Manage Your Money, You Must: 10 Money Lessons We Learned from ‘Star Wars’

The Force will be with us — always.

Because “Star Wars” has embedded itself so deeply into our cultural DNA, it continues to shape the way we think about life.

Over numerous movies and assorted iterations, “Star Wars” has taught us about overcoming obstacles, about dealing with family drama, about friendship, about patience, about beating the odds — and even about money.

Because this is The Penny Hoarder, we’re especially interested in the part about money.

Even though the epic saga of Luke Skywalker & Co. played out a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the financial wisdom we gleaned from it applies to the here and now.

Now, prepare to make the jump into hyperspace! Here’s what we’ve learned:

1. Always Pay Your Debts — Or Else

Bingo. This is always the first one everyone thinks of.

Han Solo owes money to the giant slug-like crime boss, Jabba the Hutt. When he doesn’t pay up, Jabba sends bounty hunter Boba Fett after him — basically a debt collector with blaster pistols and green Mandalorian armor.

Instead of declaring Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Han ends up frozen in carbonite. Then Princess Leia, Luke, Lando and the iconic droids have to infiltrate Jabba’s lair to save him in a sequel.

Just like with Solo, the longer you don’t pay off your debts, the bigger the problem gets. The interest piles up.

Pro Tip

Credit cards companies charge compound interest. If you don’t pay off your bill each month, the company charges interest that is added to the amount you owe. Then that new total is charged interest.

Your first step should be to figure out what you’re dealing with. Map out exactly what kind of debt you have. For example, which companies do you owe money to? Are any of your debts in collections? What are your minimum monthly payments on each credit card or loan?

An easy way to start doing this is to sign up with a free service like Credit Sesame. This tool shows your balance on any unpaid bills, credit cards or loans. It also offers tips on reducing your debt and raising your credit score.

2. Used Vehicles Offer the Best Value

The Millennium Falcon takes its share of verbal abuse in multiple “Star Wars” films.

“You came in that thing? You’re braver than I thought,” Princess Leia says upon first seeing the starship. And in “The Force Awakens,” Rey calls the ship “garbage.”

But the Millennium Falcon gets the job done. (Did we mention that it made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs?) Turns out you don’t always need a shiny new vehicle.

Used cars are often a better deal than new ones. Consumer Reports recommends buying a car that’s two or three years old. For tips on buying a used car, go here or here or here.

You’ll need to take care of your ride, though. (The Falcon’s hyperdrive keeps breaking down despite Chewbacca’s best efforts in “The Empire Strikes Back.”)

According to a AAA survey, 1 in 3 U.S. drivers can’t pay for an unexpected auto repair. Consider creating an emergency fund with a high-yield bank account.

3. Negotiate the Best Deal You Can

Early in “A New Hope,” Luke and Uncle Owen are bargaining with some creepy little jawas over the price of some used droids.

When an R2 unit they’d just bought immediately breaks down, Uncle Owen aggressively questions the quality of what the jawas are selling: “Hey, what are you trying to push on us?”

The result: Luke’s family gets the best droid ever, R2-D2.

Negotiating isn’t just for markets and cars, any variable expense can be negotiated to a lower price — you just have to know what to look for.

4. “Do or Do Not. There is No Try.”

Yoda’s admonition to Luke in “The Empire Strikes Back” is probably the biggest zen moment in any of these movies.

As always, Yoda is right on target. You’re either going to do it, or you’re not. Don’t just try.

If you’re going to make financial changes, commit to them and be consistent. Don’t just try once or twice and then forget about it. Sticking to it is the key to success.

Pro Tip

Help yourself by making it harder to spend. Deleting your credit card number from your internet browser can create just enough of a hurdle to force you to pause before giving in to that impulse buy.

For instance, saving money is hard. Consider trying an auto-savings app like Acorns.

Once you connect it to a debit or credit card, it rounds your purchases up to the nearest dollar and funnels your digital change into a savings or investment account.

Because the money comes out in increments of less than $1, you’re less likely to feel an impact in your bank account.

5. Don’t Let the Little Details Blow Up On You

The Empire spared no expense on the Death Star, don’t you think?

You’ve got to figure that moon-sized battle stations capable of blowing up planets don’t come cheap (especially two of them).

But they overlooked that pesky little design flaw that allowed the Rebel Alliance to destroy the whole thing. Whoops!

