Household Bills
Inflation means mounting bills for stretched families
Despite inflation falling slightly to five per cent today, the high cost of living is putting pressure on the finances of British households, who are already spending over a quarter of their monthly income paying for essential bills.
Christmas replaced by ‘Thriftmas’ as families cut the festive finances
Families feeling the pinch are trimming the festive finances and replacing Christmas with ‘Thriftmas’ as they try to avoid the New Year over-budget blues.
Customer satisfaction with energy suppliers plummets
A year of price rises, million pound fines and investigations into the energy industry have taken their toll with consumers, according to the latest independent Customer Satisfaction Report published by uSwitch.com.
Freezing winters cost £1bn in burst pipes
As winter approaches, AXA is warning that the last two years have seen one in a thousand people fall victim to burst pipes with average claims reaching a massive £25,000.
Families forced to cut back on food due to rising energy bills
New research from Confused.com has revealed that 82 per cent of customers are worried how they will heat their homes this winter due to the rising costs of energy bills. In fact, 43% of people are cutting back on their weekly food shop, to help pay their heating bills.
Final energy price hike strikes on Thursday
The last energy price rise comes into effect this Thursday (10th November) when EDF Energy increases its prices by 15.4% or £101 for gas and 4.5% or £21 for electricity. The increase brings to an end a year of misery for consumers where energy bills rocketed by 21% or £224 on average.
Top tips to help make this Christmas a financial cracker
With just over six weeks to go until Christmas, research from MoneySupermarket.com found that only a third of Brits have enough cash to fund the festivities, with a further one in five (20 per cent) turning to savings and one in ten (10 per cent) turning to plastic.
Make money from your Christmas spending
Confused.com has launched a £30 cashback offer for customers looking for a new credit card to cut down interest payments on current balances or to spread the cost of their Christmas spending.
Heating wars commence fuelled by rising energy costs
The combination of unseasonal warmer days and colder nights is causing conflict among households across the UK over whether to turn the heating on or slip on an extra layer of clothing, according to research by MoneySupermarket.com.
Britain goes without heating as bills become unaffordable
Almost nine in ten households (89%) will be rationing their energy use this winter to save on bills, according to new research from uSwitch.com, the independent price comparison and switching service.
Log on for the first time during National Get Online Week
This week is National Get Online Week 2011, and whilst more and more Brits are now switched on to the benefits of a life lived online, there are still millions more who have yet to take their first step into the world wide web.
Is your heating ready for another big chill this winter?
Although we probably don’t like to admit it the winter months are drawing ever closer but is your heating system ready to cope?
Save up to 30 percent off your fuel costs this winter
As the winter months descend, and we crank up our heating systems, the ubiquitous issue of never ending increasing fuel tariffs raises its ugly head once again.
Save hot water, save energy, save money
Consumers are being encouraged this week to think about their use of hot water in economic and environmental terms as part of the fifteenth Energy Savings Week (24-28 October).
Energy rationing by customers to keep a lid on cost
Forty five per cent of UK households are avoiding switching the lights on in their homes, in a desperate attempt to reduce energy usage and keep bills down.