Without anyone to help pay the bills the cost of keeping a roof over your head can soon rack up. Here are 7 things you can do to cut the cost of foregoing flatmates and living by yourself.

While there's a lot to be said for living solo, there's no doubt that living by yourself does place more strain on your purse strings as you have to cover the cost of everything from rent and mortgage payments to utility bills yourself.

However there are a number of ways that you can cut the cost of living by yourself. Here's how:

1. Cut your council tax bill

Council tax is an unavoidable expense and while there isn't much opportunity to save (haggling with your local council is unlikely to work!), you can get a 25% discount on your council tax bill if you live by yourself.

This single person rebate is not subject to means testing and is open to anyone who pays council tax and lives alone, irrespective of the type of property you live in.

It's possble to claim this deduction as council tax is calculated on the assumption that 2 or more people share each residence - if you live alone you don't have to pay as much.

Claiming this rebate could save you hundreds of pounds each year so is really worth doing.

To do this contact your local council office, notify them that you live alone and ask them to arrange for the deduction to be applied by your bill.

2. Slash your water bill

Like council tax, you’re unable to switch water supplier as each water company provides services to a fixed area of the UK. This means that the opportunities to save are limited.

However, if you live alone it is still possible to cut your water bill quite dramatically.

Most water companies get their unmetered water bills by setting water rates and estimating the number of people living in a property based on the number of bedrooms.

So if you live alone in a property with more than one bedroom you may be able to save by getting a water meter installed, especially as you have total control over how much water you use.

If you are economical with your water usage, i.e. you tend to shower rather than have a bath and are generally waste little water then this could help cut costs by having a water meter even further.

Most water companies will install a meter and allow you to switch back without charge within 12 months should you find that you are spending more than before, so check this is the case if you decide to switch.

3. Check your benefits

Many benefits are based not only on your individual wage but also on total household income.

If you live by yourself this could mean that you are eligible for financial assistance that you are not receiving.

For this reason it’s definitely worth double checking your eligibility for benefits even if you don’t think you’d be entitled to receive anything.

4. Reduce your car costs

Chances are if you live alone you have to cover the cost of running and maintaining your car yourself too.

You car insurance is likely to be one of your biggest outlays but there may be a way to cut what you pay without sharing your car with another driver.

Adding a second driver to your car insurance policy as a named driver, especially if they are older and have a long history of no claims, can sometimes significantly lower your insurance costs.

Named drivers don’t ever actually have to need to drive your car (although they would be able to should you wish) and can be added to your policy on a ‘just in case’ basis.

Yet insurance companies will have little knowledge as to how often they will be driving your car so will perceive you to be less likely to make a claim if the driving is shared with a low risk driver, potentially lowing your premiums.

However, you should make sure that you only add them as a named driver rather than having them insured as the main driving and yourself as a named driver. Although this may produce a cheaper quote if you will be behind the wheel on a day to day basis then you could be breaking the law.

This practice is called ‘Fronting’ and could land you in hot water with your insurance company as it's classed as fraud. Do this and get discovered and your insurer may cancel your policy, refuse to honour a claim should you have an accident and even inform other insurance companies of your misdemeanour - making it more expensive and difficult for you get insurance in future years.

However, before contacting your insurance company to add a friend or relative to your policy you should check whether solo cover is cheaper or you’ll end up paying more for no reason.

It’s also worthwhile to carefully consider how many miles you expect to drive each year, if you over estimate the distance you’ll cover you could be paying more for your insurance for no benefit.

Aside from your car insurance costs you should also check if there is any way you can reduce your other car costs.

Often breakdown cover is cheaper for a vehicle rather than an individual and if you only drive one car could be a great way to save money. So check if you could reduce the cost of your breakdown policy by switching to vehicle based cover.

Another benefit of living alone is that you will know exactly when you need to use any allocated parking you hold.

If you commute to work and leave your space free during work hours you could supplement your costs by renting out your parking space during the day.

5. Be energy efficient

While rising energy prices are encouraging everyone to become more energy efficient, if you live alone you have an advantage over other households in the UK that could help you cut your energy bills significantly.

Customise your heating

Living alone allows you to take full control of the energy you use in your home. It also means that you can customise your lifestyle and your home so that you are not using energy unnecessarily.

Set your hot water boiler to only come on when you’ll need to use it to save money heating water unnecessarily.

You could for example set your hot water to only come on once a day, in the morning or evening and alter your daily routine to shower and use the hot water all in one go.

The same can be said for your heating. Heating an empty property is not only a waste of energy but also your money.

You could also consider other ways to cut you energy costs through small changes such as avoiding leaving electrical items on standby and ensuring your fridge & freezers are kept well stocked to reduce their running cost.

Switch to the best energy tariff

If you live alone then your energy consumption will be significantly lower than a family of 4 or 5, but if you find yourself on the wrong tariff you could find yourself paying almost am much.

As a result, choosing an energy tariff without a standing charge could cut your costs as you would not have to pay a set daily connection fee for your energy.

Insulate

Insulating your property is an easy way to cut energy costs without having to change your lifestyle.

Essentially once you have cavity and loft insulation you should need to spend less on heating your home as less energy escapes through your walls and ceiling.

You can take this further still by blocking drafts or getting a hot water tank jacket, both of which could help reduce your energy costs even further.

Due to the government’s commitment on reducing our carbon footprint you may also be able to get a grant to help reduce the cost of insulating your home, visit the Energy Saving Trust website to check if you’re eligible.

6. Stay in touch for less

If you're the only person using your landline and broadband then you have a significant opportunity to save by switching to packages that fit with your exact usage.

Firstly, consider whether you really need a landline phone. If you have a generous limit on calls from your mobile phone you could just make use of these instead of paying for landline calls.

VOIP is another alternative that you can use to stay in touch without paying for a landline. It allows you to make cheap and often free calls via your broadband connection. Read our article How to Get Free Calls with VOIP to find out more.

If you do value having a landline phone then you should look through your home phone bills and see exactly when and where you're calling. Then simply find the cheapest landline phone call package that matches your usage.

The same applies to broadband, take a look at your usage and find the cheapest broadband package that offers the download and upload limits you need.

Alternatively, a home phone and broadband bundle that's tailored to your usage could help you save a signficant amount too.

Regularly monitor your usage so you can make sure you're not paying for a service you're not using.

7. Cut your food costs

Changing the way you buy your food could cut your costs considerably over the long term.

Freeze

While toiletries and cleaning products can all be bought and stored easily, other items such as meat and dairy items need to be frozen.

Supermarkets often target families and couples with multi-buy offers, but rather than trying to consume three packs of sausages in a week, there is no reason why you can take advantage these offers and freeze the extra food ready to eat at a later date.

You may also be surprised to learn all the different foods that can be frozen in this way. Milk, cheese and many vegetables for example can usually be frozen and then defrosted without compromising their taste. For more advice on freezing food at home visit the BBC Good Food website.

Shop with a friend

A great way of making the most of the savings available through bulk buy discounts is to shop with a friend.

This way you can both benefit from the multi-buy offers that adorn every aisle of the supermarket by splitting the produce and the cost!

Avoid waste

Living by yourself allows you to be totally in charge of the kitchen and plan your diet with more precision.

Making meal plans, and writing an itemised shopping list before you hit the aisles is the best way to minimise wastage so you spend less on food.

It also means you can make a note of the best before and use by dates and ensure that you eat your food before it perishes.

Take a look at our Action Plan How to Spend Less on Food for other ideas that will help you spend less at the supermarket.

 

Read more at http://www.money.co.uk/