Finance thread 2022.

[Rev]

I thought a finance thread would be a welcome addition, in this time of increased pressure on household finances.

Anyone got any useful tips, spotted a good money saving deal, or need any advice on financial issues?

Pop them on here, and let's see if we as a forum can assist.

[Dean (hick) Saunders]

 

[Rev]

58 minutes ago, Dean (hick) Saunders said:

 

Epic fail on the finance front, I'm afraid.

Cook the sausages in the pan, then add the curry sauce and warm through. 

One less pan to wash, so a 50% saving on hot water and liquid right there!

Otherwise looks good.

 

[maxjam]

An easy one is to check your energy tariffs, you're probably paying a much cheaper rate from midnight - 7am.  Just set your dishwasher/washing machine etc to work during those hours and you're likely saving around 50% on using them during the day ?

[JoetheRam]

Tax relief

Make sure you're claiming any tax relief on job expenses.

Working from home allowance, cleaning of uniforms, professional memberships, purchases of tools, travel and overnight expenses.

All can be claimed via the Government Gateway website and all are pretty simple.

Most if not all of those can be backdated for several years too. My Mrs hadn't claimed the uniform cleaning relief for five years and got £60 back. Not bad for five minutes work.

Claiming the WFH allowance for anyone who did so during the last 2 years is worth about £125 to most people (but is changing for this tax year so most hybrid workers will become ineligible).

Internet/TV/Phone

Renegotiate your Internet/TV/phone tariff if you're out of contract. Most places have increased their prices by CPI + a certain percentage (so about 10%). I knocked about £200 off BT simply by getting them to better Sky's offer to new customers. You don't need to play hardball, just say you've seen a better offer for similar services elsewhere, can it be bettered or matched. Most of the time they will do something for you. Don't let them flog you something extra that you don't really want (BT Sport, Halo etc) for a short period of time because you'll just need to ring up again in 6 months to cancel it once the price balloons.

Water Bills - surface run off.

Especially if you live in a new build - walk round your property and check whether your drains run into a main sewer or if it drains elsewhere - soakaways, a nearby field, grass, one of those open reservoir things... even if you're not sure get in touch with your water company (Severn Trent for most Derbys/Staffs folk I'd guess) and ask them.

https://www.stwater.co.uk/my-supply/waste-water/surface-water-drainage/

Takes about 5 mins to claim, 6 weeks for a man to come and have a look and say yes or no, a week for a cheque to come and then the charge disappears from your bill forever. I got about £100 back and that only covered 12 months. You can backdate until 2014 with STW so could be touching 4 figures for large houses that folk have lived in for a while.

Edited April 15, 2022 by JoetheRam

[bimmerman]

On 14/04/2022 at 22:29, Dean (hick) Saunders said:

 

Off topic-her spaghetti Bolognese video is an epic

And the lad has a singing channel which is an....experience...

 

[BaaLocks]

• Don't buy stuff
• Don't buy stuff you can't afford
• Don't buy stuff you can't afford using a credit card / Klarna or any other line of credit
• Don't beat yourself up when you didn't buy the thing you couldn't afford. You didn't need it anyway.

 

[GeneralRam]

I left the UK a while ago so I'll just say some general ones - 

Don't be loyal to one brand or company. If someone offers better deal, jump ship.

• As soon as your contract ends with someone or insurance comes due, shop around.
• Pay yourself first. That's 20% into savings & investments each pay cheque.
• Make sure you have a good emergency fund, 3-6 months expenses.
• Use Quidco or Topcashback. I actually had BT giving me money to have their broadband once, I then got even more by cancelling their contract early as they raised prices too much and I could get out for free.

 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by GeneralRam

[Rev]

Register for a .gov account, so you can see what HMRC are basing your tax on.

Since the start of the new tax year, I've lost £60 a week through increased income tax. 

Turns out, they're basing my tax on an estimated income roughly 20k more than my basic pay. 

You can submit a more accurate estimate through your personal account, and they should adjust accordingly.

[Boycie]

You won’t get the financial advisors offering any advice on here, all they offer is advice on how more you need to pay into your pension and life insurance. Or swap mortgages to save a tenner a month but it costs you £1500+ in charges. There’s nowt in it for them on here.

Watch em deny it.

My advice is batten down the hatches, try to cut down on the expendable cash purchases as best you can.  Turn your boiler thermostat down about 10 degrees room stat a couple of deg, same with the tank or hot water stat 50 deg is more than enough for domestic situations.

