Cutting your bills without Cutting your Lifestyle

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Following on from an article I was featured in thejournal.ie . Cutting your bills can be achieved, without resourcing to extreme frugal methods. Let me show you how.

You can switch providers and still receive the same service but at a better price.

Cutting your bills – Electric and Gas

Starting with the bill with the biggest opportuinity for savings, your Electric Bill. Energy providers do not provide any discounts for being a loyal customer. After you come out of contract on your first year you lose your sign up discounts. By staying with your current provider you are missing out on the opportunity of getting those new customer sign on offers. I switch provider every year to get the best price I can. I research all the sign up offers for the energy providers and enter the details into a spreadsheet, this way I can clearly see who is the best provider to switch to. You can see this list of the providers and there sign up offers here. You can also use a website like www.bonkers.ie or www.switcher.ie

Switch phone provider for Savings

Next up for me was our mobile phones. I was paying €20 a month which was really good but I knew there was new providers coming into the market with lower rates. 48 is one of those companies, which is run off the same provider I was using but charging a lower rate of €10.99 a month (currently €12.99 per mth). This saved our household €18.02 a month for 2 phones, making a yearly savings of €216.24. Switch here to 48 and save. (this is an affilate link)

Cutting your Bills, other areas

Broadband and tv packages are another large monthly cost. To me a good broadband is essential, but Im not so big on Tv. We mainly watch Netflix and Youtube. So for us we could cut TV and just have a broadband package. Look at what is actually being used and see what can be cut or can you get a better price from another provider.

The next on my list was our alarm, each year the price was going up by €2-€3. So after a few years it was now getting quiet high. One phone call saying my bill was too high and they reduced it by €10 a month. If I had not made that call, i would still be paying the higher price for the same service.

Shop around for Insurance

Shop around for all types of insurances, car, home, life. This is an area that can make a huge difference. One year I saved €300 on our car insurance. Another tip for insurances is to pay in full. Paying by direct debit costs you extra. I save a little each month towards insurances in a sinking fund and by the time the insurance is due, I can pay it in full.