Reduce Your Bills

We are all very much aware of how the rising cost of living is tightening our purse strings, it seems like every bill is increasing and it can be tough to adjust to these unprecedented times. We’re here to help by offering you some suggestions that can help make your bills much more affordable.

Household Energy

The primary expense at the forefront of all our minds right now is the energy bills. With a record increase in global gas prices, we’ve seen the energy price cap rise by 54% last month, meaning that those who are on default tariffs and paying by direct debit will see an increase of £693 a year to their bills, and those who are prepayment customers are seeing even larger increases.

Everyone is focusing on ways they can minimise their energy bills to help cope with such stiff price rises. Usually, we would suggest looking into switching your energy supplier but we would not advise that as things currently stand, most suppliers are not able to offer cheaper deals while the fuel prices are so high, so it can be beneficial to consider other options to reduce your household bills.

Installing energy-efficient double glazing will reduce the amount of heat escaping through the windows and save you from wasting money on an unnecessarily expensive bill. With Door Doctor, you can count on them to assess your windows and offer advice if they may need repair or replacement. Established in 1984, they have the expertise, competitive prices, and prompt service to restore misted windows and spare you the cost of a new one.

Door Doctor also offers more general door and window repairs, which are perfect if you can feel a draught or have a window that won’t close. Once repaired you’ll no longer be wasting heat, or the money it takes to compensate for the previously inefficient seals.

Grocery Shopping

December saw the highest rate of inflation in almost 30 years and it’s still rising, this has a knock-on effect of raising the cost of food and making our weekly shop hit our pockets harder. We can mitigate these costs by making a few changes to the way we shop, for example, swapping your usual supermarket for a more cost-effective one. Aldi and Lidl are well-known for being inexpensive though they don’t have such a wide range of products available when compared with the bigger stores. If you want the combination of a diverse product range and budget-friendly cost, then we suggest shopping with Asda who has been the cheapest of the big four supermarkets for almost two years.

Changing your supermarket can have a dramatic effect on your food bills but there are even more ways to save by developing some smart habits. We recommend utilising a shopping list for every supermarket trip, it sounds like an inconsequential thing but being mindful of the items you need to purchase and sticking to that list can easily save you a pretty penny. It can also pay to carefully inspect the special offers to check if they will actually save you money or are perhaps a clever piece of marketing targeted at us to consider buying things we don’t really need.

If you’re looking for a more substantial lifestyle change that can save you an equally noticeable sum of money then we would suggest looking into adopting vegetarian meals into your diet. Beans and eggs are much more affordable protein alternatives when compared to meat and fish, and cooking from scratch can save you money and cut down on food wastage. If going for a fully vegetarian diet sounds too intimidating then perhaps start with a flexitarian diet, this encourages eating mostly plant-based foods while allowing meat in moderation. Be sure to read our “Treat Yourself Right” article in this month’s issue to read more about the benefits of increasing your fruit and vegetable intake, and check out this month’s recipes to inspire you to have a go at National Vegetarian Week!

Growing your own fruit and vegetables can sound like a daunting task but by starting small with just a few beginner-friendly plants you’ll soon build the confidence to branch out to try growing much more! We recommend starting with some easy to grow vegetables such as salad leaves, potatoes, and peas. If you would like to try growing your own fruit then we would advise starting with strawberries and blueberries, and be sure to keep an eye out in the autumn for when our hedgerows are bursting with blackberries! It’s a remarkably rewarding experience to use your home-grown produce in your meals and it’s a wonderful way to reduce your food bills too.

Fuel Savings

Another way we can reduce our bills is to ensure we are driving in more economic ways to avoid us burning more fuel than needed. As of the 7th April, petrol prices averaged 163p per litre, with diesel averaging at 177.5p per litre. Fuel prices are on the rise for a multitude of reasons, inflation and record crude oil prices have driven up the cost, but the ongoing war in Ukraine is also playing a factor in this too.

With a few economic habits, we can ensure that we’re not burning more fuel than we intend. By being more conscious of the way you drive you can increase the fuel economy of your vehicle, driving smoothly and anticipating the flow of traffic means you will save the energy used to get the vehicle up to speed that is often wasted by braking. If you drive a manual car, it is beneficial to be mindful of when you can shift up a gear, doing so as early as possible without straining the engine can save on your fuel consumption.

Tyre pressure can have a big impact on your fuel economy. It’s worth checking them regularly because even if they are slightly under-inflated it will force your engine to work harder to turn them.

Sitting in traffic jams is a particularly frustrating problem that leads to an unnecessary amount of fuel being burned while simultaneously burning a hole in your pocket. To combat this, we suggest using a sat nav or the maps feature on your smart device, these help you avoid these costly standstills by rerouting you to get to your destination quicker, and many can also calculate the most economical way to reach your destination too!

It can feel daunting to be faced with price increases from every angle but we hope that our approachable recommendations will encourage you to try incorporating them into your daily life. Small habits are the easiest and most accessible way to create more substantial changes while saving you a small fortune, we hope that they lead to a greater sense of control of your finances.