Gas & Electricity

[paulchapo]

Me too. It’s not as exciting, but you know you’ll always be ok.

I had my mad reckless times travelling the world, clubbing and pubbing and following City when I was younger, before becoming a bit more sensible and getting a mortgage at 35. Now it's a case of how much do I spend from my savings before I pop my clogs lol. Mind you the way it's going with bills that won't be an option soon.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

I had my mad reckless times travelling the world, clubbing and pubbing and following City when I was younger, before becoming a bit more sensible and getting a mortgage at 35. Now it's a case of how much do I spend from my savings before I pop my clogs lol. Mind you the way it's going with bills that won't be an option soon

All we can do is sit tight and see what solutions are offered. Something will have to be done.

 

[paulchapo]

All we can do is sit tight and see what solutions are offered. Something will have to be done.

Let's hope so. My heart weeps for a lot of poor pensioners who have grafted all their lives and just exist, because that's what they do,on just a state pension.

 

[A57 the snake]

When I was going to bed my mum used to shovel the coals out of the downstairs grate, run up stairs with the burning embers and put them in the upstairs grate. I used to think that was great! Talk about jeopardy, I don’t know how we survived.

I was the youngest so last in the bath , bedroom windows must of been inch thick with ice and that’s on the inside we under floor heating so my mum used to dry all our clothes on it.
Then learn how to dodge the norweb men when they turned up on the door step. Looking back extremely tough times but my mum always made us dress smart never in rags of we’d go to Stewart’s in Ardwick on a Saturday morning.
And both my parents worked. My two girls are spoiled that’s mainly my doing as I don’t want them to go through what many of us did but I do remind them how things were.The worlds changed since then we didn’t no any different
It wouldn’t happen now people looked out for each other .

 

[A57 the snake]

Let's hope so. My heart weeps for a lot of poor pensioners who have grafted all their lives and just exist, because that's what they do,on just a state pension.

Reading your posts you should enter politics but you seem a very decent person so maybe not.

 

[KS55]

I couldn't say if it was the case that energy bills went down in real terms for 20 years running after privatisation. I always remember every year vast profits being reported by energy companies though, so if the customer was benefitting then it wasn't a form of charity as the energy firms were doing very nicely out of whatever we were paying too

@metalblue if that was the case and I'm not sure it is, it's been totally blown out of the water now. I don't remember my parents being in shock that the bills were going up double in a matter of months. Some people are going to be paying more for energy than they are for rent, it's unsustainable. The government has to do more or they will face vast bills to try and cope with huge amounts of people being homeless as with the interest rate rise too on top people will lose their homes. I don't remember my parents saying every single item of food they bought had gone up by at least 20p and more. Everytime I go shopping everything has risen in price.

Most of my childhood we had a coal fire, at least until my teens when we got a gas fire. No central heating as kids though which meant the bedrooms and bathrooms were freezing most of the time in winter. It was a big thing when they bought a paraffin heater. This would be on the landing and put on when my dad got up for work at 5am and again an hour before we went to bed. We had hot water bottles too.

This is unprecedented, I don't remember anything as bad as this in my lifetime cost wise for fuel and everyday items. Businesses will go bust as it's not sustainable to stay open. I saw on Granada reports a local bakeries operating costs had risen from £1,000 to £2,000 a month, they are going to close. That will be the same for many others. The ones that do try and stay open will put up prices adding to customers burdens. I don't think anybody is asking the government to pay their fuel bills they just want them at a sustainable level. If very little is done people will die from cold, hunger and suicide, pushed over the edge. Already in this country thousands of pensioners die every winter as they freeze to death in homes they can't afford to heat and live on very little food. Many slip through the net for help as they don't have internet access or know how to get any help. A lot are too proud to accept what they see as charity too.

A massive crisis and as good ship Britain sails towards the iceberg we have a current prime minister telling us it's okay we're suffering because Ukraine is suffering more. Then we have dumb and dumber fighting to lead a party that has ruined Britain for everyone but the very wealthy. Tipping point is being reached if we're not there now.

Most of what you sat is true, except that energy retailers never made vast profits. A whole pile of them went out of business in the recent past. Their traditional profit margin, on an EBIT basis is between 2% and 5%. In contrast, Network companies have an equivalent margin of 40%. Hmmmm…..You should blame the right people.

 

[Dirty Harry]

Tin bath in front of the fire. Glad I wasn’t the youngest

Luckily I escaped having a tin bath in front of the fire, would have been good though I guess saving a journey through the Arctic hall, stairs and landing :-)

 

[KS55]

sorry i didnt see the part i said it would make it cheaper but it needs putting back in Government hands, its a complete disaster just like everthing else, to late as the ship has sailed and just like the NHS its been bled dry through profitering, another fantastic idea from the Thatcher Government, were not coming out of this next winter and bang its all over 'not going to happen' prices will rise and rise

Yeah, Mrs Thatcher caused Russia to invade Ukraine. If you think a nationalised retail energy sector would be cheaper under the current circumstances, you are in cloud cuckoo land.

 

[paulchapo]

Most of what you sat is true, except that energy retailers never made vast profits. A whole pile of them went out of business in the recent past. Their traditional profit margin, on an EBIT basis is between 2% and 5%. In contrast, Network companies have an equivalent margin of 40%. Hmmmm…..You should blame the right people.

I'll blame who I like. Nothing essential to live should be privately owned, sold off for vast profits to bosses and shareholders. Obviously the blame for that goes back much further.

 

[Gray]

When I was going to bed my mum used to shovel the coals out of the downstairs grate, run up stairs with the burning embers and put them in the upstairs grate. I used to think that was great! Talk about jeopardy, I don’t know how we survived.

We backed up the downstair fires before going to bed so they would still be in the following morning. No central heating so hot water bottles in all the beds, warm your feet on them and you were sure to end up with chilblains.