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Nine things you must do before April

Robert Powell
by Lovemoney Staff Robert Powell on 23 March 2011  |  Comments 10 comments

Here are nine things you must do in the last nine days of March...

Nine things you must do before April

Austerity April is closing in fast.

Yes, next month looks set to be the point when the recession really starts to bite as taxes rise and prices soar. And it’s not just these austerity measures that will make April a financially stressful month – it’s also the end of the tax year on the fifth.

So to help you save some cash before April hits, here are nine things you should do in the last nine days of March...

#1 Pick up any prescriptions

Prescription charges in England will increase on April 1st from £7.20 to £7.40 per item. So if you have a prescription (or repeat prescription) lurking around that you haven’t collected yet; do it before April 1st!

North of the border in Scotland, prescription charges will be scrapped on April 1st as the country moves in line with Wales and Northern Ireland – both of which already have free prescriptions, but only for residents.

Annual pre-payment prescription certificates in England will stay unchanged at £104 – the equivalent of 15 individual prescriptions within a year. But the shorter three month versions will increase on April 1st from £28.25 to £29.10 – that’s equal to four individual prescriptions in the same period of time.

To check if you’re eligible for free prescriptions and for some more frugal medicine tips read Save money on your healthcare.

#2 Visit the dentist

Prescriptions aren’t the only health charges that are being hiked on April 1st; NHS dental fees will also increase. The cost of a check up will rise by 50p to £17, fillings and root canals will go up by £1.40 to £47 and dentures and bridges will increase to £204 – a £6 rise.

We're paying over the odds for landlines. Here are five easy ways to get cheaper phone calls and save money

So if you’re due a check up it may be worth seeing if your dentist can fit you in before the month is out. And don’t forget to check if you’re eligible for free treatment before you hand over any cash.

#3 Switch phone providers

If you currently use BT as your landline telephone provider you may want to consider switching before call charges and line rental costs are upped on April 28th. The costs of calls are set to rise by 9% and monthly line charges will be hiked by 30p.

These rises will take landline calls from 7p per minute to 7.6p and the BT call minder answering machine service will also increase from £2.60 per month to £3.

Head over to homephonechoices.co.uk to view all the latest landline rates and read The best landline deals for some more advice about saving money on your phone line.

#4 Cut your water costs

Water companies will be allowed to hike prices on April 1st in England and Wales, while prices in Scotland will stay frozen for the billing year 2011/12.

Most households will experience price rises of 4.6% as payments rise by an average of £16 to £356 this year. But some areas of the country will experience higher increases depending on their local water supplier. Northumbrian water customers will face the largest rises of £24 per year (7.8%) while the lowest hikes will be brought in by Welsh Water with a 2.7% rise.

To find out how to beat these price hikes head over to Eight ways to cut your water bill or to read more about installing a water meter check out The smart way to cut your water bill.

#5 Top up your NI contributions

National Insurance (NI) contributions dictate the amount you’ll be paid when you reach State Pension age. You get a full year of NI contributions for each year you work or claim benefits such as Income Support or Child Benefit – the more NI contributions you have, the more State Pension you’ll get.

Currently you’ll need 30 years of NI contributions to receive the full State Pension, but if you haven’t managed to build up this amount you can still buy back individual years and give your pension pot a boost.

Find out why it’s crucial to keep your pension contributions up even when money is tight

What’s more, if you do this before April 5th you’ll be able to claim even more cash back – read Two weeks left to boost your pension by thousands to find out how.

#6 Boost your personal pension

It’s not just your State Pension that you can boost before April hits. If you have a personal or stakeholder pension, you can also make additional tax-free contributions up to a limit of £255,000 – but only if you do it by the end of the financial year on April 5th.

It’s especially worthwhile to take advantage of the 2010/11 £255,000 allowance as the limit is being slashed to just £50,000 for the next financial year.

#7 Get an ISA

An ISA is a savings account that pays out interest that is not subject to tax. Currently you can earn over 3% on an easy access Cash ISA and as much as 4% if you’re prepared to lock your cash away for a fixed term.

We’re all allowed to deposit £5,100 into one of these accounts in this tax year, but to take advantage of this year’s allowance you must make the transfer before April 5th. If you don’t use it – you’ll lose it!

#8 Use your personal allowances

If your spouse or civil partner is in a lower tax band than you or pays no tax at all, then transferring any savings into their name could cut your income tax bill. This is because the interest on the savings will be subject to his or her tax rate and personal allowance.

#9 Buy stamps

On 4th April first class stamps will increase in price from 41p to 46p, second class stamps will jump 4p to 36p and first class larger letters will be hiked by 9p to 75p. It’s estimated that these rises could add as much as £30 million to the country's Christmas post bill – so it may be worth stocking up now!

More: What to do with your child’s savings | Six steps to saving big | Five reasons why ISAs are better than pensions

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Comments (10)

  • Louise Read
    Love rating 5
    Louise Read said

    The stamp price increase is mad ! Specially as the Post Office is getting rid of near to 2000 employees. Who's getting the money then? I'm closing my account with them. Does not feel safe Louise Sancerre

    Report on 23 March 2011  |  Love thisLove  1 love
  • HEATHERSTART
    Love rating 1
    HEATHERSTART said

    Another must for family finances to do before April - Higher Rate Tax Payers need to register for Childcare Vouchers before 5th April to ensure they maximise their Tax and NI savings on childcare costs - see this article:- http://gemelliccv.co.uk/changes-childcare-voucher-legislation

    Report on 23 March 2011  |  Love thisLove  1 love
  • environmentaljan
    Love rating 8
    environmentaljan said

    Still Stuggling with the "mid loathian question" Scottish MPs vote on and agree increases in charges and fees for England bu have totally different and generous rules in Scotland. Will there be calls for the border to be moved southwards or mass migration north?

