How to budget for the winter months with Pay As You Go energy from Boost

“There’s an app for that.” True for pretty much everything these days, right? And it’s particularly true for The Brett Household. Oh yes.

My hubby is extremely tech-savvy and seems to be on a mission to have our entire house controlled by our phones. And actually, we’re not too far away from that being the case! Our doorbell, our lights, our thermostat, even our car, can all be controlled by apps on our phones. Last night, he mentioned to me that we could even get an app-controlled heated blanket for our bed! (I secretly want this.)

Whether you’re into tech or not, this is where we’re headed. And I have to admit that once they’re set up, apps do make life so much easier. As busy parents, we need all the help we can get, am I right?

Boost, a new dedicated Pay As You Go energy brand, got in touch with me asking if I’d share with you how they’re innovating in the pre-payment energy space, and how they’re helping their customers to budget and save money. And if, like me, you like to be in control of what you’re spending, it’s actually pretty useful stuff.

What is Pay As You Go energy?

PAYG energy, like everything else, has moved on a lot. It’s a pretty sleek, high-tech operation these days. Gone are the days of traipsing to the shop in the rain to top up your energy card because your power has cut out (although you can still do it this way if you prefer of course!). Now you are very much in control of your energy.

With Boost, you download a nifty little app which is linked to your smart meter (which is free to install). And just like when you use an app to check your remaining credit on your phone, you can do exactly the same with Boost’s Smart PAYG+ energy app. If your credit is running a bit low, you can top it up via the app – no risk of a random power outage. You can even set it to auto top-up if you like.

I can’t think of anything more annoying than your wifi switching off while you’re trying to work, or your hairdryer cutting out halfway through taming your mane, just because you’ve forgotten to top up your energy. We’re busy enough as it is, we really don’t need any extra things on our to-do list! Boost’s app will remind you when you’re getting low on credit, and you can easily top-up via the app, SMS, online or by card in a shop. So it should be one less thing for you to worry about!

Help with budgeting for winter

Budgeting. Who loves a bit of budgeting? Alright fine, I know it’s not the most fun task ever but it’s so important! I know how much our own energy usage shoots up in the winter months, and we are only a family of three. I try to resist putting on the heating as long as possible but it gets to a point where four layers of clothing just isn’t practical and I have to give in! We’re becoming increasingly conscious of our energy usage – both from a financial and environmental perspective.

To help you budget, Boost has just launched its Winter Wallet initiative for Smart PAYG+ customers, which allows you to save money during the summer months to help cover costs during the winter when energy usage is heavier.

A daily contribution (which you can increase, decrease or even pause if you wish) is automatically taken from your energy credits and put into a savings pot for winter. This means that you won’t be hit with big winter bills that you haven’t budgeted for.

Personally, I think this is a great idea. It gives the same advantage as if you were on a fixed Direct Debit, but with more flexibility. I’m a real saver anyway, so the idea of spreading the cost over the year makes a lot of sense to me.

Boost is also running monthly prize draws where thousands of users can win energy credits – the top prize is a whole year of energy credits which is pretty mega. I’d be so happy if we won that!

Find out more

Anything that puts you in better control of what you’re spending is, in my opinion, a good thing. Especially with something like energy where usage can fluctuate a lot thanks to our unpredictable weather.

I love the idea of keeping a close eye on how much you’re spending – and I think it will make you more aware generally of your energy usage which is really important. A nice thing to note is that 33% of your energy from Boost is from renewable sources as standard, which is great.

If you’d like to find out more about Boost’s PAYG energy, please check out the Boost website.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Boost. All words and opinions are my own.