Urgent: household bills

PostUrgent: household bills by **Gario** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:17 pm

My ex is finally moving out this week, which is going to leave me with the sole responsibility of paying the rent and all the bills. I'm not going to hold him to any of that as it's better that we simply part ways and I want him to be able to afford his own place. I've still got six months left on my tenancy so instead of trying to end the contract early and go through the hassle of moving to somewhere cheaper, I would rather do my best to afford everything on my own. Our household bills come to a total of £840 a month. Here are the specifics:

Rent - 575
Gas - 48
Electricity - 45
Council tax - 89
Water - 32
TV licence - 12
Internet - 30
Netflix with unblock - 9

Up to this point we've split this 50/50. From now on I'll have to pay the lot (or find a housemate, although that would be a last resort and in any case isn't something that could be sorted straight away).

What I want from you guys is some advice. Do any of my outgoings look unusually high? Given that I'm now living on my own and will be using less energy, will I be able to get any of my payments reduced?

I've even thought about getting my pension contribution temporarily stopped but I believe there's now a minimum compulsory contribution.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Lagamorph** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:24 pm

Why bother with a TV Licence? Just use Netflix/iPlayer/4OD etc and never watch live TV, then no more need for a licence.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:25 pm

Lagamorph » Sun Jun 22, 2014 2:24 pm wrote:Why bother with a TV Licence? Just use Netflix/iPlayer/4OD etc and never watch live TV, then no more need for a licence.

I don't watch any TV to be fair, all I do is stream Netflix and couchtuner, but how do I prove that?

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Lagamorph** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:28 pm

Gario » Sun Jun 22, 2014 2:25 pm wrote:
Lagamorph » Sun Jun 22, 2014 2:24 pm wrote:Why bother with a TV Licence? Just use Netflix/iPlayer/4OD etc and never watch live TV, then no more need for a licence.

I don't watch any TV to be fair, all I do is stream Netflix and couchtuner, but how do I prove that?

You don't. Just fill in the form declaring you don't watch live TV and that's it. If any of the inspectors come to your house, laugh at them, tell them to strawberry float off and slam the door in their face without telling them anything or signing anything.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:29 pm

I don't really need that stress, it doesn't sound very legit to me or like something many people are doing.

It's legit and I did that while I was at university.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:33 pm

Ok so that's 12 quid potentially saved. Can you definitely stream from online sources like Netflix without them telling you that you still have to pay?

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Lagamorph** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:34 pm

Gario » Sun Jun 22, 2014 2:33 pm wrote:Ok so that's 12 quid potentially saved. Can you definitely stream from online sources like Netflix without them telling you that you still have to pay?

As long as it's not a live broadcast you're streaming then you don't have to pay, simple as that.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:37 pm

As I said I only use the TV for Netflix, Blu-rays and games. Do you see anything else in my list of costs that can be slashed?

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Lagamorph** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:38 pm

Does that Council tax figure include the 25% single occupant discount since you'll be by yourself?

You can probably knock the gas and electric down a little as well if your ex was normally in the house when you were out.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Xeno** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:41 pm

£48 on gas, damn. Be mindful of when and for how long you use your utilities, just being careful can help reduce your bills especially since you are now living alone.

You may want to have a word with the local council (you're in Leeds aren't you? ) as they will do a single person discount which is something like 25% off but they will probably want proof that you are living there alone.

http://www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/Pages ... count.aspx

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:45 pm

Thanks guys.

No it doesn't include the 25% discount, so that's another saving.

I'm already in credit with both gas and electricity so I'm in a good position to negotiate lowering my direct debits, plus I'm never in the house mon-fri daytime.

Just looked on moneysavingexpert and it backs up what you said about the TV licence. I'll just watch X factor on itv player! Is it advisable to detune my TV? That way, if they check, they wont find any channels tuned in and it'll of course erase the temptation to watch something as it's being broadcast

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Lagamorph** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 4:00 pm

Just take the aerial cable out and stick it in a drawer/cupboard somewhere.
Detune if you want but you don't need to bother.

Also, how is your Council tax £89 without discount? Mine is £110/month with the single occupant discount

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 4:05 pm

Must be band A, it's an ex council house (but very nice inside and deceptively large)

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 6:31 pm

Just been on the phone and sliced about £85 a month off the total cost of gas, electricity, water and council tax. I'm also temporarily stopping my company pension payments (some might say this is foolish but right now saving for my retirement seems like a luxury).

Not a bad start.

Now for my first-ever shop at Aldi.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Floex** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 5:10 pm

Lagamorph » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:24 pm wrote:Why bother with a TV Licence? Just use Netflix/iPlayer/4OD etc and never watch live TV, then no more need for a licence.

Brilliant advice seeing as you need a TV Licence to watch iPlayer :fp:

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 5:12 pm

Floex » Tue Jun 24, 2014 4:10 pm wrote:
Lagamorph » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:24 pm wrote:Why bother with a TV Licence? Just use Netflix/iPlayer/4OD etc and never watch live TV, then no more need for a licence.

Brilliant advice seeing as you need a TV Licence to watch iPlayer

I'm not going to cancel my TV licence anyway. It's hard to explain but I think I'd find it more difficult going through this break-up with only Netflix and the like. Live television will somehow make it easier by not making me feel like I'm in a vacuum completely separate from the real world.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Lagamorph** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 5:13 pm

Floex » Tue Jun 24, 2014 4:10 pm wrote:
Lagamorph » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:24 pm wrote:Why bother with a TV Licence? Just use Netflix/iPlayer/4OD etc and never watch live TV, then no more need for a licence.

Brilliant advice seeing as you need a TV Licence to watch iPlayer

No you don't? Unless you're watching it live.

If you're just watching catch up, you don't need a TV License to watch iPlayer.

http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/tv/tvlicence

You do not need a TV licence to catch-up on television programmes in BBC iPlayer.

is all on you Floex :lol:

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Andrew Mills** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 9:15 pm

If you submit monthly readings to your utilities on the right day each month you should only be billed for what you actually use. We dropped our set £125pm dual-fuel bill down to paying nothing for next few months as they were massively over-estimating leaving us in credit.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Errkal** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 9:22 pm

Lagamorph » 24 Jun 2014, 17:13 wrote:
Floex » Tue Jun 24, 2014 4:10 pm wrote:
Lagamorph » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:24 pm wrote:Why bother with a TV Licence? Just use Netflix/iPlayer/4OD etc and never watch live TV, then no more need for a licence.

Brilliant advice seeing as you need a TV Licence to watch iPlayer

No you don't? Unless you're watching it live.

If you're just watching catch up, you don't need a TV License to watch iPlayer.

http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/tv/tvlicence
You do not need a TV licence to catch-up on television programmes in BBC iPlayer.

is all on you Floex

Sort of irrelevant isn't it seen as a TV license is yearly so you wouldn't save anything until next year.

Urgent: household bills

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