Joel Gibson: Six ways to save cash on household bills
There are six common household bills Australians can cut. Now, finance expert Joel Gibson reveals how to do it with these simple steps and basic scripts to help you get a discount over the phone.
Business
Don't miss out on the headlines from Business. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THE HALF-A-DOZEN-BILL-KILL: SAVE OVER $1000 IN AN AFTERNOON
This is for the busy, the bored, or the just plain lazy. If you want to try for a quick and dirty saving of $1000 or more in a couple of hours, I’ve condensed the insider tricks in my book KILL BILLS! into this ‘Half-a-Dozen-Bill-Kill’.
Start the clock. Let’s kick some household bill backside!
BILL #1: Energy
• Grab your last electricity bill. Go to the government website compare.energy.vic.gov.au (in Victoria) or energymadeeasy.gov.au (in NSW, SA and southeast Qld) and enter your details. Pick the deal you like the look of most out of the top 3-5 cheapest.
• Next, go to onebigswitch.com.au (where I work) and see what the current group-discounted deal is in your state. (Reason: these don’t always show up on the government websites.)
• You’ve now got two super-cheap offers in your hand. Pick a winner and switch in minutes, or call your provider (if you’re fond of them) and ask them to beat what you’ve found. Here’s your basic script:
“Hi there, my name is [Your Name Here]. I’ve been a loyal customer of yours for _______ years and I’d like to stay on, but I’ve just received two really good offers from other providers. I wondered whether you can beat them? Perhaps you could put me through to someone on your Retention Team to see if they can help?”
Typical saving: $100 –$400.
• Repeat the process above for natural gas and you can also save typically $50 –$200 a year.
BILL #2: Telco
• Now let’s see if your mobile deal is up to scratch. Go to whistleout.com.au. Enter your current info – data limits, inclusions and network and they’ll show you some options. (NB: They might show a couple of ‘featured’ ones first who pay for the top spot, but then they’ll rank the rest from cheapest to most expensive.)
INSIDE INFO: ALL mobile plans in Australia run on either the Telstra or the Optus or the Vodafone networks, so you can get Telstra coverage for Aldi prices.
• Look at the top three to five options and pick one you like the look of. If you’re happy to switch, simply sign up to the plan you’ve picked and take your number with you. But if you really like your current provider, call them up and ask them to beat it. (Guess what? The script to use is the same as the one above.)
• On a roll? Repeat the process above for your broadband bill. Ask the mobile provider you chose if they offer a discount for you to take out your broadband with them too.
Typical saving: $150 –$300 across both bills.
BILL #3: Credit cards
Credit cards are the hidden household bill. The average balance is about $3500 and the average interest rate about 20 per cent per annum. That adds up to about $700 a year. So if you don’t pay it off every month.
• Go to finder.com.au and click on ‘Balance Transfer Cards’. You can sometimes pay no interest on the balance you move across for up to about two years! Ideally, pick one that also has a low or no annual fee and a low or no ‘balance transfer fee’.
• Pick a winning card, transfer your balance, move any direct debits you have set up onto your new card, lose the old card and chop it up.
Encase the new card in ice in the freezer like Ham Solo in The Empire Strikes Back and try not to use it. Ever.
Typical saving: $300 a year.
BILL #4: Car insurance
Grab your last renewal and go to your own insurer’s website. Get an online quote using most of the same details as your current policy but change just enough to make yourself unrecognisable, Groucho-Marx style.
• Next, get a quick quote using the same details from Canstar award-winners such as budgetdirect.com.au or youi.com.au.
• Now decide: do you want to switch or give your insurer a chance to keep you? If you want to give them a chance, the script for this one is similar but with a twist:
“Hi, my name’s [Your name here] and I’ve been a loyal customer of yours for ______ years. I couldn’t help noticing that you’re charging me ______ more than you’re charging a new customer. I know this because I got a quote on your website for a new policy with my details and I must have accidentally put my neighbour’s address in. Whoops! I’ve also got a quote from another insurer called _____ and it’s only $_____. I’d like you to match or beat those other quotes, please, and if you can I’ll renew right now.”
Typical saving: $100 –$400 a year.
• Still on a roll? Use the same process above for your home insurance.
Typical saving: $100 –$400 a year.
BILL #6: Home loan
The home loan is the Godzilla of household bills but you’re well and truly warmed up by now.
• Check your current home loan interest rate. It should be on a recent statement or in your internet banking profile.
• Go to canstar.com.au or finder.com.au and check what the cheapest rates on the market are.
• If you’re happy to take calls from brokers, put your details in at the online mortgage marketplaces loandolphin.com.au or lendi.com.au and see what deals they offer you.
• If you’re not ready to switch yet, call your lender or your broker and tell them what you’ve been offered elsewhere. You know the drill by now, soldier!
Typical saving: $500 –$2000 a year.
Now, relax. Enjoy the new year. Eat some chocolate. You deserve it. Post what you’ve saved online with the hashtag #KillBills and bask in the glory!
Joel Gibson is campaign director at One Big Switch. This is an edited extract from his book KILL BILLS! The 9 Insider Tricks you need to win the war on household bills (Simon & Schuster). KillBillsBook.com.au, RRP $20.
MORE NEWS
First home buyers can crack into market sooner
Banks handing out huge home loans to older Aussies
Banks handing out huge home loans to older AussiesAussies hit with $30K bills as ad firm goes bust
True Story: Leanne the super-switcher saves $3749
Leanne from Sydney’s inner-west is a single mum with a high-powered job in IT.
She’s time-poor, but she put aside one afternoon and went on the equivalent of a money-saving lucky streak, achieving the best results I’ve ever seen in the battle against household bills.
Leanne killed five different household bills in one afternoon and estimated afterwards that she saved the following – $610 a year on health insurance, $1595 a year on home and contents insurance, $777 a year on car insurance and $333 a year on two mobile phones.
She also told her energy provider she’d been offered a great discount elsewhere and was ready to walk.
So they matched the offer she’d found, saving her an estimated $433 in the coming year on energy.
Add up the numbers and weep.
“I saved $3749, and it took me two hours to do it,” Leanne told 7 News.
“I’m really tired of these vendors who take you for granted . . . I think we all need to just get more confident and switch!’
I asked her what her advice was to anyone who’s ready to have a go.
“Just put aside the time, have the paperwork in front of you so you’re prepared for the conversation and you’re not fluffing around on the phone.
“Be confident but polite.
“Ask to speak to a manager.
“And I think it’s best to focus on the big ticket items, particularly the annuity bills that come in every few months or every year like energy and insurance.
“Energy is the hard one because you’ve got to look at the back page and compare all the rates as well as the discounts.
“But it is possible to save a lot of money, and sometimes you don’t even need to switch to
do it.’
Originally published as Joel Gibson: Six ways to save cash on household bills
How the NBN has delivered just in time
The NBN has delivered, and it has done so in what can only be described as the ultimate — the hit-the-ground running immediate — stress test, rites Terry McCrann.
Sydney airport the wrong place at the wrong time
Sydney Airport has some of the sweetest acreage in Australia but when passengers numbers have dwindled from 9 million in the March quarter to 400,000 in the June quarter, that doesn’t count for much, writes Terry McCrann.