The Cost of Living - Save Money - Advice Thread

Max68

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751
Not sure it's the best title but thought such a thread might be a good idea so we can all help each other when it comes to saving money with regard to the ridiculous increases in the cost of living.

Not much we can do about the quite scandalous increases in Council Tax but with utilities we might be able top help each other on here. I'd certainly appreciate anyone who has managed to find a cheaper energy deal this year as all the comparison sites are only offering more "expensive" deals and that's before prices go up again at the start of April! How these companies can announce record profits and then increase prices is beyond me and what was the point of this government cap? Has done nothing at all!

I'm currently paying Electricity 14.879p per kWh and a standing charge which was excellent of 15.572p per day. Gas is 2.480p per kWh with again an excellent standing charge of 11.130p per day. Can't get anywhere near that on comparison sites and have until June before I need to renew so if anyone has had any luck I'd appreciate any advice.
 

Max68

Well-Known Member
Messages
751
Thank you, quite interesting that. This month my bill jumped dramatically and it was almost certainly because I used my mum's old spare freezer as well as my own, as it was a tad overloaded! However I've squeezed everything back into one as it was a massive jump and that's the only thing different. Incredible to see how one freezer can make such a difference,. Interestingly I ever use economy settings on washing or dishwasher as an engineer once told me it works out more expensive because they are on longer which I found interesting.

However it's a fair point on things like TV's, Microwaves, Phone Chargers as it's easy to just leave them all on standby. Going to try placing my PC on sleep as well. Turning a PC on and off, especially an older PC can damage the parts more than just leaving it on 24/7 so sleep may be a good compromise.
 
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Not sure it's the best title but thought such a thread might be a good idea so we can all help each other when it comes to saving money with regard to the ridiculous increases in the cost of living.

Not much we can do about the quite scandalous increases in Council Tax but with utilities we might be able top help each other on here. I'd certainly appreciate anyone who has managed to find a cheaper energy deal this year as all the comparison sites are only offering more "expensive" deals and that's before prices go up again at the start of April! How these companies can announce record profits and then increase prices is beyond me and what was the point of this government cap? Has done nothing at all!

I'm currently paying Electricity 14.879p per kWh and a standing charge which was excellent of 15.572p per day. Gas is 2.480p per kWh with again an excellent standing charge of 11.130p per day. Can't get anywhere near that on comparison sites and have until June before I need to renew so if anyone has had any luck I'd appreciate any advice.

Hi, I am in the process of switching Gas and Electric, they say I could save 98 ponds a year and they switch providers every year with Look after my bills. I have switched broadband provider, from EE to Shell., starts 12th April. I will, in the next 2 weeks, switch my Tesco Pay as you Go to either Giffgaff or LEBARA, a possible saving of 9 to 10 pound a month.
My daughter moved out on Saturday, she and her boyfriend are renting a house together, so as a single person I am trying to cut back even more now.
 
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Max68

Well-Known Member
Messages
751
Hi, I am in the process of switching Gas and Electric, they say I could save 98 ponds a year and they switch providers every year with Look after my bills. I have switched broadband provider, from EE to Shell., starts 12th April. I will, in the next 2 weeks, switch my Tesco Pay as you Go to either Giffgaff or LEBARA, a possible saving of 9 to 10 pound a month.
My daughter moved out on Saturday, she and her boyfriend are renting a house together, so as a single person I am trying to cut back even more now.

Yeah I saw "Look After My Bills" but I emailed them to see how they could guarantee that if there weren't any cheaper deals anywhere. If they just emailed me with a quote I would have looked at it, but when I completed the form at the end I noticed you literally give them permission to switch you and I'm not comfortable unless I know where I am going to end up! Haven't heard back from them either!

Looked on Trustpilot and the reviews were up and down so still not sure. Being careful because Ismybillfair claimed that my provider could put me on a cheaper tariff and they would get the provider to contact me. They did but no cheaper deal with them so not quite what I was told.

***Correction it wasn't Look after my Bills but Bill Buddy. Ironically I have just had an email from them. I will update if they come through!
 
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Daphne917

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Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
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Yeah I saw "Look After My Bills" but I emailed them to see how they could guarantee that if there weren't any cheaper deals anywhere. If they just emailed me with a quote I would have looked at it, but when I completed the form at the end I noticed you literally give them permission to switch you and I'm not comfortable unless I know where I am going to end up! Haven't heard back from them either!

Looked on Trustpilot and the reviews were up and down so still not sure. Being careful because Ismybillfair claimed that my provider could put me on a cheaper tariff and they would get the provider to contact me. They did but no cheaper deal with them so not quite what I was told.

***Correction it wasn't Look after my Bills but Bill Buddy. Ironically I have just had an email from them. I will update if they come through!
It seems that a lot of companies want you to sign up straight away. I am a contracts manager so always read the Terms and conditions so when I ask for them I’m often told that “you’ll get them after you sign up” and they seem surprised when I refuse to sign as I hadn’t seen the contract T&Cs first.