Household bills are rising but there are 8 ways you can save money - experts

As the cost of living continues to rise, 55% of the UK admit that they have struggled with their finances in the past year. And it’s about to get even worse, with eight household bills increasing this month including energy, broadband, mobile phones, TV licence, car tax, water, stamp duty and council tax.

While many Brits will feel worse off, there are some things you can do to counteract the increases, according to MoneyPlus. Here are their tips to help with the current cost of living...

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Track your spending and set a budget

The first step to saving money is keeping track of what money is coming in and out of your account every month. This helps you to identify your spending habits and where you could potentially cut back costs. For example, if your monthly bill for streaming service subscriptions is higher than you’d like, you can consider cancelling the ones you use least.

Once you have a clear idea on where you’d like to cut back, you can set a budget for the month, ensuring you have enough set aside for essentials such as food and household bills. This will help with managing your money and making sure you’re not overspending on non-essentials.

Download a budgeting app

To help manage your money that much easier, there are a number of budgeting available, such as Snoop and Plum. Snoop allows you to track your spending behaviour by category and alerts you if there’s a better deal available for your household bills. Plum offers ‘Round-ups’, which round up your transactions to the nearest pound and set aside the difference. There is also an automatic saving option where Plum’s algorithm analyses your income and expenses, putting money aside where it can.

Money-saving challenge

If you’re hoping to set money aside, there are a number of challenges you can try to gradually build up your savings. For example, the 1p challenge. On day 1, you save 1p, on day 2, you save 2p and keep building it up until day 365 where you save £3.65. At the end of the year, you’ll have saved £667.95. Alternatively, you could try the £1 challenge where you save £1 every day for a year, so you’ll end up with £365 saved.

Turn down your thermostat

Due to the rising energy prices, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on how much power you’re using. Your thermostat should be set at the lowest comfortable temperature, which is between 18 and 21 degrees for the majority of people. By turning your thermostat down just one degree, e.g. from 22 to 21 degrees, you can save £90 a year.

Improve your home’s insulation

Another way you can reduce your heating bills is insulating your home so warm air doesn’t escape so easily. There are some simple ways to do this, such as using rugs and draught excluders to cover any gaps in the floor or under the door, and closing your curtains at night to avoid heat escaping through your window. You can also invest in a hot water cylinder jacket or radiator reflector foil to reduce heat loss and in the long run.

Switch appliances off at the plug

This is a simple one that can save you money. If appliances aren’t turned off at the plug, they can still use electricity even though they’re in standby mode. Turning off at the plug when you’re not using an appliance, such as your TV, can therefore help to reduce your electricity bills.

Plan your meals in advance

Having a clear plan of what you’re going to eat in the week can help you to spend more efficiently on groceries. It can help avoid food waste and avoid impulse buying takeaways or expensive food when you don’t know what to cook. You can also batch cook and freeze so you have meals ready to go on days when time is tight.

Get advice on debt solutions

If you’re struggling to make payments and have found yourself in significant debt due to the Crisis, it may be worth looking into debt solutions such as a Debt Management Plan (DMP), which allows you to make small repayments over an extended period of time. You can get free debt advice from services such as MoneyHelper.

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