h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm based in Aberdeen, Scotland; an area notorious for residents who are "tight" with their money... So here's a tip from the horse's mouth...

When you pay for services such as Electricity, Gas and Telephone, don't be afraid to switch suppliers. Here, the best deal is to get your electricity from Scottish Gas, your gas from Scottish Hydro-Electric and your telephone from Localtel (if you use the internet as much as I do, anyway <g&gt

Don't feel self-conscious about it - I revelled in the opportunity to go into the local electricity shop and sign up for their gas service, only to see their grins freeze when I told them I was transferring my electricity to the gas board!

It knocks 25% off one bill, and 27% off the other, but I can't remember which way round it goes... You still get two bills through the post, and the same people turn up on the same days to read the same meters... The telephone service is 10% cheaper for calls than BT, and gives unlimited unmetered 24/7 V90 access to the web for an extra £5 per month.

Don't take this as an unsolicited ad for any of these companies - I have no special allegiances, and if a cheaper offer came along I'd switch in a heartbeat...

*Update*

Ironically, the day after posting this I got a letter from World Online (the people behind Localtel) changing the terms of their service. It now costs £14.99 on top of your standard line rental for 100 hours of 24/7 access per month, with hours in excess of this at 1p/minute. I can just afford the extra £10/month, if I cut back on expensive filter coffee and bulk orders of imported custard creams, but at my current usage I'd have to find about £25 in "excess charges" every month. I need to cut back.

As mentioned above, I'm not sticking with them out of sentimentality - this is still the best offer around. It's just that I can't afford it so easily any more...