It's been a tough year - and I think 2011 will not be any easier.
Incomes are not rising - and for most ordinary people, have not risen for many years. Yet, in the UK, we're being ripped off. There doesn't seem to be any let up. Don't you get the feeling that we're being taxed to death in this country? It's constant and I don't seem to have had any good news from government that gives us any good feel factor - with the new regime, its seems to have gone even worth if that was possible!
From my perspective, VAT has gone up and this is just one of the tax increases. I also notice, there has not been any talk of dates when it will be cut back. There's also been a staggering rise in energy prices (petrol & home energy) and this government really doesn't seem to be bothered. I really feel this country is being driven downwards.
So one area, where you can cut costs is energy. First thing is to ensure that your home is well insulated. Also, ensure you have thermostats on your radiators and if its not necessary, don't heat the whole of your house. If you can lower your thermostat, that can make a difference to bills, but not all households can live comfortably (We can't in our household).
Another obvious area is double glazing and low energy light bulbs will reduce the energy costs of your household.
When you put the kettle on, do you heat enough water for your cuppa? If you don't - your wasting energy here. If like me, you like your tea, that kettle is constantly heating water that your not using! So watch how much water your heating.
The above covers the basics, which is a very good start if your already there.
So what can you do next? Something I didn't know about until very recently are radiator reflectors. These - obviously reflect the heat back into the house rather than heat the wall! They're not too expensive, so they would be worth while shopping around in the summer months when there maybe offers around. I'll be on the lookout for these.
What other areas can households be on the look out for? Well, if you have an old boiler (until recently we had a boiler that was at least 22 years old!); then this can be the next phase of your attack on your household energy bills. This is where you really need to shop around and do your research,. The newest boilers are now very energy efficient and be very careful about the company you use to install. Whilst I used a BIG company to install my boiler (and really paid over the odds), I wouldn't do that again. It is much better if you can go on a recommendation and I wouldn't recommend the installer I used.
This is a big attack on those hefty energy bills and for the ordinary British Citizen on standard wages can make a big difference. But this is not the end of the war against energy bills. With a government that seems to want to tax us to death and no apparent controls on energy bills - so far its looking a bleak future on the increasing cost of energy for heating our homes.
So what next, Green energy seems to be quite topical and this is an area that is worth investigating. This is one area that I will be focusing on to cut my energy bills even further. I do have a distaste for large monopoly type organisations making huge profits at our expense and governments doing little to help.
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