It pays to shop around

[jacey]

A few months ago I halved the cost of my ISP for the next 18 months. Saving approx £96 per year and (after initial trauma) getting a better service. Yesterday I saved £120 off a multi-car insurance policy (2 cars, his and mine) by shopping around. Yay! And today I changed energy supplier which should save me £600 over the coming year.

I'm all for being loyal to companies that treat you well, and I support local businesses whenever I can, but honestly, you can't afford NOT to shop around these days - for some things, at least. That's £816 saved over the coming year for just a few mouse clicks.

But next year I'll probably have to do it all again because companies lure you in with low rates and special deals and then whack the prices back up after the initial honeymoon period. Thank goodness for the moneysavingexpert site and their email newsletter.

Comments

[saare-snowqueen.livejournal.com]

I think what you're doing is absolutely right. If more consumers took the time to educate themselves AND acted like you have, I would force service providing companies to improve their game.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I also managed to save a bit my taking BT up on an offer to pay my line rental for a year instead of monthly. It saved about £30 on each line if I remember rightly.

I would stay loyal if companies offered me as good a deal as they offer the new customers, but most of the time they're too busy plaing bait and switch.