Suffolk accountant shares advice on how to cut bills amid cost-of-living crisis
It comes as many face the pressure of rising bills
A Suffolk accountant has been sharing advice on how families can keep control of their bills, amid the growing cost of living crisis.
Living costs in the UK have been increasing since early 2021, with the annual rate of inflation reaching 9.9% in August.
The price cap for energy rose by 80% to over £3,500 in October, although the government has since announced energy costs for a typical household would be capped at £2,500 for the year.
A recent survey from the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) found around three quarters of people working in financial services felt more able to deal with rising bills and having to cut household budgets.
Suffolk accountant Rob Alder from Suffolk is a member of the AAT
"There's a lot of resources available online, a lot of banks are very helpful now in terms of being able to get a breakdown of your costs. It's simple as keeping a spreadsheet" he said.
"And just knowing what your costs are and what will the total is and just reviewing that on a regular basis.
"You've got to have someone, ideally yourself, looking at your numbers and being able to make decisions on it because if you don't then the cost of living crisis will hit you harder.
"So it's having that financial discipline that an accountant has but doing that for your own household.
"The main thing is, just knowing clearly what your costs are. What is a fixed cost? What you've got to, spend your money on, what is variable, which is the kind of cost that you maybe could forgo over a period of time.
"And it's all about, at the end of the day, balancing your book. So knowing what's coming in, what your income is and what's going out because you don't want to get into too much debt.
"So it's being very clear that's what accounting would look for, kind of what's your income, what's your expenditure and how you kind of can manage them both.
"And the bit you have control over often is your costs, and is prioritizing your costs and you're expenditure and knowing what you can forgo in the short term while this cost of living crisis hits us.
"Set yourself a budget every month. There's a budget and then a review of your expenditure against that budget.
"And keep reviewing because things will change. And just knowing what that looks like.
"So obviously a lot of people at the moment are facing the energy buils. So what does that mean? If you're paying another £50 a month on energy bills. Where can you get that £50 from?
"So it's constantly looking reviewing and being disciplined in managing your household budget."