Save a penny here, save a penny there...

We are just one of many thousands of families who across the country are trying to save money and reduce their outgoings wherever they can. A report on the BBC earlier in the week prompted me to compare our electricity costs with those of other providers. I was shocked to discover that we could save more than £600 a year on the £178 we pay each month. We have no gas incidentally as we are so rural so everything is electric.
I did call our existing supplier to see if we could get the amount we pay reduced but they made the explanation so confusing and difficult to understand. All I was interested in was the monthly amount, not units, tariffs and usage blocks. So in the end a quick call to our new supplier offering us this enormous saving was all that was needed. Apparently they do all the rest so I was pleased with that.
Next on the list was our pet insurance. We've been with the same provider for about 9 years and in that time, the premium has slowly crept up as these things have an annoying habit of doing. Again, checking on line, we found that we were able to have slightly better cover for £10 a month less. Again a quick call had this sorted out.
Finally, a call to they guys who look after our pipes and electrics internally on behalf of Anglia Water. We had been paying them £25 and have seldom ever claimed. So a call to them mentioning that we were looking at saving money and might be leaving them was all it took for them to take £10 off the amount we pay each month, and provide exactly the same cover!
So, it really does pay to ring round and see if you can get things cheaper. It's actually quite a satisfying experience. I know a lot of people simply don't bother as they don't want the hassle. But we are living in times now where we simply have to save money in order to survive. I was always one for just leaving things as they were, relying on the direct debit each month and not giving any thought to whether or not we were paying too much. I'm just lucky my wife is the complete opposite. Without her, I know we wouldn't be here now.
At risk of sounding like Martin Lewis, the UK's Money Saving Expert, it worked for us and I'm pleased we did it...