The Platforms To Cut Your Household Bills In Half

A rule of thumb for household bills is typically somewhere in the region of 30% of your salary. Household bills, however, can include a pretty broad range of different things. Rent or mortgage costs top the list, with all the other fixed costs – energy, insurance, amenities, and the like – being the sorts of costs that you always need to take into account, too. Plenty of people budget for the month, although many will end up failing to meet their targets, roughly 1 in five people will spend over half their salary within only a couple of days after payday.

Estimates suggested that a staggering 65% of people in the U.S. weren’t sure how much they’d spent the month prior. Frankly, budgeting in itself shouldn’t be so much work that you’re stressing over it, nor should you be neglecting to worry about budgeting whatsoever. Thankfully, amongst the many things that our phones and laptop can do for us these days, saving us money and time – especially on our bills – is one of them.

Establishing A Connection

Your phone and broadband billing is pretty much a non-negotiable for any household, particularly if you’re someone who likes to occasionally work from home. However, the price itself is something that can be up for negotiation. Several comparison platforms will offer you access to a full range of competitive pricing from different providers. If you think you are overpaying, your best bet is to get in touch with your provider and explain the better value you’ve found elsewhere. Several free sites will allow you to measure how much actual data you use, too, so you can request packages that actually fulfill your needs and lifestyle, and don’t break the bank.

The Cost Of Living

Mortgage payments are one of those fees that might seem incredibly difficult to negotiate in any way. The procedure of getting approved for a loan, and qualified to repay your lender has long been something seen as so complex, even intimidating, that you’d rather not deal with it. However, a quick visit to a digital mortgage broker such as Trussle will give you the chance to save potentially hundreds of dollars on your monthly repayments. There’s also the opportunity to find new lenders who will allow you to benefit from overpayment options or longer and shorter terms to your mortgage.

Keeping The Lights On

Energy and water bills are another issue that previously would be very difficult to ever reduce without modern technology. However, the historical method of estimation on usage doesn’t have to be the way you pay. You can request smart meters and boilers to track your usage more accurately and operate it remotely when you’re away. This can mean avoiding spending needless funds on the power you aren’t using, as well as only actually paying for what you’ve used. As covered in-depth by stats site Statista, 115 million smart meters are expected to be installed by the end of 2021 in the US, so they are becoming highly popular.

Better Budgeting

Downloading a budgeting app is about more than simply giving you better visibility on what you’re spending. You can set up alerts on bill payments, too. Paying on time carries a lot of benefits, including strengthening your credit score, as reported by MoneySavingExpert, and helping you avoid any late fees. In short, budgeting doesn’t mean ending a month with money left over, it means being able to live your life within your means, and demonstrating the responsibility you need to make progress in your financial life.

There’s plenty more you can do, too. Transportation, taxation, and smaller fees like mobile phone fees are no less flexible. Providers previously might not have worried so much about their customers demanding lower fees, but times have changed. With a few apps and a couple of sites at your disposal, you can isolate and identify all sorts of fees that you can slash in size with a few phone calls.

What makes great budgets, in essence, is how they revolve around your personal needs and ambitions. While it can tempting to pile the pressure on yourself to give up the things you do for fun as a means of saving more money, we think you’d agree that being able to pocket a bit of money every month on the things you have to pay for will be a little more satisfying.