Support with bills
If you struggle to pay your energy bills, there are lots of places you can go to for advice and help. This article from Martin Lewis gives some good advice on where you can go to get support, including on hardship grants you can get from energy providers. You should seriously consider speaking to your energy provider, as they are legally required to help you if you are struggling to pay for your energy usage.
Paying for energy through monthly direct debit can cut your energy bill quite significantly, however, as bills estimate your usage, it’s possible that you will be paying for more than you actually use. If you pay for your energy via direct debit or on receipt of your bill, you can calculate your expected payments from October based on the Energy Price Cap.
You will not be alone in struggling to pay your bills, many students and other households across the UK will be making difficult decisions this year. If you are a student who is struggling with money, you can always make an appointment with the Money Team at Student Services. If you are a member of staff or from the wider community, you may find Citizens Advice helpful, or speaking to your bank directly.
The Scottish Government has put together a website for Cost of Living, and there is a section on energy bills which may be useful.
Home Energy Scotland (part of the Scottish Government’s ‘Net Zero Scotland’ commitment) offers free and impartial advice to help people in Scotland reduce home energy bills and lower their environmental impact. They may be able to provide funds so you can install home improvements (like insulation), which can reduce your energy bills.
If you receive certain benefits and are struggling to heat your home, you may be eligible for some financial help to make improvements to your home’s energy efficiency, through Warmer Homes Scotland.
Find out more on support with your energy bills
Saving energy in your home
Many of us will be trying to save energy, hoping to live more sustainably, save money, or both. There’s lots of information out there to help you save energy, whatever your reasons.
- Layer up your clothing – base layers, vests, thin t-shirts, jumpers
- Reduce your shower time if you can, even just by a minute – it all adds up
- Wash your clothes at 30 degrees for less time if you can
- Only wash your clothes when they need a good wash, and do a full load
- Turn appliances off at the socket
- Fill up your dishwasher – no half loads
- Use an airer rather than a tumble dryer
- Boil the kettle and fill a flask and make hot drinks from that rather than boiling the kettle each time
- Reduce the temperature on your boiler
- Ensure your landlord organises a boiler service regularly (once per year)
For more advice, here are some guides on heating yourself rather than your home and on energy saving more broadly.
The following table is taken from Martin Lewis’s website, and details how much on average household appliances will cost per hour (though it depends on your model).
|
Appliance
|
kWh
|
Cost per hour
|
|
Tumble dryer (3,000 watts)
|
3
|
67p
|
|
Oven (2,000W)
|
2
|
45p
|
|
Kettle (1,800W)
|
1.8
|
40p
|
|
Electric hob (1,700W)
|
1.7
|
38p
|
|
Vacuum cleaner (1,400W)
|
1.4
|
31p
|
|
Microwave (1,200W)
|
1.2
|
27p
|
|
Toaster (1,200W)
|
1.2
|
27p
|
|
Dishwasher (1,200W)
|
1.2
|
27p
|
|
Iron (1,100W)
|
1.1
|
25p
|
|
Air fryer (1,000W)
|
1
|
22p
|
|
Washer (700W)
|
0.7
|
16p
|
|
Slow cooker (225W)
|
0.225
|
5p
|
|
PlayStation 5 (201W)
|
0.201
|
4p
|
|
TV (30W)
|
0.03
|
0.67p
|
|
Fridge (28W)
|
0.028
|
0.62p
|
|
BT Hub (12W)
|
0.012
|
0.27p
|
|
Light bulb (10W)
|
0.01
|
0.22p
|
|
Phone charger (5W)
|
0.005
|
0.11p
|
|
Electric blanket (100W)
|
0.1
|
2p
|
Guide to finding energy tariffs
Taking the time to find a decent energy tariff is one of the best ways to save money on energy. There are many providers out there and different deals, so it can be hard to work out what’s best for you.
Energy suppliers offer fixed deals to some customers which may be cheaper than the current Ofgem Price Cap (not to be confused with the former Energy Price Guarantee from the UK Government). Whether you choose to stick with your current tariff or are considering fixing, here’s some recent advice from MSE. You can also use their 'Should You Fix?' calculator to get a prediction on whether you should go for a fixed tariff, based on your personal energy usage.
There are various sites you can use to check for the best tariffs for you:
Other ways to save money
If you can’t make savings on your energy bills, there may be other ways to save money across your other expenses.
TV Licence
Many people get a TV licence when they don’t really need one. If you don’t watch live TV, you don’t record TV, and you don’t watch BBC iPlayer, chances are, you don’t need a TV licence, which will save you £169.50 a year.
If you only watch shows on catch up (except BBC iPlayer), you may be able to get away with not forking out for a TV licence.
For students, there are further workarounds to avoid having to pay for a TV licence, provided your parents/guardians have a TV licence. The rule is that you can avoid paying for a licence as long as your parents have a TV licence, and you are watching TV on your phone, tablet, or laptop but it is not on charge at the time. If you’re watching it on a desktop, console, or TV, you will need a licence.
Please note that if you do not pay for a TV licence but you do watch live TV or BBC iPlayer, you could be fined £1,000.
Broadband
If you’re paying a lot for your broadband, you might be able to find a better deal elsewhere, or you can ask your provider for a better deal. Don’t be afraid to haggle, they might knock some money off your tariff, especially if you can tell them about better deals from other providers! Please be aware of your contract and any exit clauses.
If you are struggling to pay for your bill, speak to your provider, some may have schemes to help you pay your bill.
If you are on certain benefits, you may be eligible for a social tariff.
Not all deals are available to everywhere, so if you put your postcode into this tool from MoneySavingExpert, you will find deals in your locality.
Phone contract
Another way we can sometimes be overspending is in our phone deals. If you need a new sim, phone, or contract, here’s a comparison guide of the current options out there.
Home insurance
If you are renting your property, it is usually the landlord’s responsibility to cover buildings insurance, but check! Contents insurance however protects against any damage or loss to your belongings, and might be something you consider, even if your landlord already covers the buildings insurance.
Find out more about home insurance
Car insurance
For those of you who own a car, you will need to insure it. Find out more on tips and tricks to find cheaper car insurance
Subscriptions
If you have subscriptions to different streaming sites, but you don’t use them all of the time, cancel any you aren’t using. For example, if you have Netflix and Amazon Prime subscriptions, but for the last month you’ve only been watching Netflix, you might cancel Amazon Prime and save yourself a bit of money. You can then resubscribe at any time, and cancel the subscription to the site you aren’t really using.
See the Travel and Food & Drink sections for saving money here too.