Small Habits, Big Savings: How We Cut Our Gas, Electricity & Energy Bills

Let’s be completely honest: everyone is feeling the pinch when it comes to energy bills right now. It can feel like you have absolutely no control over the rising costs of gas and electricity, and getting that monthly statement through can bring a genuine sense of dread.

While we can’t change the energy market, we can change how we manage our homes. Over the last few years, my family has adopted a mix of smart shopping habits and daily routines that help us squeeze the pennies and keep our consumption as low as possible.

Here is exactly how we do it—and how you can do it too.

1. Don’t Be Scared to Switch Providers to Slash Your Energy Bills

A lot of people stick with the same energy giant for years because they assume switching is too difficult, stressful, or complicated. It isn’t.

For a long time, I was with British Gas for both our electricity and gas, but they can be incredibly expensive. About two or three years ago, I decided to look at alternatives and moved us over to Octopus Energy. To be fair, they have been fantastic and consistently stand out as the cheapest provider we’ve used.

If you want to check if you’re overpaying, here is my exact routine:

• Grab Your Annual Bill: Keep your latest statement close by so you can input your exact usage data.
• Use the MSE Energy Club: I use the Money Saving Expert Energy Club platform to keep tabs on our average energy bills. It’s incredibly simple to use—you just log in, put in your address, enter your usage, and it runs the checks.
• Compare and Research: The tool will spring up a list of alternatives from brand-new suppliers to established names, alongside approximate price lists. Don’t rush—look at their websites, read their Trustpilot reviews, and check if your current contract has any exit fees if you are on a fixed plan.
• Let Them Do the Legwork: Once you choose, you can switch online and the new provider does all the heavy lifting and automation in the background.

Bonus Tip: Before you officially make the jump, look around to see if you can grab any extra discount codes, referral vouchers, or TopCashback rates to save even more on the switch!

2. Simple Habits to Slash Your Electricity Use

When it comes to cutting down monthly energy bills, every single little win counts. These small daily adjustments might seem minor on their own, but when practiced consistently, they stop a massive amount of waste:

• Kill the Standby Mode: I never used to bother with this, but it genuinely helps lower energy bills. Switch your appliances off at the actual wall socket instead of leaving them on standby.
• Unplug Post-Charge: Once your mobile phone or device hits 100%, pull the plug out of the wall. Keeping chargers plugged in when they aren’t doing any work still drains power.
• Boil Only What You Need: Kettles are absolute energy hogs. If you are making a single cup of coffee, don’t fill the kettle up with 500ml of water. Only boil what you actually need.
• Utilize Eco Settings: Take advantage of the shortest cycles or “Eco” programs on your washing machine and dishwasher to reduce both water and heating energy.
• Be Fast in the Shower: If you have an electric shower (another high-energy appliance), keep your shower time quick and avoid cranking the dial up to the absolute maximum heat setting.

3. Managing Our Gas Consumption Wisely

To be fair, gas doesn’t make up the largest chunk of our energy bills in our household. We don’t have a gas fire, and we only use a gas hob for cooking. To keep our gas usage down, we rely on a couple of specific strategies:

• Batch Cooking: Once or twice a week, we try to do big batch cooking sessions. Using the hob to prep multiple meals at the exact same time covers our lunches and dinners for the week, saving us from turning the appliances on every single day.
• Ditch the Main Oven: Instead of constantly pre-heating a massive main oven, look into using a smaller air fryer or a halogen oven. They heat up instantly and use a fraction of the energy.
• Optimize the Boiler Settings: We do have a gas boiler, but I manage it very carefully. I keep the central heating dial set to a medium level rather than forcing it into high consumption. The goal is a steady, warm, comfortable heat throughout the house.
• Stop the Leaks: A steady heat only works if you keep it inside. Make sure all your internal doors are kept closed and check your external doors and windows for drafts so your expensive heat doesn’t leak right out.

Watch Out for the “Overdrive” Trap!

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that consistency is everything, because slip-ups cost money. Just the other day, I accidentally left our fridge door slightly open when heading out to work. When I came home, the fridge had been working on absolute overdrive all day trying to cool the entire kitchen!

The same goes for leaving a leaky tap unchecked when you’re rushing out the door. These little things add up across a month, and if you keep forgetting them, they turn into a nasty shock when your bill arrives.

You don’t need to be an expert energy adviser to take control of your energy bills and protect your hard-earned money. Start asking friends and family what they use, do your research on comparison sites, and pick off these small wins one by one.

What small changes have you made to keep your bills down this month? Let me know in the comments below!