Audit recurring bills
| Bill | Monthly amount | Annual amount | Renewal date |
|---|
What to review first
Useful guidance
How to actually do a household bills audit: the 90-minute method
Most "save money on bills" articles list 30 things and assume you'll do them all. You won't. This is the method we actually recommend: 90 minutes, one Saturday, and most households find £500-£1,500 of annual savings.
Step 1: list every recurring outflow (20 minutes)
Open your bank statements for the last 3 months. List every recurring payment, no matter how small. Most people have 30-50 once they actually count.
- Bank statements for current accounts and credit cards. Use the search to find anything repeating monthly or annually.
- PayPal, Klarna, Apple Pay, Google Pay subscriptions. These often hide outside your bank's recurring-payment view.
- App store subscriptions. iOS: Settings → your name → Subscriptions. Android: Play Store → profile → Payments & subscriptions.
- Annual renewals. Anything billed once a year (insurance, breakdown cover, broadband contracts, music streaming annual deals) is the most-missed category.
Step 2: annualise every line (10 minutes)
Multiply monthly bills by 12. Convert weekly bills to monthly first. The annualised figure is the only number that matters for negotiation — "£6.99/month" feels small; "£83.88/year" feels different.
UK averages for context (ONS Family Spending data, latest available):
- Energy (gas + electricity): £1,900-£2,400 typical, varies by home size and tariff. Energy price cap reviewed quarterly — check Ofgem for the current cap.
- Council tax: £1,800-£2,400 (Band C-D average, varies by council).
- Broadband + phone: £30-£50/month typical, but mid-contract price rises ~RPI+3.9% each April.
- Insurance (home, contents): £300-£500/year, up 20-30% on auto-renewal in the last 2 years.
- Mobile: £15-£40/month, often dramatically cheaper as SIM-only if you're past the handset payoff.
- Streaming subscriptions: average UK household pays for 2.7 services per ONS, often forgotten ones.
Step 3: identify the top 5 by absolute spend (10 minutes)
Sort the list by annualised cost. The top 5 lines almost always represent 70%+ of total bills. Energy, council tax, mortgage/rent and broadband typically dominate. Focus 80% of your audit time on these.
Step 4: switch or negotiate (40 minutes)
For each of the top 5:
- Energy: compare on gov.uk / Ofgem's energy advice. If the standard variable cap is in force, fixes may not save much in 2026 — check both. Use our fixed vs variable calculator.
- Broadband: call retentions. The first ask is always the renewal price; the second ask after "I'm going to switch" usually 25-40% lower. Have a competitor's quote ready.
- Insurance: get a quote at renewal from at least 3 alternatives. The FCA's 2022 "loyalty penalty" rules mean providers can't charge existing customers more than new ones — but auto-renewal still goes up if you don't shop.
- Mobile: if you're out of contract and not paying off a handset, you should be on a SIM-only deal. £7-15/month typical for adequate data.
- Council tax: can't switch, but check single-occupancy 25% discount, severely-mentally-impaired exemption, and band-challenge worth.
Step 5: cancel the small stuff (10 minutes)
For the bottom 80% of the list:
- Streaming you haven't watched in 30 days: cancel. Re-subscribe when there's something you actually want to watch.
- App subscriptions you forgot existed: cancel all of them. If you miss any, you can re-add later.
- Software trials that auto-billed: request a refund via PayPal / card chargeback if recent. Often successful.
- Gym memberships you don't use: the median UK gym membership is £40-£50/month. Average use after January is <3 visits.
The recurring trap to avoid: mid-contract price hikes
UK broadband, mobile and pay-TV contracts almost all include automatic CPI/RPI + 3.9% (or similar) annual rises. A £30/month contract becomes £34, then £38, then £43 over a typical 24-month contract. The fix is to switch at the end of every minimum term — never sit on a default renewal.
What to do with what you save
The mistake we see: people audit bills, save £1,000, then absorb that into normal spending. The fix:
- Set a standing order for the saved monthly amount going into an ISA / pension / debt payment immediately.
- Mentally pay yourself the saving. Otherwise it leaks into discretionary spending and you'll wonder where it went.
- Re-audit annually. April (after the bill price-rise season) is a good fixed date.
Sources we verify against
- Ofgem — energy price cap
- ONS Family Spending
- FCA general insurance pricing rules
How UK Tax Drag holds itself to account
Every page is reviewed against the editorial standards, written from primary sources, sourced openly, and corrected publicly. No affiliate revenue. No sponsored content. No paid placements.