How to save it...

Zap those power bills
Thanks to the meagre cuts to bills by energy giants this month, using less gas, electricity and water is the only way to make a significant savings this year. It's worth paying a few quid for the best energy-saving devices for the money they save. Standby Buster's plug and remote control, for example, costs about £15 from Amazon and elsewhere, but since it allows users to switch off any electrical appliances left on standby around the house, it could soon save far more.

Each remote controls up to four plugs, so homeowners can switch off all their TVs, radios and more from the sofa. Which? reckons it will save homes up to £40 a year on electricity. Other energy-savers worth splashing out on include radiator insulation panels, which fit behind radiators and reflect heat back into the room.

Heatkeeper's pack of five panels cost about £20. Or try tinfoil. Water-tank jackets also cut energy losses and only cost a tenner. For the same price, the Ecobutton will put your computer into sleep mode just by the push of its button (eco-button.com).

Get paid to moan
A reader gets in touch to reveal his secret money-making tip: moaning. "I complain of bad service at every opportunity," he says, keen to remain anonymous. "If I have to call to speak to a company about a problem of their creation, I expect compensation for both my time and my phone charges. It's notable just how many companies will pay compensation without even querying it now.

Each time I call Barclaycard, I ensure they credit me with at least £3 or £5 goodwill for my inconvenience. T-Mobile always give goodwill, so do O2 and Virgin Media. Their offshore call centres are usually quite obliging, the UK ones less so. It's almost a British thing to think that complaining is in some way 'rude'. Companies know this and exploit it."

Give giffgaff a go
Sick of the big mobile providers hiking prices and providing the kind of "customer service" that mocks its own name? Have a gander at giffgaff, a community-run mobile phone network. Cut out any sense of idealism - it's wholly owned by O2 - but works differently. The pay-as-you-go network encourages customers to answer others' queries online and refer friends. So with no call centres, advertising budget or retail costs, the tariffs are cheaper. A £15-a-month package includes 400 minutes, unlimited texts and internet and free calls to other giffgaff customers. Another £5 a month provides double the number of minutes. For their work, customers earn points, which are toted up twice a year and converted into cash, phone credit or donations to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Last time, it paid out £665,000 to customers, including one student who earned £13,700 over six months by signing up 3000 new customers to the network. Find out more at giffgaff.com.

Net freebies
Have a spare few minutes at work? Tap into freeukstuff.com to secure freebies galore. There's a cornucopia of oddities, ranging from free baby food to Mills & Boon books, cinema tickets, teabags, cat food, and driving lessons.