Claw it Back Tenner Week Day 6: Better Deal Saturday

It’s Day Six of the current Tenner Week Challenge, and we’ve made it to the weekend, thank goodness. As most of us have a little more time to ourselves outside the working week, today’s activity is a bit more involved. It’s Better Deal Saturday.

Today we’re going to look at something you get billed for regularly, and try to get a better deal. First, start by thinking about those bills, and try to pick something where there’s some competition between different providers – you need a bill where there’s more than one option for customers.

The Better Deal Saturday Checklist

Run through this list to see if you have any ‘wriggle room’ on a bill.

• Look at your regular bills, and choose one where the bill isn’t ‘one size fits all’, or there are two or more providers in that market.
• Examples include: mobile service providers, savings accounts, broadband providers, credit cards, energy firms, streaming services such as Netflix, mortgages, any subscriptions, etc.
• What do you want to get out of it? A smaller bill, a fixed bill instead of a variable one, higher interest rates on savings, more perks or better service for the same price, or even a partial upgrade that’s a better fit for your needs even if it costs a bit more?
• Research the market – what deals are other companies offering? What different options is your current provider offering? Are there any special offers or discounts you can use? Make a note of everything.
• Check the small print of your current deal – make sure you can change without penalty, or at least know the size of any penalty in case you can still save with another deal.
• It’s also a good idea to look at the customer service and reliability ratings of any new company or service you’re considering, so you aren’t going out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Sometimes, once you’ve done your research, you might find that you already have the best deal. If that’s the case, give yourself a pat on the back.

Otherwise, you might want to start the changeover to another service or supplier today, or move to a different tariff or bundle at the same company. Before you do that, it’s sometimes possible to haggle with your current supplier to get a better deal.

If you’re in a situation where you are able to haggle, give it a go. Be calm, friendly and persistent, and don’t be scared to ask ‘can you do me a better deal than this?’ or at least try to get a freebie or two thrown in. Try this How to Haggle guide for some good tips.

One small thing – make sure you don’t get upsold at the haggling stage. Some large firms will try to move you to a more expensive option even though you’re trying to do the opposite. I’ve seen this in particular with telecomms providers, so watch out for that sneaky trick.

Other useful Tenner Week Challenge articles:

• Claw it Back Tenner Week Day 5: Freebie Friday
• The official Tenner Week Challenge rules
• 12 tips for a successful Tenner Week

That’s it for Better Deal Saturday – good luck shopping around and/or haggling today.