Energy, insurance, cancelling subscriptions and other ways AI could boost your finances in 2025
As the AI revolution marches on, we explore whether this tech could help cut your monthly spending.
Like many of us, I have mixed feelings about the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI).
While the technology is clearly a terrifying tool in the world of scams, it also has invaluable applications for money management.
As part of a loveMONEY investigation last year, I found that AI could save me £173 on my monthly food shop, if used correctly.
This year, I decided to take things a step further and see whether this tech could help with a more thorough overhaul of my finances.
After all, the start of a new financial year feels like the right time to take an honest look at your money management.
I opted to look at energy, insurance, wasted spending and even anniversary gift-giving.
As I tend to focus my AI use on ChatGPT, this seemed like the simplest place to start.
Overall, the tech offered to save me £1,293 per year – although I am a little sceptical over some of the findings.
Energy: savings of between £300 and £700 (questionable)
With typical energy costs rising by 6.4% to £1,849 this April due to increases in the Price Cap (the maximum charge per unit of energy), gas and electricity bills are a key concern for many of us – myself included.
To see if AI could help, I asked how a terraced house in the north of England (i.e my home) could slash costs.
Suggestions included loft insulation, boiler upgrades and draught proofing.
The tech also gave me a detailed cost breakdown and an outline of the difference these alterations could make to my annual bills.
Savings: When I entered my monthly payments of £89, the AI suggested that its tips could save me between £300 and £700 per year.
While the figure of £700 seems a little outlandish, not all its suggestions were off base.
And, of course, I’d need to factor in the price of boiler upgrades and loft insulation – something the AI failed to consider.
Insurance: cut costs by up to £53 per year
With our home insurance up for renewal shortly, I decided to follow this writer’s example and ask ChatGPT for advice on the best price comparison sites.
At first, I was a little underwhelmed. The sites it suggested are pretty well-known and would no doubt come up during a basic online search.
However, it also offered some worthwhile tips, such as checking the excess on your home insurance and considering customer service ratings.
Savings: While I was familiar with all the sites the AI suggested, it could be a great shortcut for those who haven’t previously taken advantage of price comparison services.
By using price comparison, I shaved £53 off my home insurer’s automatic renewal quote.
Subscriptions: save up to £540
It also seemed wise to let ChatGPT take a look at my overall spending.
I went through my most recent bank statement, entered the key information and asked for honest feedback on areas of potential wastage.
Despite my interest in AI, I was a little reluctant to input too much of my personal information and took every step to anonymise the data.
The AI’s response quite rightly focused on my sky-high bill for unused subscriptions.
These included almost £20 on the lottery per month. What were the chances I’d ever win?
Plus, there were two TV subscription services we rarely use.
Savings: This was arguably the most fruitful aspect of my experiment, forcing me to examine my casual spending. As a result of AI’s analysis, I cancelled £45 per month in subscriptions, or a whopping £540 per year.
Admittedly, I should have made some of these savings myself long ago, but it was useful to have an objective view, even if from a non-human perspective.
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Complaints letter: a helpful start
After a recent issue with my pension provider, it’s fair to say I’ve had a lot of back-and-forth with the company in question.
Despite spending 15 years as a personal finance journalist, the letters and emails often take a fair while to draft, so I asked AI for a template.
While the result was far from perfect, it did provide a useful building block, allowing me to enter the specific details of my grievance.
Hidden fees, FCA breaches, poor customer service and other reasons to complain to your bank
Anniversary gifts: a damp squib
In my final test, I gave the AI a more personal challenge.
With my anniversary approaching, I enquired what I should buy a 48-year-old man who is interested in cars and gangster films.
I set a price limit of £50 – as we’re not big spenders when it comes to anniversaries.
However, the results felt a little impersonal.
They included a Mini Cooper wireless computer mouse, a gangster film art print and a car-themed Lego kit. I am pretty confident my partner doesn’t play with Lego at his age.
Savings: As I decided not to go for any of these suggestions, the tool didn’t save me any money this time. That said, I wouldn’t rule it out as an idea generator in the future.
A final word of warning
As many of our readers know, this technology is prone to so-called ‘hallucinations’, in which it presents false information as fact.
It’s therefore vital that you double check any results it feeds you, especially where your finances are concerned.
It also helps to ask the tech to search the internet in real-time to ensure you’re getting the most recent data.
So would I use AI for another financial check?
While I wouldn’t be willing to hand over the reins of my finances to this nascent technology just yet, I can see how it could help with saving and may dip into it every now and again, especially as it invariably becomes smarter and more sophisticated.
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