Don’t neglect the details like that, because they’ll burn you. Don’t skimp on maintenance and repairs for big-ticket items like your home and car. If you blow that stuff off, you’ll just end up paying more in the end.

Another lesson from the Death Star: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. The Empire sure had a lot riding on its supercool Death Star, didn’t it?

Don’t depend on just one thing. Diversify your investments. Here’s how one woman used an app to make sure her 401(k) was in balance.

6. Get Rid of Your Old Stuff

The “Star Wars” universe looks different than Star Trek and other sci-fi settings. “Star Wars” has that “lived-in” look — there’s junk everywhere. You know, just like your house.

And in the “Star Wars” movies, people make money selling that junk — just like you should.

In “The Force Awakens,” Rey is a scavenger on the planet Jakku, feeding herself by salvaging parts from ships.

On Luke’s home planet of Tatooine, those jawas we mentioned earlier appear to be scavengers, too.

Pro Tip

Letgo is an app that lets you connect with people who want your old stuff. It’s free to use — just snap a photo, upload your item and add a description and price.

In “The Phantom Menace” — hey, here’s our first and only mention of the prequels! — Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi meet young Anakin Skywalker in a junk shop where he fixes things.

Meanwhile, here on our planet, a number of apps are making it easier than ever to sell your old stuff online.

To free up space and earn some extra cash, use apps to sell your stuff. Listing the right stuff in the right marketplaces means you’re more likely to sell it for the right price.

7. Beware of Scams. Know What Things Are Worth.

Toward the beginning of “The Force Awakens,” a hungry Rey nearly pawns the droid BB-8 in exchange for 60 portions of inflatable food. She’s sorely tempted, but senses something is wrong and backs off.

That’s the surest way to spot a scam: If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Whether you’re selling a droid or shopping for shoes online, you’ve got to watch out for rip-offs. Here’s how to protect yourself from imposter scams, credit repair scams, identity theft and senior scams.

As long as identity theft remains a huge problem you need to keep an eye on your credit and transactions.

8. Embrace the Gig Economy

When Luke and Obi-Wan need transportation to Alderaan, they basically catch an Uber. A space Uber. They pay for the Millennium Falcon to take them there.

Here on Earth, you can make like Han and Chewie in your Honda or Chevy by driving with Uber or Lyft and make extra money each week on your own schedule.

Pro Tip

In addition to age requirements for drivers, Uber and Lyft both have age restriction for your vehicle that are based on regulations in your city.

There are other entry-level ways to make money nowadays that you can do on your own time – and from your phone – thanks to the growing gig economy.

Craigslist is an easy place to sell your services under the “Gigs” section. Pay and tasks will vary, of course. And if you don’t trust Craigslist, check out TaskRabbit or Fiverr – to name just a few.

9. If the Deal Turns to the Dark Side, Cut Your Losses

Here at The Penny Hoarder, we’re always looking for good deals.

We’re always asking, Is this a good deal or not a good deal? And when we hear the words “deal” and “”Star Wars”,” we can’t help but think of Lando Calrissian in “The Empire Strikes Back.”

Lando … Lando did not get a good deal.

When Han, Leia and Chewie first turn up in Cloud City, Lando tells them, “I’ve just made a deal that’ll keep the Empire out of here forever.”

Of course, the deal involves betraying his friends. Later, Darth Vader menacingly informs Lando, “I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.”

Still later, when Vader threatens Lando further and mistreats his friends, Lando fumes, “This deal is getting worse all the time!”

That’s when he switches sides.

If you make a deal and the reality doesn’t match what you were promised, be prepared to walk away. Cut your losses and move on.

10. Sand People Always Walk in Single File to Hide Their Numbers

You see, from this we can learn that … no, no, wait. That’s not a good example at all. We learn no financial truths from that.

We’ve got nothing for you here.

Let’s try this instead. One of the most important lessons we learned from “Star Wars” is:

10. Make Sure You Have a Long-Term Plan

The heroes and villains of the “Star Wars” universe are seriously into some long-term planning.

Emperor Palpatine’s master plan takes several movies to unfold. After he reveals himself to be Darth Sidious and strikes, Yoda and Obi-Wan lay low for a couple of decades after the prequels, waiting for their chance to return the favor.

Of course, when we first meet Obi-Wan and Yoda, they’re chilling in a cave and a swamp, respectively. Apparently the Jedi Council didn’t have much of a 401(k) match.

