We all have to pay for utilities. This includes gas, electric, water, phone and television. We may not all pay for all of these as we may not have access to all of them, such as gas or choose not to have them such as television. However, if we own or rent a house we will have to pay for water and electricity and it is very likely that we have a phone. These costs can really add up but there are a few main ways that we can try to reduce them.
Find a cheap supplier
With most utilities (with the exception of water) it is possible to switch to a different supplier. In many cases this can mean that we will be able to pay less money each month as they will be cheaper. We do need to be careful though. When we switch suppliers, we want to be sure that we are still getting good value for money. When we are thinking about gas and electricity, it will have no impact on our supply, however, the customer service may be different and if you need a repair of some sort the response to that might be different too. With things such as broadband, then the speed you get or the amount of access you get may be lower if you pay less money. So, make sure that you check out all the details. It could be the case that you are happy to have less because you do not use everything that you are paying for anyway.
People tend to use comparison websites to look at the different prices. This is a good idea because it will help you to see whether you are paying more than necessary. However, these sites do not list all suppliers as some will only deal directly with customers. This means that you may need to do some extra research yourself to make sure that you have searched every possible place and got the best possible deal. This might seem like a lot of work, but you could end up saving a significant amount of money and it could be well worth the effort.
Reduce usage
Another way to save money is to use the utilities less. This will not always be useful as it depends on the utility. For example, if you pay for a television licence then the amount you pay will not change even if you watch the television less. If you pay water rates and are not metered then you will not pay more money if you use more water. However, if you use more hot water then you will pay to heat it up. It could even be cheaper for you to have a meter installed, there are ways to check and generally if you have less people in the house than you have bedrooms then it is cheaper to have a meter as the rates are based on the number of bedrooms you have.
It is good to think about how you might be able to reduce usage of things like water, electricity, gas, telephone calls etc. If you are more aware of how much you are using and that it is costing you money, you might decide that it will be better to use less. It can often be the case that we use more than necessary anyway and that we will be able to cut down. For example, turning down the heating, turning off lights and appliances, having showers instead of baths, keeping phone calls to cheaper times of the day or emailing instead and things like this. All of these small changes will add up and they can help to reduce the amount that you are paying.
