Appeal Your Council Tax Band
One of the biggest costs for any household (after a mortgage or rent) is council tax. And, unfortunately, the way in which it was set up means that a relatively large number of people may be paying more than they should be doing each month.
That’s because the differing council tax bands are based on the value of properties all the way back in 1991, which means that if you live in a house less than 24 years old, your council tax band is little more than a guesstimate. And, even if your house was built before 1991, it could be in the wrong band because the decisions were apparently made in haste and with a quick drive past properties to assign a banding.
A sensible way to find out if your council tax band is incorrect is to compare it to similar properties in your area by checking out the Gov.UK website. If yours is in a higher band than your neighbours’ then you could save money by contacting your local council and appealing against your band, with any reimbursement being retrospective.
Fix Your Energy Prices
With the price of oil and other commodities falling heavily in recent months, there has never been a better time to fix your energy prices. And, better still, doing so has never been easier thanks to the multitude of online price comparison sites that will take care of all the hard work for you.
In fact, all you need to do is enter a few details about your property and usage, select the deal that best suits your situation and provide your old and new suppliers with final/starting meter readings.
Certainly, the price of oil and gas could come under pressure during the rest of 2015, but with the current level being economically unviable for a great number of producers, it seems likely that in the long run such low prices are not here to stay.
Take Advantage Of Quad Play
Quad play is a very simple idea: it is merely the combination of your landline, broadband, pay-tv and mobile contracts with one supplier. So, instead of having four different ones, you deal with just one and, in doing so, could save money each month and also make life easier for yourself.
Admittedly, there are currently only a small number of quad play operators, with Virgin and TalkTalk perhaps being the most prominent examples. However, with BT, Sky and Vodafone all moving into the space during the course of the next couple of years, the choices for combining your media contracts in one place look set to take off.
And, with such a high level of competition, there could be some great deals on offer. So, with that in mind, it could be worth thinking about when your current contracts expire and planning a quad play move of your own when there are no exit fees to pay. Doing so could make a real difference to your monthly disposable income over the medium to long term.
