Tips for managing bills

Paying by Direct Debit is often easiest and you may even get a discount for using this type of payment. When you have a Direct Debit set up, the money is automatically taken from your account each month.

You could pay over the phone or use Internet Banking if you want to control what and when you pay. You’ll have to remember to make all your payments on time so it’s worth marking the dates on a calendar or setting a reminder on your phone.

Choosing at which point in the month you pay your bills can help with planning your finances. To do this usually just involves a phone call to whoever you’re paying to change your payment dates.

It might be that you’d prefer to know each month how much money is left over to spend, so you could request that your bills all get paid out shortly after payday. Or, if you’re paid weekly, you might prefer to spread the payments out over the month.

For some bills, you can choose to pay annually. This will mean you’ll have a large payment in one go, but then you won’t need to worry about this for the rest of the year. Sometimes a one-off payment can even work out cheaper, for some bills like car insurance.

Add calendar reminders so you know when your current deals are due to end. You can start searching for better prices before they finish. Otherwise you’ll roll onto a standard tariff, which can cost more.

It's a good idea to keep hold of your paper or email bills. Check them against your outgoing payments to make sure you're happy nothing has changed.

For gas and electricity (and water if you’re on a meter), check if your bill is based on an estimate and if it is, take and send in an accurate reading. If you don't do this you could end up overpaying, or not paying enough.