Bit of a rant, but then some good news

I'm not sure if I've written about it, but I've been having trouble with my gas supplier. I have prepayment meters, and I was putting in £15 on a payday, and it was all gone within three or four days. It was ridiculous. So I contacted my supplier (NPower) about switching back to a normal meter. No. I have to have had a prepayment meter for a year before I can switch back. Right. So can I reduce the amount of arrears I'm paying maybe? No. I'm already paying the minimum.

So, I applied to a different company (Eon) to switch over. It was going to take 6 weeks or so, and in the meantime I refused to keep paying NPower ridiculous amounts of money. So I moved my mattress into the living room, where I have a small electric heater. This was in early November. I did washing up by boiling the kettle six times. I used a kettle of water to have stand up washes in front of the electric heater. I cooked with the microwave. It wasn't ideal, but it worked. Occasionally I'd put a tenner on the gas to do some laundry, and have a bath. The meter would take two thirds of whatever I put on for the debt, and give me one third for actual gas.

Over Christmas I was informed that my switch over was blocked because I owed NPower money. So I called them, and they said I needed to give them permission to sell my debt to Eon. I did that, and then called Eon to sort it out. They had to restart the whole process, so it was going to take another six weeks. End of January I get another letter telling me the switch over has been blocked again.

Soooo, I call NPower. The debt I have with them can be transferred, but I can't switch over as long as there is a debt ON the meter. Which, considering I haven't been using the damn thing, there is. To clear that debt I needed to put the full amount on, PLUS another third, because it always leaves me with a third of whatever I put on for gas. I asked the man on the phone how much I'd need to put on for standing charges and debt recovery, without using any gas. £7 a week. Oh, and did I mention that I get penalised for putting money on fortnightly instead of weekly? Oh yeah. How stupid is that. I get paid fortnightly, but their machines work weekly so they want me to top up weekly. Idiots.

After I'd burst into tears and hung up on the guy, I called Eon. Maybe they could switch me over instantly once I'd cleared the meter, so I wouldn't have to rack up more debt. They were very very nice. The guy said that if I called back once I cleared it, he'd activate the switch over for me right there, instead of sending it into a queue. It'd take three weeks instead of six. I asked him about their standing charges. They don't have one! NPower charge me £4 a week for the priviledge of being their sodding customer! Evil sods.

The situation was this: to start the switch over, I had to put £60 on the gas meter. This is way more than half of what I get a fortnight, but it needed to be done. So payday comes around, and I get £60 on the gas card, and a little bit of money on the electric (because I wouldn't need to use the heater so I wouldn't need as much), and spend the rest on groceries. £60. To cover the debt, plus the third which was the £14 I'd need to cover standing charges and debt recovery until my next payday, which left me with £5ish of actual gas.

I get home, put the card in the meter and it doesn't do anything. It beeps. It recognised the card's existence, and then did nothing. I called NPower, and they sent out an engineer, who informs me that my card has been corrupted. I call NPower back... they want me to go across town to a shop I can't afford to get to in order to get a replacement card. As for the £60? They're going to send me an SAE, I send them back the card, once they receive it they'll process it, they'll write me a cheque and send it to me, and once I receive it I can pay it into the bank and once it clears I'll have my £60 to put on the damn gas meter. That's gonna take 3 weeks... minimum. In which time I'll rack up at least another £15 quid in debt. And in the meantime I have no gas, barely any electric, and no freaking money.

NPOWER ARE EVIL!!! A friend of mine lives in the bottom half of a house with her husband and their cat. They both work all day so they're out of the house most of the time, and NPower are charging them £60 a month for gas. That's about £10 less than another friend pays for their five-bedroom house. NPOWER ARE EVIL!!!!

As you can see, I'm a little bit frustrated by all this. I'd been hoping to have switched over to Eon by the new year. We're going into March in two days and I still have no gas. By the time the switch over is done, I won't even need any sodding heat. I'm incredibly angry with NPower, and just generally frustrated and cheesed off with the whole situation. It's like a huge weight on my shoulders. Generally my money situation isn't too bad. I'm broke, but I'm paying off my debts and I'm getting things sorted, but this gas thing really isn't helping.

But... and here's the good news... I realised something today. My life isn't that bad. I'm stressed about NPower, but aside from that, things are pretty good. I don't have a job, but I like my life. It'd be nice to have extra money from a job, but I manage, and I don't think I'd cope with the responsibility of working. I like having the freedom to do what I want. I love my flat, and I love all my stuff, and I love my cat, and my friends. One friend in particular who's really been here for me a lot recently. Neil is really trying to communicate better, and I love waking up to messages like "hey boobalicious" and "you're gorgeous when you smile." My depression is being managed well. I've had a few funky days - where I just haven't had the oomph to do anything - but I'm good. I'm doing housework! My whole house is nice and tidy and clean. I'm even keeping it clean, instead of my usual trick of cleaning once a year. I'm getting out and about. Not socialising really, but I'm leaving the house, which is a start.

I have my issues, but who doesn't? Life is good. And it's good to realise that.

Also, NPower is evil.