'Nous saved me nearly £500 – it's simple and hassle-free'

“I never really had the time to sit down and search for deals with so much going on at home. I've got my little ones so I’m navigating who’s looking after them. Obviously I want to spend time with them, rather than always sitting on my phone or on the computer searching for deals."

For Colby, a 34-year-old mum of two living in Bedford, getting fair deals on her bills never quite made it to the top of her to-do list. What with juggling family life and her job as a Redeployment Co-ordinator for Network Rail, there was always something else that took priority. 

She joined Nous after hearing about it via her company’s Family Focus employee group. She decided to give it a try, and saved nearly £500 across her energy and mobile bills.

How would you describe your approach to sorting your bills before you joined Nous?

Before I joined Nous, all of our bills were separate. Some came through apps, some by email, and some still arrived as letters. I’d just try to keep an eye on everything through my phone but I wasn’t really searching for the best prices. 

Usually, when a renewal came through, I might do a quick search on Go Compare, but more often than not, I’d just see what the renewal price was and call the company to ask if there was a better deal. That was about it. The reason I didn’t spend more time on it was honestly just because I didn’t have the time. 

Have you ever been caught out by a bad deal?

There was one time I remember being caught out, with my car insurance. We were about to go on holiday and I said we should sort it before we left, but my partner said it was fine to wait until we got back. When we returned, a big payment had come out because I forgot to sort it. I could’ve got it for half the price.

What did you think about Nous when you first got started?

I first heard about Nous through the Family Focus group at Network Rail. We had a session where they explained everything, and I actually got started while I was on the call. I came off the session thinking I wasn’t sure, but then I took some time to look through it properly and thought, “why not give it a go?”

I asked some questions on WhatsApp and they were really clear and really helpful. So all those worries were just eliminated. It’s a great service, and if anyone thinking about using it is a bit sceptical they shouldn’t be. It’s simple and hassle-free to switch, and it’s all really easy to do.

Were you surprised to find out how much you could save?

I’ve saved almost £500 so far, which is brilliant. I was definitely surprised by that. We just keep the extra money in our joint account and use it for things like birthdays or holidays. We’re going skiing this year, and we’re thinking about Disneyland Paris—just for a weekend by train. Maybe even a sunny holiday with the wider family, but we’ll see. 

It’s great to save money at this time when life is so expensive, so  I recommend it to anyone, whether you're earning a lot and you can afford stuff, or whether you're not earning a lot and you want to try and save some money.

I think it says a lot about Network Rail that they’ve offered this to us. It’s opened my eyes to all these new opportunities to save money and have more flexibility as a working parent.

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