Money Jungle offers a wealth of information and advice for anyone looking to invest or save money.

But often the place to start is to look at ways to reduce household bills. The majority of householders in the UK have failed to take advantage of competition in the utility markets and as a result are paying hundreds of pounds a  year more than they need to for their gas, electricity, telephone, Internet access, broadband as well as for mobile phones and digital TV.

In recent years UK consumers have seen big increases in their gas and electricity bills reflecting world energy prices. This is unlikely to change in the future as gas and oil prices increase reflecting increased demand for limited supplies.

Often it isn't even necessary to change suppliers to save money, often existing suppliers will have an alternative lower cost tariff, or will offer discounts for payment by direct debit, or even just to keep you as their customer if you threaten to switch to another supplier.

Consumers will often save money if they opt for a dual fuel tariff using the same company to supply both gas and electricity.

If your main concern is avoiding unexpected increases in your energy bills look for one of the fixed rate tariffs offered by many of the energy suppliers.

And do look at the Green tariffs that are available, these may not cost more than standard tariffs but you can be sure that the electricity you use is matched by the company purchasing electricity from renewable sources. See npower juice.

For anyone with Internet access a good place  to start is one of the price comparison websites such as Energy Helpline.

Reducing energy consumption will save money as well as reducing household carbon emissions. For more go to the Money Jungle Climate Change page.

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