Did you know you could save as much as 20% on your bills just by buying your gas and electricity from the same company?

With so many utility suppliers to choose from nowadays, shopping around can lead to some easy savings. Take 10 minutes to find out more.

Before you begin: Dig out your old bills
Dig out the most recent of each of your old utility bills and write a clear list of who you're paying, for what, and when. Remember to include everything: water, phone, gas and electricity. For the last two, see if you can dig out bills for the last year; if you don't have these to hand, ring the utility company and ask them to send you a statement of your account with them.

If you're going to be switching gas or electricity providers, you'll need your last meter reading too, so either take one yourself or find the most recent one, which will be printed on your last bill (usually at the very bottom of the page).

You might also need your bank details, so keep these handy, as you can usually make further savings by signing up to pay by direct debit.

Step 1: Add it all up
Tot up exactly what you're paying for each service each month, but also per year (with gas and electricity you probably pay more in summer than winter) so that you're ready to make some price comparisons.

Step 2: Check out the competition
The easiest way to start shopping around is online, so, with your list of what you're currently paying to hand, search for a utility bill price comparison website such as uswitch.com - there are plenty of them. All you'll usually need to supply is:
- The name of your current provider
- How much you pay them
- Your full address and postcode

From this information, you'll be able to compare potential providers across a range of useful criteria.

Step 3: Do you want to go green?
Making environmentally-friendly choices is an increasingly easy option these days, particularly when it comes to energy companies, many of whom will either offer a package that provides energy from renewable sources, or one that invests a percentage of your bill into supporting renewable energy. Most of the regular energy providers offer some form of green package; just make sure they don't want to charge you extra for it.

Step 4: Scout around for special offers
Sometimes you can get even bigger discounts on bills if you're prepared to take more than one service from a provider  say, both your gas and your electricity  in what's often called a dual fuel deal.

Remember that you're also likely to get a further discount by paying by direct debit. Others offer discounts for those who are prepared to manage their accounts online too; for instance, providing meter readings online and paying via internet banking.

Step 5: Go phone shopping
Great money-saving deals aren't just restricted to your gas, electricity and water. Telecommunications companies also offer competitive rates on line rental and connection charges.

Again, price comparison websites are the best place to look. But make sure you have your phone bill to hand, since you might get a special deal on numbers that you regularly call, or during the times of the day or night that you most regularly use your phone.

Step 6: Sign on the dotted line
Once you've found the deal you want and filled in your details online, you'll normally receive documents confirming your request to change by post within 28 days.

Once you've signed the paperwork and sent it back, all that's left for you to do is settle up any outstanding bills with your old provider and start planning what you're going to do with the money you're going to save!