Believe it or not, the price of fuel is slowly climbing - even during this economic downturn! It’s probably a good time to save money on petrol as some service station prices have jumped by as much as 20%! You could start to compare fuel prices from different sources but first you’ll need to get to grips with a few other ideas.

A little while back, we ran a small article on the cheapest petrol price where we recommended filling up on a Friday. This time we’re going to look at few more ideas.

The reason petrol prices are climbing is simple: demand and supply. There is still a high demand for crude oil yet some of the largest suppliers have been reducing output to maintain their profits.

Ten tips to save money on petrol

Before you rush out to scrap your 4×4 and buy an ultra-ecomonical car, take a look at some of the simple ideas you can use to cut down on the price of filling up your car.

How much fuel does your car use?

Do you know? Here’s a simple guide to calculate your fuel consumption:

• Fill up your car - right to brim (but mind your shoes!)
• Next, reset your trip to 0.
• Drive your car until it’s on empty and then refill
• Calculate the cost per mile by dividing your trip reading by the price you originally paid to fill up the vehicle

A point to note here; diesel fuel foams when you to fill up you tank so give it a little time to settle then carry on filling until you’re sure the tank is full. This method will give you a real indication of how much furl your car uses which is far more accurate than the figures supplied by manufacturers.

Chip, glorious chips!

It’s a well known fact that many, for many years, some people have been running their diesel vehicle on chip fat. Ok, we’re not telling you to syphon off the fat from the local chippy - it’s never simple, is it? - as you’ll still need diesel to get the engine up to peak operating temperature before you switch over to vegetable oil. This means you’ll need two fuel tanks and the ability to switch over fuel sources. Environmentally, this is a great idea but it’s not recommended for new cars as you may invalidate your warranty. Owners of older diesel powered vehicles may think it’s worth the risk especially when costs as little as 80p per litre.

Another option for the environmetnally minded is to convert your vegetable oil into biodiesel. This works by mixing heated vegetable oil with other chemicals. The end product is then filtered off to create fuel. If you’re thinking of buying a home fuel production kit, prices start at around £1,200 and can produce 40 litres of fuel a day. The beauty of making your own biodiesel is…there’s no tax levied against it. Alternatively, you could simply search for your nearest biodiesel station here: www.biodieselfillingstations.co.uk.

Make sure you do your research and see how much it will cost to repair your car IF something does go wroing. The potential repair bill may outweigh the benefits.

Convert to gas

The government used to give out cash incentives to encourage motorists to convert their cars to run on LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) but that has all changed. Even so, converting your vehicle to run on gas is an amazingly cheap option - working out to about half the price of unleaded fuel (even with a mild reduction of 10% in your fuel economy).

There will be some loss of power, but this should be no more than 5% and should not be noticeable in day-to-day driving. Prices for an LPG conversion range from about £1,300 to £2,000 and the work takes about a week. There are a lot of companies that specialise in gas conversions so take your time and get referrals. TfL has a list of approved conversion companies here: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk.

Slow down

By driving at a slower speed you could cut your fuel costs by up to £500 per year (figures supplied by The What Car? magazine based on five cars ranging from a 1 litre Toyota Aygo to a 2.2 litre Land Rover, found the most fuel-efficient speed was below 40mph, and as low as 20mph for two of the cars).

On average, a car will consume 38% more fuel at 70mph than travelling the same at 50mph. At 60mph, this drops to 34% more than at 40mph. Now, if you feel the need for speed consider this: an average-size car travelling at 90mph will drink around £1.20 more on fuel every eight minutes than a vehicle doing 70mph.

Compare fuel prices

One of the simplest options many of us are using is to compare fuel prices. Websites such as PetrolPrices.com will find the lowest fuel prices based on a postcode search so, if you’re not up for some of the more drastic ways to save money on petrol shown above, head on over and compare fuel prices.

Here’s the bottom line: a mortgage is debt. For a number of years we have relied on steady increases in our salaries as a way of paying off our ever increasing levels of debt. The big problem we currently face is low inflation. Basically, this means you can’t rely on large pay increases to help reduce debt…well, not in the short term. Secondly, the tax incentive that made many borrowers hold onto their mortgage was effectively abolished in 2001.

Morgage Overpayments

What is an overpayment? This type of mortgage loan lets you overpay a certain amount of cash each month which has an added adavantage of decreasing the life of your loan. Here’s an example: You have a £100,000 mortgage taken out over a 25-year period at 6%. By overpaying to the tune of £100 a month could actually save yourself around £27,000 of the repayments AND pay off your mortgage in 19 years.

