Archived article: Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
After many spent January penny pinching, February brings a bit of good news for bank accounts: most people will not pay council tax payment this month or next month, which might make achieving regular investing goals a bit easier.
For most (but not all) people, council tax payments are split across 10 months, with no charge in February or March. So, if you’ve gotten used to those hundreds of pounds draining from your account each month, you may be pleasantly surprised. You can check if this is the case for your payments by checking your previous bills, which will show how the payment is split out.
The break from council tax payments is a nice boost for the next two months, but the time will come again soon enough for those bills to be paid again. So, what are some other ways that you can scrape up the money to invest, without sacrificing on your lifestyle?
Check your monthly services
Between payments for broadband, streaming services, phone bills and other subscriptions, your monthly bill for entertainment can quickly outstrip the one for utilities. Luckily, there’s a lot of competition in this space, which means that you can hunt for a better deal.
For example, if you are a customer with Sky, you could currently be paying nearly £50 a month for broadband. However, if you find a new deal at somewhere like Virgin Media or Community Fibre, you may be able to get lower rates starting closer to £25 a month, with some plans coming with vouchers you can use in the future. Over a year, if you were able to find a plan that saved you £25 each month, it would mean £300 of savings.
Just make sure to read the fine print of these deals so you understand what you’re getting. Often, costs will increase on set dates or extra voucher offers may be subject to paying off existing contracts.
You can use sites like Moneysupermarket.com to find deals and then research from there to see which ones make the most sense for you. Even if the plans end up costing a similar amount two years from now, you will have still received those two years of savings and then can search for another new contract. It’s a bit of a hassle, but it means that you are getting a very similar service at a much lower cost.
Consider paying lump sums not monthly instalments
Monthly instalments can be a tempting way to handle big payments for services like insurance. However, paying as a lump sum is often cheaper in the long run. According to comparison site GoCompare, those paying home insurance for the building and its contents on average pay 22% more through monthly instalments.
For the median-priced home in 2025, this mean savings of £50. Of course, it’s not possible for everyone to pay this cost up front, but if you can do a bit of extra budgeting in the months leading up to the payment, it would leave you better off in the long run.
Use your benefits
Many workplaces offer some amount of healthcare service, which could include yearly stipends for vision and dental care. If you have to pay extra to gain access to these plans, do the sums first to make sure it’s worth it. But if they are available, taking the trouble to log into the account and claim can easily save you £50. Many of the most popular services now have apps to make the process of uploading receipts easier.
Taking advantage of government benefits can also be helpful. For families where each partner’s individual income, after pension contributions, falls under £100,000, there will be access to tax-free childcare. The system works in such a way where parents can pay in £8,000 to an account each year and receive an extra £2,000 from the government to then be used for childcare costs. On top there is 30 hours of funded term-time care for children aged nine months to five years.
For those with each partner earning under £60,000, you are also eligible for the full child benefit payments, which are £26.05 each week for the first child, and £17.25 each week for any additional children. You can find out more about these payments here, but keep in mind that the amounts reduce as one (or both) partners earns between £60,000 and £80,000. You lose the benefit entirely once earnings are £80,000 and above.
Hannah Williford: Investment Writer
Hannah joined AJ Bell in 2025 as an investment writer. She was previously a journalist at Portfolio Adviser Magazine, reporting on multi-asset, fixed income and equity funds, as well as macroeconomic impacts and regulatory changes...
