Savings stories - How Annabel and Joel saved £370 on their bills with Nous

Meet Annabel, a 36-year-old acquisition coordinator from Wymondham, Norfolk. She lives with her husband Joel and her two daughters, aged one and three. Annabel saved £370 on her energy and mobile contracts after her employer, Naked Wines, offered her Nous membership as an employee benefit. 

How did you go about finding fair deals before you joined Nous?

I live with my husband Joel and two children who are both under the age of four – so it’s a busy household. Before I had children I did enjoy looking for a bargain. I used to go to different suppliers and play them off against each other to try and get the best deal – it really worked and I got an amazing deal on my phone. I remember my husband was really impressed and a bit jealous – but it did take up a lot of time.

While I was on maternity leave I really got into finding the best deals because I had the time. That’s also when I started looking into getting greener and more eco energy. I looked into some government schemes and got an air source heat pump and solar panels, and also had our walls insulated to save money.

What I hate is using comparison sites. The forms can take a long time and sometimes they’re a bit confusing. I also hate how much they hound you afterwards. Not having to do that now is amazing.

Have you noticed your bills going up recently? 

Like for everyone my electricity bills have just been rising and rising and rising – it just punches you in the face. We went from spending about £100 a month to suddenly paying £250, which is crippling. You just think – how are we meant to make this money? That then combines with the children’s nursery fees, which is an extortionate amount of money.

How has the cost of living crisis affected you?

I think crippling is the word. We’ve always loved going out for dinners and coffees and breakfasts, now we just don’t do that anymore. It’s come at the worst time for us because we have two young children who are in nursery. If costs hadn’t risen as much as they had I imagine we’d have a little bit of extra money to have some fun, but now we’ve got to sacrifice everything. It has definitely taken away a level of comfort and made everything a little bit scary. 

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How would you describe your experience of joining Nous?

I joined through my company, Naked Wines, and I felt totally comfortable. Knowing that you guys are working in the background to try and get savings is just lovely. It’s great having somebody on your side doing the work for you.

I messaged the Head of People to say thank you, because it's been super helpful. I would never have thought that there'd be a company out there that would do this without me having to fork out a load of money.

Now I don’t have to sort the household out and make sure the children are fed and watered – and then spend an evening on my laptop trying to contact companies and sitting on hold for ages, using up time when I could be doing other things for myself. 

The communication felt like a buddy was messaging me. I really appreciated the checking in and the follow up. Speaking on WhatsApp was super quick and easy, and you’ve always got your phone in your hand anyway.

You found an incredible deal for my husband Joel’s phone contract that I know he would never have bothered to find. That was amazing. 

How will you be using the money you saved with Nous?

I’ve started back at the gym, so the savings that you have made for me are going towards my health and wellbeing. I’ve always been a gym bunny, but since I had the children I haven’t been able to go and do all the classes that I love like yoga and Pilates, mostly because of time. 

With the time Nous has saved me I get to do that instead of hunting for deals – I can go to a class and do something for myself. And also the money that you've saved has aided me to get back to that.

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Want to save money on your household bills with Nous? Just go to www.nous.co and enter your postcode to get started.

Or are you a business that wants to save their employees money? Visit www.nous.co/for-business to book a demo.