Monday 28 March 2011

What the Law says

I have wondered for a while now about the amount the Law says you need to live on. For a person over 25 with no illnesses it is £65.45 a week.Whether you live at home with your parents as a non dependent or in a house/flat on your own it would be interesting to know how they came up with this figure. Well this winter has been terrible - the Gas and Electricity have been a killer. I am on key and card meters and have to pay up front. The Gas was £30 a week and Electricity £15. And remember I am not in most days so did not sit with the heating on and my kids are out at college and school. I thought there was a gas leak as we were only having the gas on for about 5 hours. I have two dependents so get Child Tax credits for them. I do worry when they leave Education as it is so difficult now and just can not bear to think that I will not be in paid employment by then. Although I have officially been a Job seeker for just over a year. The last time I had any paid work was longer than that..
I am going to write to my MP and see if I can find out about what the Law says I can live on. A loaf of bread is over a quid.
Any way talking of gas, my boiler is leaking so I am expecting the fitter to come out this morning between 8 and 12, we'll see.This is the fourth visit and they have had to change so many bits on it and now I have found where the water is leaking from and put a marker on so I can show them. Maybe get a job as an apprentice ha ha.

2 comments:

  1. I am shocked but not surprised to hear what your gas and electricity cost, but you might be able to cut down if you buy some extra layers of clothing. It will save you money in the end because you will be able to cut back on heating. As you've got a meter, use it to learn which appliances use the most and see if you can do anything about them.

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  2. I had the gas on for 4-5 hours a day. I thought I had a leak so had to keep a check on my meter for a month. I am with B gas. We had loads of layers on. The gas has increased 90% in about 3 years. The pipes got so cold this winter I had two burst pipes and no cold water in kitchen for just over 5 weeks. The advice was to have the heating on more. I simply could not afford to.

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