Debt Free Christmas Idea

Smodlet

Hi and welcome.

I disagree with your idea as well. If people want to celebrate Christmas, that is their choice. Like anything you choose to buy rather than have to buy, how you pay for it is also your choice... and your problem. Bills have to be paid for. Christmas does not.

There are plenty of ideas on here about how to cut the cost of presents, one is doing things for others (vouchers for free baby-sitting, for example) rather than buying things that may well be returned the next day! Personally, were I prepared to baby-sit for free, I would do so anyway. It would not be an alternative to a present but a favour I would do for a friend.

Christmas has become more a retail-fest than anything else. I chose long ago to have nothing to do with it. I don't care what anyone thinks of my choice. Bah, humbug!

sourcrates

Smodlet wrote: »

Hi and welcome.

I disagree with your idea as well. If people want to celebrate Christmas, that is their choice. Like anything you choose to buy rather than have to buy, how you pay for it is also your choice... and your problem. Bills have to be paid for. Christmas does not.

There are plenty of ideas on here about how to cut the cost of presents, one is doing things for others (vouchers for free baby-sitting, for example) rather than buying things that may well be returned the next day! Personally, were I prepared to baby-sit for free, I would do so anyway. It would not be an alternative to a present but a favour I would do for a friend.

Christmas has become more a retail-fest than anything else. I chose long ago to have nothing to do with it. I don't care what anyone thinks of my choice. Bah, humbug!

Couldn't agree more smodlet,

The "Christmas period" now seems to start mid November, it gets earlier every year, its all about trying to prise as much cash as possible from your wallet, i absolutely hate it.

Add to that i`m not in the least bit religious, and if other people wish to imitate lemmings and worship invisible men in the sky, then thats up to them.

The only saving grace, is the Christmas dinner, the only part of Christmas that should not be forsaken, so bad idea OP, but welcome to the forum anyway.

Moving on.............

Smodlet

Totally agree about the Christmas dinner, sourcrates, we do that, all right... just on whatever date we feel like having it, doesn't have to be 25th. We are neither lemmings nor sheep... Baaaaahhh humbug! :D

datlex

tori.k wrote: »

I would say utilities provider's would say can already be done with the option of a prepayment meter for energy, water & TV licences are also on a variable payment option to suit.

Have you had a prepayment meter, had you done so you would know that unless you preload your meter, you will pay significantly more in the winter months. There is also with some companies a limit to how much credit the meter will hold. Credit meters and monthly bills are much better then you could average it out over 10 months of the year.

DomRavioli wrote: »

Rubbish - most people haven't got the money to increase to 10 months, especially as winter is high on utilities.
And not sure where you get your figures from either - I know it wouldn't give me an extra £300; maybe £100 but nowhere near that and I'm in a three bed semi .... Also bills wouldn't increase slightly, add £300 onto 3 utilities, thats an extra £100 each per year, or a tenner a month per utility (at ten months). Most people haven't got £30 lying about every month, and those that this may help deffo do not have £30 every month, ten months of the year.
... When you have an income of less than £100 a week (as a lot of people do), taking 10% of it for this purpose is just crazy.

Most people I know would have £30 a month lying about as you describe it. I have to say I am impressed that you are able to live in a three bed semi and only have bills of £100 a month. Please let is know how :-)
I think you have misunderstood the OP. What they are saying is you divide the total you pay for your bills over the year by 10 rather than 12. So for example if you pay £200 a month over 12 months you would pay a total over the year of £2400. If you then divided the £2400 by 10 instead of 12 your monthly bills would be £240 with two months without payments. Of course you are simply paying early you are not actually saving money.

MoneyMission2015 wrote: »

I don't think it's a good idea. It wouldn't give anybody 'extra' money during the Christmas period, because they would be paying for it during the rest of the year. ...Christmas isn't a surprise to any of us, it comes at the same time every year so if you want to be able to buy family & friends a gift then you should be planning for it all year .... I now budget my money to the penny every month so that I can not only pay debts, but can also save for Christmas, birthdays, emergency fund etc. I've actually got 10 savings 'pots' on the go now and I just stay strict with myself to save every month without fail...

totally agree budgeting is vital. It is also important to remember it is the thought that counts.

OP I can see where you are coming from but I think it misses a few things. I think you might be doing it the wrong way round. Get the £900 at start of year and invest it in a high interest current account to get interest.

thegreenone

You can do it yourself but it takes strong will. You take yourself off DD for all your utilities, set up standing orders and then overpay each month Jan-Oct. Many companies require a DD but do not take it if you have already paid the monthly amount by date due.


My husband is weekly paid so almost all our bills are divided weekly. Our most expensive time is January and February, so I start paying our council tax at the beginning of March. Last year I managed to overpay weekly and had December free too. DIY but be strong and as the others have said a good budget is vital.

Smodlet

If you pay for gas/electric/telecoms/tv by any method other than DD, it will be more expensive. Providers give discounts for paying by this method.

thegreenone

My only discount is for dual fuel £1.45.. Wowzer! Yes, it all adds up, but I'm not going to change my system for 36p a week. We renegotiate our BT deal every year so that probably covers any extra.

Water is £10 a week for 48 weeks. I choose the weeks I don't have to pay.

I used to pay by SO for G&E but thanks to MSE's collective last year it was worth switching but had to go DD. I don't like DDs, it's my money I like to be in control. However my provider put up my DD by £50 pm earlier this year whereas previously I could decide how much, and when, I increased my SO.

Smodlet

My dual fuel discount is £90 per year, can't remember what the DD discount is but there is one... to each, his/her own taste and choice.

I bet you are still nostalgic for postal orders, huh?

Sanctioned_Parts_List

Awh I still vaguely remember having to queue up at a branch of the local electricity board to pay the quarterly bill in cash! Nope, don't miss history - nasty, inefficient and slow.

Sanctioned_Parts_List

SRowlands wrote: »

We already have some regular bills that are spread over 10 months rather than 12, with no payments in Feb / Mar, but how about if the MSE team could approach all the major utility providers and councils to suggest that they all offer this option, but the payment free months would be December and January (or November and December).

As far as I know, only council tax is paid over 10 months, with almost everything else being 12 months. As to why it's 10 months - I always assumed it was just because dividing by 10 is easy.

Back on point - I don't think moving to a 10 month utility cycle would do anything to alleviate debt. I'm sorry if the following comes across as horribly judgmental... Christmas isn't exactly a new invention, and the people OP's idea is targeted at are already failing to take it into account, save up and spend within their means to celebrate it.

What's to say that these same people won't overspend even more during the two "off" months, on the basis that they feel richer and have already demonstrated a lack of foresight concerning their income and spending? That coupled with having to find 17% more for utility bills each normal month - I reckon it would accelerate indebtedness, rather than relieve it.

(Leaving off that bills will rise universally, as companies will want a buffer against those two months of no remittances.)

At home, we have a "no presents over 12" policy. Young children get presents. Teenagers nominal amounts of cash. Adults get nada - but we try to get together to give each other nothing over some good food, good wine and good conversation. Makes for a much less stressful holiday :beer: