Today we received our gas and electricity bill for the period from 1st January until 15th August, based on actual meter readings. The combined total for the period was £329, which according to my calculations works out at around 39% of the average UK duel fuel bill (pro rata).
That's a phenomenal achievement. Well done to you :o)
Our utility bills are eye-watering. They're better this year than they have been for a long time, possibly because my husband has started working and therefore (1) isn't at home all day, and (2) has a sense of ownership of the household expenses because they come out of our joint account and his wage goes into it. Even so, our electricity bill is two-and-a-half times the national average for a house the size of ours, and that's with shopping around frequently.
It's that "ownership" issue. We've had three young adults living at home with us for the last year, and two of them have had no motivation whatsoever to hang clothes on the line instead of using the tumble dryer, wait till they have a full load before using the washing machine (I'm amazed it hasn't died of overwork), turn off lights and appliances, turn radiators down (or at least not have a window wide open above the radiator), use the microwave instead of the oven to heat up their insta-food, run outdoors instead of on the treadmill and not linger in the shower. And I've always been light-handed with discipline, so I can't start facepunching them now that they're all taller than I am. Nor could I be too hard on the girls when they were working long hours in retail and hospitality to save money for university and coming home tired and needing to sleep, eat, and turn their uniforms over quickly.
One girl has moved out, the other will be moving out in a few months, and DH has negotiated another switch of suppliers, which should all help. My son will still be at home, but he has an environmental conscience and is frugal by inclination. I expect our bills to drop by something approaching 50%.