Slay pelicans, fix energy now?, £4 Aso s, 35mth 0% (longest since 2018), free £150, mortgage savings

It's time to slay a pelican! Five easy ways to save on big bills

Martin: "Happy new year to you all. I hope it'll be better than the last health-wise, as sadly wealth-wise it doesn't look good. The cost of living crisis will run through this year (and this email) like Blackpool does through a stick of rock - inflation, energy prices, tax rises and more.

"Our job, as always, is to show you how to maximise what's in your pockets. To ease you back in, today we're tackling five pelicans - big bills (no animals were harmed in the writing of this email) - specifically choosing some where saving is easiest."

"Then later on, I'll tackle a trickier issue - is it time to fix energy bills? For now, it's over to the team..."

Can't afford to clear your credit or store card debt, so pay interest on it? Then you can't afford not to check out if you can balance transfer.

This is where you get a new credit card to repay old credit or store cards, so you owe it instead, but at 0%. Repayments then clear the debt, rather than just cover interest, so you're debt-free quicker. We've just seen a raft of new deals launch for the new year.

Always follow the Balance Transfer Golden Rules:

a) Clear the card before the 0% ends, or you pay the rep APR.
b) Never miss the min monthly repayment, or you can lose the 0%.
c) Don't spend/withdraw cash. It usually isn't at the cheap rate.
d) You must usually transfer within 60/90 days to get the 0%.
e) You can't transfer between two cards from the same banking group.

Full help and info, including options for poorer credit scorers, in Best balance transfers (APR examples).

The cost of a Sim - the little chip in your phone which connects you to the network and dictates your allowances - has plummeted in recent times, and especially over the last year.

If you're one of the nine million people out of contract on your mobile, it's especially worth doing a quick check to see if you can save. As David emailed us: "Bagged myself a £7/mth Sim deal - a massive saving on the £21.50/mth I was paying. Many thanks." That's a saving of £170/yr.

- Use our Cheapest Sim tool to see what you can get.
- Want to stick with your network's signal? You can select that in the options (it'll show you all firms using that network).
- Not sure how much data you use? About 3GB/mth is average unless you're a gamer or video streamer.
- Want a new handset? Use our Cheap Mobile Finder.

And deals are really cheap right now. As an example, till tomorrow (Thu) newbies to TalkMobile* (via Vodafone's signal) can get 10GB/mth of data, unlimited minutes and texts for £7/mth, but can then claim a £30 Amazon voucher. Factor it in and the deal's equivalent to £4.50/mth over the 1yr contract. How much are you paying?

It's not really a bill, but banks love current accounts as they are a gateway to all our finances, allowing them to cross-sell you lots of products. And having been quiet for much of last year, many are now willing to pay you to switch.

All require you to pay in a set amount, some just at first to get the bonus, others monthly. It's their way to encourage you to pay in your salary.

And don't worry about the hassle of switching. In Martin's Twitter poll in October, 80% said it was mostly easy and hassle-free. To get the bonuses, you need to use the banks' switching service which:

- Switches you within seven working days.
- Moves all standing orders and direct debits for you.
- Closes your old account and auto-forwards payments to the new one.

You will have to pass a not-too-harsh credit check to get the accounts, and be sure to check the eligibility criteria (included in our reviews in Best bank accounts) as some require you, for example, to move a certain number of direct debits.

Many people pay £30-£45/mth for slow broadband speeds. Yet if you're one of the seven million who are out of contract, you can up your speed and more than halve your costs - again saving £100s a year. It's all about pouncing on short-lived promotions which give rewards such as prepaid Mastercards for signing up.

The easy way to do it is to just search what's available in your area via our Broadband Unbundled comparison tool. As examples, the cheapest new customer deals available to most right now are...

- Cheapest basic 11Mb broadband and line, equivalent £13/mth. Fine for light use. See Shell Energy info.
- Cheapest 38Mb fibre broadband and line, equivalent £15/mth. Fast enough for most streamers and gamers. See Vodafone info.
- Cheapest superfast 67Mb fibre and line, equivalent £16/mth. If you've a need for speed (for example, multiple users streaming). See Vodafone info.

Savings can be large, as Kathy emailed us: "When BT notified me my contract was ending, I used your comparison and switched. Over the 24-month contract I will save around £841."

If you're happy where you are, do a quick check to see the cheapest deals in your area, then - as long as you're out of contract - use that as a benchmark to haggle down your broadband price.

Also, see our Cutting the cost of digital TV guide too.

A few weeks ago, the Bank of England raised the UK base rate for the first time in three years. Most analysts believe that was just the first of several rises.

But while those on variable-rate mortgages have seen the cost increase, we haven't yet seen a big increase in the rates you can get a new mortgage deal for - sub-1% is still available for two-year fixes.

In general, the more you value certainty right now, the more you should fix and fix longer. It's worth checking if you can save - we even get some people who save five figures (usually over five-year fixes).

Our free 64-page Remortgage booklet PDF has tons of help, but here are four very brief key steps...

a) Quickly check if cheaper rates are available. Spend a couple of minutes on our Mortgage Comparison tool.
b) Find your existing lender's cheapest deal. If it's got a cheap rate, see if your existing lender will do a 'product transfer', as it may mean less fees & paperwork.
c) Use our calculators to compare deals. We've eight different calculators to help you in our Ultimate Mortgage Calculator tool.
d) Speak to a mortgage broker to find which lender will most likely accept you. What really counts is finding the cheapest mortgage that will accept you, including affordability and credit-scoring criteria. These are shrouded in mystery, but mortgage brokers have extra info not available to the public, access to special deals, and can help guide you through.