Share your top tips on staying on top of the family’s bills with EE – HTC One Mini (worth £365) to be won NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

EE want to know what tips Mumsnetters have for staying on top of their family’s bills.

Here’s what EE have to say, “We're the UK's biggest mobile network and we've just created Shared 4GEE Plans. Based on the idea that you share your data allowance across multiple devices (phones, laptops, tablets) you can save money. You can sign up with up to four other people (friends, your partner, your mum and dad) and together you can get up to 50GB data for everyone to play with, as well as unlimited calls and texts for all the phones – all on one simple bill.”

So, what tips do you have for keeping on top of your family’s bills and making sure you stay within budget? Do you revise your bills thoroughly each month? Do you make sure you only run the dishwasher and washing machine overnight? Perhaps you Skype rather than phone call any friends or relatives living or travelling overseas? Whatever it is we’d love to hear about it.

Everyone who adds their comments to the thread will be entered into a prize draw to win an HTC One Mini. For full T&Cs please terms and conditions click here

Please note your comments may be used (anonymously of course) on EE's pages on MN, social media channels and possibly elsewhere.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

all my bills have been converted to monthly and paid by direct debit - that way no nasty surprises in the post.
Buy good brand clothes 2nd hand from ebay and charity shops and sell them on to pay for the next lot. Always buy out of season, and sell at the beginning of a new season. Similarly with toys - we do a big clear out in October and sell from mid Nov, whats in paypal pays for new stuff.

Our library (and therefore most others I would assume) lend out energy monitors, we've borrowed one and it really helps you get a good idea of which appliances use most energy. I know we all know which are the big users but seeing the numbers on a screen has more impact somehow.

Our big change since borrowing the monitor is trying not to use the tumble dryer. Drying out doors is free so now I will always peg the washing out if it isn't raining. I might tumble it to finish it off but things need to be in for much less time.

Walking rather than using the car, it's good for us and saves money on petrol.

Switching supermarkets to Lidl or Aldi, (I like Lidl better but that's just my preference) has saved a lot on our family grocery bill.

We meal plan - it focuses our supermarket shop so we don't things we won't use. Has reduced our food wastage and shopping bill!

We should probably take more care of our bills. I don't keep a good track of it but I do try to shop around from time to time and change provider, and to save heating/electricity in general

I have an app on my phone, lets me input bills in, the amounts, date due etc. I can set it up to alert me when one is due. It also tells me how much money I'll have left out of my wage, and I can budget accordingly. Has made it much easier since I used to obsessively list things!

Thank the lord for direct debits though. Me and DP use the app, transfer all the 'bill' money into an account and it takes it straight from that. That way we can't spend the money accidentally, these things happen don't they!

We recently changed the way we shop too. I use asda to get the food cupboard stuff, but now I pop down to the local market to get meat and veg. We've saved over £100 a month by doing this. So saving money, and supporting local people so it's win win! and the meat is always brilliant, for example the supermarket chicken breasts would shrink to nothing once the water had ran out, the market one stay lovely and plump - oh what a nice breast

Put dates of what needs paying and when in mobile phone calendar! Never without mobile so I'll always see the alert!

We are overspending every month nowadays and are trying to be proactive, doing overtime when we can, and the house is up for sale.
We change energy provider regularly and always pay at least minimum credit card bills. We try pay them as soon as they come in so they font get missed. We use direct debit as much as possible, so much easier to manage. We also do all the logical things, always wait for a full load in the washer and dishwasher. I do use the drier still when I can't hang it all out, with last minute viewers coming to see the house I can't cope with the washing draped everywhere!
We share lifts a lot with friends, it keeps costs down and saves time.

Hello EE! Here are my family budget top tips:

Easy Savings: I'm not talking about socking money away or opening an ISA and faithfully putting a percentage in every month. I'm talking about signing up to every top cash back website and reward card going, spend as normal but use these religiously, and forget about what you might be accumulating on them. Then, in 6 months or a year, you'll realise you've easily got a couple hundred to buy free groceries, presents, or take care of a few bills.

Ebay Bundles: my kids don't get new clothes, except where family nembers might buy them something for birthdays or Christmases. Instead I shop around for massive clothes bundles from pet/smoke free homes. I just think it's silly and wasteful to buy loads of new things that they grow out of in a year. Bundles I look for are always top quality names (Next, Boden, Gap, etc.) and usually hardly worn. I've had many compliments on my kids' clothes and no one is any the wiser that they've come second hand. Sometimes I've bought something like 5 outfits for as little as £1!

