Jan, who is a business service analyst for an IT company, lives in Warrington with her partner Gerry who is a singer/songwriter.
Despite having worked for the same company for 20 years, she is slightly concerned about job security in the current climate. She was also certain that she would be able to save money on her energy and insurances.
Jan said: "I am always interested in making the best of my finances and the threat of redundancy made me more aware than ever that I needed to pay attention to what we are paying out.
"Our energy bills and insurances are areas that I always seem to overlook,especially as renewal dates tend to come and go."
Using the comparison tools available on moneysupermarket.com,we managed to save Jan a respectable £729, which she plans to put towards a new car.
Jan currently pays £109 per month to npower, using its standard tariff for both her gas and electricity. If she moved to the Go Fix tariff offered through e.on she would make a saving of £297 over the year.
At the moment Jan's current account with Halifax. She is almost always in credit and, on the rare occasions that she dips into the red, she always pays off the balance in full. As from 6th December Jan's current account will change, she will no longer earn interest on her balance instead she will revert to earning an extra £5 per month regardless of her balance. Because of this Jan stands to earn herself an extra £60 per year without having to change her current account provider.
Like so many other people Jan is loyal to her bank regardless of whether or not she is receiving the best rates. As well as having her current account and mortgage with Halifax, her savings and ISAs are also with the bank.
In total Jan has two savings accounts and two ISAs with Halifax, and one of the ISAs is an investment product for which she sought advice. Her Regular Saver is giving her a return of 2.00% on a current balance of £525, she invests £75 per month into this. She also holds a Fixed Rate Web Saver which is fixed for one year.
Her ISA Saver is only earning her 0.10% on a balance of £4,400, this equates to just £4.40 in interest over the year.
The best option for Jan would be to pool the balance in her ISA Saver and Regular Saver together, and transfer this to a first direct cash e-ISA which is paying a more respectable 3.00%. This will earn her an extra £132 over the year. If she likes the idea of a regular saver account then Jan could open a new one with Principality BS, she would earn an extra £22.24 over the year in its Regular Saver Bond, which is currently paying 4.50%, fixed for 12 months.
Currently holding a policy with Sheilas' Wheels, Jan pays an annual premium of £190. She can however save a further £38.66 if she moves to Marks & Spencer as well as bagging herself a free car wash every month for the next year. This deal is an exclusive only available through moneysupermarket.com and is worth £84.
Jan currently holds a full TV package with Sky which is inclusive of all of the movies and Sky Sports channels. Her broadband is provided by Plusnet and her phone line, including line rental, is currently held with Tesco. This is costing her a total of £880 per year for all three products.
If Jan moved her phone line and broadband to Sky, she would benefit from receiving free Sky Talk Freetime which will give her free evening and weekend landline calls. Her broadband would cost her just £5 per month and her line rental through Sky would be charged at £11 per month. In total, this would save her £179 over the year.
Would you like the opportunity to see if we can make you any savings? If so, then email makeover@moneysupermarket.com
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