Why do Poorer People pay Higher Bills?

It’s long been a complaint of the poor that the richer people in society seem to pay less for everything and, as a result, can afford better services. Poorer individuals would love to be in the same position but don’t know where they’re going wrong. Just why do poorer people end up paying higher bills

They stick with the same service provider

One of the keys to paying lower bills is to keep looking around, even if you’re happy with your current service provider, you don’t have to stay loyal to them for the rest of your days. There’s always a new provider out there that might be offering a better deal. You just need to look for them. Once you find it, go back to your current provider and ask if they can match the deal. If not, make the switch.

They’ve not improved their credit score

When you’re paying for things such as insurance, your credit score can have a real impact on how much you pay. The worse your credit score is, the higher lenders and insurers may consider you a risk. They may be willing to lend you less (or not at all) or charge a higher rate of interest but if you don’t do anything about your high credit score you’ll only ever be in a position to look for lenders who offer bad credit loans if you ever need any extra cash in an emergency.

They don’t negotiate

Monthly expenses such as the rent can get pretty high and we tend to just pay it without question. You don’t have to pay as high a rent as you might think, though. Landlords don’t like having to find new tenants — it’s a real hassle for them — so if you’re coming to the terms of your agreement and are willing to extend it, use this as leverage to negotiate a lower monthly rent. Landlords are sometimes open to charging less in return for stability.

They automate payments

There’s nothing wrong with automating payments — if you keep track of them. It’s easy to pay by direct debit and forget about it, but in the case of insurance and mobile phone contracts, you can end up paying more because you miss the chance to negotiate a better deal when the policy or contract expires. Worse still, you might be paying for something that you don’t even use anymore, such as a gym membership or a Netflix subscription.

With some smooth negotiation, a little digging into deals and keeping track of current payments and credit history, it’s possible to pay much less than necessary. Follow these tips from LoanPig and strip a respectable amount of money off your bills.