Simple ways to cut your bills - from energy to council tax - and boost your bank balance in 2025
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The start of a New Year is a great time to take control of your finances. We're all still feeling the effects of the cost of living crisis - bills aren't getting cheaper and businesses have warned of more price rises to come. Christmas is also a typically expensive time for families. A new study by Lowell released ahead of Christmas found 74% of families normal rely on credit products to fund their festive spending.
This takes around 3.9 months on average to pay off - but one in ten people predict it will take up to six months to pay off their Christmas debts. Thankfully, there are ways to cut your costs going into 2025. We round up all the ways you can slash your bills, from council tax to energy, as well as ways to boost your bank balance.
Energy: Make sure you're being energy-efficient as possible, so that can include simple things like switching appliances off standby. If you have a time-of-use tariff, that could also be using energy when you're charged cheaper rates. There are now fixed deals that are cheaper than the Ofgem price cap, so compare online now and consider switching to save money. Finally, make sure you're getting all the help that you're entitled to - including Winter Fuel Payments and Warm Home Discount. If you're a prepayment customer and you're about to run out of power, make sure you can access emergency credit.
Mobile and broadband: If you're out of contract, compare prices online to see if you can get a better deal elsewhere. Check how many minutes and texts you're currently using, or your broadband speed, as many people pay for higher allowances that they don't end up using. If you don't want to leave your current provider, try haggling, and if you claim benefits, check if you can save money by signing up for a cheaper social tariff.
