5 tips for saving money on your household bills
We’d all like a little more money in our pockets at the end of the month, but household bills have a propensity to slowly stack up.
If you’re sick and tired of your finances getting on top of you, here are 5 easy to follow tips for saving money on your household bills.
1. Turn your heating down
Heating is one of those often overlooked extravagances that can cost us hundreds of unnecessary pounds each year. There’s no need to be cold during the winter months, but merely lowering your thermostat by one degree during the more hospitable months, could save you up to £65 per year on your heating bill.
2. Switch energy providers
When it comes to saving money, few people realise that energy companies are merely service providers. Changing service provider, therefore, has no discernible impact on the energy that is piped into your house: it’s only the cost and customer service that is impacted in anyway.
If you’ve been with the same gas and electricity provider for years, you, the average UK consumer, could save up to £250 per year, just by switching energy providers.
3. Get rid of what you don’t need
When it comes to saving money on your household bills, honesty is one of the most valuable tools at your disposal. Take a look at your monthly outgoings and be honest about which of those are actually necessities.
Whether it’s a gym membership that you never use, or telephone contracts that are exorbitantly priced, be prepared to make some cuts; it will put some much needed cash in your pocket.
One area where many people waste money is on their television and broadband packages. If you’re not an avid television watcher, consider getting rid of your monthly subscription by switching to Freeview.
If the internet is a necessity, there are a vast number of broadband packages available on the market that are great value for money and do not require you to have a television package alongside them; this change alone could save you hundreds of pounds each year.
4. Buy own brand
With more and more of the UK population on a budget, the nation’s largest supermarkets have invested heavily in improving the quality of their own brand produce. While you may be tempted by fashionable brand names, consider sampling own brand food for a short trial period; many own brand foodstuffs are just as tasty as their branded counterparts, but are less than half of the price.
5. Balance transfers
With finances tighter than ever, credit cards are an inevitable part of most people’s lives. If you have taken out a credit card in the last few years, and are struggling to pay it off, consider shopping around online for interest-free balance transfer offers.
Banks are increasingly competing for customers, so many offer interest-free periods on balance transfers, as long as you keep up with monthly repayments, of up to one year. This may not decrease your debt or monthly outgoings in the short term, but it ensures that every penny that you repay is gradually reducing the total amount that you owe, not going towards paying unnecessary interest.