Aged 25, Lucy is a recruitment consultant, while Neil works as an account manager at a graphic design firm. They live in their own home in Redditch, Worcestershire.
Lucy said: "With the economy the way it is, things are a little tight. We have also recently had to take out a £7,300 loan to pay off a lot of odd debts and our mortgage costs us nearly £900 per month."
Just like many people, Lucy and Neil hadn't checked what they are paying on various bills for a long time. So Lucy contacted moneysupermarket.com as she knew there must be savings to be made based on their current outgoings.
Using the tools available on the site, we worked out that the Buntings could save £870.65 a year.
This news has gone down well. Lucy said: "That's great! It just goes to show that brand loyalty isn't always the best way to go. I've stuck with these companies for years thinking that I was getting the best deals for being loyal and all the time, could have been saving money."
What will they do with the extra cash? "We can start doing the home improvements that we've wanted to do for a while now and hopefully start saving for our future, whatever it holds."
Lucy and Neil are currently with Scottish Power and pay £73 a month for their gas and electricity.
When it comes to utilities, though, loyalty doesn't pay! If they switched to EDF Energy's Online V5 tariff, they would save £281.44 a year.
Mobile phone - potential saving of £250 a year
Lucy's mobile phone contract does not reflect her usage and this is costing her a massive £250.32 a year more than it should be.
She's currently with Vodafone, paying £35 a month for 600 minutes and unlimited texts. On top of that, she's paying a hefty £60 a month for using more minutes than that.
If Lucy moved her account to the Orange Dolphin 45 tariff, she'd pay £39.15 a month but gain twice as many minutes and unlimited texts. She'd also benefit from 500MB anytime mobile internet access.
Once again, Lucy's loyalty has not helped. She's been with Barclays since 2003 and is paying £288 a year.
However, she has six years without claims and if she moved to Churchill, she would pay just £93.45 a year, saving £194.55.
Lucy and her Smart Car are an insurer's dream. She only does 6,000 miles a year and has six years' no claims bonus.
So her insurance is cheap as it is - she's paying Churchill £270 a year. Despite that, such a safe driver could still make savings. If Lucy moved to Hastings Essential, she'd save £70.59 a year.
Lucy and Neil have a joint account with HSBC. Each month they slip into their overdraft by about £250. HSBC pays no interest on balances in credit and it charges a typical annual overdraft rate of 19.9%.
However, going overdrawn is something that can be easily avoided. Lucy has a savings account with £800 in. If she took £250 out of her savings, she and Neil could catch up with their spending and stop going overdrawn as a matter of routine.
They could also earn money from their current account. The Halifax Reward Current Account pays £5 every month as long as the holder pays in at least £1,000. With both their salaries being paid in, they more than achieve this, meaning they could be £60 a year richer for free.
However, a quick warning - Lucy and Neil should really try hard to stay in the black. Rather than charging an annual overdraft rate, Halifax charges a daily fee and at £1 per day it could prove rather costly if you frequently slip into the red.
Although money might be tight for the newly-weds, Lucy is sensibly putting a small amount of money aside every month for emergencies.
She has savings of £800 in an HSBC Instant Access Saver and adds £50 a month to the account. We've asked her to move £250 from her savings to keep their joint current account out of the red, leaving a balance of £550.
Even if she didn't add another penny, she could be making money on her savings. We've worked out that people in this country are missing out on £7.7 billion a year because they fail to check their savings rate and Lucy is one of them.
Her account pays just 0.75% but if she switched to an Egg Savings Account paying 3.25%, she'd make an extra £13.75 a year.
That may not sound like much, but if the Buntings are planning to save for their future, a high paying account is just what they need and the returns will grow as Lucy adds to her stash.
Do you think we could save you money? If so, and you would like to feature as one of our makeovers, contact us at makeover@moneysupermarket.com
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