How Can I Reduce My Monthly Bills?
Managing the money that leaves your account every month can be stressful. But if there’s something that can help make things easier, it's looking out for any ways you can potentially reduce how much you need to pay.
Sometimes bills can increase without your realising, and this is not always because you have upgraded your plan or your usage has increased. In other cases, you could be paying far too much because you haven’t shopped around for a better deal recently.
In any case, the Fair for You team wants to point you in the right direction so that you can save money on your bills. So here are the top bills to look out for, along with how to reduce how much you pay on them.
Utility Bills
Sometimes our dread of paying utility bills can actually mean we don’t confront them - even when prices continue to increase. In reality, taking charge is how to make progress, and you’ll feel much better if you’re able to make some savings!
Examples of utility bills include:
Electric
Gas
Internet
Phone bill
TV
Water rates
For the likes of gas, electric or water the amount you page will depend on your usage, your tariff along with your energy provider. So there can be several ways to lower your bills here including being mindful of your usage, along with using comparison websites to see if you can get a better deal. Prices change very regularly, so be sure to shop around often.
When it comes to TV and mobile phone packages, ways to save money include downgrading any subscriptions or plans along with switching providers.
Mobile phones especially can be expensive, and if you aren’t using your full allowances for calls, texts and mobile data each month you are actually overpaying. Opting for a reduced sim plan to better suit your usage needs would instantly lower your phone bill.
Council Tax
If you are on a low income, then you may qualify for a council tax reduction which could reduce your council tax bill by up to 100%.
Another thing to look out for with council tax is checking which band you are on. Council tax bands run from A to H, with Band A meaning the lowest amount is charged and Band H pays the highest amount. The rates were calculated at what your property was deemed to be worth in 1991, and sometimes properties were accidentally set at higher bands than they should have been.
Those who have been placed on the wrong council tax band can challenge their payments which would lower any future council tax payments and potentially provide backdated compensation.
Subscription Charges
The final bills to look out for are any paid subscriptions. This can include streaming services, website memberships, gym memberships or apps.
Subscriptions are unique to each person, but what you have to ask yourself is whether these subscriptions are necessary or if you could do without them to save money. For instance, it’s common for people to sign up for the gym in January only to give up their fitness goals after a few weeks.
For any subscriptions you don’t want to cancel, see if there is a way to reduce your bill by downgrading your plan based on anything you don’t use or need.
As an example, Netflix plans range from £4.99 (Standard with adverts) to £17.99 (Premium) a month. If you don’t mind a few ad breaks, your yearly subscription would cost £59.88 instead of £215.88 - that’s a saving of £156 on just one bill!
Also look out for any subscriptions you are able to pause without financial penalty, especially for those months where money is tighter than usual.
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