My monthly energy bills total £153.00. That’s right. £153.00 for a house with one adult and two kids, a house that’s not occupied during the day Monday to Friday. Is there anyone else feeling my pain, because I certainly do once a month.

Bearing in mind the above, it stands to reason that there have to be some savings to be made somewhere. I had a think and it occurred to me that we can’t possibly use a great deal of power. We have energy saving bulbs fitted in all our lights (so most of the lampshades don’t fit properly) and the heating’s only set to come on when there are people in the house. So I drilled down further.

The washing machine runs approximately three to four times a week with the tumble dryer following (except in the summer when clothes will line dry). It’s not ideal but the freestanding washing rack became a really bad idea when Li’l Mister started to walk. The TV is on every evening but only for two hours at most. It was set up with one of those plugs that turn everything off when the TV is on standby but the plug broke so now to turn the TV off the whole set up has to turn off. I’m a microwave chef so the cooker is rarely used. Our big energy users have to be the heating and hot water (there are draughts in our house that we just can’t pin down or get rid of) and the computer. Our computer is on for close on 16 hours a day. That’s gotta be a big ouch!

I’ve been on the search for the cheapest gas and electricity. The gas bill is the one that baffles me the most; it accounts for over 65% of my energy bills. This I can’t understand. I probably use the hob once or twice a week at most and when your idea of cooking steak is flash frying, that’s not a lot of use. So that leaves heating and hot water and the house just isn’t warm enough of an evening to account for that much use. Tell me, what do you use gas for? Am I missing something entirely?

The only thing I have left to do is compare energy prices. If I can’t find any major savings through my own actions, I’ll have to save by switching to a cheaper provider. That said, if the Evening Standard is anything to go by, there are no cheap providers. Instead I’ll have to find the cheapest yet still hideously expensive energy provider. The only thing that could be worse would be car insurance!

In pondering this conundrum I’ve come to the only possible conclusion: I’m powering not just my own house, but half the street as well. It would explain why our energy consumption skyrockets in December; the house across the road gets lit up like Vegas. I suppose it’s only fair though. Next week I’ll be pinching their cable TV!

Sponsored Post

Friday night was TB’s school disco. In case you hadn’t noticed, I have boys. I never expected to have to deal with dilemmas over what my child would wear on a night out.

You see, TB wanted to wear a shirt and tie. Not a problem, as you can see. But he wanted a long sleeved shirt, and it needed to be white. There was a certain look he wanted to pull off: the Michael Jackson. There were very nearly tears before bedtime. Next term I think I’m going to have to take the boy shopping for disco clothes.

Being a Friday, the boys’ dad was around and of course was accompanied by his camera. TB insisted that he get some photos, and just to be the height of cool he had to wear his new glasses. Not that you’d guess it from the photos but these glasses are special. The inside of the lenses are mirrored so TB can see exactly what’s going on behind him. Or just wear them around the house because he thinks he looks cool.

Not being one to be outdone by his brother, Li’l Mister also wanted a pair of glasses. He even made the effort to learn the word so he could beg for a pair. I took pity on him and found my spare and slightly broken sunglasses. This pic must have been taken one one of the few moments that the glasses actually sat on his nose. They were too big to sit on his head and kept sliding from his nose. Still, they made him happy.

Yep, I have two party monsters in the house.

Insurance4CarHire have today released a survey that found:

• 63%  of people in the UK are planning or considering a driving holiday this year
• Despite the current economic climate, 80% of us are still going on holiday in 2012
• Over a third attracted to driving while on holiday, as it gives us freedom to get around
• 44% like to get off the beaten track whilst on holiday.

Most of the holidays I’ve been on have been self (or parent) drive. As kids we spent each of our summer holidays in South West Scotland. M25, M40, M42, M6. The scenery is fairly monotonous that far but improves as you skirt around the Lake District and from then on it just gets better.

Unfortunately, 20 years ago fitting two booster seats and a full size car seat in the back of a small car was just as difficult as it is today. We would have jumped at the chance for our parents to rent a car that could actually fit us all with a little space provided. Now I’m older wiser I understand some of the difficulties my parents may have faced in doing so.

Insurance4carhire, the car hire excess insurance specialist, also reveals that 77% of Brits had never taken out car hire excess insurance; with just under half (47%) aware of what car hire excess protection is. The revelation means that many Brits are leaving themselves exposed to potentially high excess charges in the event of an accident.

Motoring expert and Fifth Gear presenter, Vicki Butler-Henderson, comments: “Driving is one of the best ways to take in the scenery through some of the most beautiful routes around the world. However, it is important to plan ahead – from selecting the right vehicle for the terrain, to reading up on the local road laws and signs to researching routes. While we don’t plan for mishaps, it is equally importantly to ensure you have sufficient insurance and excess cover as a small prang, could end up costing as much as the holiday.”

Gary Webb, Business Director at Insurance4CarHire comments: “Hiring a car gives a great deal of freedom to explore but it is important to know what you are signing up for. We don’t like hearing horror stories from holidaymakers who have taken policies that exclude damage to windows, tyres, the undercarriage and roof – which can potentially cost the driver thousands of pounds in liability claims. Excess cover protects against just that – providing a safety net and peace of mind so that you can concentrate on discovering the hidden gems you might have otherwise missed.”

Insurance4CarHire offers a range of competitive excess protection policies in addition to innovative solutions such as Just Text HELP, a multilingual emergency assistance tool. In the event of an accident abroad, customers can simply text the words HELP and the country e.g. HELP Spain and a multilingual assistant will call back and speak the language for you, anytime of the day or year.

I was off work ill all of last week so this weekend had to be about the simple things – I wasn’t sure if I was even up to the walk across to the park. We spent the mornings in our PJs, played with Lego and read books. On Saturday we wrapped up and ventured outside, not even as far as the end of our road. The boys took their scooters out and Li’l Mister spent his time trying to copy his big brother. I dread the moment he starts trying to do tricks!

Some Like It Haute was another lacquer on my Christmas Wish List. I didn’t get it but I do keep a small slush fund for emergencies like this and I can tell you, my need was an emergency.

Outdoors, no flash

Some Like It Haute is a grey jelly polish filled with really fine silver glitter particles and larger circular holo glitter.

Outdoors, flash

The jelly itself is quite thick. I wore it with two coats even though I had expected to need three. To be honest, this is one of the most difficult jelly polishes I’ve ever applied.

Indoors, no flash

Glitter polishes are always tough to remove from acrylics as you can’t soak them off without melting the acrylics. Some Like It Haute was near impossible to remove – I gave up in the end and soaked my acrylics off to remove the glitter. Now I have short stubby nails. There were a few other colours from the Eye Candy collection that I had my eye on. Now I’m not so sure…

Indoors, flash

Close up - not the best photo but it gives you an idea of the depth of the lacquer.