The sooner you start saving, investing and paying down your debt, the better off you’ll be.

All told, that’s everything that “Star Wars” has taught us about money so far. Take it as you will.

Do, or do not.

There is no try.

Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. His “Star Wars”-loving co-workers helped out with this post.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

source The Penny Hoarder http://bit.ly/2JfIA0w

Make $50 – $150 an Hour Participating in Focus Groups

I remember the first time I got called to participate in a focus group. I was a sophomore in college and money was tight. It was for a radio station that had gathered my name from a sweepstake that I had previously entered. The 2-hour segment required me to sit a room and listen to […]

The post Make $50 – $150 an Hour Participating in Focus Groups appeared first on The Work at Home Woman.

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BOOM: Unemployment Hits 49-Year Low as US Employers Step up Hiring

U.S. employers added a robust 263,000 jobs in April, suggesting that businesses have shrugged off earlier concerns that the economy might slow this year and now anticipate strong customer demand.

Source CBNNews.com http://bit.ly/2PLipQs

Stephen Moore Withdraws from Fed Nomination After 'Unrelenting Attacks'

Conservative commentator and economic analyst Stephen Moore is out, President Trump announcing Thursday that Moore withdrew his bid to serve on the Federal Reserve Board.

Source CBNNews.com http://bit.ly/2LmvNw9

Minimizing the Expenses of Working from Home

Megan writes in with a great question:

Hi Trent! I am hoping your years of experience working at home can help out here.

My husband started a new job on January 1 where he works from home. We were excited for this change as we have a preschool aged child and the flexibility of his new position could really help out with child care. We were also excited about the big savings in commuting, food, clothing, and other work expenses.

It hasn’t quite worked out like we’d hoped, and we’re hoping you’ll have some good ideas with some of the problems we have run into.

First of all, Mark gets stir crazy most days working from home all day long. About every other day, he has to go somewhere and he usually winds up at a coffee shop or a restaurant where he orders several items throughout the day and ends up spending $20 or so just to have a table to work at. In the last few weeks we have looked at some coworking options but they’re all more expensive than we’d like. Ideas?

A related problem is that he really wants to get out of the house and do something when I get home and all I want to do is crash for a while. We’ve agreed to an arrangement where he goes out and does something a couple nights a week but then he’s spending money when he’s out. He usually goes out with friends that don’t have kids.

He’s gained about ten pounds since starting this new job. At his old job he walked around a lot during the day. They would have walking brainstorming meetings and so on. At home, he mostly just sits in a chair. What’s a good solution here?

This whole thing just isn’t working out like we’d hoped and I’m hoping you’ll have some ideas that can help.

I’ve tackled all of these issues over the years. Here are some of the solutions that worked well for me in terms of solving these problems.

For starters, cultivate a set of free places to work in the community. Where can you go with your laptop and work without having to buy stuff? I have a pretty nice list. I go to the library. On nice days, I go to a park near where I live and work in the shelter house. I go on campus at two different local colleges and find an empty table either outside or in pretty much any building. I sometimes work in a grocery store deli, where they really don’t care if I just sit and work – I do usually buy a refillable cup for water there for like $0.50, but the place is mostly empty all the time and they don’t mind.

I work in those kinds of places about twice a week, with the other three days spent at home. Even when I work at home, I don’t work in the exact same place all the time. I often work at my desk (more on that in a bit), but I also work in another room in our home with a lot of windows.

You’ll have to hunt down places in your community to work, but it’s worth the effort. Expensive spots like coffee shops and restaurants are the low hanging fruit, but they’re expensive. Put in the footwork to find the free places.

Another good strategy is to build up relationships with other people who work remotely in your neighborhood. This can be difficult if you don’t know anyone, but one way to do this is to see if there are any groups in the area for telecommuters and remote workers and get involved with that group. You can often find such groups on Meetup and sometimes through the local library, as I’ve seen a few libraries organize such groups. These kinds of groups are really helpful for support, for sharing locations for working, for strategies, and so on.

Another advantage to hooking up with a remote working group is that if you start building good relationships with people in the group, you may end up working at each other’s houses somewhat regularly. It’s pretty easy – you just go to another person’s house and work in their living room for the day and they fix you lunch, and then you reciprocate fairly quickly thereafter. It gives you a new environment to work in, gives you a free lunch (though you’ll reciprocate in the future), and gives you someone to eat lunch with.

