Back too basics!!!!!!

The_Economist

Hi everyone,
I have read some of the posts and i understand how you all feel. I find a good way of making sure that all bills are paid is by doing one simple thing and that is each week i put X amount of money into a envolpe or money bag when i get my wages.
E.g electric £10
Gas £5
Phone £5
Food £50
and the list goes on. I try not to have anything direct debt or on credit. Direct debt and credit can easily be forgotton about before its due. When you pay things like gas and electricity on direct debt they usally over charge you anyway during the summer months and they gain the interest on the money and not you. Always shop around for things no matter what it is. I have just got my car insurance down from £418 to £294 with same cover. Its not always easey but if you hav'nt got the money dont buy it.


What you want today will be cheaper tomorrow.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poppy9

I get paid monthly so its easier for me to do DD after pay goes in. Also get cheaper prices with utilities if DD.

Car insurance oh just renewing highest quote £333 lowest £196 (esure). Also if you go through greasy palm you get £15 cashback with esure and £30 back with Lloyds (quoted £235).

0% credit cards can give you extra interest on your money for a good few months. Just remember to set up DD/SO to pay minimum amount.

nearlyrich

I think the two posts above show that there are different ways to manage your money and if it works for you than it's good. If you get paid weekly in cash then it is probably easier to pay bills in cash but if your money goes monthy into the bank it is easier to manage bills by DD and I do agree with Poppy that you get a better deal from utilities if you pay by DD, as long as the amount is correctly calculated, the saving outweighs the small loss of interest. What works for me is to have one DD set up to a joint account with my DH to pay all the household bills, a dd set up to pay balance on Credit cards ( excluding my 0% interest cards where the DD is min payment) and a SO to transfer any surplus to my high interest account, this includes my savings for Christmas, holidays and anything else I am saving for. I also know how much my personal SO & DDs are and they also come out as soon after payday as possible. I keep a simple spreadsheet for cash withdrawals and cheques so I can't forget about them and I manage all my accounts with Internet banking plus so I can see at a glance where I am. I haven't always been this organised, I made it my New years resolution to look after my money more efficiently.