Money hack

I’m a savvy mum – I save £50 a month on my energy bill with a simple trick and you can too

A super savvy mum has revealed simple trick that could help slash your energy bill.

Heidi Ondrak, 51, from Plymouth, shares videos on TikTok with ways that she's saved money amid the cost of living crisis.

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Heidi showed her own spreadsheet which breaks down each appliance
Heidi shares all sorts of money saving tips on TikTok

She boasts over 30,000 followers and collectively her videos have over 220,000 likes.

In one video, Heidi reveals a key trick on saving money on energy bills – by simply finding out how much each appliance costs to run.

Once you have this information, the mum says you can make logical decisions on which ones to use more or less of.

And using the method she says she's slashed her own bill by £50 a month.

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Heidi said: "The first thing I did was make a room by room audit of all the appliances in my house."

She did this by making her own spreadsheet which breaks down each appliance and its cost, including the wattage.

Heidi revealed a website called Sust-it which will show you the wattage of your appliance.

She added: "Again, on the Sust-it website, you [then] go to their electricity cost calculator, you make sure that you select the October price guarantee cap on the box."

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From here, you put the wattage of the appliance in and it'll give you a price indication of how much it'll cost you to use and for how long.

The savvy mum said: "Once you've got that information, you transfer it onto the list.

"What this has enabled me to do is make enforced choices around the appliances I use."

She explained how this has helped her choose less energy guzzling appliances like an air fryer and slow cooker.

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Heidi said: "So I know that cooking the big chunky chips in the oven takes me 45 minutes to get them crispy - it's 20 minutes in the air fryer - I'll compare the wattage of those two appliances and the time and I've got an idea of how much they will cost.

"And then when I'm choosing my groceries and what meals I'm going to make during the week, I can base them around the slow cooker, the air fryer, and choose meals where I don't have to use the oven as much."

Speaking to NeedToKnow.Online, Heidi said: "I want to share what I've done as I have saved over £50 a month on my electric use and loads of people are struggling."

She also said the method has helped her cut down on using the tumble dryer and look for chances to air dry instead.

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She said: "It literally took me 30 minutes to do, it's so simple, anyone can do it."

"Ditch the tumble dryer, locate the sunny window in your house and air dry in front of that to harness natural heat from sunlight, and open the window for a breeze too, if it's wet to dry outdoors."

You can also monitor your energy usage at home using a smart meter or smart plug.

It's not the only way to work out your running costs.

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Investing in a smart plug - they cost around £12 - will show how much power the item is using on a small screen.

Smart meters can also help you track the cost of energy.

These are different to the energy use plugs as they show how much gas or electric you are using in real-time for the whole home.

You can also calculate the cost yourself - Martin Lewis has explained how.

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