These days most people have at least two if not more phones that they use. We live in a society where we feel the need for contact almost 24-7. Not many of us are inclined to tell people that we can’t stay on the phone because of a big bill, as this is embarrassing. However there are other ways to save a good bit of money on phone bills and these tips are devised by a UK payday advance company.

The very first tip is to analyse your phone bills as this can show what is costing more, what type of usage you have and the percentage to landlines and to mobiles. Depending on the usage there are different plans which can work out more economically, so get your last bills out and see what the patterns are. Are there international calls and if so that needs to be factored in.

The second tip is to remember that BT do not have a monopoly in the UK although it may seem as if they do. There are many cheaper alternatives out there such as cable companies who offer a package which includes both your landline and your television. There are also broadband internet companies who have much cheaper rates for low cost dial up services.

Consider an override provider as many of them can provide very cheap calls and are commonly used in the case of mobile calls and international calls. You will need to check with your provider that they do not block an override provider. The concept here is that you keep your current provider and dial up an access number of an override provider to go on their system and get access to these far cheaper calls. Then you dial the number you wish to dial.

Check on the internet for uswitch which is a service that searches more than twenty top UK telephone suppliers and based on your current usage find out which one or ones would be the best for you. They can assess how much more or less you may save by changing providers and plans.

In the case of mobile phone bills they can sometimes be even more difficult to control. The ideal situation is to switch to a pay as you go phone so that you are aware of what you are spending. This is very suitable for people who use their mobile phone less or those who know that they need to cut down on usage.

If you really need to use your mobile more then it is important as in the case of a landline to assess the usage and start researching plans which fit your usage. By following these five tips you can save hundreds of pounds on your phone bills.

Fuel prices continue to rise as the global demand for power threatens to outstrip supply. However the domestic market for fuel is competitive so you have the chance to make a change which could save you money as well as following these tips.

1. Go online and shop around as there are offers out there that you may not be aware of and if you change supplier to cut down costs they will take care of the formalities for you.

2. Make sure your heating equipment is properly maintained, such as the heat pump, furnace and filters. Units in less than top condition can be costly as they are inefficient. Dirty filters will reduce the efficiency of your heat pump or furnace.

3. Do not heat areas of the house that are used infrequently, such as guest rooms or studies which are not used much.

4. Think about a thermostat which enables you to programme pre-set times to both lower or higher the temperature.

5. When showering don’t be tempted to stay there more than necessary, as although it is pleasant in the winter, by reducing your shower time to half you could save as much as 33% on your hot water heating costs.

6. Check what temperature is set for you hot water heater. For homes which have a dishwasher it needs to be 120 degrees but apart from dishwasher use it can be quite a bit lower.

7. If the water heater is in a cold part of the house make sure it is wrapped in an insulation blanket.

8. Many of us habitually wash clothes in hot water but it is not always necessary so when possible use cold water.

9. Adjust your thermostat to the following recommended guidelines as they are both comfortable and work out the most economical.

When at home and not in bed: 68 to 70 degrees
When out or in bed: 60 to 65 degrees


10. When there is winter sun open the curtains on the side of the house where it is and let the heat come in. Be sure to close them when the sun has gone in order to retain heat.

11. Cut down on the use of ventilation fans as they can suck the heat out of room. In as little as one hour a bathroom fan can take almost all of the heat from the bathroom.

12. Use space heaters in the living area so you can lower the heat.

Do you have some friends who even during difficult times appear to still have cash to spend? They say it is the wise who always find ways to economise and it is never too late to learn about how you can save money.

In this case the saving tip is how you can save £1000s on your mortgage. There are not many people who can afford to pay cash for their home so the vast majority of us have mortgages. However if you are currently paying the full standard variable rate (SVR) then you will be paying £100s extra every year.

What if you are in the position to make overpayments on your mortgage, but let's face it there is always something nicer to spend that money on, isn't there? Think ahead, instead of succumbing to temptations, visualise how you could finish your repayments years earlier as well as saving lots of money in interest.

Say for example your mortgage is £200,000 over 30 years at an interest rate of 6%, then you would be looking at a monthly repayment of £1199.10 and over the period of 30 years you will be paying £431,676.38 in total of which a whopping £231,676.38 is the total charge for credit.

So let's look at some scenarios depending on how much extra cash you could put towards your repayments and see the outcomes. If you could afford to add in an extra just under £50, £48.87 to be precise, then you could have your mortgage paid 3 years earlier, you would pay a total of £404,342.51 of which £204,342.51 would be for credit. In this scenario you have saved £27,333.87 and have a mortgage free 3 years.

If you can afford to add on an extra £89.50 per month then you would have 5 years mortgage free and the overall total would be £386,580.84 of which you are paying £186,580.84. From the original mortgage scenario you would be saving £45,095.54

Even if at the time of reading this you don't think you have the extra cash to add towards these extra payments, there may be things that you haven't considered yet that could easily be done to re-direct cash. Sometimes we are so busy and stressed with every day life that we don't recognise them. One example is your mobile phone. Many people are on contract which in turn means that they are less likely to worry about the cost when they are enjoying a phone call. Switch to a pay as you go mobile and you can save £100s over the year this way which can be re-directed saving so much more on your mortgage plus having some mortgage free years that you hadn't bargained for!