Yet another advantage of getting involved in a group like this is that it can really take the edge off of that social itch. Mark may just find that if he finds some people to associate with during the day, it takes the social edge off of his day and he feels less inclined to want to go out in the evenings.

The weight gain is probably a mix of two factors: a more sedentary lifestyle and the convenience of food at home. These two factors were a real challenge for me for years, as I gained quite a bit of weight when I started working from home. I no longer commuted any further than a walk across the hall and there was a ton of food on hand all the time.

For me, the solution to this problem was to simply be more mindful of my diet and exercise. I tried out a number of diet modifications until I found a few simple rules that worked well for me (a mix of vegetarian and intermittent fasting). Basically, I very strictly count my calories before dinner, sticking almost entirely to fruits and vegetables, and many days that means just eating one meal before dinner, which for me is usually about 11 AM (a late “brunch”) along with maybe a piece of fruit in the morning, a piece of fruit in the afternoon, and some coffee and tea throughout the day.

I also started exercising, starting with simply doing bodyweight exercises at home. I have a routine of planks, push-ups, sit-ups, and other things that I do every day (or almost every day). I also joined evening taekwondo classes with the rest of my family – though it’s an expense, a martial arts class might be something that works well for Mark. My honest encouragement is to just try a lot of bodyweight exercises and try to find things that you enjoy that tackle all of your different muscle groups. I also started consciously going on a lot of walks, usually when I needed to think about a particular problem.

I’ve also switched to a standing desk and use it about six hours a day when I’m at home. A standing desk burns about 0.2 calories per minute of use compared to sitting, so if I’m standing at the desk for six hours, that’s 360 minutes of standing, which equates to 72 calories. It doesn’t seem like much, but if I do that for 50 days, that’s 3,600 calories, which is a pound of fat. Plus, standing rather than sitting for long periods reduces the chance of a bunch of severe ailments.

The point here is that he needs to think about his diet and exercise more than he once did. There are a lot of different strategies that might work for him and I can’t say which one will, but the most important thing he can do is to just keep it in his mind and try to make choices that are more in line with healthy living. He should keep trying things until he finds what works well for him, but this should be an ongoing search until he finds good solutions.

For me, the hardest adjustment to working from home was the gradual shift toward an expectation that I would always be at home and could handle all kinds of home tasks, which ate into my day. As frustrating as it might seem, he does need to set some firm work boundaries or else his stress level is going to skyrocket. Yes, he’s at home all day, but he’s working, just like you are. He just happens to not have an office and is improvising. That means that things that would interrupt your workday and leave you stressed will also leave him stressed. If you’re expecting him to do something during his workday, imagine what it would be like if he insisted that you do that very thing during your workday. You’d probably be stressed out by the request, even if you went along with it. Keep that in mind.

Working at home has a ton of advantages, but it’s not always easy. I found that physical health, a lack of social interaction, distractions, and a sense of being unappreciated were all challenges to overcome. They can be overcome, but you have to handle those things seriously.

Good luck!

The post Minimizing the Expenses of Working from Home appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Dear Penny: Should I Pay Off My Credit Card if That Means Saving Less?

Dear J.,

A new depressing stat seems to surface every day about how we’re all one check-engine light or root canal away from financial implosion. And with the scary numbers, the message is always the same: Just. Keep. Saving.

So I get why you might feel pressure to prioritize saving above any other financial goal.

But here’s what we often neglect to talk about when it comes to saving money: It’s entirely possible to save too much of it. If you’re charging basic needs like groceries to a credit card in order to save, it’s costing you money in the long term.

To understand why, let’s start with your last question: Is there a benefit to carrying a balance? In short, no. When you carry a balance beyond an introductory no-interest period, your credit card company is the only one that benefits.

There is a claim in credit card land that carrying a small balance from month to month boosts your FICO scores. But this is pure myth. One of the best things you can do for your credit score is to pay off your balance in full each month.

So while there’s no benefit to carrying a balance, there’s a high cost. Average credit card interest rates are more than 17%. By comparison, the average annual return for the S&P 500 when adjusted for inflation is just 7%. And savings accounts? They earn a pitiful 0.09% in interest on average nationwide.

That means every dollar you put on a credit card is costing you more than you’d earn if you invested it or saved it.

But the good news is that your commitment to saving shows that overall, you’ve got your financial act together. The fact that you’re saving so much suggests that you have room in your budget to cover your expenses and have money left over to save.

