A special Bill Buster Forum will be held at Tamworth Town Hall next month to outline simple ways residents can drive down bill prices.

The free event, presented by The Northern Daily Leader and local MP Kevin Anderson, comes on the back of a report in last week’s Leader revealing Tamworth residents were paying more for fuel and utilities than those in the city.

Mr Anderson has invited a host of organisations – including Essential Energy, AGL, Telstra, council,  Roads and Maritime Service and Coles and Woolies – to speak at the forum.

“Cost of living is obviously something people are very concerned about,” Mr Anderson said.

“Electricity has been the big one in recent years, but now we hear gas will rise and we consistently pay more for fuel.

“We thought one of the best things we could do is have a forum and provide information to people to assist them to make their bills lower.

“There are hints and tips out there, it’s just not easy to get access to the information in one spot like this.”

Telstra area general manager Tricia Wilson said savings on phone bills were often easier to make than many people expected. 

“There are number of key things to remember to help manage your phone bill,” Ms Wilson said.

They included getting the right plan, thinking before you download, making the most of plan inclusions like “free talk or text”, using wi-fi to download large files and switching to manual updates when you’re low on data.

The forum will be held on Friday, March 21 from 10am to 2pm.