Small appliances that could be leaving you out of pocket

There may be some appliances around your home that are costing you more than you thought if you leave them plugged in.

Just having your computer on standby could be setting you back £95 a year, with your TV costing £24.

Despite using your Wi-Fi the majority of the time, when you aren’t, the router could be costing £19.

Microwaves are costing households an average of £16 per year when plugged in and game consoles cost £12 when left on standby.

Meanwhile, your printer can cost £20 so make sure you are unplugging any appliances when you aren’t using them.

How can I slash my water bills at home?

Moving to a water meter can help some households save some extra cash.

However, if you use a lot of water then this makes no sense as it could see your water bills go up.

The Consumer Council for Water offers a free water meter calculator that’ll tell you if you can save by fitting a water meter.

There are also changes that you can make to your daily habits that could help to cut back on your water usage, including reducing the time you spend in the shower and not leaving the water running while brushing your teeth or washing dishes.

Free debt advice

If you’re in debt there are plenty of services you can take advantage of and they offer free advice on how to manage debt.

Most of them can offer you free guidance and help in person, over the telephone or online.

What support is available if you’re struggling?

There’s a range of support on offer to help cover the cost of bills.

There are still two instalments of the £900 payment either being paid, or set to come.

The payments are being made to anyone on the following benefits:

If you’re not on one of the above benefits yet, it’s worth seeing if you qualify.

Not only will you start receiving money from the benefit, it could make you eligible for the second and third instalments of the £900 cost of living payment, worth £300 and £299.

Meanwhile, you might be able to get help via the Household Support Fund, which is available to thousands of people across England.

How much can you get in pension credit?

There are two parts to the benefit and pensioners can be eligible for one or both parts – here are the current rates for the tax year:

• Guarantee credit – tops up your weekly income to a guaranteed minimum level. This is £201.05 a week if you’re single and £306.85 a week for married couples.
• Savings credit – provides extra money if you’ve saved money towards retirement. You can get an extra £15.94 a week for a single person or £17.84 a week for a married couple.

You may also get additional pension credit if you are disabled, have caring responsibilities or have to pay certain housing costs such as mortgage interest payments.

How do I calculate my bill?

To calculate how much you pay on your current fix, you will need to find out both your unit rate for gas and electricity and the standing charge for each fuel type.

The unit rate will usually be shown on your bill in p/kWh.

The standing charge is a daily charge that is paid 365 days of the year – irrespective of whether or not you use any gas or electricity.

You will then need to note down your own annual energy usage from a previous bill.

Once you have these details you can work out your gas and electricity costs separately.

Multiply your usage in kWh by the unit rate cost in p/kWh for the corresponding fuel type – this will give you your usage costs.

You’ll then need to multiply each standing charge by 365 and add this figure to the totals for your usage – this will then give you your annual costs.

Divide this figure by 12 and you’ll be able to work out how much you should expect to pay each month from January 1.