Top hints and tips for saving money on your TV, broadband and phone bills
- Only pay for what you need
- Consider a bundle
- Consider getting rid of your landline
- Or switch your line rental
- Pay line rental up front
- Pay by Direct Debit
- Switch to eBilling
- Don’t be afraid to switch
- Don't miss special offers & deals
- Compare
- Your comments
We want you to save as much money as you possibly can on your TV, broadband and calls packages. So, to help you find the very best deal, we put our heads together to bring you our top 10 tips:
1. Only pay for what you need
It’s often the case that when you sign up for a service, your new provider may dangle a carrot in front of you in the form of another service at a reduced rate, such as extra TV channels or a faster broadband package trial.
While these offers are tempting, and can yield savings, they’re only going to save you money if they’re things that you actually need and were likely to buy anyway.
Paying extra for something you don’t need, however tempting the price is clearly false economy. If you only want and need a broadband package, and that’s all you’ve budgeted for, then that’s all you should sign up for.
2. Consider a bundle
Few of us use just our home telephone for all of our communication. Likewise, there won’t be many people who use the Internet 24 hours a day and never relax in front of the TV.
You may only be looking for a new broadband package but it may pay to consider opting for a combined package of broadband and TV, or broadband and calls, or all three services.
Providers refer to these grouped packages as “bundles”, and there’s a lot to be said about bundling your services together from a single supplier. And if the provider is offering something that you actually do want and need then bundles are a great way to buy.
You can save money each month when you take multiple services from a single provider as each service in a bundle will usually work out cheaper than getting them all separately from different providers. Some will even give you some specific services free, such as broadband, when you take up one of their TV offerings.
Keep in mind our first point about only paying for what you need but do give consideration to bundling services that you genuinely need if it’s the right thing for you to do.
3. Consider getting rid of your landline
Most of us have got a mobile phone, usually with an inclusive calls allowance that we don’t use up each month. How many of us will still use our mobiles to make a call even when we’re at home sitting just a few feet from our increasingly neglected home phone?
Consider if you really still need a landline. Getting rid of it could save you over £150 a year and don’t worry, in many areas you can still get home broadband without a landline.
If you do choose to get rid of your landline then you should bear in mind that some mobile phone providers will charge you for making calls to 0800 numbers that would’ve been free on your landline, and calls to non-geographic numbers such as 0345 and 0870 may not be covered by your free call minutes.
4. Switch your line rental
If you don’t want to get rid of your landline then you may be able to save money by switching it to a different provider. Chances are you’ll be able to keep your number when you make the switch and your new provider will do all the legwork for you.
When you switch, your new provider may throw in free calls to other landlines at the weekend, or maybe at off-peak times. Some providers will give you free anytime calls to other subscribers of theirs, so seek advice from your friends about their landline deals before you switch.
5. Pay your line rental upfront for the year
If you do want to keep your BT line then you can still save money by paying for a whole year’s line rental in advance. The saving won’t be huge but it’s still worth doing all you can to save as much money as possible wherever you can. After all, it’s your money that you’re dealing with here.
6. Pay by Direct Debit
Most companies prefer their customers to pay by direct debit, and broadband, TV and phone providers are no different. It’s a quick, easy and reliable way to pay, and it helps companies to keep their costs down. To encourage customers to use direct debit many providers levy a monthly surcharge on all types of payments except direct debit.
Again, this is a charge than can soon mount up, in some cases to more than £60 per year. Find out how much you’re being charged for not being a direct debit customer and seriously consider switching your payment method to save yourself some money each year.
7. Switch to eBilling
Similarly, many providers will charge you if you want them to send you an old fashioned bill through the post at the end of the month. The alternative is known as electronic billing, or ebilling.
Do you really need paper bills? With ebilling you’ll be able to see a full breakdown of all of your service charges on your provider’s website, so you’ll still know exactly what you're paying for, plus if you want to query anything you can usually do so straight from that webpage.
First and foremost, the switch to ebilling will usually shave some money off your bill each month, so give it some serious thought.
8. Don’t be afraid to switch
Many people are reluctant, and in some cases even afraid to switch providers. They think that switching will be confusing and time-consuming but they couldn’t be more wrong.
When you switch, your new provider will do everything for you. They’ll arrange to transfer your line rental, transfer your phone number, and set up your new account. Some providers will get your MAC code for you to switch your broadband account without you having to call your soon-to-be-ex-provider.
Consider switching providers if you can. There are plenty of other companies out there who provider whichever services you're currently using, and they’ll often give you a better deal to tempt you to switch, so use their generosity as a way to save yourself some money.
9. Look for special offers and deals
The broadband, TV and phone market is very competitive. Each provider wants to land as many new customers as it possibly can. This is great for consumers as the best way to attract a large number of new subscribers is through the use of deals, freebies and special offers.
When you’re searching for a TV, broadband or phone service, one of the best places to start is by looking at any special offers that are currently running. These offers can take many forms; free installation, free upgrades, money off or retail vouchers when you sign up.
10. Compare
By now you should have given some thought to what you’re looking for, and how much you're willing to pay. You’ve considered bundling your broadband, TV and phone together and you’ve thought about the savings you could make by opting for ebilling and paying by direct debit. So what’s left to do?
You should compare the different packages on offer to make sure you're getting the best possible deal for yourself.
By comparing different providers, packages and bundles you may well be able to find a special offer that you may otherwise have missed, or you may realise that you’ll be able to get more for your money from one specific provider.
Find out which providers operate in your area, and what level of service they can provide, then use that information, coupled with all the other things we covered above, to find yourself the very best possible deal.