When you have a big family and a busy household, bills can ramp up quickly. You start to dread opening the letters, terrified about how much you owe this month. 

While paying bills isn’t avoidable, there are ways to cut down. It’s important to talk about this with everyone in your household to ensure that your kids understand to follow the rules, too. So, here are some tips to cut down on bills. 

Change your bulbs

We all like having a bright, well-lit home. But some lights use more electricity than others, meaning that your bill will be higher. LED light bulbs use less energy and save more money compared to halogen, incandescent, and CFL bulbs. They last longer too. So, consider changing your light bulbs. If you’re up for a long-term investment, you could also install solar panels, which can reduce electricity spend by as much as 40-50%. 

Switch Energy Providers 

Lots of people don’t bother to compare and switch energy providers when their contract or tariff comes to an end and this can be costly. By comparing energy providers and reading energy reviews you could save a lot of money on your bills.

Turn off the taps

Your water bill can quickly add up. If your kids are keeping the tap running unnecessarily – when brushing their teeth, for example – they could be causing additional costs. Teach them the value of water and encourage them to try to save it where possible.  

Switch to showers

Not only that, but taking a bath uses a lot more water than a shower. If you and your family are fans of long hot baths, try to cut down and restrict them to one or two a week. A shower saves more water and is quicker for everyone, too. 

Change your phone bill

Phone bills can come at whopping costs. Plus, you’ll often find that there are strange add-ons that you weren’t expecting. If you’re taken aback by your phone bill every month, it might be time to change providers. Try phoning a few competing companies: you might be able to haggle the price down if you’re lucky. Alternatively, if you’ve had your phone for a few years, why not consider pay as you go? This means that you only top up your phone when you need to. No one needs 100GB of data, anyway. 

Turn down your thermostat

We all like living in warm, cosy homes – especially in winter when it’s so miserable outside. However, turning your thermostat down just by 1 degree could cut 10% off your heating bill. The positive? You won’t even notice the difference. Alternatively, you could turn it down even more and encourage your household to wrap up a little more inside. If your kids are walking around barefoot in winter then the house is probably a little too warm. This isn’t great for the environment – or your wallet. 

Pay on time

While we all resent paying bills, the most important thing is to ensure you pay them on time. If you miss payments or constantly pay late you’ll start to experience late fines, which can be extortionate. If you’re worried about forgetting to pay, make a note in your calendar or set up a direct debit. 

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