Are You Paying Too Much (Council) Tax?

I sure was, and I had been for two years.

Can you imagine that? For two years, the wonderful Council that I reside in continuously overcharged me and nobody realized this. They acted like they had no clue I lived alone and thus was very eligible for the single person discount. Yet they were happy to hound me every single time money was due. Shame on me though - I didn't even realise I was overpaying. I mean, I always complained about how expensive living in this borough was, but I bore it as an unavoidable evil.

So, earlier this week, I was thinking about the two main ways to attain financial freedom i.e.:

• Earn more.
  
• Spend less.

I began looking at all my bills to see if I could cut back in any areas. Now, I feel like I run a pretty tight ship so I wasn't expecting a whole lot of wiggle room, but freeing up money is always worth the once-over.As usual, I was struck by how high my Council tax bill is, so I called the Council to see if I could get something for nothing ask a few questions. Fifteen minutes into the conversation, I realize I'm not getting the single person discount and I kick off.

Long story short, I should be receiving a nice check with two zeros on the end and a number above 6 preceding those zeros soon. The sensible part of me wants to say, "just apply it to my 2010 bill and I'll pay a lower rate each month". I'm sure that part won't win.