It might be surprising how easy it is to cut your bills. Often what we are paying for is unnecessary; using these tips will help to reduce your bills, without effecting your quality of life

Keeping Changing to the Cheapest

With rising gas and electricity prices it is more important than ever to find the cheapest supplier. The best piece of advice is to check different price online at a price comparison site. It is best to do this at least once a year. Most energy companies rely on customer inertia; this means people feel it is too much hassle to switch accounts, therefore they remain on the existing deal. If you take the effort to look around for cheaper deals, you will be rewarded with comparatively cheaper prices. The process is relatively painless - it is definitely worth the effort.

Be Less Reliant on Heating and Air Conditioner.

Whenever I visit America, I am always amazed at how aggressive air conditioning is used. You can go into some buildings and it is really cold. I have to take a jumper to put on when I go inside the building! It is not necessary to have so much air conditioning, to reduce the temperature by such a large amount costs a lot. If you change the temperature you can save money without becoming uncomfortably hot. Also, it is quite extravagant and expensive if you leave the air conditioner on all day, just so it will be not too hot when you arrive.

Keep a checklist of dates for Bill Renewal.

One thing I find difficult is to remember when my bill contracts run out. By keeping a list of dates it makes it easier to prepare in advance for searching for new quotes. As a general rule, I will always recheck any annual insurance / mortgage / contract. Because invariably switching to a new supplier offers a cheaper deal - usually taking advantage of an introductory offer.

Investing in Best Equipment

Sometimes to save money we need to invest money. Making the switch to energy efficient lightbulbs will soon pay for itself. But, look around for the best price, there are often special discounts in certain shops - there prices can vary significantly.

Combined Telephone / Internet accounts.

I was paying £16 a month for my cable TV, on ringing my internet provider (BT) I found that they would give free cable TV because I was already paying for internet. This is a good example of how ringing your existing suppliers often enables you to take advantage of the latest special offers and good deals.

Don't Pay for What You don't use.

Because my car is not particularly valuable, I decided to get only 3rd party insurance. Although this is a risk, I was paying a hefty premium for comprehensive insurance; it didn't seem to offer good value for what I was getting. Similarly, I recently can celled a mobile subscription because there were quite a few months in the year where I never used the phone - pay as you go proved better value in the long term.

Labels: frugality

On some train journeys, ticket prices, can vary from between £20 and £200. Train and airline companies take advantage of people's different willingness to pay and set different prices to maximise their profit. It is known as price discrimination and basically involves charging higher prices to groups of consumers they feel are willing to pay higher prices.

Ways to save Money When traveling

1. Buy in Advance.

Many train tickets are cheaper when buying in advance. This is because people who buy last minute, usually have few alternatives, therefore they are willing to pay higher prices. The pricing of airline flights can be more complicated, it depends on how many seats remain unsold. However, as a general rule, buying in advance offers a greater choice of competitive price. Train companies in particular have many special offers available for buying in advance.

2. Time of Travel.

If you are able to switch your date of travel by a few dates, airline prices can vary by upto £100. On the most popular days, e.g. start of school holidays, demand is much more inelastic. Traveling a day earlier or later often means prices can be significantly lower. Therefore, if at all possible be flexible in your days of travel; it can enable significant savings. Similarly if you are willing to travel at unsociable times, e.g. flying at 6am in the morning prices are often cheaper because, for some reason, people are more reluctant to get up at that time. It depends whether you feel getting up at 4am in the morning is worth a £50 saving.

3. The loyal traveler.

The greatest savings can occur through taking advantage of loyalty schemes. If you travel regularly make sure you take advantage of any air miles on offer. Even if you are traveling a certain route for a limited time, like a week or month, getting a travel card will probably save a lot of money. Train and airline companies take advantage of the infrequent traveler, charging him a much higher price than regular travelers.

4. Unpopular Airports.

If you can avoid the most popular airports like Heathrow and Gatwick you will find that prices are generally lower. As an additional benefit you will avoid the stress of passing through the most congested airport in the world.

5. Take your own food.

When you get on a train or aeroplane, you are immediately in the hands of a monopolist. If you want to eat or drink, you have no alternative but to pay the prices of the train / airline company. This is how they can get away with charging £5, for a slim cheese sandwich. If you are not careful, you can easily spend £10-£20 on food that is unnecessarily expensive. These are the hidden costs of traveling and often the most profitable branch of business for train companies. Be prepared and take your own food. It is not difficult to make it more palatable.

Labels: frugality