Money
Managing your money
Banish those big bills in 2008
Now that Christmas is over for another year, why not use January to check you are not paying too much for household bills, says Holly Thomas
There are savings to be made on house and car insurance, gas, electricity, phone and broadband by checking to see if it's worth switching to get the best deal.
Spending some time going through your outgoings can go a long way to making sure you don't miss the deal that's right for you.
Many of us will have been with the same insurer for years, for car, home and even travel. Too many of us settle for the premium offered in renewal notices without checking what else is available on the market. The key to saving cash is to shop around for the best deal. This is not always the cheapest, but it makes sense to see if you can get a better price.
The same goes for utilities. Take a look at the companies providing your gas and electricity. If you haven't switched energy supplier in the past three years, experts say you are probably paying over the odds.
There are tons of offers around from various providers, depending on where you live. By typing in your postcode to a website, such as moneysupermarket.com or uswitch.com, you can see which is the cheapest supplier in your area.
The best deals are often "online tariffs" which means you manage your account on the internet. This can involve reading your own meter to save money, and getting paperless bills.
Choosing a broadband provider has become slightly more complicated because deals are often offered to include your home phone so it's harder to compare what works cheapest.
If you have relatives abroad then it's worth looking for one of these so-called bundled deals, which includes free overseas phonecalls.
Carphone Warehouse's home phone and broadband division, TalkTalk, offers a Talk 3 tariff which gives free calls to 28 countries, plus competitive broadband and line rental.
However, if you just wanted to buy broadband, Tiscali remains one of the cheapest for standalone deals at £6.49 a month, for the first three months and £12.99 thereafter.
Your mobile phone could be costing you more if you haven't reviewed your bills for a while. Since it is possible to keep your number, there's not much stopping you from switching if it's going to save you money.
There are now hundreds of phones and price plans to choose from. But don't pick the cheapest handset, as it does not necessarily mean it will come with the cheapest tariff.
Try using the consumer website www.switchwithwhich.co.uk that can help you sift through the deals available that suit your individual needs.
* Holly Thomas is an award-winning financial journalist and Deputy Personal Finance Editor at the Daily Express and Sunday Express. Holly's views represent her own opinions and are for general information only. Always seek independent financial advice.
