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TSR Wiki > University > Student Life > Finance and Money Management > Organising and Paying Bills

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Once you have signed for your house, you need to decide what bills are going to have to be paid? There are several you should keep an eye out for

• Electricity
• Gas
• Water
• TV Licence
• TV Cable and Sky
• Telephone
• Broadband
• Council Tax
• Food Essentials

Some such as the TV Licence and the Council Tax come as bills usually come as one lump sum and are easilly paid off quickly as most people come to university with a decent amount of money from the summer. In most cases you do not have to pay council tax as you are students. See the Council Tax page for further details.

When it comes renting a house, money and paying the bills comes as one of the biggest reasons for a house falling apart. To prevent this happening you should set up a house bank account, which everyone pays a reasonable amount of money into at the beginning of each term when the loan comes through.

If you have any meters in your house for measuring electricity, water or gas, note down the numbers on them on the day you get the keys from the landlord. This means that you are not charged for domestic supplies you have not used.

Contents 1 Previous tenants debts 2 Electricity 3 Gas 4 Water 5 TV Licence 6 TV Cable and Sky 7 Telephone 8 Broadband 9 Council Tax 10 Food Essentials

Previous tenants debts

If a previous tenant has run up debts for anything you should refer the company requesting money to your landlord or agency who should have their contact details on file.

Electricity

You should check what tariff you are on. If you are on a standard tariff then the time you use your electricity does not matter. If you are on an Economy seven meter and tariff, ensure your hot water tank is on usually when you are on the lower tariff. Try and charge things such as mobile phones and IPODs overnight. Lower Tarriff usually occur over night but their times vary. Remember to change your timers when British Summer Time ends as your meter does not compensate for this change in time.

To find out who your Electricity Supplier is contact your local Electricity Supply Company and ask for their Metering Point Administration Service.

Storage Heaters use a lot of electricity and you should not have them on all the time if you can help it. They are designed to take advantage of Economy Seven and set yours up to do this.

Gas

First of all you need to find out if you are supplied with gas. This should have been made clear to you when you looked around the house

To find who your gas supplier is, contact the National Grid's 'Meter Number Helpline' on 0870 608 1524.

Water

Commonly known as the rates, Water bills are sometimes paid by your landlord as part of your rent. You should check this before you move in. It should be stated in your contract.

In Scotland, Water rates are free provided you have registered your student status with the local council. This is usually sorted out in University Halls of residences and only applies when privately renting.

TV Licence

TV Licence

TV Cable and Sky

Cable and Sky are optional, but some people like to have the comforts of sports and movie channels and the main suppliers of broadband (Virgin Media and Sky) offer some very good packages for TV if you get their broadband.

You can get a limited range of digital channels by purchasing a Freeview box

Telephone

Another optional thing. Many student houses do not bother with a telephone connection unless their internet connection demands it.

Broadband

Almost essential in a student house. Ensure you check the contract and do not sign up for a longer than 12 month contract. To get released from a broadband company should be done automatically, but if not you have to contact some people who I do not know

Council Tax

Council Tax

Food Essentials

Some houses eat together and contribute to the food bill. Some just share essential things like the milk and bread, which everyone contributes to.

Test Edit - Noxid 20:12, 11 August 2007 (BST)