Spend £150 or more (ex VAT) and save £15 off your order – enter discount code PACK4SUMMER in the discount code field at the shopping basket & click “submit code” – valid [...]]]> The Packaging Store has released their latest discount code to help you pay less to move home or put your goods safely into storage.

Spend £150 or more (ex VAT) and save £15 off your order – enter discount code PACK4SUMMER in the discount code field at the shopping basket & click “submit code” – valid until 15th August 2010.

This code cannot be used in conjunction with any other special offer or discount code.

Making use of the availability of government home energy efficiency grants, including but not limited to green energy grants and energy conservation subsidies offered by the actual provider you get your current energy supplies from can also [...]]]> There are many ways to pay less for home energy including taking advantage of various government energy saving grants.

Making use of the availability of government home energy efficiency grants, including but not limited to green energy grants and energy conservation subsidies offered by the actual provider you get your current energy supplies from can also help to subsidise your own bank account.

An extra benefit to this advice is that you will be helping to reduce global warming without it having an overall impact on your personal bank balance which is always a benefit in these thrifty times.

The UK Government funds various schemes that provide grants to households on certain social benefits to improve their heating and energy efficiency if they own their own home or rent it from a private landlord which in the long run will ensure they pay less to heat their homes.

Warm Front grants are available in England for  loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and central heating improvements. You may be eligible for a grant of up to £3,500 (or £6,000 where oil, low carbon or renewable technologies are recommended) under the scheme.

In Scotland, grants are available to cover 30% of the cost of installing a renewable energy system at home, up to a maximum of £4,000.

In Northern Ireland the Warm Homes Scheme provides a grant to make your home warmer, healthier and more energy efficient with grants available for cavity wall insulation, loft Insulation and a hot water tank jacket right through to either installation of a fully controlled energy-efficient oil or gas central heating system where no system currently exists or conversion of an existing bottled gas (LPG), solid fuel or Economy 7 heating system to oil or natural gas for those on qualifying benefits.

In Wales The HEES grant provides a package of heating and insulation improvements up to the value of £3,600 (or £5,000 where oil central heating is required) in an initiative aimed at making homes in Wales warmer, healthier and more energy efficient.

So on one hand consumers will grumble that [...]]]> When the focus is on how much energy bills have risen and how much they are set to rise again it seems that tens of thousands of people are still with energy providers that are charging them to much for their home or even business gas and electricity.

So on one hand consumers will grumble that the price of fuel seems to be rising every month but on the other hand refuse to do anything to help themselves.

A common reason given when asked why someone has not changed to a new energy supplier is “they all raise their prices at the same time” (IE: their all the same)

Well OK that is generally true and most providers will increase (or lower) the price of fuel in line with their competitors, however, what most people do not seem to realise is that although 1+1 should allways add up to 2, the full answer in actual terms can sometimes produce quite different results as explained in the following example.

A is charged £1000 a year for home gas and electricity usage and his/her energy provider raises its price by 15%, this means the expected cost next year will be a hefty £1150.

B lives next door to A but is with a rival supplier who is currently charging only £900 for exactly the same energy use (£100 a year less). B’s energy provider also decides to put it’s prices up by 15% which means that the expected cost to B for the following year would be £1035.

So though A & B’s energy suppliers did raise the price of their gas and electricity by the same percentage, B is now actually paying £115 a year less than A.

The moral to this little tale is simple … Change Your Energy Supplier !!

Footnote: This does not include VAT

Usually 0870 and 0871 numbers are redirected to a normal land line, so if you can find out the normal number you can call them at normal charging rates depending on the time of day. If you have [...]]]> Dialling 0870 and the “new” 0871 non-geographic numbers can be expensive however there is a pay less alternative.

Usually 0870 and 0871 numbers are redirected to a normal land line, so if you can find out the normal number you can call them at normal charging rates depending on the time of day. If you have a package of calls with your home phone or business telecoms provider such as free weekend calls or even unlimited land line (01 & 02 dial codes) calls then you can literally cut out most of your other call charges, as they will become part of your “inclusive minutes” and so become effectively “free”.

Mobile phone companies also usually exclude these numbers from their “inclusive or free minutes” packages and a call to could end up costing you as much as 35p a minute depending on your usual rate.

An excellent website SayNoTo0870.Com provides an alternative to these numbers by providing an internet search service that will help you to find the 01 or 02 geographic equivalent.