Flat-Living.co.uk Reducing costs TELEPHONE AND BROADBAND
Telephone calls are another major overhead for many of us, especially if we have teenagers in the house or work from home. There are lots of deals out there and it is worth going to a cost comparison website such as
www.homephonechoices.co.uk to find out if you could be paying less for your phone. Check your contract to make sure you’re not tied into a fixed period with your provider. Switching phone companies is a simple process, which shouldn’t take more than 14 days to complete. You can even do it online. For those with broadband, it can be more cost effective to bundle the cost of a landline and broadband together by using one provider for both – you could even add mobile calls and satellite TV. Sky and Virgin media both offer TV and telecoms packages. If you do decide to change broadband provider, don’t forget to check the speed of your new provider’s broadband service in your area and ask how long it will take to connect you. This is particularly important if you rely on your internet connection for work. If you don’t want to change provider but are keen to keep phone bills to a minimum, look at the small print on your next bill: making off-peak calls is cheaper. Talk Talk offer evening and weekend packages and BT’s ‘Friends and family’ gives you cheaper calls to certain numbers. All providers have their own tariffs so check your telephone company’s website for more information.
You might even consider dropping the landline altogether if you can
get a good mobile signal at home – there is no line rental on a mobile, contracts are very competitive and you will be offered a new handset free of charge on a regular basis. If you live in a mobile signal blackspot – there are products on the market such as Vodafone’s Sure Signal, that claim to give you a strong mobile phone signal in your home, using your home broadband. It boosts the signal throughout your house for up to four people at the same time. To use, you need a broadband connection with a minimum line speed of 1Mbps, plus a 3G mobile phone.
WATER
Although UK water companies have been privatised, the market is not open to competition, so you can’t switch provider in the same way as for other utilities. Nor are bills based on the amount of water you use. Unlike gas and electricity, water bills are still based on the rateable value of your home. The only way to ensure that you are only paying for the water you
use is to opt to fit a water meter. Only 37% of UK homes have a water meter but having one installed could save you money – and help the environment. If you know you’re paying for every unit of water you use, you are unlikely to waste it. The average water bill in England and Wales is around £360 a year.
For those households with meters, the average bill falls to around £300. However the price of water differs from region to region and so before deciding to switch to metered water, it’s worth finding out whether or not this would really save you money. A rough indication is to look at the number of bedrooms in your flat – if you have more bedrooms than people, a meter could save you money.
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www.flat-living.co.uk
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