FOOL'S EYE VIEW
Slash Your Ten Biggest Bills!

By Alison Hunt (TMFAlly)
March 1, 2005

How many of us have ever felt really inspired to start saving or investing, after reading an article, or speaking to someone who's made some money? However, after having paid all of the bills and expenses, realised we don't actually have any spare money to use!

I'm sure this has happened to most of us – and it's amazing how quickly that motivation fades!

But you can find money to invest each month, (and legally too!), simply by cutting down on your expenses.

If you can save just £50 each month from taking out better deals for your biggest bills, that's an instant £50 to invest or save! And £50 invested in an index tracker for 20 years with an 8% return could be £28,600! Not bad for a few minutes work, and chances are you can save much more than £50! Why not give it a go?

1. Mortgage

With the huge number of deals out there, there's a fortune to be saved by re-mortgaging, especially if your introductory deal is coming to an end or if you're currently paying the standard variable rate (of 6.75%).

Check the rate that you're paying and start shopping around – remember, for every 1% saved on your rate, you can save £1000 each year (for a £100,000 mortgage); that's £83 per month straight away!

Also, if you've benefited from the recent house price rises your LTV ratio may have reduced – meaning you're in a stronger position with more deals available to you – but don't forget to watch out for other charges.

And if you're locked into your mortgage for a long period (and it's expensive), it may even be worth paying the fees and escaping to a cheaper deal.

Find out more and win the chance to have your mortgage paid for two years in our Mortgage Centre.

2. Insurance

How many types of insurance policies do you currently have - motor, life, critical illness, household, to name a few? They all add up, and insurers have a sneaky way of increasing renewal premiums each year, banking on your apathy not to move provider. Don't fall into their trap; before accepting any renewal quote, shop around!

Follow this advice for your car insurance and you could save a fortune. The same goes for household insurance – and remember, a single provider for both buildings and contents insurance may not be the cheapest deal.

In addition, check that you're not paying for extras (especially PPI!) that you don't need. However, don't make the mistake of under-insuring. The average contents insurance policy is for £25k, but try going through every room in your house – you may find you need more cover.

Get some instant quotes in our Insurance Centre.

3. Broadband connection

Have you checked how competitive your broadband deal is? There are many more suppliers these days, and better deals are being offered all the time. And if you're on dial-up – check how much you're paying each month – you may find that for a couple of pounds more you could have a constant connection with broadband. Find out more with this ADSL guide and this broadband checker.

4. Gas

Gas prices have been creeping up for a while, as most of us know. But you can easily cut your energy bills by switching supplier with a company such as Fool Partner USwitch – apparently over two-thirds of us are still with our original supplier and it's costing us a packet! Follow this advice and cut your gas bills today!

5. Water

Water bills aren't immune from rises either. For example, Thames Water has announced that its customers will face an average increase of 14% plus inflation this April.

Of course, water customers cannot switch suppliers very easily, but many of us could save money by switching to a metered system, as bills are estimated on the size of your house.

Two people living in a three bedroom house, for example, are likely to save significantly by switching to a metered supply because estimates are based on three or four people. But be careful – if there are four people living in a two bedroom house, you'd probably be better off remaining un-metered. Contact your supplier and find out whether you could save by switching to a metered supply.

6. Electricity

In the same way as for gas, we could save a fortune on our electricity bills by switching supplier! Go on, it's so easy – and you can save a packet!

Switch to a cheaper provider with USwitch.

7. Credit Cards

Are you paying interest each month on credit card debt? Take a closer look at your statement and find out. Remember, paying interest is crazy when there are around a dozen 0% cards in the Fool's Credit Card Centre alone! Switch your credit card debt to a 0% balance transfer card, and you could have up to nine months to pay off that balance interest free!

Find a 0% card in our Credit Card Centre.

8. Mobile Phone

Mobile phone bills can be very expensive, but for some reason most of us just put up with this as a fact of life. But a quick scan of your phone bill can give you an idea of when you make the majority of calls. If you then give your provider a quick ring, he'll probably do the hard work for you and suggest a more appropriate tariff to switch to (and save you money!).

Remember, many providers will match their competitor's tariffs too – and if all else fails,  cancelling your contract and taking out a new one can often provide the tariff you want, plus a flashy new phone, all for the price of a phone number change!

9. Telephone

Don't forget your home telephone – if you haven't switched providers before, did you realise the wealth of different phone packages out there? Try plugging your details into a comparison tool to find out how much you could save. And if you have broadband, have you considered making free phone calls with VOIP?

Switch your telephone provider with USwitch.

10. Contact Lenses

A surprise entry – but a significant bill each month for many of us who need daily, or monthly disposable lenses! But did you realise that you can save as much as £150 each year by buying your lenses in bulk?

Contact lenses are actually only produced by a few manufacturers in the UK, so the 'own brand' lenses you buy from your optician are in actual fact 'brand name' lenses with an own brand label on them.

By giving your prescription to a 'lens discounter', you can purchase the identical lenses (and solutions) in bulk, with none of the mark-up charged by opticians to cover their overheads. And the more you buy, the better the discount. I found I could save £89 by purchasing a year's supply of lenses and solutions in bulk from Postoptics when compared to buying from my optician.

Remember, however that you'll still need to pay for regular contact lens check-ups with your optician - this may negate some of the saving (check-ups are usually included in your monthly bill).

If you follow these tips to cut the cost of your bills you should be able to save at least £50 each month, and possibly over £100 – isn't that worth a few minutes work?

Save money now on your utility bills, mortgage, insurance and credit card.