You don’t need to pay off your balance overnight, but your top priority should be to keep it from creeping any higher.

Start by figuring out exactly how much you’re earning, spending and saving each month. Since your combined spending and saving will probably be higher than your earnings, you’ll have to cut back until they’re equal.

Assuming you’re not spending money on a twice-daily UberEats habit, Tinder Gold, a Dog Lady subscription box or any similarly frivolous vice, you might need to cut back on saving, at least temporarily. And that’s OK.

Keep contributing to your 401(k) to get your company’s match. That’s a no-brainer, because it’s free money. But you might want to limit your contribution to that amount for now.

If you have a healthy emergency fund — three to six months of living expenses — consider using the amount you typically put in savings to pay off your balance. Or you could scale back on your Roth IRA contribution for now.

Remember: This is only temporary. But getting your credit card use in check now is one of the best investments you can make in your financial future.

Have a tricky money question? Write to Dear Penny and you might see your question answered in an upcoming column.

Robin Hartill is a senior editor at The Penny Hoarder and the voice behind Dear Penny.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

source The Penny Hoarder http://bit.ly/2IY7O4o

60% of People Who Try This Raise Their Credit Score Within 6 Months

Have solar panels had their day in the sun?

Energy bills have been rising steadily and now cost an average of £1,137 a year. But what if you could generate your own solar power? We do the sums to see if it’s worth the initial outlay

There are currently 920,000 homes in the UK with solar panels installed, according to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). It is also possible to store self-generated electricity in a home battery pack, reducing the need to buy it from the national grid even when the sun isn’t out.

Until 31 March this year, the ‘feed-in-tariff’, which was introduced in 2010, allowed homeowners to get paid a set rate for each kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy they created. They also received a set payment for electricity sold back to the grid. On top of this, they saved between £90 and £220 a year on their bills, according to the Energy Saving Trust.

These payments, which were guaranteed for a number of years, were a huge incentive for those looking to install solar panels and led to a big boost to the industry.

However, the feed-in tariff has been gradually falling. At the start of 2016, it fell from 12.47p to 4.85p per kWh, which led to a huge drop in demand, and now it has been axed for new installations.

The government is looking into replacing the feed-in tariff under its Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) although the consultation into this has only very recently ended, so the amounts are not yet known. Solar trade organisations are pushing for a minimum sum to be set, of at least 5p per kWh.

The move to replace the feed-in tariff has been slammed by the energy industry.

Toby Ferenczi, director of strategy at energy supplier Ovo, comments: “Successive, dramatic reductions in support for solar energy have destroyed a once thriving industry, and bizarrely leaves residential solar in the position where it receives less government support than traditional fossil-fuel generation or nuclear power.”

A spokesperson for BEIS says: “The feed-in-tariff scheme has overachieved on its original objectives, outstripping installation predictions by nearly 100,000 with over 830,000 solar installations producing enough power for two million homes.

“But it’s only right we protect consumers and adjust incentives as costs fall, with solar having fallen by 80%.

“Our Smart Export Guarantee will provide a viable framework for small-scale renewable energy generation, protecting consumers from unfair cost burdens and ensuring that generators are not obliged to export their electricity to the grid for free.”

Now, many homeowners will be asking themselves if solar is still worth the cost.

“Solar still makes sense for people who use a lot of power”

How much will it cost to install?

The big financial outlay with solar is installation. An average system of 4kWp [the kilowatt peak generated by solar panels] now costs £6,200, according to the Energy Saving Trust. This is around half of what it was in 2010, but still a significant sum.

Most people will need to pay this up front, though there are some financial incentives available. In Scotland, for example, Home Energy Scotland (HES) has offered interest-free loans of £11,000 for installations. The Scottish Government is considering plans for the HES loan for 2019-20, so it isn’t accepting applications, but you can register your interest by calling 0808 808 2282.

There are also collective purchase schemes available in which several households receive panels at once, which can cut the costs. In some areas of London, Essex and Suffolk, households have been able to have their homes fitted with panels for £3,200.

How much could you save?

Before buying solar power, you need to calculate how much you could save compared to the initial amount paid to see how long it will take to make your money back. Although the money made from selling excess energy back to the grid can be factored in, as it is still unclear how much this will be, it may be worth waiting until the government has confirmed this.

