How to cut costs at home when away?

1

149oaks

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Going to France for 4 weeks and I'm looking at how to cut some fixed costs at home and wonder have any others done same. So far can think of:
Landline and Broadband with Vodafone - cancel for a month?
Mobiles with Vodafone and O2
Electricity with Airtricity - could we disconnect for 1 month? but would ther be a re-connection fee?
Car tax - not a runner paid up
Car Insurance - stall policy?
Any ideas?
 
  1. Landline and Broadband with Vodafone - I doubt if they'll agree, but what does your contract say?
  2. Mobiles with Vodafone and O2 -I doubt if they'll agree, but what does your contract say? BTW does this not mean you won't be contactable by phone?
  3. Electricity with Airtricity - could we disconnect for 1 month? - you'll need to check, but what about house-alarm, fridges, freezers?
  4. Car tax - not a runner paid up. If your car is off the road (parked up on private property) for a any multiple of a calendar month, you can sign a declaration at a Garda Station when the next tax is due and you will be credited with this period when you next tax the car.
  5. Car Insurance - stall policy? Leaving your car uninsured is risky and they may not agree or it may interfere with your NCB.
 
It would seem like alot of hassle for probably quite small savings.

You would have to arrange for an engineer to come out & discomnnect & I'm pretty sure they will have a charge for this, plus they rarely seem to arrive at the time they are ment to. Plus, as mention, no electricity means you would have to clear out your freezer completely & you'd have no way of leaving some lights on timer switches.

Car insurance - this would possibly be the easiest, but you would be breaking your contract and you may not get as favourable a rate when you come back (most people seem to be charged more this year than last). Also, if the car is stolen/damaged etc, you'd have no comeback.

I reckon the hassle would definately out-weigh the savings.
 
I think you are being a bit optimistic with regards savings. Four weeks is a relatively short period to be away with regard to cancelling anything. The chances are that even if you are not in contract, you would have disconnection/reconnection/reactivation fees. You will be saving a certain amount as regards less use of heat/electricity/fuel anyway.

If I were in your position I would be more concerned about leaving the premises unoccupied.

On a lighter note, do you know of anyone who might be grateful of a little privacy/study area/me-time/love nest & might be prepared to pay a small fee for the use of your home for the few weeks?
 
Landline and Broadband with Vodafone - cancel for a month?
You need to give a month's notice, you may be within a contract, and you will have to pay a fee to reconnect. Then on reconnecting you have to pay a month line rental upfront, and may incur higher fees until your "bundle" takes effect.

Mobiles with Vodafone and O2
Nope. You may be within a contract, but either way the mobile phone company's require a month's notice to disconnect. And, as above, the higher initial bill from paying a month's line rental upfront. You could go down to a lower tariff, but that takes affect from your next billing date - then when you change back you'll be waiting around til the next billing date to get all your minutes back.

Electricity with Airtricity - could we disconnect for 1 month? but would ther be a re-connection fee? I think it's around €100

Car tax - not a runner paid up

Car Insurance - stall policy? There's usually a fee of about €60 to make alterations to your policy. So you could cancel your policy and get a refund for the rest of the year, less €60, and when you start a new policy your premium might be higher.

You're going away for 4 weeks... not only will you be causing yourself a lot of hassle cancelling all your bills, then you have even more hassle and expenses of setting everything up again! It's a crazy idea!!
 
I'd also be wary of alerting so many staff at different companies to the fact that the house will be unoccupied for such a lengthy period.
 
Temporarily ceasing telephone, car insurance etc for a month could cost you.

Keep the lot, rent out your house/apartment/flat to somebody else for the month and you will probably end up way ahead.

I kid you not. A pensioner couple living near me rent out their house in Ireland for 6 months over the winter and rent an apartment in Spain for less and consequently are ahead before they even start.
 
I think its a non-runner personally. Just leave things as they are. Its not worth all the hassle for the small savings if any that you would make.
 
If you were heading off for 6 months it would be worth it.

For a month .... no ... just make sure your house is secure.

Because you're not at home electricity and other expenses will be down automatically.

Make sure no unit is on standby etc. ....
 
Most important thing is to make sure your home is secure. Rather than trying to save money putting things on standby etc, may be better to leave the odd light on to make it appear you are home if only away for a couple of weeks.
 
Don't forget that An Post will want a tidy sum to hold your post for 4 weeks too!

Slim
 
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