Where do I start?

nicoley_2

Hello all,

I am a soon-to-be second year university student moving into a house of 7. The house is a 3 storey house in Leeds. None of us have any ideas whatsoever about the cost or how to go about looking into the cheapest gas or electricity. So far we have looked into companies that do a package to include gas, elec, tv, broadband etc but they are wanting about £11 p/wk each! I know it would be the easiest option, but the student moneysaver in me is thinking about being thrifty and looking into saving some money.

Any advice would be so gratefully appreciated, many thanks in advance for your help, nicoley

bloss0m

I think you main problems will be getting people to pay their fair share. Also if your name is on the bills you will be liable even if one or more do a moonlight flip, so make sure from day one everyone pays and maybe have a bank account where it needs more than one person to take money out to pay bills and or pay by direct debt

nicoley_2

Thanks Bloss0m, we were thinking of having a communal bank account where we attach direct debits for bills and we all put in money every week. Would this work?

jd87

You are right to steer clear of companies that supply everything - as you have realised, they are way overpriced.

As for what you should do though, it's a tricky one. You can try and do everything properly by getting a "treasurers account" with all your names on, paying money into this, and putting all of your names on all of the utility accounts. The problem is this can be a lot of hassle, and you will be "jointly and severally" liable for the bills. This means that if everyone else decides to stop paying, the companies can still chase you (and only you if they want) for ALL of the debt.

I personally think the best way to deal with this situation is for each person to take on a bill in their own name (and their name only) and pay for it out of their own bank account. That way you can make sure you pay your bill and aren't linked to anyone else's responsibilities. Obviously not every bill costs the same but you can even things out by everyone contributing a certain amount to a cash fund which is either dished out equally at the end of every month, or used to buy communal booze.

[EDIT] Another idea, spotting that you say there are going to be 7 people (and probably only 4 or 5 bills) could be that two people who really trust each other could go on the larger bills (gas and elec probably).