'What's your biggest bill?' poll discussion

John_Pierpoint

Car pool ?
Bus?
Motor Bike?
Train?
A combination of these?

st1sof

Childcare by a country mile.

whatfaff

I'm really worried that people are missing this because its more difficult to calculate as a monthly expense but it's definitely my biggest expenditure. Although I use my (small) car for work every day, including appointments, it tends to be mainly short distances, and yet petrol still costs me more than anything else per month when its all added up. A total rip off!
I remember the old days when a litre of unleaded cost less than a pound...sadly gone forever.

pixwix

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

With taxes (and deficit spending) using up more than half of our GDP, are we surprised that Council Tax comes top of the list?
What do I as a pensioner get for my 157 quid a month ... I really must make time to try to understand their accounts to discover where all the money goes, after paying the wages and the pensions.

And I can't think of a single bill most of us resent more. My local council are a complete shower - as a disabled pensioner I get almost no help from them at all other than shrugs and informative leaflets - I even have to ask a neighbour to move my bins. And because I was sensible enough to invest in a pension scheme, I of course pay full whack for everything while my ned neighbours get a discount. 'Everything' usually being a new list of excuses as to why I'm not getting the services I thought I was paying for, though there seem to be enough managers and coordinators to staff a major industry. The only efficient service being the extraction of money from taxpayers - if only other departments were a fraction as energetic.

Big business in this country must be green with envy at this legal protection racket (those businesses that don't already have their hand in the jar). Can you imagine a letter from - say - Tescos every April?

"Dear Sir/Madam - here is a list of the groceries, etc, we've decided to provide you with for the coming year, and the costs you will be required to pay. Sorry, you don't get to decide on the list or the bill, we do. The list may be altered or shortened at short notice, with no refund for missing items. Sorry if you don't want half this stuff, but other people do and we have to rationalise - what you don't use you will still be required to pay for. We don't do bargains any more as you're not allowed to shop elsewhere. Please excuse any delays or interruptions in service - with 20 managers and only 3 assistants in your local shop, backlogs are often inevitable. Your fixed monthly bills must be paid on the dot, or we'll send the bailiffs in."

kltoddie

st1sof wrote: »

Childcare by a country mile.

Same here at £630/month for 1 child full time :eek:

When I go back to work after maternity leave (having had DD2), that'll be £1160/month for the 2 (you get £100 discount for the 2nd child).

I do get childcare vouchers though, but still...:(

I just look forward to the day when I won't need childcare any more.

KT

grastgirl

Commuting costs - £2950 per year just for the season ticket
Dwarfs even the council tax, although as we only have electricity for power and heating I guess that will be pretty big.

albacookie

Pretty close between council tax and petrol but including all motoring costs would certainly make it the most expensive.

immoral_angeluk

Nursery fees. Just shy of £700 this month with it not being in term time :eek:

prettypennies

Mine was a close one between gas and electric at £105 a month and petrol at around £100 (though this may be more than I have allowed for)

By comparison to others on here my council tax is reasonable at £70 a month (live in 2 bed ex-council property)

Car insurance it pretty high in my area due to all the lovely people who share my postcode that don't bother to get insured :mad:.
I am paying more car insurance now for a 1.4l group 6 vehicle, than I did when I first passed my test, despite now having 7 years no claims bonus

DavyBoy_2

I'm a high mileage driver with 3 fault claims in my life and no NCB, so my insurance is £1100 a year, I drive around 35k miles at 12.7p a mile of diesel (£4,500), with tyres and maintenance about £2,000, and £2300 a year on Hire Purchase, and £155 on RFL so a round figure of £10k a year I spend on my car. That's a not insignificant portion of my disposable income.