musicMagpie Blog

Everyone's looking for ways to save money and reduce bills, especially leading up to the winter months. From adding extra insulation to your loft to using heated blankets, there are plenty of tips and tricks out there! But what about some tips that don't involve adding to your outgoings? We've found 8 easy ways to save money on bills without spending any extra cash! Read on to find out how to reduce your bills the thrifty way.

---

In this blog:

• Cancel subscriptions or share the bill
• Cut fuel costs where possible
• Install a free water meter
• Swap out your phone contract
• Pay on time to avoid late payment fees
• Use your radiator thermostats 
• Install a free smart meter
• Look for government grants and schemes

---

Cancel subscriptions or share the bill

If you want to reduce bills and save money, cancelling any bills you no longer want or need is the easiest way to cut costs. Subscriptions like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Spotify are just a few luxuries… that aren't really needed if you're having trouble paying your bills.

If you don't want to see any of your subscriptions go, try reducing your subscription package or sharing the bill with others using your account. For example, Netflix has several types of packages, ranging from one user account to five user accounts, with the latter being significantly more expensive.

Don't fancy reducing your subscription package? If you have friends and family that use your account, ask them to pay towards the bill. Many households share Netflix and Amazon Prime accounts to save on signing up and paying full price. So instead of sharing your subscription accounts for free, ask for some help footing the bill.

Cut fuel costs where possible

The price of fuel is eye-watering at the moment, leading many people to look for ways to cut costs on their fuel bills. While you can swap out your car journey for a bus ride or cycle to work, there are ways to reduce your petrol and diesel consumption for those who can't ditch their car.

A great way to reduce the cost of your petrol or diesel is to find the cheapest rate close by. There are apps such as Petrol Prices which can scan through all the petrol stations nearby to tell you which station has the cheapest rates, so you don't have to drive around and check the rates yourself!

To reduce the amount of fuel you use, removing any excess weight from your car is a simple way of reducing your fuel consumption. Checking your tyre pressure to ensure your tyres are pumped up enough will also help you use less fuel on your car journeys without having to drive fewer miles or less often.

Install a free water meter

Water meters are a great way to save money on bills for those that don't use much water or have fewer people in their house than average. The saying goes, 'if you have more rooms than people, consider a water meter'.

For those that don't have a water meter, you'll pay a set fee for your water each month regardless of your usage. This fee is based on your house, so if you have a four-bedroom house, you'll be paying a higher water bill than those in a two-bedroom house. A water meter ensures you only pay for the water you use, so if you don't use a lot of water, you could save a fair deal!

For large families, it's probably not worth getting a water meter as you may use the standard amount of water in your household (or even more). Still, for couples and people living alone, it could slash your monthly payments so you can save money on bills.

Swap out your phone contract

Is your phone contract costing too much? If so, you can switch to a rental phone or buy refurbished phones from musicMagpie to reduce your monthly bill.

Yyou'll get a 12-month rental agreement and your monthly fee will be set – so you'll never pay more than what you originally agreed. Our mobile rental prices start from as little as £6.99 a month too, which is pretty cheap compared to the monthly fees most network providers offer!

If you'd rather own your phone, we also offer refurbished phones to buy at great prices. By choosing to shop refurbished phones and second hand phones, you'll get a top-quality device like you would when buying new, at a much lower price!

Pay on time to avoid late payment fees

While this one only applies if you're a tad forgetful, it's still a great way to reduce your bills. Whether it's your credit card bill or your phone bill, most bills come with a late payment clause. This means that whenever you miss a payment or pay later than agreed, you'll receive an extra charge to pay.

If you're prone to forgetting to pay your bills on time, try setting up a direct debit or standing order so you don't have to manually pay your bills. Or, if you'd rather continue to pay manually, set some reminders so you don't get stuck paying a late fee!

Use your radiator thermostats

It's all too easy to switch on the heating and have your radiators warm your whole house, but unfortunately this will rack up your heating bill. Luckily, you can keep your room warm and use your heating without being hit with a hefty bill.

An easy way to save money on your heating bills is to only heat the rooms you're using. For example, if you're entire household is sitting in the living room, only heat the living room! You can do this by adjusting your radiator's thermostats.

Although it can be a little tedious to constantly turn your thermostats back and forth when you move into a different room, it will help you save some cash on your heating bill!

Install a free smart meter

If you don't have a smart meter for your gas or electric, asking for a free installation will help massively when it comes to trying to reduce your bills. Energy smart meters will monitor your gas and electricity usage daily and send this information to your energy providers.

With smart meters, you're also able to see how much you're using on a daily basis. So if you're using a lot, you'll be able to adjust your usage and should generally be more conscious of your energy usage.

You can even set budgets on some smart meters if you have an idea of how much money you want to pay per month for your bill. Simply pop in your monthly budget on your smart meter in-house display. It will track your daily usage and indicate if you're nearing your budget limit.

Look for government grants and schemes

As energy prices rise, the government have been working to implement grants and schemes to help struggling households pay their bills. There are currently a number of initiatives that can help you save money on your energy bills, so it's worth checking to see if you're eligible for any of them.

Grants for cavity wall insulation and loft insulation are available for those who meet specific criteria to help insulate houses and lower the amount of energy households will use, which will reduce bills overall. There are other schemes available such as the Warm Home Discount and Council Tax Rebate that you could be eligible for.

In addition to government schemes, some private companies also offer discounts and deals on energy bills. So, it's worth researching to see if you're eligible for any help.

---

What are you waiting for? Try some of these tips to save money on bills. Plus, make extra cash by trading in tech at musicMagpie today!

Wondering "where can I sell my phone for quick cash?" Look no further than musicMagpie! We offer iPhone trade in and Samsung trade in options, along with trade in options for a whole range of other tech items.