Nicole Ratcliffe

Child-and-baby sleep coach, Manchester

Like many parents, the rise in energy prices and the cost of living prompted Nicole Ratcliffe to look at practical ways of saving money in the home.

“I wouldn’t know how much exactly we have saved, but the first thing we did was turn the thermostat down from 21C to 19C. That was the obvious thing that came to mind when I started thinking that I had to make sure we weren’t wasting money,” says Ratcliffe. The 41-year-old found that making savings in their energy use came quite naturally once they started considering the different ways they could make a difference.

“Both my husband and I work from home, so if we had the heating on all day, it would have cost us a fortune,” she says.

Her children didn’t notice any difference to the heating once they were tucked up for the night, though the evenings were cooler.

“As my youngest still kicks off her duvets, I bought duvet clips and made sure the duvet was attached at the bottom so it didn’t fall off in the night. I also added an extra duvet so my eldest had her summer duvet on top of her normal one,” she says.

“We were really keen to get a smart meter, because we had no idea how much our bills would be, but it made sense to know what energy we were using and where to cut back.”

As the UK Government’s Help for Households tips suggest, there are a wide range of ways to help reduce your energy bills, and Ratcliffe is always open to suggestions.

“It can only be a good thing to see if there are any small tips on the Help for Households site that can help,” she says “It makes complete sense when the energy prices are so high – I can’t imagine anyone not wanting to save money, so all advice is welcome.”