as you won't save money but will be in debt.

She gives such horrifically dangerous advice and I am fuming about this!
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As an ex bank manager/debt controller this such good and sensible advice. I just hope that enough people read this thread as well as the advice to “just tell them what you can pay each month”.
 
FrannyGallops said:
As someone who just pays by direct debit, I thought one of the benefits of doing this is that you pay extra over the summer months and accumulate a bit more ‘in the bank’ so to speak. I know this benefits the energy company and times have changed, but paying as you go over the summer just means you’re going to be landed with whopping bills over winter. I can’t see a benefit to doing this except the bills will be relatively low atm, because you’re not having your heating on. If I’ve got this wrong, can someone explain it to me, because I’m lost?
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You're spot on with the jist behind the DD and usually energy companies offer a discount if you pay by DD (my guess being it's more than you'd earn on interest by keeping it in your bank during cheaper months.

There are a lot of "facts" being bandied about by people who don't understand the actual facts of what will happen if people either don't pay at all or partial pay and it's confusing people even more.

EDIT: that said energy companies can be useless at setting an appropriate DD amount. Made worse with the volatile market.
 
OhhBacon said:
Bringing this over from the last thread. @Wood Spite is right this is not a money saving idea.

When I moved into my house my DD was set up too low, I said to the electricity company that I thought it was low, they didn't agree. I was using more than they had me paying for so ended up with a debit. Then I had to increase my DD to pay the debt.

Strangely a few years later this did happen again, the company didn't take enough cash each month and I had another debit. (I had also had a rebate from them at one point as they had a few hundred pounds of my cash sat in my account.) This was because my bills were estimated for 6 months based on previous usage!!!!! Again I was in debt. It was such a mess, I'd had a rebate then I was back in debt.

I had a choice to increase my DD or talk to a debit management company. I chose to just pay the arrears and then set myself up to pay my bills monthly untill I had a year's worth of smart meter readings which would mean an accurate DD being set up.

I am fortunate that I could pay this debit, I am grateful that I was in that situation.

Suggesting people set up payments that they think are correct/affordable is such crappy advice because that debit will come back to bite.

The companies aren't going to accept people paying £75 because the customer says that is what they can afford and write off the other £125 that they might use that month. It doesn't work like that! I hate this advice being given as it's just not true.

My electric company have online billing now so I can adjust my DD based on usage. I also have a smart meter that means I am much better at analysing my usage. Like another poster explained -I have my hot water tank turned off as I only need that source for washing up or baths. My shower is instant hot water from another source. This has saved me money as I can put it on for half an hour to do washing up or an hour before I have a bath. Before the smart meter it was on all day!!!!!

I have to say in the whole muddle I was in I talked to the company and they were helpful. Talking to the company would be my advice not trying to be a smart arse and tell them what you will pay as you won't save money but will be in debt.

She gives such horrifically dangerous advice and I am fuming about this!
Click to expand...
A while back someone i know was unwell and they sorted their money with the bank their dd for their council tax was cancelled. This person is an old hat so they had things set up and never paid attention. The bank had somehow cancelled their council tax, a while later they gotva letter with a big bill and they found out this had happened. They had gotten rid of some DD unimportant ones but the teller must have clicked off his cc one. Luckily theyhad decent they had savings and could pay the debt. They now check their DDs on the regular.
 
FrannyGallops said:
As someone who just pays by direct debit, I thought one of the benefits of doing this is that you pay extra over the summer months and accumulate a bit more ‘in the bank’ so to speak. I know this benefits the energy company and times have changed, but paying as you go over the summer just means you’re going to be landed with whopping bills over winter. I can’t see a benefit to doing this except the bills will be relatively low atm, because you’re not having your heating on. If I’ve got this wrong, can someone explain it to me, because I’m lost?
Click to expand...

I think it's because the energy company can change the amount of a DD (e.g. if your costs are higher than your monthly charge) without asking you so some people have been finding themselves with massive bills. A SO is a fixed amount.

Jack needs to be really careful here as energy companies can go quite hard on people, but they generally choose not to, but if they decided to make a point and lots of people end up on pre-payment that's no good for anyone
 
FreezePeach said:
She comes across as a slightly manic compulsive liar. She lies when there's no benefit to her. She lies about things that really don't matter. She can't keep track of the lies or like a child or teen thinks deleting them makes them go away.
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🧐 I think dear frau you have hit the nail on the figurative head. 🍻

Are the frauen familiar with the literary fraud, manic liar A.J Finn? Pen name for Dan Mallory... Really quite fantastical tale and much more glamorous and high brow than our Rinsed Hoop Princess but, at his core still a dirty rotten scoundrel much like someone else we know...

www.newyorker.com

A Suspense Novelist’s Trail of Deceptions

Dan Mallory, who writes under the name A. J. Finn, went to No. 1 with his début thriller, “The Woman in the Window.” His life contains even stranger twists.
www.newyorker.com www.newyorker.com
 
Cucumberthunder said:
I think it's because the energy company can change the amount of a DD (e.g. if your costs are higher than your monthly charge) without asking you so some people have been finding themselves with massive bills. A SO is a fixed amount.

Jack needs to be really careful here as energy companies can go quite hard on people, but they generally choose not to, but if they decided to make a point and lots of people end up on pre-payment that's no good for anyone
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I agree. People rinsing their hoops because of her is one thing, but following her energy advice could get them into a world of trouble if they aren't careful.
 
ChocolateMuffin said:
Ma E and Big D have been away btw. Not sure if that's been clocked yet. I know this chaos isn't of her own making (well it is but you know what i mean) but it makes you wonder if she'd have made such a fuss about all this if they'd not gone away with out her?
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🫣🫣🫣🫣
I always feel dirty when I do this. And I’m restraining myself from saying any more about it.
 
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