How Do Normal People Cope?

Euronymous

Euronymous

Senior Jockey
Joined
Jan 6, 2005
Messages
19,181
Location
Leyland
With life.

This month i`ve been stung with a Water Rates bill of £120 and a combined Electric/Gas charge from Powergen of £320.

If i didn`t gamble really don`t know how i`d cope with the process of just earning money at work to pay these highway robbers. With punting one never knows at the start of any given month how much will be earnt. That`s part of the attraction for me.

I changed my Gas/Electric suppliers through a link on here and whilst Powergen are better than British Gas i`m a bit miffed that this is the first bill i`ve had off them (joined at least six months ago)
 
I have a Budget Plan Account with a Credit Union. Basically I get about €18,000 worth of bills a year, including holidays. I pay 1/12th of that directly off the payroll at work every month, so that it never even hits my bank account, and every bill I get I just send to the credit union. Great service really. You never get any nasty shocks.
 
Good plan. €18.000 is about £13.000 right? Do they have Council Tax in Ireland?


I rung Powergen up and it turns out i joined in September and this is my first bill shrug::
 
Originally posted by Euronymous@May 30 2007, 09:30 AM
With life.

This month i`ve been stung with a Water Rates bill of £120 and a combined Electric/Gas charge from Powergen of £320.

If i didn`t gamble really don`t know how i`d cope with the process of just earning money at work to pay these highway robbers. With punting one never knows at the start of any given month how much will be earnt. That`s part of the attraction for me.

I changed my Gas/Electric suppliers through a link on here and whilst Powergen are better than British Gas i`m a bit miffed that this is the first bill i`ve had off them (joined at least six months ago)
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You could opt for gas and electric card metres and also pay your water bill every week to with a card at the post office.

Im not sure on these but i think im right in saying these are options.
 
All my utility bills are paid by Direct Debit so no nasty shocks.

I tend to pay for holidays with a 0% credit card for as long as it will allow me to do so.
 
Originally posted by The Pro@May 30 2007, 11:18 AM

You could opt for gas and electric card metres and also pay your water bill every week to with a card at the post office.

Im not sure on these but i think im right in saying these are options.
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Yeh i had one in Lambourn, they do tend to be more expensive than normal bills though, unless you know the tricks to stop the metres going round norty norty!! Also they are ok if you live near a paypoint that is open long hours, like in lambourn its open 6-11 so if you run out its easy to get more. Whereas back home the village shop is only open 8-6 so run out early evening and your a bit buggered
 
We used to have meters for gas and electricity in my student houses in Liverpool and they were definitely more expensive then.

Can I ask what is wrong with direct debits, Euronymous?
 
We had metered electricity in my student house, you can pick up the vouchers from the Post Office. Think for every £10 we topped up £8 went on the meter and £2 on the emergency back up. Worked out at £10 a month each between 6 of us and water came to £50 each a year.
 
Originally posted by PDJ@May 30 2007, 06:17 PM
We used to have meters for gas and electricity in my student houses in Liverpool and they were definitely more expensive then.

Can I ask what is wrong with direct debits, Euronymous?
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They tend to be a rip off with utility bills - you are always miles in credit .
 
Originally posted by PDJ@May 30 2007, 08:47 PM
I ring up every 6 months and quote accurate readings. It saves over payments.
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Doesn't stop the ###### in my experience - you are always £30-40 in credit .
 
Originally posted by Aldaniti@May 30 2007, 11:55 AM
Never heard of a credit union shrug::
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We have them here in Australia. They make the commercial banks look terrible, service and cost wise. Only changed to one in 2005, haven't looked back, and have not had an issue since.

So yes I'd definitely recommend using one.
 
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