Any Ideas How to Save on Home Bills?

Originally Posted by gettin2dizzy

www.moneysavingexpert.com brilliant generally for saving money. Check the forums too

Second that - this guy is an excellent source and from there you can follow threds to get the best deals on just about anything. I used it to get best combined energy and got best mortgage deal.

Your wife's friend's cakculations will probably be heavily weighted in the favour of the deal being offered - I always check mine using my own spreadsheet based on annual consumption of gas and electricity.

Cheers Keith

[Red ones]

I don't like the sound of the Utility Warehouse - it just sounds a little suspect to me.

I would look at Uswitch and bear in mind that utility company contracts are only on a rolling 28 day basis, so you can change upto 12 times a year to look for the best prices.

Then look at reducing the consumption - low energy lamps, reviewing your boiler settings etc. I still pay £20 pcm for gas and £25 pcm for electric for a 3 bed house!

[steveg]

I am lazy but the bills were getted crazy .

Used uswitch to combine gas & electric ,
Moved from BT to combine phone & broadband with my ISP.
Moved house insurance ,

Saved 60 quid a month ...

Cheers Steve

I have recently had need to cut our monthly outgoings. We saved in the following ways.

We have house phone on talk talk. Last bill was £2 and loose change. Reason is, we do not use it. When we do it is at a very cheap rate and we only pay for what we use. We use the mobiles all the time. Still have BT line but on the standard no frills package. Only need the line for internet.

Get a job with BT they have just decided to give all their employees free broadband. (Unfortunatly the offer is not extended to the BT extended work force, which I am. But I do get a discount. )

I am contracted to Vodafone. We get 200 crossover minutes free each month. We get 250 texts a month free. Vodafone also have a thing called stop the clock.

At weekends and evenings I can make a call for as long as I like but only pay for the first three minutes. This is for calls up to an hour. So if the call is going to be longer than an hour, I just ring off and ring back again before the hour is up. I pay £17.50 a month for each phone. Half price for 15 months of an 18 month contract. At the end of 15 months I can negotiate a new contract with them.

During the colder months we have the gas central heating on tick over constantly. It is cheaper to keep the house at a constant temperature than switching it on and off. All rooms that are not used much, the radiators are actually switched off, so we are not wasting energy heating rooms that are not being used. The only place that has heating on, is the hallway, the front room and the two toilets. We leave the airing cupboard in the upstairs hallway open all the time to allow heat from the boiler to spread. If it starts to get a bit chilly in the evening, we wear a jumper rather than crank up the heating.

Get draft excluder's, you'll be amazed out how efficient they are at keeping that valuable heat it.

When doing the washing, hang the washing on the line at every opportunity. If your wife / girlfriend insists that the dryer makes them softer and easier to iron, then put them in the drier for 10 minutes after they are dried. This will soften them up.

Don't use the dishwasher, tumble drier or microwave. Big energy sapping tools. Save the washing up if you can, and do two lots in one go. This means that the water in the boiler only needs to heat up again once instead of twice. Only put enough water in the kettle for what you need to make a drink. It will boil quicker.

Get energy efficient light bulbs, they are expensive, but they last longer and use far less energy. (That's for Ed ) Hint: Don't use them if you have a dimmer switch, they don't work very well, flicker and will go pop.

Lastly, look carefully at who you are buying your gas and electric from. You are not contracted to either and can switch when ever, and however many times you wish. Use Uswitch as has been explained. If the best one changes then move to them. It's free to change over and you do not get a penalty for leaving the other.

Do not let the door to door gas or electricity suppliers that come to the door in the house. They will paint a very good picture as to how you will save money by going to them, but after your first billing quarter, you will suddenly see a rise in your standing charge. They do it EVERY TIME. Just use Uswitch and you shouldn't go wrong. Look at trying to get as many of your services from one provider, it does work out cheaper. They will give you discount for doing so.

Finally, if the other half complains that she is cold tell her to put more clothes on.

Get draughts sealed, insulate walls etc if they arnt all ready, stuff in the loft and all that.

Some energy saving lightbulbs would be a good idea, maybe in rooms you dont use lights so much? mind you, they take a while to warm up and give out good light

Matt

Originally Posted by 600+

Now the standard stuff I have both elec and gas with British Gas on their Dual Fuel internet saving scheme which according to them and a few sites is the cheapest around (again for my figures).

BG were cheapest for a brief period after they lowered their prices but before everyone else did. Prior to that they were the most expensive and, once everyone else has lowered their prices, BG will be amongst the most expensive again.

The advice from the money-saving sites is "don't swap until all the companies have reduced their prices".

I'm on a Dual-Fuel contract with Powergen and they lowered their prices on 30th April, so there is still some activity and it's worth holding off for a few weeks. But review it I will as my £160pm bill is hard to take

Originally Posted by BigApe

Finally, if the other half complains that she is cold tell her to put more clothes on.

A mixed blessing

you lose weight if the house is slightly colder. if you have goose bumps on your arms your body has to work harder to heat you up. not implying any of you needs to lose a pound or two lol

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Ed

It would make much greater difference if you reduce the amount of energy you use.

Mrs and daughter claim they can't see unless every light is on, so when I get home the place looks like a cruise ship. So I turn them all off and then put on a tshirt and shorts to make the point that the house is like an oven.

Do you live in my house? strange I haven't bumped into you more.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by alpinestarhero

Some energy saving lightbulbs would be a good idea, maybe in rooms you dont use lights so much? mind you, they take a while to warm up and give out good light

Matt

THat was only relevant to the ones they were selling a few years ago,(I still have two from 7 years and 9 houses ago). Now they are pretty much instant (defo no more than 3 secs)