General finance planning

[Arzosah]

Another general finance point: to make sure you get things done before the deadline. I'm mostly thinking of tax - I've just paid my French tax bill from my French current account, and the French tax authorities have a little button on their website to press if you want the amount debited from your account on the last day possible. I didn't press it! If you owe money, and there's no penalty in paying it immediately, I'd say "pay it as soon as possible". Your own web connection might go, their website might collapse, the bank holding your funds might collapse and you can't be reimbursed immediately, you could be defrauded and this bill get caught in the middle - there are endless things that *might* go wrong. This particular bill, I'm paying it 6 weeks early, from a non-interest-paying account. And it's also the first time I've paid under this new system they've got, so I didn't know how easy it was going to be (very, is the answer but it might not have been!).

Utilities are also part of this "get it done" thing: remember the steep price rises recently, and we were all advised to enter our meter readings "the day before". Several of the websites crashed. It's how things are, these days.

[jansman]

Here is a good one for you; I have been on the phone this morning to life insurance and pension funds. No problem. However,if I claim now,it will affect my benefits ( and after 40+ years of tax payments,that ain’t happening!). My illness would allow me to claim now.
So I have spoken to reps at all these places,and such things as up to date wills are most important. Not a problem,as I have dealt with that too!
My point though is that you make sure your paperwork is straight.

And to get good advice about the way various finance pots interact, and then think it through before a decision - it sounds like you've decided to leave the pots where they are and keep on the benefits you're entitled to. Good! That's certainly what I'd do in your current situation.

Thanks Arzosah. That makes me feel better!

[Frnc]

I do my tax within a few days of April 5. I don't like things like that hanging around. Only takes a few minutes. I just copy last year's and tweak it a bit. This year I have to remember to add some tax I paid when I cashed in a small pension, should get most of it back. Lodgers is deady easy, as I use the HMRC Rent A Room scheme (which you can use for one or two lodgers). Rent over £7,500 goes against personal allowance. I've never have to pay any tax since I retired (apart from the bit I just mentioned), but that'll change when I get my state pension.

My energy provider insisted I got a smart meter, and I'm glad, as I no longer have to mess about with readings. In the past I had a Loop, but I think it interfered with my internet. I like that I can see how much I'm using day to day.

Hard to imagine 20 years ago getting paper bills every 3 months and having to send a cheque.

[grenfell]

My wife does our books and she's on the ball and has said it's really not that hard to do and we frankly can't see why people fork out for accountants unless it's for a large company. In many respects she seems more efficient than the government departments she is dealing with. When we sold my parents house she had trouble paying my capital gains , her's was easy but mine required far more hoop jumping . It was as if they didn't want my money. Then there's some benefits we were claiming but are no longer eligible. My wife has informed them to stop paying but as yet they are still giving us the money. It's being banked ratber than spent because we reckon at some point they'll want it back.

[Frnc]

BoE are forecasting 5% inflation by the end of this year and 2% by mid 2025. So, 3-4% next year. I hope thay are right!

[jennyjj01]

BoE are forecasting 5% inflation by the end of this year and 2% by mid 2025. So, 3-4% next year. I hope thay are right!

Do you have a link?
I too hope they are right. I also hope they don't bodge the figures by calculating it on all the things we never buy.
We need low inflation on food and energy.

[Frnc]

BoE are forecasting 5% inflation by the end of this year and 2% by mid 2025. So, 3-4% next year. I hope thay are right!

Do you have a link?
I too hope they are right. I also hope they don't bodge the figures by calculating it on all the things we never buy.
We need low inflation on food and energy.

This is my source:

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/explain ... eep-rising

Inflation has started to fall. It was over 11% in October last year and it was just under 7% in August this year.

We expect it to fall further to around 5% by the end of this year. Although the prices of some food products are likely to rise faster than this.

An important reason we expect inflation to keep falling this year is because energy bills should come down more as gas prices have fallen a lot recently.

Higher interest rates will also help to bring inflation down further. That’s because they will reduce the amount of overall spending in the economy.

We expect inflation to keep on falling in 2024 and reach our 2% target in the first half of 2025. That means prices would still be rising, but they would be only rising gradually.

[My emphasis, for you]

I first read about it on twitter, MSM source citing people speculating about inflation coming down to 3% by next autumn .

[Arzosah]

Two extra things I'm going to do today, finishing off plans I'd been making. One is to open a "Guaranteed Growth Bond" with NSandI, the one that's paying 6.2% p.a. One of the highest rates around, and as I still have some premium bonds, it'll be in more or less the same place.

The other is to activate my "Prolific" account - I haven't done extra surveys for a long, long time (just You Gov while I'm watching tv or something) but a lot of moneysavingexpert people use it, and it seems to pay the best of all - people I know are making £30-£50 a month, which would be pretty good to have in my little paw

ETA - and Martin Lewis recommends inputting your gas and elec useage, now that the cap has changed again. I've just taken the photos of the meters, will input this morning too. And keep the photos, they're proof.

[itsybitsy]

I just got a pay rise, so I'll be upping the amount that I'm putting into my ISA / SIPP each month. My work pension contributions from me/employer will increase automatically too.

[Yorkshire Andy]

I just got a pay rise, so I'll be upping the amount that I'm putting into my ISA / SIPP each month. My work pension contributions from me/employer will increase automatically too.

Whooo so are you paying for the staff Christmas party this year




Little man just won £100 on premium bonds on £200 invested/ saved not a bad little return