Paying bills - monthly or annually

[Deleted User]

kimwp said:

winningjan 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?

I do see your point and it may not be a great strategy but I don't want to give the council a penny before I have to, so I'd rather pay £200 pm into PBs and quickly withdraw it twice a year (with, as I've mentioned, small hits on the bit in there) than pay £200+ every month directly to them for 10/12 months. The initial 1k to start was acquired by luck and o/t to go into here but it seems to work for me.

kimwp

[Deleted User] said:

kimwp said:

winningjan 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?

I do see your point and it may not be a great strategy but I don't want to give the council a penny before I have to, so I'd rather pay £200 pm into PBs and quickly withdraw it twice a year (with, as I've mentioned, small hits on the bit in there) than pay £200+ every month directly to them for 10/12 months. The initial 1k to start was acquired by luck and o/t to go into here but it seems to work for me.

Thanks for clarifying @[Deleted User]. I think your strategy means you are paying the council the money earlier than you have to (in April, you pay for April, May, June, July etc, whereas if you paid monthly you wouldn't pay for May until May, June until June etc)?

TheAble

kimwp said:

[Deleted User] said:

kimwp said:

winningjan 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?

I do see your point and it may not be a great strategy but I don't want to give the council a penny before I have to, so I'd rather pay £200 pm into PBs and quickly withdraw it twice a year (with, as I've mentioned, small hits on the bit in there) than pay £200+ every month directly to them for 10/12 months. The initial 1k to start was acquired by luck and o/t to go into here but it seems to work for me.

Thanks for clarifying @[Deleted User]. I think your strategy means you are paying the council the money earlier than you have to (in April, you pay for April, May, June, July etc, whereas if you paid monthly you wouldn't pay for May until May, June until June etc)?

Quite. Optimal is to pay over 12 months and invest in PBs (or whatever) alongside.

[Deleted User]

TheAble said:

kimwp said:

[Deleted User] said:

kimwp said:

winningjan 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?

I do see your point and it may not be a great strategy but I don't want to give the council a penny before I have to, so I'd rather pay £200 pm into PBs and quickly withdraw it twice a year (with, as I've mentioned, small hits on the bit in there) than pay £200+ every month directly to them for 10/12 months. The initial 1k to start was acquired by luck and o/t to go into here but it seems to work for me.

Thanks for clarifying @[Deleted User]. I think your strategy means you are paying the council the money earlier than you have to (in April, you pay for April, May, June, July etc, whereas if you paid monthly you wouldn't pay for May until May, June until June etc)?

Quite. Optimal is to pay over 12 months and invest in PBs (or whatever) alongside.

Yes 'Quite', it would be if I could afford to do that, which I can't at the moment. But thanks for your input. And this isn't my thread...

TheAble

[Deleted User] said:

TheAble said:

kimwp said:

[Deleted User] said:

kimwp said:

[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?

I do see your point and it may not be a great strategy but I don't want to give the council a penny before I have to, so I'd rather pay £200 pm into PBs and quickly withdraw it twice a year (with, as I've mentioned, small hits on the bit in there) than pay £200+ every month directly to them for 10/12 months. The initial 1k to start was acquired by luck and o/t to go into here but it seems to work for me.

Thanks for clarifying @[Deleted User]. I think your strategy means you are paying the council the money earlier than you have to (in April, you pay for April, May, June, July etc, whereas if you paid monthly you wouldn't pay for May until May, June until June etc)?

Quite. Optimal is to pay over 12 months and invest in PBs (or whatever) alongside.

Yes 'Quite', it would be if I could afford to do that, which I can't at the moment. But thanks for your input. And this isn't my thread...

I still don't understand your logic. You withdraw money from premium bonds twice a year to pay 6 months in advance on your council tax, and in the meantime pay back into the premium bonds? Why not just leave the money invested and pay the council tax monthly? Your current method just doesn't make sense.
I'm not having a go by the way, I just think you're slightly misguided in your thinking.

[Deleted User]

"I'm not having a go by the way" - good to know. Thanks.

TheAble

[Deleted User] said:

"I'm not having a go by the way" - good to know. Thanks.

I'm pleased it's good for you to know. Just keep paying the council in advance then, like you say you don't want to do.

[Deleted User]

"I'm pleased it's good for you to know. Just keep paying the council in advance then, like you say you don't want to do."

OK, I will thanks...

Phlanger

enthusiasticsaver said:

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. 

I was going to say the same thing. If there's no benefit to paying it all at once, why do it? The only reason I can come up with is if you have a hard time managing your monthly bills in the first place, or are anticipating a large cost at years end. 

[Deleted User]

I could pay it all off in one go as I have the money sitting in my current account but I'm just going to pay it in 10 monthly instalments as usual as I begrudge giving the council the money anyway.