    We all pay the same rate of NI and Tax.

    Report on 23 March 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • Salfordguy
    Love rating 22
    Salfordguy said

    5p increase for first class!! or should I say economy/standard class with the growing appalling service day by day.

    Report on 23 March 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • oldhenry
    Love rating 265
    oldhenry said

    All these news items are so depressing. This country is a cess pit of taxes and being ripped off. So just who is beneffitting from the tax we pay? It cannot all go to bankers bail outs. A lot goes in benefits to those who have never paid a bean to the country. The country is too generous with foreign aid and should not be getting involved with foreign wars whilst we are so poor.

    Report on 23 March 2011  |  Love thisLove  3 loves
  • Steviebaby1959
    Love rating 28
    Steviebaby1959 said

    Well, Robert Powell, you've educated me on something today that I didn't know.

    I quote from your tip number 5. ''Currently you’ll need 30 years of NI contributions to receive the full State Pension, but if you haven’t managed to build up this amount you can still buy back individual years and give your pension pot a boost''.

    When I was a lad, you had to work for 41 years to guarantee having paid enough NI contributions to receive the full basic state pension when you became 65. That worked out that I would personally have to work until I was 58 at least, as I started working at the age of 17, like most folks did in this country back in the 60's and 70's. So, who brought this down to working for just 30 years, and having double checked the Government's website the age limit you calculate with, now starts at 19 ??

    Call me cynical, but this country has got so dumbed down it's unreal, is this to help out the lazy sods who can't be bothered to start working as soon as they leave school/college, and they only need to do 30 years work, no wonder this country is in the mire. Let's get this back to 41 years again, and make everyone bloody work instead of spending half their time on their backsides, and also for those students who spend 4 years messing about at university, ensure they have to work until they are 65 in their future well paid jobs. And before anyone says anything, I paid for their grants and loans through my hard earned working income tax, so, having partly paid for their education, I am allowed to voice my opinion.

    I would be willing to carry on working for another 6 years to bring me up to the allotted 41, then I can do what I like, but, I've worked for this country, unlike half the miserable devils you see walking around these days, I was doing 12 hour night shifts on the railway at 18, how many lads work full night shifts now, HARDLY ANYONE, is this because Tony Blair wanted to make this country into a State full of customer service call centre agents and keyboard users, it's pathetic.....

    Report on 23 March 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • Delta224
    Love rating 2
    Delta224 said

    I agree with Louise Read, the increase in postal stamp charges is so unnecessary and that is the thing that affects me most. Obviously different things affect different folk more. Think it's disgusting as there was a substantial increase in stamp prices a year or two ago and this increase is more than 10%! Also agree with oldhenry that while foreign aid is very commendable we should be concentrating more on our own country's finances and well-being at present.

    Thanks for the article, Robert.

    Report on 23 March 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • CuNNaXXa
    Love rating 362
    CuNNaXXa said

    Just out of curiosity, if someone emigrated from Poland to the UK, worked a few years, then reached the grand old age of 65, would they be entitled to a state pension, and how much?

    In fact, someone emigrating to the UK appears to be entitled to the same level of service as someone born here, and who has contributed to the welfare state to the maximum of their potential.

    I have no issue with foreigners getting treatment and benefits, but I do take umbrage when those foreigners are prioritised above the indiginous population. For example, you will often find that foreign nationals who cannot speak English take priority over English speaking people in hospital, because the cost of the interpreter has to be covered.

    Still, once a foreigner has integrated themselves into our society, and is contributing to the welfare state, they should be entitled to similar priveleges to the indiginous population. What gets my goat, though, are foreigners who want the priveleges, but don't want to contribute to the welfare state, and want to remain seperate from the indiginous population. Remember the old saying? When in Rome...

    Our leaders call it diversity, yet how diverse do we have to go before someone stands up and declares, 'It is not diversity, but contrary'. After all, do we allow diversity to allow some people to drive on the opposite side of the road to the rest of us? Surely for a society to prosper, there have to be some common ground rules and acceptable practises. The current trend of questioning every single thing we do is literally ripping this country apart (Political Correctness).

    We need a government who can grab the bull by the horns, and wrestle it to the ground. Crack down on spongers. Crack down on illegal immigrants. Crack down on worthless public spending (such as the stupid advert for wrapping up warm in Winter, even though we are almost in Summer, or the other public service adverts for how to burn down your kitchen; who actually earns out of these adverts?).

    Report on 23 March 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • jedi44
    Love rating 31
    jedi44 said

    environmentaljan. Was that a freudian slip or an intentional mis-spelling of Midlothian?

    As a Scot, I agree partly with what you say about Scottish MPs voting at Westminster. They should have no vote on those matters for which we have decision-making rights north of the border. However, to complain about us having free prescriptions, when England do not, is not a valid argument. Scotland is given a sum of money from Westminster to cover the costs of all those elements of government that we are now responsible for. How the Scottish government decides to allocate these funds is entirely up to them.

    As for the postage increases. What a rip-off. The PO complains that they lose money because so many people use email. It's hardly any wonder, is it?

    Report on 23 March 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • The Bank Manager
    Love rating 72
    The Bank Manager said

    Robert: There is one thing I must do before the end of March EVERY year. I have to remember to get my wife her Birthday card and gift.

    To be honest, I'd rather forget to make my ISA allowance deposit, than forget to get these for her.

    Report on 26 March 2011  |  Love thisLove  0 loves

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