Just received my council tax statement for the coming year. We get a combined bill for council tax, sewerage and water. Although the council tax itself isn't much higher, the other two have increased quite a bit, so it's another £200 a year. Along with the increase in electricity from April, the increases in pension wave been wiped out. They give with one hand and take with the other.
------------- Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
Oh, totally! Haven't had mine yet, not looking forward to it. Our council has put the tax up by 5%, I believe. We get less for more these days, library's only open 2.5 days a week, separate charge for garden waste bin, etc. At least I get the 25% discount for single occupancy!
------------- Always edited for sloppy typing - when I spot it!
In my experience pension increases are usually wiped out before you get them. The buying power of my pension is now only 80% of what it was when I retired 10 years ago, despite the so-called triple-lock, which is a right con!
Always a good idea to look at your drainage system. Following a blocked drain, we discovered we had a soakaway.
Contacting the water company, we had the surface water charge deleted from our billing and a 12 month refund (that's the most they will backdate to).
Every penny counts.
Pension goes nowhere these days. Needed dental treatment a few weeks ago. Our NHS dentist could not see me for 3 months, so had to go private. Cost me my month's pension. But at least I got an appointment within a couple of days of asking and job done. If I had waited it could have been quite drastic.
I say it is time for us pensioners to go on strike.
Quote: Originally posted by Mrs. Bonce on 18/3/2023
Our private dentist has a plan where you pay £20 per month for treatment. Can't remember the name .
I also had a monthly direct debit plan just to see my dentist alone which cost about £22 each month but then she said I also needed to see the hygienist as well every 4 months at £80 a time which had to be paid for in full on the day. Not justifiable when you are only in the chair for about 15 minutes which calculates to about £320 per hour. The dentist was just for check up's only and the hygienist to scrape and polish my teeth and any other treatment had to be paid for on top of that so I decided to cancelled the plan. My pension increase needs to be invested in the high utility bills and extra food costs and being able afford to live a life, not invested in high salary rip off dentist charges which vets are about the same too where fees are concerned.
I have to have my teeth and gums checked, scaled and polished every 3 months. Unfortunately inherited from Dad. OH has had some teeth out, goes every 6 months and usually no treatment needed.
Our (Scottish) council tax is about £100 pm more than last year (paid over 10 months). Compared to the trebling of our quarterly electric & gas bills since last year (we pay for what we use), it’s not too bad.
Our council tax is frozen again but energy bills tripled. We have solar panels so the money back helps a fair bit.
Our occupational pensions and OAPs will increase. Higher Interest rates help with our cash ISAs and savings accounts. Our stock market type investments have recovered a bit but obviously vary.
I expect overall we will be worse off but are ok. No mortgage or loans to worry about.
I remember 15% mortgage rates not nice but we didn't have a huge mortgage.
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
Quote: Originally posted by clbewi on 19/3/2023
With all these utility bills increasing for everybody including businesses, you can now see why site fees are increasing too.
True, but a balance has to be struck. With any business increasing prices can lead to a fall in income as people go elsewhere, especially if the product or service is non-essential and/or widely available. I would think that this would particularly apply to campsites. A site that doesn't increase its prices could see an upsurge in business as people switch to them from higher-priced sites. There is a lot of competition, especially outside the peak seasons.
Quote: Originally posted by Fiona W on 18/3/2023
Our (Scottish) council tax is about £100 pm more than last year (paid over 10 months). Compared to the trebling of our quarterly electric & gas bills since last year (we pay for what we use), it’s not too bad.
Wow Fiona, £100pm increase! That is a real kick in the guts………I bet you will see real value for money from your council though! 🤔🤔🤷
Quote: Originally posted by Fiona W on 18/3/2023
Our (Scottish) council tax is about £100 pm more than last year (paid over 10 months). Compared to the trebling of our quarterly electric & gas bills since last year (we pay for what we use), it’s not too bad.
£100 pm (per month?) That sounds a lot. I'm grumbling (as I always do) about our £20 pm increase in Aberdeenshire. Our electricity is set to double when the govt. support package ends. As we have no gas, we received an additional £200 Alternative fuel allowance (oil) which will offset the electrictiy for another 3 months.
The price of heating oil varies wildly from month to month, so no change there.
------------- Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Council Tax
via mobile 18/3/2023 at 6:43pm