We have a spreadsheet which records all direct debits and standing orders, and try to complete this every week (at least twice a month). All direct debits go out on the same day, just after payday, so that all the bills are paid before the rest (haha, if there is any!) gets spent. We're pretty good about turning elec items off to save a bit there, and always use Skype rather than mobiles.

I'm getting quite fed up with these threads which pretend to ask a genuine research question in order to mask their true objective- namely, to advertise a product or service.

It couldn't be more obvious that this thread is aimed at selling the "up to four people" contract.

I keep a spreadsheet with all bills. I also make sure I transfer a set amount each month to a different account which covers annual bills (such as tv licence, car tax etc) - spreads the costs equally over the year.

I also go through my full bank statement each month and check everything is right and transfer any extra to a savings account. I regularly compare my energy supplier prices and switch whenever I can benefit.

I''m getting quite fed up with these threads which pretend to ask a genuine research question in order to mask their true objective- namely, to advertise a product or service

I think it's obvious what their real objective is, they're a for profit business so of course they'll use anything do advertise. Doesn't matter either way does it?

Cashback sites for all big purchases really helps. We put aside the money needed for bills as soon as we get paid and keep a track of what's left for food shopping. I try to buy second hand clothes for my baby as he grows out of them so quickly. We document everything we spend so we always know exactly how much is left each month.

I have free spread sheet programs on my computer, A list of shops and there sale days, supermarket shopping 7pm for the reduced items,Luckily i live in walking distance to a large supermarket, So i can pop in daily for the offers and the reduced items, And its helpful when you get to know the staff. And I check out websites like "hotukdeals" and "MSE" For freebies and coupons and misspriced stuff. And for my television package I come out with the I WANT TO CANCEL ITS TO EXPENSIVE TRICK. LOL

We keep a spreadsheet of our energy use and its easy to spot if things are creeping up. Other than that its just asking the question always 'do we really need that or do we have something that will do the job?' and we have a piggybank for takeaways and if we find any stray pound coins they go in there.

I pick up items for Christmas, school draw prizes etc when I see them cheap during the year so by the time Christmas is here I already have a lot of presents. Then I start in October when Boots starts its 3 for 2, so that the cost is spread over a few months.

I pay all bills by monthly direct debit, to spread the cost and to obtain any discounts for paying that way. Our local council offer the option to pay Council Tax over 12 months instead of 10, so that helps too.

Then I buy my DD's clothes when Sainsburys have a TU 25% off promotion, or in the sales.

I switch all electrical appliances off at the wall and only switch the oven, dishwasher, microwave etc on when it is actually required.

We manage our budget carefully.

I'm concious never to call mobiles if I can help it from our landlines and if I need to call DH I use my mobile as we are each others "magic numbers".

We only get takeaways and food treats when we have enough spare change saved up rather than going out and buying them consciously.

Hot water bottle... :)

Plus I rarely pay full price for clothes, shoes etc

I try not to switch the oven on unless I can fill it - so, cooking at least 2 or 3 meals at a time. I also use the small oven more than I used to - according to my electricity monitor, it costs 15p an hour, as opposed to 25p an hour for the large oven.

Don't leave appliances on standby.
Shop around, think about whether you really need something before buying.
Keep a stash of gifts at home and top it up when you see bargains.
Go through your wardrobe at the start of a new season and remind yourself what you own, rather than buying it again because you've forgotten about it.

We keep the heating off or low, wear plenty cosy clothes, have blankets on the sofas. Buy led bulbs and AA aplliances. Otherwise we have different accounts for different budgets, eg supermarket/food is separate so that I can judge easily whether different money saving tactics work.

Also love moneysavingexpert.
Unsubscribe advert emails, avoid adverts generally, don't buy magazines and read minimalist blogs instead.

One supermarket loyalty card and all food shopping, credit card and other stuff threw it. Vouchers for christmas.
Excel spreadsheet, put balance in at start of month, auto deduct bills, get left over balance and allocate.

Don't know if this has been mentioned already but I read our gas and electric meters every month - usually on pay day so I don't forget! We were landed with a surprise massive bill last spring after having estimated bills for about 9 months, this way I always know how much we're using and can budget accordingly.

We use a software called YNAB ( You Need A Budget) and allocate all money for the month as soon as it comes in. DHs income can vary so it's important we do this. No two months are the same. That way on a good month we can out some away. The ultimate goal is to live entirely on the previous months income and be one month ahead, but it's a long way off.

We use a cash back bank account, and DD all bills so we never get behind on paying.

Cook everything from scratch and freeze leftovers

Live in a terraced house with great insulation front and back. We never have to put our heating on