Paying bills - monthly or annually

davilown

In a good financial place at the moment and typically, the council tax bill comes in.

Do you thinks it’s better the pay the Bill in whole or over 10 months?

Obviously, monthly bills would be less, but lose out of savings.

Grateful for your thoughts  

TheAble

It adds up to the same amount. I typically pay it off by end of Nov or Dec so I can enjoy a few months off.

glennevis

This year I've opted for 12 monthly payments instead of the usual 10, so my money management app doesn't whinge in feb/mar.

enthusiasticsaver

There is no advantage to paying the council tax in one go so I would opt to pay over 10 or 12 payments. We do ours over 10. 

DjangoUnchained

i changed mine from 10 months to 12 months a few years ago when things were tight. I keep thinking of reverting or even paying it off in one go but then i think the council cant be trusted with my money any longer than necessary.

ratrace

I just pay mine off in one go then i dont have to think about it, i have a standing order set up at a diffrent account for all the main big bills such as Council Tax, Car insurance, House Insurance etc... that just drip feeds out every month from my main account so when the bills are due they get paid off in one go and the cycle starts again.

I have also linked my paypal account to the same bills account so any "extra money" i make goes in there and pays the bills. since the first lockdown i have started to sell on ebay and in the last 12 months i have "liquidised" approx £2400 sales just by selling stuff from around the house which i have not used in years,

im still surprised what some things sold for which i would have normally just binned when i had a clear out. such as an old boiler, broken tradmill, car tools, old washer, laptops, phones, etc....  

Hope this helps and gives people some idea that they can sell stuff they no longer want and realise some cash to pay the bills.

lordmountararat

Many councils used to offer a discount (typically 5%) if you paid the annual council tax all in one go at the start of the financial year, but afaik this is no longer the case anywhere. So you might as well pay it in monthly instalments.

[Deleted User]

I put £200 a month into Premium Bonds, then I pay half of the bill the first week of April and the other half the first week of October. In the past year I've had 2 x £25 wins, so it's more than I'd get in savings and the council get their money on time. Obviously it helps if you've got the first 1K or so of the 1st instalment to get the ball rolling...

pollyanna24

Car insurance and house insurance I pay off annually as you get charged interest for monthly payments. 

No advantage in paying for council tax or water bills in one go, so I don't bother.

kimwp

[Deleted User] said:

I put £200 a month into Premium Bonds, then I pay half of the bill the first week of April and the other half the first week of October. In the past year I've had 2 x £25 wins, so it's more than I'd get in savings and the council get their money on time. Obviously it helps if you've got the first 1K or so of the 1st instalment to get the ball rolling...

@[Deleted User], I'm not sure I understand this strategy -  which seems to be to deplete your premium bonds account to pay the council tax upfront in April and October, then start to build it up again? Would it not be more financially advantageous to leave the initial 1k in the premium bonds and pay the council tax monthly?

[Deleted User]

I enquired about this a few years ago at my local council hub.  I was advised that it didn't make any difference whether I pay annually or monthly.  Had I paid annually, the fund would remain on my council tax account and they would only ever request the monthly amount.  I still pay over 10 months but may spread over 12 months if this council tax starts to get ridiculously high in years to come.