MSE Forum Poll: Which household bill do you find most stressful at the moment?

goldfinches

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81960667#Comment_81960667

I also voted water because I'm not able to have a meter say Thames due to being above the first floor in a block of flats. Every year around Feb/March time they send me what seems to be an entirely made up projected bill for the following financial year and I then have to spend an immense amount of time checking with my neighbours, friends etc. and looking at average water consumption per person across the county to show them why it's wrong and what they ought to be charging me instead. We then spend several months toing and froing and finally they accept somewhere between what my neighbours/friends are paying per month and the vastly inflated figure they first thought of and I pay them.

This year I'm thinking of asking some of the May morning celebrants here (Oxford) to cast a spell in my favour, watch this space.

pearl123

Energy. Take away the standing charge, as it will help those who truly try to not use much energy.

LightFlare

council tax by a mile

£300 a month just for the council to waste on mismanaged and vanity projects instead of just getting the basics sorted first and foremost

GTR_King

The most stressful bill for me at the moment is my Broadband as been trying to get Full Fibre into my leasehold ground floor flat for at least 2 years (Available for all freehold properties in my area) Having no luck with freeholders lol.

I can't justify paying x amount per month for 40-50MBPS speeds when I could be getting 500MBPS+ For the same price.

can't reduce the price at all sadly and another provider will be same price

Ib06

It's Council Tax for me… I have no control of it - I can't use less and pay less or choose not to have it… It bears no relation to my income or ability to pay and there's nothing I can do to reduce it (other than move house and pay a fortune to do that.) It seems to pay for a range of things that should come out of general taxation and bears little relation to the services I need to live here. It's a nightmare….

Rosa_Damascena

The next one that is going to become apparent to some is going to be road tax on electric and premium vehicles.

Dizzycap

TBH, I think all of the above bills, plus food is or will become stressful either now or the future. Haulage costs doubled last Monday, jet fuel also doubled and is in short supply, so the cost of a holiday has more than doubled and so, unfortunately, the list goes on 😥🤔. There's only so much of jiggling a household budget with the best available deals on essentials you can do 🙃😕😑.

My personal gripe is Council Tax as the services offered for the money paid, are dire - Don't get me started on potholes! Garden waste disposal is up 5% here, so not impressed 😑

Cyclamen

Social Care contribution.
Even when we recieve UC because we dont have enough to live on the council still assesses we must pay for social care at home. Its not a bill i can cut as without carers life doesnt work and health declines.

dinosaur66

heating

my mother is 84 and always cold until weather gets to about 18 degrees

i pay about £600 a month combined gas /electric from november / december /jan /feb/march /about £500 april

goes down to £100 month when she is in scotland

i have bought her russell and hobbs electric blanket £40 from b and q which she loves and now saves me having to have a gas bottle £65 lasts 3 weeks which she sits very close to as well as having the central heating on

i am sweating all the time, house is like a sauna / i used to pay for my parents to stay in spain during the winter months for over 20 years but my father passed and insurance did not want to cover my mother when she reached 80 so she spends the summer and autumn now in the costa del north ayrshire

polystyrene

Council tax - without a doubt.

It has gone up by 36% from 2022 to this year while my tax allowance has remained unchanged.

Our council seems better than many and they clearly try to run things well. But all councils have been put into difficulties by the way central government imposes duties but does not ensure that those duties are even rationally funded.

Followed by the service charge elements of electricity, gas and water/sewage. They represent of the order of half my bills for the three utilities. Thus, in very approximate terms, to reduce my electricity and gas bills by 10%, I would have to cut usage by 20%.