How to save money on costly utility bills

Today, we have a guest - Luke from The Student Blogger.

Hello ladies and gentlemen! I'm Luke, aged 22 and from sunny old Essex! As of June 2013 I’m a graduate of Birmingham City University from the Applied Performance course, from my experiences I decided to start blogging, of all my experiences from university life, from housing and money saving to day to day life. Hopefully this will help someone!


Here are Luke's tips for saving money on utility bills......



"Everybodys favourite word, BILLS, you take this for granted when living at home but you soon realise that everything costs money, from watching TV, eating, taking a shower and being able to see in a room which isn’t like a fridge freezer! Having to shell out so much money on them can seem a pain, however there are some things you can do to help minimise the amount you spend.

Use price comparison sites to ensure you're not paying more than you have to

(An average customer can save £100′s over one year just by switching to a cheaper company. Remember that new TV you’ve always wanted?)

Money Supermarket

uSwitch

Sites like these are your best buddy as a student, they will help you to find the cheapest tariff for your home, but remember to have those energy bills ready because you’ll need to input some figures to calculate the costs, or you can estimate your usage by home averages. You’ll often receive a discount for signing a longer contract however they may impose charges for leaving early, so always read the small print! Remember our guide on saving money whilst shopping? You can get cash back on your energy ‘shopping’ as well!

Turn down your thermostat

It costs more money to heat a home at a higher temperature and by turning your temperature dial down by just one degree, you could end up saving around 10% on your energy bill. That’s equivalent to about £55, which is a massive saving for something you probably won’t notice. It pays to be savvy!

Use your heating at night

It’s a well-known fact that energy is cheaper at night, so it makes sense to use the bulk of it then. Try to put off heating your house and your water until after 7pm, or if you need to have it on before, have it on a lower setting. If you find that heating is costing you too much, it may be worth investigating whether you can switch to another tariff, which suits your usage better.

Use energy saving light bulbs

Energy savers use less energy than traditional light bulbs to generate the same amount of light, however they can take a little while to warm up, so plan your light switch on time strategically! They can also save you a huge chunk your energy costs. Go out and buy some!

Don’t leave the light on

This is common sense. Though you might forget to flick the switch when you leave, there are no advantages to leaving the lights on; it’s bad for the environment and bad for your bank balance. Try leaving post-its by the switches and get into the habit of stopping and thinking before you walk out of the room.


Turn your electronics off

This applies to Xbox/PS3′s, TV’s, laptops, the whole lot! — if you are not using them, they are costing you money for no reason!




Save your washing up for one wash

A brilliantly popular money saving technique that seems too good to be true! However, rather than heating water in drips and drabs, it is far better to boil the kettle and fill a washing up bowl with water to do all those dirty dishes in one go. Go on, we’ll let you use us as an excuse to put it off for a little longer, just this once.

Shower, don’t use the bath!

Using the bath is far more expensive to showering, especially if you like filling yours to the top (like me!). Consider the bath a treat and hop in the shower to get clean, plus knock off those extra few minutes you spend in the shower each day and you’ll be saving yourself even more!


And if all else fails, stock up on lots of jumpers and blankets and be prepared to walk around in your duvet!"

Thank you to Luke for sharing those tips with us!