New Challenge - Details

mink35

With council tax being paid over 10 months does anyone put the other two months worth away? Or do you budget over a year so there's no 'extra' two months?

crazyhazy

mink35 wrote:

With council tax being paid over 10 months does anyone put the other two months worth away? Or do you budget over a year so there's no 'extra' two months?

I haven't done this year as we are saving everything for the wedding and this money was accounted for before I started this challenge, but will be saving it next year.

omega_2

I personally budget for Council Tax monthly. In practice, cash-flow wise, it works out pretty well as both MOT and Car Tax are due during the Council Tax free months. Big_Nige, you've just reminded me ... I need to count my other half's shrapnell pot (have asked first, promise!) ... not a lot in there, but if he isn't interested in his small change, I certainly am! Cheers.

Mrs_Thrift

As from the start of this year I've been budgeting for £82 council tax for every month, even though we only pay £82 for 10 months of the year. The extra will build up a nice cushion for other things hopefully.

For MOT, tax and insurance, all the expected cost for the year was added up and divided by 12. But because it all came out in Feb / March we had to "borrow" from our savings but on our budget spreadsheet we can see the pot's total being built back up over the year.

tru

Just saved £4.23 at Tesco :j

jazzyjustlaw

monkeylugs wrote:

I had no idea that mine could be paid over 12 months. When I had asked previously it was either 8 or 10, hence choosing 10. I had phoned up when I got my bill to ask if I could change the date of payment, and the guy on the phone asked me if I wanted to spread the cost over 12 months rather than 10, so I almost bit his hand off! This is Yorkshire Water, by the way, and a couple of days later I got my amended bill showing over 12 months so I know it's right.

Second bit of money-spinning I have done, despite being rejected three times in the past, I contacted Alliance & Leicester and went from an ordinary current account what pays no interest and charges 15% for overdraft rate, to a premier account paying 2% interest on credit balances and a 0% authorised overdraft, so hopefully they will soon have to start paying me interest instead of the other way around

Interesting because I have applied twice and they turned me down. Do you have any idea why they turned you down previously??

Murtle

wish me luck - i'm going in....I'm about to create a complete budget, not just for the bits and pieces I remember or are essential!!! this one is going to have all the nuts and bolts on it and I expect to be here for awhile..... arghhhhh - next step to get OH to stick to his side of it too.....ok, one step at a time!!!!

monkeylugs

JazzyJustLaw - Alliance & Leicester can be really @rsey sometimes. When I applied this time the customer service woman said to me "We go on credit scoring and my computer is telling me that you are a zero yet I can see that you have had a car loan for 12 months and we've just approved you for another personal loan so I can't really understand why it's giving you such a low score".

She then transferred me to a colleague in a different department who went through the application form and offered me a credit card also (which I turned down) and he approved the application.

To cut a long story short I have a default against my name from Egg registered in December 2000 and paid off in June 2003 (Marked as satisfied). I am pretty sure that is why we were turned down the first two times but of course they don't tell you do they? Perhaps I have just built up a better credit rating since my last application, which was about 12 months ago? It's a mystery to me...

jazzyjustlaw

Monkeylugs - they are nuts. About 6 years ago I was in a terrible financial state I owed thousands had to have a managed loan to pay it off - only 8 months to go and about £800.00 left and that is with HSBC that is the only adverse credit on my report. ANyway A & L gave me an account then and then a couple of years later I applied for a premier account and they refused then last year I applied for a £2,000 loan and a premier account and they refused yet I had £3,000 credit with them in a savings account. I know now I didnt need the loan but they could see I could pay it. I moved most of that money out with Abbey National.

I think I might try again as I have also had an associated person removed from my credit report who was in deep do do.

Thanks for your response at least it gives me some comfort to know they are a bit "funny".

stellagypsy

I don't know if this will help anyone or not but most Councils will allow you to pay Council Tax over 12 months rather than 10, but it must be by DD (I do it this way as I prefer 12 equal payments, - I get paid 13 times a year and it is just impossible to budget if I have payments other than 12-monthly todeal with). Might be worth ringing them up before the next year's payments start.

Great challenge, BTW, started last week and already got PMS of about £55.00. It is really helping me to get myself organised with a budget.

Stella