When did you last check who you pay Direct Debits to?

Right oh - I have been off on a wee holiday over the past few days - hence no posts!
While I was away, we have had an email in to the Canny Squirrel mailbox Gaeldom5@aol.com from York with a really excellent tip.

REGULAR PAYMENTS FROM YOUR ACCOUNT!

When did you last check what Direct Debits and Standing orders were set up on your Bank Account and more importantly, when did you last call that company to make sure that you were getting the best deal. You will find that companies become complacent for existing customers but offer new clients getter deals to get them hooked. A simple phone call to the company can often result in your monthly bills being reduced, by simply swapping to a different plan.

Here is what to do:

Firstly if you have Internet Banking go online and print out a list of your direct debits and standing orders. If you don't have internet banking your bank will be able to supply this list.
Next go through and check that all payments coming off, are still current and still should be paid each month. I ended up cancelling 2 direct debits totaling £35.00 that were being paid to some obscure charity that I signed up to ages ago!! £420 per year saved immediately!

If there are any you're not sure about - check with your bank, just incase they are something important like life cover or home insurance before cancelling any!

Next - once you have a clear idea of what your set "cleared out" expenses are each month - you need to start shopping around, to make sure you are getting the best deals.

I have used moneysupermarket in the past as it really shops around for you. You will see a link above. You can also just call each company - the electric, gas, mobile phone, home insurance etc etc and ask them if they have any better deals available.







Say something like " I have been with you for over 2 years now and I'm looking about to see what the best deals are. Am I on the best deal with you? Is there anything you can do to get me a better deal?

Give it a go - you will be surprised how much you can save on a simple phone call. Add a message on to this post to let us know how much you save!!