Martin Lewis fan saves £2,400 a year on energy bills after following his advice | Personal Finance | Finance
There’s no getting away from rising energy bills but some people could help stretch their monthly budget by questioning their direct debit amount. One man told the Martin Lewis Money Show how he managed to reduce his monthly bill from £598 to £391 saving around £2,400 a year after following his advice.
With energy bills around two and a half times more expensive than they were this time last year, people are trying out new ways to try and save money.
MoneySavingExpert Martin Lewis has been urging people to question their direct debit amounts with their energy companies as they could be paying too much.
On the latest episode of the Martin Lewis Money Show Live earlier today, he said while people would get the money back if direct debits are too high, lots of people need the money now.
Richard said: “My mum’s energy provider wanted to double her direct debit to £598. I took their figures and put them into an online calculator, rang them, and they agreed to reduce the monthly payment to £391. Thank you!.”
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Debbie said: “Thank you so much for your energy supplier tips and direct debit calculator. I could not understand why my direct debit had been increased nearly three-fold, especially as I knew it was in credit at the last bill in September.
“I used your calculator and could see I was being overcharged, and the only way I could get a current invoice to check was to change to a variable monthly direct debit, which seems a better option that I never knew I could do until I read your tips. This was easily achieved by using WhatsApp to contact EDF customer services.
“After giving EDF both meter readings yesterday and changing over to whole amount direct debit, it was confirmed this morning that I am £3,831.91 in credit, which is being repaid to me. I am in shock.
“I can’t thank you enough for your excellent tips on dealing with the energy crisis – I can manage my whole amount direct debit bills more carefully by watching my usage, but at least I know I am only paying for what I am using.”
Meanwhile, Express.co.uk has been testing popular money saving tips to see which ones actually work when it comes to saving money on energy bills.
According to Utilita, slow cookers cost 16p a day to run, which is less than half the price of a gas or electric cooker.
Electric throws cost just five pence an hour to run in comparison to central heating which is more like 90 pence per hour.
Express Money readers can use a really useful online tool which helps people work out how much each of their household appliances is costing them so they can decide which swaps they are prepared to make.
