Lower the cost of your household bills - Times Money Mentor (2024)

The cost of living crisis has squeezed household budgets to the limit – and often beyond. Here we explain what you can do to lower the cost of your bills.

The cost of living crisis might be easing but prices are still rising by more than the Bank of England – and households – would like. Energy bills are set to rise again next year and food prices are still 10% more than last year.

While we can’t do much to change the current economic situation, we can offer seven tips that you could try in order to bring down your household bills.

In this article, we cover:

• How can you make sure that you’re always on the best deal?
• Does loyalty pay?
• What is the best way to haggle?
• Can you drop a brand?
• Are coupons worth it?

Read more: How to save money on your energy bill

1. How can you make sure that you are always on the best deal?

If you never pay much attention to the tariffs you’re on with different utility providers, you can easily end up being switched by your supplier to a standard deal. This is rarely good value.

To keep on top of the different dates when your services come up for renewal or fixed-rate deals end, set reminders on your phone or calendar. Give yourself enough time to find and switch to a new deal before the deadline.

This is an especially good idea for financial products such as your car, home or pet insurance, or your mobile phone contract.

Want to discover our top pick of car insurance providers?

How to save on mobile, TV packages and broadband

Mobile, TV and broadband bills can easily become pricey but you can cut costs by following the tips below:

• If you’re tied in to a contract or you’re paying off a handset, set a reminder when it ends and look for a cheaper SIM-only deal. This may mean moving to another network but it’s easy to switch and you can keep your existing mobile number.

• With so many streaming services competing for your attention, you don’t need to be tied into a monthly contract.If you’re organised enough to have a diary schedule of when to cancel, you could take advantage of one free trial after another so that you always have something fresh to watch.

• If you only want to watch certain big sports events, you could buy a daily or monthly Now TV sports pass instead of opting for a full Sky Sports package.Check out the cheapest ways to watch Premier League and Champions League football in the UK.

• Check if you can get free entertainment as part of other subscriptions you already have. Amazon Prime includes some free films, for example. And you can get a free three-month trial of Apple TV if you have recently bought a new iPhone or Mac.

• While you might make savings by choosing a mobile, broadband and TV package from the same provider, it can work out cheaper to take out the services separately.

Find out more ways to reduce your broadband costs and your mobile phone bill.

How to save on water, gas and electricity

Wholesale energy prices (what suppliers pay for electricity and gas) have soared during the last couple of years, with dozens of energy suppliers having gone bust since August 2021.

Companies can’t cover the increase in costs by billing consumers lots more, because of Ofgem’s energy price cap. This restricts how much firms can charge per unit of energy on their dual fuel default tariffs. These tariffs are the ones that you are rolled on to automatically when your fixed term deal ends.

Normally, you would just switch to a cheaper deal when that happens but these are few and far between. It’s important you do the maths if you are thinking of fixing your energy.

You can’t do much about the price of energy, and you can’t switch between water providers. But there are still steps you can take to reduce your utility bills, including:

• Choose paperless billing
• Pay by direct debit
• Use a smart meter
• If you’ve got older appliances, upgrading to more energy efficient ones could save you money in the long term
• Shower instead of having a bath
• Wash at lower temperatures and use eco cycles to cut your water bill
• Make sure your house is well insulated and you have an efficient boiler. There are government grants available to vulnerable or low income households
• Cheaper solutions include draft excluders, thick curtains, rugs and insulating film for windows

Read more: Why water bills are going up, and how you can cut yours

Council tax reductions

The council tax you pay is based on where you live and the value of your property as set in 1991. In England there are eight valuation bands, with A being the cheapest and H the most expensive. In Wales, there are nine bands.

You can check which band you are in by looking at your council tax bill. You can challenge your band and ask to be reassessed. But it’s a double-edged sword because your band could be adjusted upwards instead, resulting in a bigger bill.

There are also discounts available for some circ*mstances:

• Those who live alone can claim a 25% single person’s discount, which can be backdated
• If you or someone in your household is disabled, a carer, on a low income or receiving certain benefits, you could also be eligible for a council tax reduction.
• No council tax is owed if everyone in your home is a full-time student

Council tax is normally collected ten times a year. But you can choose to spread the payments over 12 months to make budgeting easier.

Read more: ‘I won £7,000 back after challenging my council tax band’

2. Why pay for things that you don’t use?

Consider whether you really need all the things you’re paying for.

Say you’ve got a subscription to Netflix, Apple TV and Sky, do you actually watch them all or could you save money by ditching one or two? Are you paying for super-fast home broadband when you rarely use it for streaming or gaming?

Shop around or speak to your existing provider about dropping down to a cheaper package that still meets your needs.

Looking for a new TV package deal? Check out our article on how to get the best deal for you and save money and find out more about the Netflix price changes and how they will affect you.

3. Does loyalty pay?

Unfortunately, few companies reward customer loyalty and most save their best deals for getting new customers through the door.

This means you’re likely to be at a disadvantage if you stay with your existing provider. Switch regularly instead to make the most of introductory offers.

Read more: Tesco, Asda, Lidl and Sainsbury’s loyalty cards compared

4. What is the best way to haggle?

It feels rather un-British, but haggling doesn’t have to mean being rude or awkward – it just means asking politely for a better deal.

While haggling over your weekly shop at Tesco is unlikely to work, broadband, TV and mobile providers will usually negotiate on packages and prices.

Of course, if you do want to cut the cost of your food shop, there are easy ways to do that too.

Most people should be able to make savings on their grocery bill, so it’s often the first thing they do to stretch the budget further. Find out how the Times Money Mentor team cut their family food shops.

We have more on how to haggle for the best financial deal.

5. Can you drop a brand?

There’s no escaping household grocery bills, but you can cut costs by being organised and spending a little extra time hunting for deals. Follow the below tips.

Dropping a brand is probably the easiest way to cut your food spending, along with meal planning to reduce waste. Trading down to supermarket own brands can save you money, and often it doesn’t mean compromising on quality or taste.

A lot of the time, own-brand products are even made in the same factory as brand-name favourites, so you might not even notice the difference.

Need some inspiration? Save over £30 per meal with our substitute take-away recipes.

6. What are some introductory offers on delivery?

Many food delivery services give juicy discounts the first time you shop with them (such as £12 off a £60 shop at Sainsbury’s). So you could save a lot by using one after the other if you’re not picky about where you shop.

Sign up to alerts on HotUKDeals.com so you never miss an offer. If you’re not a new customer or you’ve got a preferred supermarket, a delivery-pass scheme could save you money if you regularly get your shopping delivered.

7. Are coupons worth it?

Take advantage of coupons and discounts for new customers.

These aren’t just for supermarkets; you can get new-customer deals on items such as veg boxes, coffee subscriptions and meal kits too. Just remember to cancel in time to avoid being signed up to expensive subscriptions.

Install a voucher code extension such as Pouch or Honey on your web browser to try automatically for discount codes at the checkout.