Many of us are finding the pinch currently, however, have you done a budget audit recently? I do this regularly to check where we are able to cut some of our budgets back, here are my tips on how to cut your household bills.
Firstly, you need to know exactly what you are paying, to who and what for. It is all well and good saying you pay x amount to Virgin Media but have no idea what is involved in that package. Understanding exactly what goes out for what is the best starting point.
Once you have this you need to start looking through your contracts with each one, swapping to a new supplier or a better deal before your current contract might not be cost-effective. Once you have worked out the ones you can look to change, this is where you can start looking for the better deals. I have written before about the whole concept of customer loyalty and how this doesn’t exist anymore. If you are looking at things such as mobile phones and broadband etc, that post will walk you through how to shop around for a better deal on those.
Other areas to trim down are things such as your gas and electric supplier. Now I pay ours by direct debit, however, every few months I do check my bills are correct to my meter readings and then re-asses my direct debit. Because our gas and electricity usage goes up and down depending on the year I try to find a happy medium in the middle. Currently, for a 3-bed detached bungalow, we pay £111 a month for both and this keeps us pretty even throughout the year. In the summer months, we usually have a bit of credit (not as much this year as we have been at home since March!) than in the winter months, it all goes up with the electricity and gas usage. I wouldn’t recommend reducing it too low, to be honest as the jump from the summer to the winter months can be quiet a shock to the budget otherwise!
You can compare the cost of your utilities on sites such as Compare the Market, this will give you an idea of whether your current costings are realistic to what you are getting.
Once you’ve looked at all your utility bills it is worth giving your food budget a bit of an overhaul too. If you are finding you are doubling up on ingredients, maybe you should consider meal planning? We meal plan every week and I have found that it helps keeps our costing down as I now only purchase in the items we need. You can read my top tips on meal planning here.
There is always money to be saved on your household bills, it is all just about find the balance between what you need/want to what you are prepared to pay. A little time invested can save you so much money in the long run just by finding some simple cut your household bills
