GAVIN GILMAN cut his Sky TV bill by £180 a year just through haggling.
The 29-year-old civil servant lives in Newport, South Wales, with his partner Sam Faulkner, 28.
Gavin says: “I am quite canny. I always look for a bargain and love to haggle.
“I said I was going to leave Sky, for which I was paying £56. After haggling, they came back with £51 a month.
“But I said it wasn’t good enough. I got it down to £41.”
The bargain hunter has also saved cash on his car insurance with smart negotiating.
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He says: “I rang up our insurer and said another company was offering me a cheaper price and I was going to leave.
“They came back with a £180 cut in our insurance.
“Sam gets embarrassed at me haggling sometimes but I reckon it has saved us £1,500, just from making a few changes.”
SELF-CONFESSED “savings geek” Sebastian Huschner, who lives in South East London, reckons money-saving app Snoop has helped him out to the tune of £1,300 a year.
The 40-year-old management consultant, who lives with his husband Dante, 48, says: “It is a very clever app.
“Snoop scans the market for all the best deals, that are perfect for me. It has made quite a difference.”
The app, which is free to use, connects to your bank account and suggests ways for you to save money.
Sebastian, right, explains: “If there is a free coffee at Costa going, it will let me know.
“If there is a deal for two cinema tickets for £7, it will tell me.
“It says, ‘This is your BT deal this month – why don’t you switch to Sky because it will save you £29 a year based on the package you have?’ ”
MUM Kirsty Devine, 36, and husband Darren, 41, have made tiny tweaks to their lifestyles to make savings.
The couple, who live in Halifax with son Jack, 14, suffered a shock when Darren was made redundant from his job as a mortgage adviser in December – just as their bills went up by £150 a month.
Self-employed Kirsty, below, who runs home decor store simplydivinethings.co.uk, says: “I knew I had to do something to take back control of our finances. Straight away, we cut out takeaways and eating out.”
She also turned down the heating by 1C and bought a shower timer from Amazon which she set to three minutes.
Kirsty says: “Those two simple changes have already lowered our gas bill by £25 a month, which is significant. The water bill is annual but I’m hoping that will be less too.”
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She adds: “Instead of driving to work, I walk. I live quite close, so that probably saves me 50p to £1 a day on fuel – but small savings add up.
“I’m much happier since making these changes and feel I’m the one in control of our finances.”
