Sarah Juggins
Household bills are rising as household incomes stubbornly refuse to rise. Here are some suggestions for ways you could save money – from pounds to pennies, every little counts
LEDs can last up to 100,000 hours, compared with 1,000 hours of traditional incandescent lighting. While they cost more at purchase, the net savings are substantial. Phillips are leading the way when it comes to energy saving light bulbs. 2015 will see the launch of a prototype tube lighting LED, which the company claims is the most energy efficient light bulb manufactured to date, but Phillips market leader at the moment is the Phillips MyAmbience LED bulb, currently only available in a 12 watt version, but emits 60 watts of light.
Preventing problems with your boiler is key to avoiding unnecessary disturbances to your daily routine, as well as saving you the cost and hassle of calling out an engineer. An annual service on your boiler, carried out by a local, respected plumber, such as Whites Plumbing and Heating, can go a long way towards ensuring your boiler enjoys a long life-span.
Wattage does not equate to cleaning power, it is design that counts in the battle against household grime. Top of the vacuum cleaners is the Miele S8320 Cat and Dog, voted by consumer magazine Which?, and praised for its light-weight and great suction power.
Getting more than one service from a provider can often lead to cheaper charges. Providers want your custom, so offer incentives to encourage you to take more than one product. A good example is your entertainment package, if you have a basic entertainment package from Sky TV, then investigate how much it will cost to get broadband from Sky too, there are often deals that can leave you paying a lot less for your viewing/chatting/surfing.
By installing a water meter you will become more aware of the water you use. On average un-metered households pay £361 a year for water and sewage, while those on meters pay just £305. Meters don’t always save money, so if it is not working for you can come off the meter so long as you do so within a year. As a rule of thumb, meters save money in houses where there are more bedrooms than people in a household. Visit the Sutton and East Surrey Water website for help and advice on saving money on your water costs.
Supermarket shopping eats into our weekly or monthly budget, but one supermarket is consistently coming out with top marks from its customers for value and quality – Aldi. And the supermarket has received the Which? seal of excellence as it was voted best supermarket 2014 ahead of closest rival Waitrose. More than 7,000 customers took part in a survey for the consumer magazine in which they were asked to judge all the major supermarkets on qualities such as freshness, the store environment and value for money. 76% of customers voted for Aldi.
One very simple way to save pennies every month is to ditch the expensive cleaning products in favour of a universal product beloved of households for decades – white vinegar. Rather than forking out on floor wipes, spray-on cleaners and bleaching products, a bottle of white vinegar is a one-stop solution for cleaning the house. Wooden floors, carpets, windows, coffee makers, refrigerators and garbage bins will all come up sparkly with a splash of white vinegar in hot water.
