Urgent: household bills

Errkal wrote:
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 seeing ~~seen~~ as a TV license is yearly so you wouldn't save anything until next year.

If you have any quarters (3, 6 or 9 months) left on your TV Licence and you will not watch or record TV again before the licence expires you can apply for a refund.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-y ... h-tv-top12

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Delusibeta** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 11:47 pm

So, to summarise:

1) Renegotiate your direct debits on the fuel bills.

2) If you don't watch live TV, definitely cancel your TV licence. Since it appears that you pay monthly, you probably won't get a refund, but it's still worth the cut.

If you were staying longer in your flat for longer than 12 months, I'd also say consider switching your internet supplier, since £30/month seems a bit high even considering line rental, but that would lock you into a 12 month contract with (probably) large exit fees if you want to end the contract after six months. Ditto the gas and electricity, although mandatory term clauses are rarer and you'll have to renegotiate the direct debits from scratch.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:05 am

Thanks. I think the internet is too expensive too, but when I accepted Virgin's offer of boosting it from 60-100mb free of charge I think I locked myself into a new contract. Darn small print.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **JiggerJay** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:23 am

How much do you clear each month and what do you need for other expenses like food, travel and entertainment?

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **JiggerJay** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:23 am

The internet is pretty high I'd say

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:33 am

I get about £1,425 a month. I've cut my electricity and gas both down to £30; council tax to £65; and water to £19. My other costs are my car £187; car insurance £41; and petrol £160.

I'm going to have about £250 a month for food and social life. It could be worse.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:41 am

I'm going to keep the TV licence, there will always be times when I want to watch it, especially at weekends. Plus I've only got a Wii U now, so my streaming services are limited.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Tomous** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 12:50 pm

Gario » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:33 am wrote:I get about £1,425 a month. I've cut my electricity and gas both down to £30; council tax to £65; and water to £19. My other costs are my car £187; car insurance £41; and petrol £160.

I'm going to have about £250 a month for food and social life. It could be worse.

£250 pm on food/social life is more than doable.

The biggest saving here would be your car, but I'm guessing you need that for work etc?

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 1:03 pm

Tomous » Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:50 am wrote:
Gario » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:33 am wrote:I get about £1,425 a month. I've cut my electricity and gas both down to £30; council tax to £65; and water to £19. My other costs are my car £187; car insurance £41; and petrol £160.

I'm going to have about £250 a month for food and social life. It could be worse.

£250 pm on food/social life is more than doable.

The biggest saving here would be your car, but I'm guessing you need that for work etc?

It's on finance over five years, hence the £187 monthly cost, so I can't get rid. And yes I need it for the commute.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **TheTurnipKing** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:20 pm

Floex » Tue Jun 24, 2014 5:10 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

Actually, the last time I checked this was untrue. iPlayer is fine, so long as you don't watch the live broadcasts on it.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Dowbocop** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 10:20 am

It's summer so hopefully your utilities will be a bit lower over the next few months as you won't have central heating on. Check your hot water timer is properly set for your lifestyle now. Other than that just be conscious of how much energy you're using and try to stop using it frivolously.

Do you use a tumble dryer? If so just use his old room as a drying room so you can dry things naturally without having the clothes horse in your way.

Of your outgoings, obviously the TV licence and Netflix are the ones that could go, although I think if you got rid of both of them you'd probably have to spend more money finding something else to do with your evenings :lol:

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 5:49 pm

Well I've got a £70 bonus this month as they only want £18 council tax at the end of June due to one account closing and a new one opening.

Just spent £35 in Aldi (and it doesn't look like much food) and £25 in Wilko (bathroom and kitchen stuff). That's £60 gone just like that!

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **MagicMarker** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:40 pm

What were you buying for your kitchen and bathroom that cost 25 notes?

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Andrew Mills** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 10:18 pm

Gario » Sat Jun 28, 2014 5:49 pm wrote:Well I've got a £70 bonus this month as they only want £18 council tax at the end of June due to one account closing and a new one opening.

Just spent £35 in Aldi (and it doesn't look like much food) and £25 in Wilko (bathroom and kitchen stuff). That's £60 gone just like that!

You should've been able to walk out with a good 3-4 big bags of shopping for "25 in Aldi.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Mr Luke** » Sat Jul 05, 2014 10:16 pm

This thread has come at just the right time for me. I'll be moving into a rented apartment in about a month's time, living alone for the first time. It's good to have this guide for expenses.

I've recently started looking at properties on Right Move. Does anybody know if it's acceptable to try and haggle on the price?

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Dowbocop** » Sun Jul 06, 2014 12:05 am

[iup=3500104]Jus Luke[/iup] wrote:This thread has come at just the right time for me. I'll be moving into a rented apartment in about a month's time, living alone for the first time. It's good to have this guide for expenses.

I've recently started looking at properties on Right Move. Does anybody know if it's acceptable to try and haggle on the price?

You're in Liverpool aren't you? It's not really done in my experience up there as the rental market isn't that fast moving. Down in London you have a few trump cards to play with, for example if you can move in straight away.

To be honest just ask the estate agent - they know the landlords so can tell you how likely a haggle is. A big property company has different priorities to a single property landlord.

Don't use Sutton Kersh if you are in Liverpool though. Seriously. Don't.

PostUrgent: household bills by **Buffalo** » Sun Jul 06, 2014 12:18 pm

It depends - the first apartment I've been in, the estate agent was literally just doing the listing and paperwork for the guy, that was more of a private agreement. I found out that he had 2 viewings and no offer so I suggested 50 quid less, knowing he was a little desperate. Turned out he'd had another house and kid on the way.
It's worth asking lots of questions like that, knowing the circumstances and stuff.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Mr Luke** » Sun Jul 06, 2014 12:50 pm

[iup=3500333]Dowbocop[/iup] wrote:
[iup=3500104]Jus Luke[/iup] wrote:This thread has come at just the right time for me. I'll be moving into a rented apartment in about a month's time, living alone for the first time. It's good to have this guide for expenses.

I've recently started looking at properties on Right Move. Does anybody know if it's acceptable to try and haggle on the price?

You're in Liverpool aren't you? It's not really done in my experience up there as the rental market isn't that fast moving. Down in London you have a few trump cards to play with, for example if you can move in straight away.

To be honest just ask the estate agent - they know the landlords so can tell you how likely a haggle is. A big property company has different priorities to a single property landlord.

Don't use Sutton Kersh if you are in Liverpool though. Seriously. Don't.

Thanks buddy. I'm actually moving from Liverpool to the Huddersfield area for a new job. Really nervous about moving to a place where I'll be living alone and know nobody!

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **Gario** » Sun Jul 06, 2014 5:11 pm

Now that I'm on my own I'm noticing how expensive everything is. I've just spent £46 in Asda getting essentials and that's on top of £36 in Aldi last week plus £25 in Wilko's.

But on the plus side, a lot of those purchases are rare ones. I happened to be in need of dishwasher tablets and washing detergent to name to things, and I won't now need those again for several months.

PostRe: Urgent: household bills by **MagicMarker** » Sun Jul 06, 2014 8:28 pm

What are you spending that money on? I could do a weekly shop in asda for £30.

Urgent: household bills

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