Pay and Manage bills

Learn ways to pay and check your bills and regular payments.

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Introduction 1. What bills do you have? 2. Paying your bills 3. Reducing your bills

Introduction to 'Pay and Manage bills'

This lesson covers how to budget for and pay bills.

We'll explore different ways of paying bills and look at how you may be able to save money. 

What you'll learn

  • How to work out what bills you have.
  • Tips on how to pay your bills.
  • How comparison sites can help reduce your bills.

How long it takes

5 minutes

Chapter 1 - What bills do you have?

What bills do you have?

Chapter 1

How long it takes

1 minute

An example budget - Tom's story

Tom has put together his monthly budget. He's been on sick leave from work since a cancer diagnosis, and is on a reduced income. His wife works part-time so she can take care of him and the children throughout his treatment.

 

Let's look at Tom's budget. Here are his household bills:

Gas

£98

Mortgage

£650

TV & broadband

£110

Test your knowledge

Potentially, Tom could try to reduce all of these bills, but he would have to do it in different ways.

For his gas bill, he might use a comparison website, which you'll look at later. 

For his mortgage, he would need to check what rate he's currently on and if he is eligible to change it. 

For his TV and broadband, he might speak directly to the provider to get a better deal from them.

Yes, that's one bill he can try to reduce!

Potentially, Tom could try to reduce all of these bills, but he would have to do it in different ways.

For his gas bill, he might use a comparison website, which you'll look at later. 

For his mortgage, he would need to check what rate he's currently on and if he is eligible to change it. 

For his TV and broadband, he might speak directly to the provider to get a better deal from them.

Introduction - Pay and Manage bills
Chapter 2 - Paying your bills

Paying your bills

Chapter 2

How long it takes

2 minutes

Top tips for paying your bills

Before his diagnosis, Tom used to leave the money management to his wife. She's overwhelmed right now, and he wants to help take some of the pressure off her by sorting out the bills. 

He's never paid bills before, so here are some tips to help:

Organise your bills

Get a folder and keep your bills in it. If your bills are digital, put them in a file on your computer. Keep track of when they need to be paid. You can also use your banking app to make it easier to view your money.

Choose how you want to pay

Direct debit is usually the cheapest and easiest way to pay bills, but there are other options to pay bills, including using online and phone banking, by post, paying at a Post Office or having a pre-payment meter installed.

Check your bills regularly

This means you'll spot any mistakes and will notice if your bills rise or fall. Pick a day each month and use a calendar or an app to make sure you don't forget.

Use your banking app

You can also use your banking app to make it easier to view your money, keep on track with payments, and manage your details. 

 

Tom made a file on his computer, organising his bills so they were all in one place and easier to manage. 

He set up direct debits to pay most of the bills, which ended up saving him money each month. 

Tom also managed to find a new gas supplier and reduce how much he was paying. He started this by looking at price comparison sites. We’ll look at these in the next chapter. 

Chapter 1 - What bills do you have?
Chapter 3 - Reducing your bills

Reducing your bills

Chapter 3

How long it takes

2 minutes

How can I reduce my bills?

There are many different ways to cut down on your spending. For your regular bills, we're going to look at how price comparison sites work. These can help you switch or negotiate, to get a better deals.

What are price comparison sites?

Price comparison websites let you get quotes from a variety of different companies at the same time. So, they can be helpful if you want to reduce your costs. You may find another company will give you the same product or service for cheaper than what you're paying right now. You can then decide whether to switch to that company, or use this information to negotiate with your current provider.

More on comparison sites

If you want to know more about how comparision sites can help reduce cost, we have a lesson to help with just that. It will help you to use them and choose the right one for your needs. 

Go to lesson
Chapter 2 - Paying your bills

Want to learn more?

Budget

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Lloyds Bank Academy is committed to providing information in a way that is accessible and useful for our users. This information, however, is not in any way intended to amount to authority or advice on which reliance should be placed. You should seek professional advice as appropriate and required. Any sites, products or services named in this module are just examples of what's available. Lloyds Bank does not endorse the services they provide. The information in this module was last updated on 4th November 2024.

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