If you have to put cold water in your bath before you get in your throwing money down the drain.

 

[Rev]

4 minutes ago, Boycie said:

If you have to put cold water in your bath before you get in your throwing money down the drain.

That's a good tip, although I reckon the missus could sit in molten lava and still complain it's not quite hot enough.

[Tamworthram]

29 minutes ago, Rev said:

Register for a .gov account, so you can see what HMRC are basing your tax on.

Since the start of the new tax year, I've lost £60 a week through increased income tax. 

Turns out, they're basing my tax on an estimated income roughly 20k more than my basic pay. 

You can submit a more accurate estimate through your personal account, and they should adjust accordingly.

I did exactly the same June 2021 when I finished my final contract. They had calculated my tax code on the assumption that I would be earning the same amount throughout the whole tax year.

[Boycie]

32 minutes ago, Rev said:

That's a good tip, although I reckon the missus could sit in molten lava and still complain it's not quite hot enough.

That’s given me another tip. 
send her in with the clothes washing and pots and pans.

In the case of fairness, you should do the same. But it’s not your fault if you only prefer showers! ?

[ariotofmyown]

4 hours ago, Boycie said:

You won’t get the financial advisors offering any advice on here, all they offer is advice on how more you need to pay into your pension and life insurance. Or swap mortgages to save a tenner a month but it costs you £1500+ in charges. There’s nowt in it for them on here.

Watch em deny it.

My advice is batten down the hatches, try to cut down on the expendable cash purchases as best you can.  Turn your boiler thermostat down about 10 degrees room stat a couple of deg, same with the tank or hot water stat 50 deg is more than enough for domestic situations.

If you have to put cold water in your bath before you get in your throwing money down the drain.

 

This reminds me of an old David Mitchell article I read, where he said privitisation and choice is great, if you waste all your time changing suppliers and renogiating what contract you are on. It's like having another job!

[Tamworthram]

10 hours ago, ariotofmyown said:

This reminds me of an old David Mitchell article I read, where he said privitisation and choice is great, if you waste all your time changing suppliers and renogiating what contract you are on. It's like having another job!

I always shop around on renewal for our car insurance (two cars), house insurance, broadband, savings accounts and, until the current crisis, utilities. I’ve never found it a major chore (especially given it’s only once a year for each) and if it’s taking up too much of your time then you’re doing it wrong. 

[Boycie]

When boiling a kettle for one cup of tea, fill it up and fill a flask for the next 2 or 3 cups in the day.

Youre welcome.

[ariotofmyown]

1 hour ago, Tamworthram said:

I always shop around on renewal for our car insurance (two cars), house insurance, broadband, savings accounts and, until the current crisis, utilities. I’ve never found it a major chore (especially given it’s only once a year for each) and if it’s taking up too much of your time then you’re doing it wrong. 

Oh yeah me too, it's just a bit boring.

[cstand]

On 20/04/2022 at 18:09, Boycie said:

You won’t get the financial advisors offering any advice on here, all they offer is advice on how more you need to pay into your pension and life insurance. Or swap mortgages to save a tenner a month but it costs you £1500+ in charges. There’s nowt in it for them on here.

Watch em deny it.

My advice is batten down the hatches, try to cut down on the expendable cash purchases as best you can.  Turn your boiler thermostat down about 10 degrees room stat a couple of deg, same with the tank or hot water stat 50 deg is more than enough for domestic situations.

If you have to put cold water in your bath before you get in your throwing money down the drain.

 

I turned down my hot water so not to put cold water in the bath but when the boiler was serviced he turned it back up again said it was to stop bacteria growth.

https://premierheating.net/2016/12/30/hot-water-temperature/

[Mucker1884]

Buy your last match Sombreros as a set of three.
Gives you 2 spare to hand out, and also free delivery, so much cheaper "per unit".

 

 

What?  ?‍♂️

[Tyler Durden]

On 21/04/2022 at 08:49, Tamworthram said:

I always shop around on renewal for our car insurance (two cars), house insurance, broadband, savings accounts and, until the current crisis, utilities. I’ve never found it a major chore (especially given it’s only once a year for each) and if it’s taking up too much of your time then you’re doing it wrong. 

Surprised if you only look around for savings accounts on an annual basis - interest rates on easy access accounts have more than doubled over the past couple of months.