Money Money Money

HR and I are on a good wicket. We each earn a good wage. Sure we help the kids out but, we still have enough to do the stuff we want; new cars,weekend brunches, weekend trips away, cruises and the New Zealand trip next year, always a few dollars in the pocket.
Yep we earn good money. However, it seems we will have to sell a child or take a personal loan to pay the winter gas bill.
I have been 'down south' for 6 months now and all of it has been cold. I love the cold, as long as I have a heater and a blanket. The first heating bill (gas) we got was in the region of $650 dollars and after HR got over his heart attack I mentioned that the heating was gas. He argued of course, I mean seriously how could I know it was gas? Anyway he checked the books and the gas meter and confirmed what I had told him. The electric bill was minimal.
Now some of you are out there saying there are ways we can minimise the use of the heater and,  you may well be right but not in this place. It seems that the heater is on, in every room, or it is off. There is no way to close the heat off in any of the rooms. Seriously, the upstairs is always ten degrees warmer than downstairs and we only use two rooms up there so closing the unused rooms off would be a no brainer. But we can't. If we closed any of the vents the system would over heat and shut down and then we would be up for repairs which may cost more than the gas bill.
Anyway we decided that the cold was too severe and we could afford the bill so screw it we will use the heater. Right up until yesterday when the second bill in 6 months rocked up. $1020.60!!!!!!!!! for 90 days. $1020.60 you have got to be joking!!!! A total of over $1600 for winter gas. That is ten times what we were paying in Queensland.
I figured I would see if there is an alternate power provider for the area – wasn't that a hoot. Bloody hell they want to know how many pairs of pink knickers you have as well as you credit rating before they will tell you the smallest thing.
HR is the name on the bill so he rang the energy provider and was a tad terse, seems as he scrutinised the bill further he discovered the bill was an estimate. He spoke to a very nice young man who advised that the people contracted to read the meters had not provided the information in time so they had taken a best guess. Great if they were anywhere near accurate. The numbers on the bill were so far out from what the meter read it was ridiculous (the meter read hundreds of MJ's less than what the bill read). So the young man mentioned that since the bill had been issued the required info had rocked up and that a new bill would be issued in the next few weeks.
HR and I have decided we need to move to a more temperate region or at least one where the gas is a lot bloody cheaper.
Until then we will sit here huddled in blankets sipping hot drinks to ward off the cold and dream of warmer days.