Gas and Electricity Usage Spreadsheet

So you're interested in this Energy Usage Spreadsheet? You have great taste. This is one of my favourites. I created this because I was sick of the energy company telling me that I should be paying £3,000 per year for a tiny cottage in which I put the heating on for an hour a day and cook one meal on a gas stove. When I monitored my actual usage turned out I was using a third of what they were expecting me to.

It's a simple case of updating this spreadsheet once a month when my bill comes in and I can easily see:

• Whether my usage is higher or lower than normal and spot trends in my past use
• How much it has cost me vs how much I've paid
• If I've underpaid whether I need to adjust my direct debit or if my next payment ought to cover it
• An annual running total that shows me if I need to adjust my Direct Debit based on my annual costs and if so by how much

While many people have commented that maybe I need an intervention for creating such a spreadsheet and: "Can't you just read your bill like a normal person", it has helped me to vanquish my energy company. They no longer ask me to increase my Direct Debit all the time because when they do I'm able to tell them exactly how much I've used and paid. When you do that and then ask them why they're suddenly expecting your usage to increase by two thirds they generally back down.

This sheet includes rows for gas and electricity. I'll be creating an electricity only one shortly. It also contains a row for the government discount that was handed out this year and the direct debit calculation doesn't include that, so it will work out what your direct debit should be when the discount is removed.

Welp that's it. I could talk forever about this one, but I won't. You should get it, try it for yourself. PLEASE do let me know what you think, I'm always happy to make changes or adjustments to make it work better for you.