The money you earn tends to be whipped from your account every month by a number of different bills. Whether that’s your utility costs, the price of your smartphone contract or the insurance you have to protect your car, home and health, a large chunk of your earnings will go on these bills. So, it’s paramount that you’re getting value for money in each case, searching for the best deals or negotiating better contracts. Here’s how you can save on your bills, pocketing the extra cash to spend or save.
Negotiation
Too few people negotiate with the firms with which they engage. While sometimes a negotiation will get you nowhere, many firms are set up to engage with these kinds of requests and conversations, listening to what you have to say and considering whether it will be worth lowering their rates in order to keep you as a customer.
Voting with your feet helps. Being able to say that you’ve found another provider who offers a better service for cheaper can go a long way to bringing the price down with your current provider – be that for your electricity or your insurance. So, make sure you’re ready for negotiations when you’re signing new contracts in the future. They’ll often save you cash for months on end.
Research
There can be no substitute for research when it comes to saving money. If you’re not willing to put in the time to find the best deals, you’ll find that you’re saddled with bills that are far from the competitive price point in the market. Happily, you won’t necessarily need to search through each website to find the best price – there are websites that can do it for you.
Other than using these price comparison websites, it’s also worth shopping around. If you’re looking for Austin auto insurance, for instance, you can search a variety of local websites, contacting the vendors who you feel are offering the best deals. Many of these websites will offer cheaper policies to those with low-risk cars and a low-risk driving history – so that’s something to capitalize on too.
Reduce
Where you can, reducing your consumption can help you to reduce your bills. This is most obvious if you’re on a per-use contract – as is often the case for your home’s utilities and your phone contract. But you can also sign these contracts in other areas of your life. Car insurance, for instance, is cheaper if you can tell an insurer that you don’t drive your car every day.
So, making small lifestyle changes – like switching off the lights, using your phone and car less, or saving on water – can make a big difference when aggregated over a month. It’s also good for the planet to reduce consumption, so you’ll be saving the environment while you pocket some extra dollars for yourself. For help reducing your consumption, search for tips online.
There you have it: three ways in which you can save money on your bills – changes that’ll help you save hundreds of dollars over the years.