Calculating how much you can save will depend on how much energy you use and where you live. For example, a household in London with people at home during the day could save an average of £220 a year, while a household in Manchester with no one home until 6pm could save £85 a year, according to the Energy Saving Trust.

Over a lifespan of 25 years, this could equate to a saving of £5,500 and £2,125 respectively. While the London household has almost made back the initial cost, it would take the Manchester household 72 years to do this.

Leonie Greene, spokesperson for the Solar Trade Association, says: “Solar still makes financial sense for households who use a lot of their own power, such as retired people, small businesses who work from home or young families, and the greatest financial value comes from avoiding buying power from a provider.”

According to her estimates, the highest users who provide 80% of their own energy consumption could get returns in around 11 years. This includes the cost of replacing an inverter [an electronic circuit] after 10 years. If the rate of selling solar electricity is set at 5p per kWh, she says this could be cut to nine years.

What about storage?

A battery pack can keep around 80% of the electricity generated through solar panels. Without this, households need to use the electricity when it is generated or it will be fed back to the grid. Without a battery pack, households will only use around 60% of the electricity generated.

Battery packs have a lifespan of around 20 years and a small number of providers offer them, including Tesla and Solarcentury.

The savings generated by a battery pack will depend on the size of a house, the amount of energy it uses and the cost of the energy. However, as these packs are relatively new, there are significant upfront costs. For example, a Tesla battery costs £6,200, £1,700 for supporting hardware, plus installation costs of between £950 and £2,800.

When you buy a battery pack the only cost is the upfront fee. Tesla says customers don’t need to pay anything extra for upkeep of the packs during their lifetime, and the only thing they need to do is make sure it is kept free of debris. It says energy bills could be more than halved with one.

Are there other solutions?

There is a wide range of products available with more likely to be launched since Chancellor Philip Hammond announced in the Spring Statement that he wants to stop the installation of gas boilers for water and central heating in new homes from 2025 to reduce greenhouse gases and carbon emissions.

Examples include biomass boilers, which cost up to £15,000 for a household system and could save £225 a year on your energy bills, ground-source heat pumps, which cost up to £18,000 and could result in savings of £580 if replacing an old gas boiler, and air-source heat pumps, which cost up to £8,000 and could save £400 a year if replacing an old gas boiler. Costs could fall as these options become more popular.

Anthony-Wootton.jpg

“We power two electric cars and our house for free in the summer”

Three-and-a-half years ago Anthony Wootton, 48, an energy consultant from Basingstoke bought a hybrid car for his wife. Now, he doesn’t pay anything for electricity in the summer, and their energy consumption has been cut by two thirds, thanks to solar panels and two battery packs.

“Before we bought the hybrid car it was costing £100 a week in petrol. Now the energy we create pays for the car.

“We had 4kWp of solar panels installed at a cost of around £200 excluding installation and last summer we created all our own electricity, apart from what I needed for my car – although I’ve also saved £7,000 a year on petrol costs.

“We then installed a Tesla powerwall battery and we now rely even less on the grid. After buying a second battery pack, at a cost of around £5,000 each, we now use an average of 22kWh of electricity a day in the summer and generate the same amount.

“My monthly energy bill from British Gas was £214.40 a month before we made these change and I’m now paying less than £100.

“Switching to solar power has been a huge saving for us. You need to have the money to pay upfront but also look at the long-term benefits.”

middlewick.jpg

“Our energy use is down 50%”

In 2011 Jill and Jonathan Barker, both 52, bought Middlewick Holiday Cottages near Glastonbury and upgraded their old energy system. They installed a biomass heater and solar panels and now use 50% less energy.

“When we first moved the electricity alone was costing around £20,000 a year, with a combination of wood burners, heating oil and LPG, as well as storage heaters.

“We first installed an industrial-size biomass boiler, then had 30kWp of solar panels installed, costing £195,000 for both, and our energy usage has now gone down 50%.

“In the summer, we use hardly any energy from the grid and that’s with all our guests staying”

“When we had our solar panels the feed-in tariff was already low. It’s gone down again but the cost of installing the panels has also fallen – we were first quoted £70,000 for the panels but actually paid around half of this.

“In the summer we use hardly any energy from the grid and that’s with all of our guests staying, some with electric ovens, hobs and showers.  It’s great to be able to see how much electricity we’re producing when the sun is shining and we’ve created our own standalone power station.”

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