Small Changes, Big Savings: How to Save ￡￡￡s On Your Household Bills

With Christmas fast approaching, the season of spending is upon us. With this in mind, we thought now might be a good time to look at ways to give your household budget a money makeover. We’ve covered several areas where you could be making small changes that could deliver some big savings.

Credit Cards

Useful to have for spreading the cost of big purchases and an almost essential way to build a good credit score, our plastic friends can offer the first way to save money.

If you have a balance that you are servicing each month on your cards then look for ways to transfer this sum to a zero-interest rate account. If you have a balance of ￡1,000 and are paying the minimum repayments then you could be saving yourself ￡15-￡20 each month in interest charges.

And many credit cards that offer this zero-interest rate balance transfer also offer the incentive to switch by giving you a period of 0% when you spend.

Always check if there is a balance transfer fee before switching

Image via PicPedia.

Entertainment Services

We’ve never had more access to great entertainment streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, BT, Sky and other platforms all offering us an almost unlimited amount of television.

However, we’re so keen to have it all that we often don’t look at what we’ve already got before we commit to spending more.

Did you know that if you are an Amazon Prime customer that you can get free access to 1000s of free TV shows and movies through Prime Video? Combined with Freeview On Demand which gives you 20,000+ hours of TV do you really need Sky or Virgin Media? What about Netflix? For just ￡5.99 a month, you could be looking at 1000s of great box sets, movies and original series.

Take a closer look at the cost of your current entertainment package and then think about what you actually use it for. If the answer is just one channel, like Sky Sports then you could save money by getting a Sky Sports Pass for Now TV. At just ￡5.99 a month vs ￡25 a month (minimum) for a Sky TV package, you could be saving over ￡200 a year!

Broadband and Telephone

Of course if you want to stream TV then you’ll need a decent broadband connection and the Wokingham area has plenty of choice when it comes to providers. Most of us will stick with the company that we chose when we moved into our homes but there are big savings that you can make by switching. And, there is usually no physical changes required to your existing telephone lines to do so as its all done remotely.

You can save as much as ￡300 a year by switching your telephone and broadband provider. Use a service like uSwitch to see what you can save.

Weekly shopping

We all know that we can save money by going to budget supermarkets yet most of us are stuck in a rut when it comes to the places we shop for our weekly groceries. This might be because one store is closer than another or we prefer certain brands. Whatever the reasons, we have some good advice that could see you save hundreds of pounds on your annual food shopping.

Firstly, consider getting a delivery instead of actually going to a supermarket. The reason that this is a good idea is that:

1. You can opt for a cheaper supermarket to deliver your basics. Beans are beans and money is money. Supermarkets like Asda are often far cheaper than more ‘premium’ supermarkets like Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and even Tesco.
2. If you pre-plan your weekly shopping then you are less likely to be swayed by an impulse purchase and there should also be less food-waste if you only buy what you know you are going to use each week.

A delivery charge is usually only a few pounds but you will not only save yourself the time in doing it this way but you should also see some big savings in your pocket.

Image via Pixabay.

Lastly, if you’d still prefer to hit the shops yourself then do take a look at those supermarkets that are typically considered budget stores. Aldi and Lidl have both opened stores in Wokingham over the last few years and, if you’ve not been, then you may be surprised by their food range. You’ll certainly be pleased with their prices.

Petrol

The average family car takes around 50 litres to re-fuel and this can often be on a weekly basis. The difference of just 10p per litre can soon add up.

In fact, finding a cheaper fuel station could save you over ￡200 per year.

Fortunately, you don’t need to drive around town looking for the lowest costs as there is a convenient app which has done the hard work for you. Petrol Prices can give you an at-a-glance look at where the best fuel costs are in your area.

Of course, there is another way to save some money on your fuel bills and that’s to walk more often. At this time of year, it might not be an inviting prospect to ditch the car in favour of a stroll to the shops but it does kill two birds with one stone when you are looking at ways to boost your step count post-Christmas bingeing!

Insurance

Insurance cover is a fact of life when it comes to owning a car or property and you can’t go far these days without being told how much you could save by comparing prices on sites like MoneySupermarket, Compare The Market or Go Compare. After all, we have meerkats, opera singers and Dave the epic strutting businessman to remind us!

Annoying as these adverts might be, they are right.

Whether it’s your pet insurance, car insurance, buildings or content cover, you could save more by comparing the market than by simply accepting the renewal with your incumbent provider.

Oh, and according to the latest industry news, you should switch your insurance around three weeks before your renewal date to maximise the savings you can get.

Annual savings vary depending on the level of cover you need, the number (and type) of policies you have plus your existing personal profile. However, it is not uncommon to see customers reporting annual savings of at least ￡400 by switching their insurance provider.

Image via Public Domain Pictures.

Switch Energy Supplier

Talking of switching, gas and electricity costs are also a great area for cost savings. It is estimated that if you have never switched before then you could be lowering your energy costs by around ￡500 per year and even those customers who like to play the field could still lower their annual bills by up to ￡100.

At very least, you should make this an annual exercise to go to the market and see what savings you could secure by switching.

Property Assistant

Here at Property Assistant, we know the value of money which is why we work hard to make sure our fees are competitive and that all of our clients get exactly what they pay for. Whether you engage us as a lettings agent or to help you sell your home, we work hard to give you our best performance.

To find out more about why our clients say we go the extra mile, call us today on 0118 912 2370.

This article was first published on the Property Assistant website.