I've just saved loads by switching suppliers. Anyone else?

[lougle]

I've had to reduce my hours at work this year, and take a role that doesn't pay unsociable hours, so increasing income isn't going to work. Instead, we need to cut outgoings. So, I decided to really work at switching utilities, etc. I thought it would be worth recording my progress to encourage people that savings can be made .

Home insurance: I was with Aviva for years. Only £¹0,000 cover for £19.98 per month. Halifax offered £75,000 plus bike cover and outhouse cover for £12.98 per month.

Mobile phones: We were on huge O2 contracts that had included phones. The phones were paid off, but we still paid £70 per month for airtime, and we don't use large amounts of calls or texts. Most data is through WiFi.

I got our PAC codes and we switched to Giffgaff, still owned by O2, for £15pm, giving us each 250 mins, unlimited texts and 1GB data.

Broadband/phone/TV: BT has edged prices up and up. Now we pay a shocking £85 per month for infinity 2 + TV + anytime calls (but not to mobiles). NowTV have just offered superfast broadband, TV and calls including mobiles for £45 per month.

That's over £100 per month saved. I have to look at pet insurance, yet.

Congratulations on your savings! Please be careful with pet insurance though. Apologies if you already know this, but a new pet insurance company won’t cover anything pre-existing, even if you’ve never actually claimed for it. They’ll request a copy of the clinical history from the vets. Sometimes changing pet insurance can work out more expensive in the long run if it turns out you’re not covered for everything!

Hmm, yes, that's my only concern. The cat had an accident last month, and had some lameness as a result. Although it cleared up really with rest and maloxicam, the vet had been concerned with her cruciate ligament for a while.

Nice one - you have been paying heavy loyalty taxes.

With gas and electric , do the sums before switching as unless you are on the pricey standard tariff, the purported savings are lies.

Oh, and if you are paying insurance monthly ( not just telling us the equivalent monthly cost) there will be a big interest charge. Pay annually!

Absolutely about the Gas and Electricity! I'm coming out of a fix with my old supplier, so was paying £1464 combined (£122 monthly). All the comparison sites were offering massive 'savings' based on the fact that if we did nothing, we'd go onto a standard tariff and pay £2020. So they were projecting 'savings' of £400 ish. Those 'savings' still meant that we'd pay £150 more than we're paying now . In fact one supplier confidently told me that I was on the best tariff in the entire market and I'd never beat it because I was in a pre-price-rise fix, which was why the prices were so bad. However, Outfox the Market were able to offer a price that undercut my current tariff by £36 per year, overall, which is pretty good going.

We'll go for yearly payment of home insurance next year.

well spotted - the 30% rise in electricity and gas prices over the last year has gone unnoticed. (inflation 3%, eh???) A few sums or a spreadsheet quickly expose the lie.

Yes, £36 saving a year is doing well. That is overall quite a lot of usage, though - so I hope you can do something to cut it.

It's the electricity that's doing it. I'm pretty sure I know why, so I'm aiming to have that much reduced by next year.

I've decided to leave the two existing pet policies with PetPlan. They aren't extortionate and they are covered for Life policies. But I'm going to have a good look before I sign up our newly rehomed cat to a policy. Apparently, Sainsbury's is still PetPlan, a poster on MN who worked for them said.

(If anyone is lurking, an O2 agent told me that Giffgaff is still O2, just without call centre customer support a couple of days ago, when I was saying that we've been with O2 for 17 years.)

Have a look at people's energy for your electric :)

Have a look at BoughtByMany for the new cat, I was recently looking and they did some kind of policy (not a lifetime one) for young cats where they guaranteed the monthly premium for the life of the cat. Not relevant to us so can't remember al the details. Pet insurance is a PITa though. We pay £56 a month for two Middle Aged moggies with argos and they increase the premium hugely (like 10-20%) every year even when no claims. Pet plan do seem to be better though.

Thanks for the reminder OP I need to have a good look at my utilities. Were you tied into them? I think I am tied into my house and contents insurance. I definitely need to switch from TalkTalk. I have a feeling some are in exh name... and he left 3 years ago.

I was tied in until January 18, although most providers have to let you switch if your tariff ends within 46 days. Also, if your switch penalty is low (many are only £20-30 per fuel), and the offer saves you more than £60 overall for a dual fuel tariff, you're better off. Sometimes it is better to get two single fuel tariffs with different providers, also. Outfox the Market doesn't charge a standing charge, but rather a monthly membership fee, depending on your usage band. The less you use, the lower your membership fee (so equivalent standing charge), and they also use wholesale prices.

It's really worth doing. Overall, I'm going to be paying £100 per month less from next month!

Marks and Spencer home insurance is 0% apr on pay monthly at the moment. Competitive too with good cover.