50 ways to make and save money; Your opinion could be worth [pounds sterling]20
0 Comments | Daily Mail (London, England), The, July 22, 2009
Byline: James Coney
WE’RE all feeling the pinch. Here’s your chance to bite back against the credit crunch as we present 50 ingenious ways to make and save money …
AROUND THE HOME
1) Don’t take a tumble
Tumble dryers use a huge amount of energy. Hanging clothes on the line or an indoor drying rack could knock [pounds sterling]45 a year off energy bills.
2) Turn it off!
Switching off lights, TVs and other appliances as you leave a room can save the average family [pounds sterling]37 a year.
3) Turn heating down in winter
Most people set their home thermostat at more than 22c. Next winter try setting it at 18 to 21 degrees and wearing a sweater or fleece around the house. Turning your heating down by one degree could slice a tenth off your bill.
WITH YOUR BILLS
4) Pay by direct debit
Energy firms frequently reserve their best deals for those who sign up to direct debit. And there are firms which penalise you if you don’t sign up — BT, for example, charges [pounds sterling]4.50 a quarter for those who won’t use direct debit.
5) Swap energy provider
Go to a comparison site such as uSwitch.com, moneysupermarket.com or compare.dailymail.co.uk and you could cut up to [pounds sterling]170 a year off energy bills by finding a cheaper tariff. To get the cheapest possible bill, you’ll need to take both electricity and gas from the same firm, accept internet billing and pay by direct debit.
6) Switch insurers
Don’t simply accept the renewal policy when your car or house policy comes to an end. Go to comparison websites to see if you can get a better deal. Then see if your insurer can do better.
7) Bundle
By taking out gas and electricity with the same company you can usually save. Likewise phone and broadband deals are usually cheaper bundled by the likes of TalkTalk. Sky and Virgin Media go a step further and add TV.
Switch or ditch?
Millions of us pay for TV packages with Sky or Virgin Media, but have channels we don’t watch. Several TV channels are sold in packages, so channels you don’t use could be costing you money. Take note of what you actually watch for a month. If you only watch a couple of films, it may be cheaper to sign up to a DVD subscription such as easycinema rather than paying Sky or Virgin for films, or use a free channel such as Film4. Comparison sites Simplifydigital and uSwitch have searches that allow you to compare the different packages.
9) Get web savvy
Many companies give discounts to those who receive bills by email instead of through the post — for example, TalkTalk will knock [pounds sterling]1.25 off your monthly bill. Moneysupermarket comparison site says British Gas’s standard average yearly rate is [pounds sterling]1,202.43. But if customers were to move to its online product, the rate would be [pounds sterling]1,018. And O2 offers a [pounds sterling]29.38a-month contract where you would get 400 minutes and 1,000 texts if purchased online
indoor clothes dryer