Did you know that us Brits waste a whopping great £134m a year by unnecessarily overcharging laptops, phones and mp3 players?

According to a recent study conducted by E.ON, 90% of us leave our gadgets on charge after the battery has been replenished and it's costing us a hell of a lot more than we would care to think about. It’s not just those expensive bills we need to consider, either. An overcharged battery can shorten a gadget’s life, too.

Pollyanna Woodward from Channel 5’s The Gadget Show told The Metro: ‘Overcharging a gadget can often do more harm than good. It can reduce the lifespan of batteries and prevents people from making easy savings on their energy bill.’

So what does that mean for you? According to the study, leaving any gadget, plugged in once the battery is full can up a household’s annual electricity bill by £60.

And that’s just your average household. Think about all those student houses with six or more housemates! Those aged 18-24 are four times more likely to keep gadgets plugged in than those aged 55 or more - so that’s a lot of laptops left on charge overnight. And that’s a lot or precious money that could be being saved and put towards, say, a night out at the union, an impromptu shopping trip or, you know, useful things like uni textbooks.

After more handy money-saving hints? Check these tips out:

• Washing trick: save ££'s AND save your clothes
• Cut the cost of train travel
• Save time and money with a slow cooker

[Image: jodiepedia]

Tags: University advice , Saving money , Saving tips , Frugal living tips