Household bills – how do you manage them?

Did you know that 26% of households don’t read their utility bills properly and over a million households don’t open their bills at all? 

Household bills

This time of year can be really difficult. There is already so much to juggle, with Christmas gifts, food and decorations to budget for, and often utility bills can be pushed to the back of your mind. But actually, in the middle of winter, it is really important to make sure you have a supply of gas and electricity so you can keep warm, keep the house lit and have hot water.

Utility bills are one of those things I tend to forget about. We pay for our bills by monthly direct debit, just so that  I know it is budgeted for every month, and to make sure that there is always power, no matter what time of year it is. Every so often, usually when the deal I am on runs out, I will shop around for better deals – sometimes this means changing utility provider (which isn’t as scary as it sounds), and sometimes it’s a simple case of swapping to a new deal or tariff with our current supplier. Either way, I try to make sure that we are on the best deal we can be – every penny we save on utilities is a penny we can spend on other things, such as presents, days out and other things the children need.

TV and internet bills are another area which can often be forgotten about – you sign up with one company and then leave it ticking over without checking whether you are still getting the best deal. It’s worth a call to your provider to see if any changes can be made, whether your current bills can be adapted to make sure you are getting a tailored package offering exactly what you need. One phone call could save you a lot of money.

Even if you are finding things tough, please don’t avoid opening the bills – it will just make things worse. Call the companies – they will often help you with a payment plan to ease the pressure. There are some great deals to be had too, if you need to cut back on a few bills. The Santander 123 current account helps reduce bills by up to 3%, – and that 3% could buy the turkey this year, or pay for a family day out. 

Do you have any top tips for saving money on your household bills? 

* This is a collaborative post *

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1 Comment

  1. December 17, 2014 / 10:52 pm

    I review all our utilities annually and try to save money where we can but tbh the costs just seem to be increasing year on year! x
    Donna recently posted…Review: Portable North PoleMy Profile

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