Driving Ambition (And Bills)

I recently decided to update my gas/electricity provider with readings from my meters, since they are wont to estimate somewhat crazily if I don't, and have not been sending people round to do the reading (as they claimed when I signed up) over the last year or so.

My electricity consumption seems to have gone down somehow, despite being around all day and using electrical appliances such as my computer (desktop, large flatscreen monitor, powered speakers, broadband hub/modem), TV (large CRT-type, Freeview box, DVD player) and sometimes even the Wii at all hours of the day.

Gas, however, has inexplicably increased.

And I mean, like, virtually doubled.

I know it was a cold winter, but it wasn't much worse than the previous one, so this increase was unexpected, to say the least. Checking previous bills and meter readings didn't inspire me with confidence either, so I called up my provider to discuss it.

They were able to break down far more data, far more reliably, and also put it into the context of a single bedroom flat with five radiators, so now I'm feeling much more comfortable... Part of the reason for the whopping £100 shortfall in my payments is the price increase (9% as of December!), but part of it is that it is expected for customers to fall behind over winter. I know I did last year... but could have sworn it was nowhere near this much.

Still, the Customer Services representative I spoke to assured me that, while my usage has increase, it has been in line with expectations and not, as I feared, exponential. The amount of gas I have used is perfectly in line with expectations for a single bedroom flat with five radiators, but it was suggested that I check the meter again in five days, divide the difference in readings by five, and confirm that my daily usage is now substantially less than the 4.6 units per day I was using over winter. Having checked it again this morning, I can state that it's currently looking like about 1 unit per day, and that's with the boiler on timer. I've now switched it off completely (well, it's now 'on demand' rather than heating water at specific times), so hopefully that's the most it'll be for a while...

Who knew owning your own home could be this stressful?

In other news, it appears that the expired Provisional Driving License I have has not, in fact, expired. I tried to apply for a Provisional, online today, and was told I am not eligible... Having spoken to the licensing people, it transpires that this is because I already have a valid one, and just need to update it.

And... um... find it.

It's probably somewhere at my parents' place, stuck in one of my drawers, folded up horribly if I remember correctly... and that's assuming I didn't throw it away when I decided (arbitrarily, it seems) that it had expired, or wreck it by leaving it in the pocket of something that got washed.

Once I dig it out, I can apply for an update online... and that'll take about 2 weeks to arrive. If I cannot find the paper license, I can still apply for an update, but it'll cost me about £20.

Since I'm normally useless at saving myself money, I can see myself forking out £20 sometime soon...