Heating and lighting, does it have to be divided up for each week?

[Ripeberry]

Problem is that most bills come in every 3 months (quartely) and with our heating we have gas bottles delivered so over the winter/spring we may have 6 deliveries at £143 each.

The electricity bill comes in 4 times a year.

Is it not easier to just put all the bills together at the end of the year add them up and divide by 12?

Or is this too simple. Arghh I hate maths :(

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I mind over 40 hours so I don't divide my bills up by % but I do it annually at the end of the year when I know what I have paid

You can do it weekly, monthly or in once lump sum - as long as it is there it doesn't matter

[Ripeberry]

Thanks, I think I'll do it as one lump sum at the end of the 12 months. Which is handy as we don't have any heating on at all from May until October.
Just use the log fire if it gets nippy :thumbsup:
And most of our wood comes from a friend who is a carpenter so lots of lovely free off-cuts.

[Rubybubbles]

We pay monthly so I do it each month:thumbsup:

[Cazz]

I've started paying all mine monthly by direct debit so it makes things simpler.

Then each month I write on the first page the amount of each utility and divide it by either 4 or 5 (depending how many weeks there are) to find my weekly amount.

I hope I'm doing it right anyway!!

[aly]

i do mine weekly only because my hours {up to beg. of sept} was different each week.

[ziggy]

I work 40 hrs a week, well 46!!!! so was thinking would do it annually but what about when i'm on holiday and dont charge?

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I work 40 hrs a week, well 46!!!! so was thinking would do it annually but what about when i'm on holiday and dont charge?

The IR says that you take the % of the bill - don't take off your hols

[Cazz]

The IR says that you take the % of the bill - don't take off your hols

So are you saying Debbie that as I put mine through weekly I can still claim a percentage if I have a week off?

If so, how many hours should I put through because mine can vary from week to week - do I just go for an average or what I should be doing that week if my mindees all came for their contracted hours?

I didn't realise you could do this for holiday weeks - unless I've misunderstood you of course!! :D

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I can't answer that as I don't do it for bits and pieces. Maybe contact the IR - they may say no because of you working it out weekly

[ziggy]

thanx debbie

[Heaven Scent]

If I were you I'd average out how many hours you do per month then work out the appropriate % of your utility bills etc for each month - weekly can be done but it is very complicated it involves a great deal of multiplying by 52 & dividing by 12 and vice versa to equal it out. I'd stick to monthly and go by what your direct debit figure is for a given month it will go up and down according to what the electricity boards charge so keep an eye on it and only use the correct figure for each month. the trouble is our bills are calculated quarterly part in arrears and part in advance and that would be a night mare to deal with too.