The random-interval personal finances review

Diddums

Diddums

Diddums

Caporegime
Joined
24 Oct 2012
Posts
25,854
Location
Godalming
I do this every so often and so should you.

This time the motivation came from Shell Energy telling me that my monthly direct debit is going up by £230 (LOL).

Moved to Octopus and saved £30 off that right away, but I always like to dig in to other things too:

Sky broadband to Community Fibre: £35.50 a month, to £17.99 a month, £65 amazon voucher, 200% internet speed - £17.50 a month saved
Random web-hosting subscription cancelled - £6 a month saved
1x Spotify sub to be cancelled and add her to my Tidal account, which is 67p for 6 accounts - £10 a month saved

Thames water to be reviewed
Vodafone to be reviewed (not that fussed about this one as I find most other suppliers to be inferior)

What have you done lately to chop down your outgoings?

I'm sure @dLockers will post up a few spreadsheets for our awkward pleasures :D
 
Looks like I can save another £18 a month by going from Vodafone to Smarty.

My average usage is 10gb a month and the closest they have is 30gb so that'll work fine, it also work's on 3's network so the coverage should be good.

Will have a proper look later.
 
Diddums said:
Looks like I can save another £18 a month by going from Vodafone to Smarty.
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When my vodafone contract ended last year I went to Smarty PAYG and within a week moved onto VOXI PAYG (vodafone backbone) as the coverage was pretty abymsal with Smarty, not exactly out in the sticks either in Rugby.
 
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Went sim only on the mobiles a couple of years ago, so that saved a few pounds a month with Tesco.
Biggest saving is being on a cheap energy deal with EDF. They've just put my DD down to £55 a month for the next six months!
 
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Prices seem to be going up on everything, using the inflation plus 3.9% so looking at a near 15% increase which is ridiculous. Will be switching and ditching to negate some of that.
 
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SixTwoSix said:
When my vodafone contract ended last year I went to Smarty PAYG and within a week moved onto VOXI PAYG (vodafone backbone) as the coverage was pretty abymsal with Smarty, not exactly out in the sticks either in Rugby.
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Oh sweet, thanks for the heads up. Looks like I can get the same deal with Voxi for the same price. If they use Vodafone's network then the signal should still be decent. A few quid cashback on TCB too.

Smeghead said:
Did you not incur any penalties for breaking contracts early?
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Rolling contract, my days of having multiple-year contracts are behind me.

Puzzled said:
Prices seem to be going up on everything, using the inflation plus 3.9% so looking at a near 15% increase which is ridiculous. Will be switching and ditching to negate some of that.
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Exactly, hence this review. I tend to do it once or twice a year anyway, go through the statements and see what can be chopped or changed. So far I should be able to negate most of the increase in energy costs just by trimming the fat.
 
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Yep, check if you're out of contract on anything regularly. We're light on subscriptions, all phones on sim-only, debt free. Spreadsheet could be useful (if you remeber to check & update it often).
 
Dup said:
Yep, check if you're out of contract on anything regularly. We're light on subscriptions, all phones on sim-only, debt free. Spreadsheet could be useful (if you remeber to check & update it often).
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There's software out there that does it automatically now I think, never tried one though. Might hafta look in to them actually.


I seem to recall @Freefaller using something like this in the past?
 
Diddums said:
There's software out there that does it automatically now I think, never tried one though. Might hafta look in to them actually.


I seem to recall @Freefaller using something like this in the past?
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I use something called moneyhub which provides one stop overview of all my bills, DD, and spend based in categories and any upcoming payments.

However most banking apps do the same.

But I have a few accounts and manage the kid's accounts, and my pensions, investments, as well as foreign accounts. So may be atypical.

Having everything in 1 place with notifications as money leaves the account really helps. I can instantly know what my projected spend is on a monthly basis and add any incidentals such car repairs or whatever to it.

It's not for everyone and a spreadsheet is fine, I just CBA using one now as these sort of apps does it all for me.
 
Vodafone to Lebara. Same network, euro roaming included, 1/5 of the price for 6 months then half the price for the next 6.
 
Diddums said:
Oh sweet, thanks for the heads up. Looks like I can get the same deal with Voxi for the same price. If they use Vodafone's network then the signal should still be decent. A few quid cashback on TCB too.
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Yeah I can't fault VOXI, wife has used them for years, generous data and decent cashback deals. I'm actually back on a contract with Voda at the moment as it worked out cheaper than staying on PAYG and I got a new phone thrown in.
 
I've set my spreadsheet up so that renewal dates are marked and they are highlighted when we're within a six weeks (I think) of renewal.

I love this stuff though. Gives me enormous satisfaction to reduce the cost of a bill.

I also changed our internet provider recently. I was paying £23/mo with Sky for 70 Mbps. Now I'm paying £17/mo with Hyperoptic for 150 Mbps.
 
Problem with being money savvy.. No easy wins

Mortgage = 950ppm = fixed 1.89pc until 2028
Elec = 70ppm = 22p/unit = fixed August 2024
Gas = 40ppm (year average) = 5p/unit = fixed August 2024
Water = 27ppm = already on a meter
Food = mainly tesco own brand
Mobile = 5ppm = lebara sim only
Broadband =16ppm = talk talk 70 down 20 up
Switch banks every year for 100-200 bribes
TV = only Netflix HD (no TV licence etc)
Music = only Spotify
Cleaner = 27gbp every 2 weeks.
Takeaways = 2x a month


Not much can do without eating less, cutting days out, takeaway.
But cause don't eat out much I allow takeaway or 2.

But no easy or free wins for me. If I had to chop it would be Spotify or takeaway

I do not have a spread sheet
 
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Uther said:
Well instant £750 a year saving if you do your own dusting 413x...
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Due to gfs health issues I simply can't cope with doing all house solo. And I mean all of it. And walking the dog.

I didn't want to get the cleaner but the stress/mental load was really damaging.

See the relationship thread for details
 
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