The general idea is good, especially if you have spare cash at the end of each month but be aware that some lenders require you to overpay by a set minimum amount. Failure to pay in the set amount will result in your hard earned cash becoming nothing more than an interest free loan courtesy of you! Paying in more than the minimum means your interest payable will be recalculated from the following month.

Another type of mortgage is the offset: your balance is recalculated on a daily basis. This can help you pay off your loan even quicker when you pay a extra over the top each month.

Many of the current loans have had aspects of overpayments bundled into them but be aware that most of the lenders have set minimum/maximum amounts that you can overpay.

If you’ve managed to pick up fixed or discounted rate deal read the paperwork before you decide to overpay. Again, many lenders have placed a premium on early settlement of your mortgage and these early redemption penaltys can result in you paying out thousands of pounds just to close your mortgage account.

First off, let’s define this: we’re talking about assurance (meaning you will die at some point) rather than insurance (which is works on the risk of death rather than the eventuality).
It’s a type of policy that will pay off any remaining debt on your mortgage should you die. This leaves your dependents safe in the knowledge that they won’t be left with crippling debts. If you already have an endowment mortgage there’s no need to take out mortgage life assurance as it is included in your existing policy.

Is Mortgage Life Assurance right for you?

Having some form of cover is a pretty good idea, especially if you have a family. On top of this, most lenders do recommend that you buy a policy when you get a mortgage but, in most cases, the lender will attempt to sell you one of their own insurance products. On one hand, keeping all your payments with one lender may make life easy but doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get the best deal out of them.

How much will it cost?

There are a number of factors that will affect the cost of your mortgage assurance.

1. The bigger your mortgage, the higher the price for assurance.
2. The length of term also affects the cost
3. Likelihood of death during the term of assurance will also affect the premium so age, sex and lifestyle are taken into consideration (smoking, dangerous sports, occupation etc)

The hard fact: the lower the risk of that you’ll die, the cheaper it gets. DO NOT try to hide important information from the insurer – if you lie then die they could refuse to pay up.

Quit smoking or planning to?

The bottom line: if you are a non-smokers you will pay a lot less for your assurance, period.Now, before you rush to throw those lung busters in the bin and proclaim yourself “smoke free” consider this: most companies will only accept you as a non-smoker after one year of kicking the habit. Don’t be tempted to lie about this as a simple CO2 test will, generally, show if you have stopped.

Which assurance policy is best for you?

To be fair, the cheapest option will normally suffice. The payout on death is fixed so the insurance companies can’t really argue the fact once you’re officially pronounced dead! To be safe, read up on the small print of the policy before you sign on the dotted line; look for review clauses and confirm that all payments are fixed.

Finding the Cheapest Assurance Policies

The simplest, and probably best, approach is to find an execution only broker (I know, it sounds ironic when you consider we are talking about life assurance policies!) Typically, this type of broker will charge you a very small fee for finding you a policy.

”I have a medical condition!”

In this case, the execution only brokers may not be the best option. The type of medical condition you have will in all likelihood affect the type of mortgage life assurance policy you select. The harsh reality is that insurance companies don’t want to have to cough up the cash if you’ve only made a couple of payments. Typically, any issues you have may requirements a degree of advice, or research, on the brokers part which means you will pay more for your premium. At the end of the day, it’s a hard fact of life – work requires payment.

We could delve into the ‘best’ mortgage life assurance deals on the market, but, to be fair, the rates can vary on an almost daily basis. The simplest approach will be to go to an insurers or brokers web site and see what information they have. Look for a contact number then give them a call for a more thorough look at the policies on offer.

Hmm, before we launch into this we need to understand the phrase “best bank account” - it means something different to everyone searching - so let’s make a start…

What sort of bank account is right for you?

Lets’s face it, we all have different spending habits and this is usually shown in our bank balance - some of us are always in credit, some of us are constantly overdrawn (I’ve just put my hand up!) and the offers that banks put on the table usually take these factors into consideration. The competition for bringing in new customers, and keeping them, is fierce. Look at this way; have you recently told your bank that you’re moving your account to a competitor? If so, you’ll no doubt have had a barrage of info such as why it’s best to stay with your existing bank, more options that can save you money, explanations of why your new bank is ‘evil’… the list goes on. (When I say ‘evil’, I mean that you’re current bank will paint themselves as a shining example of how a bank works compared to their competition.) The bottom line: it’s never easy making a decision.

There is one thing that holds many of us back when it comes to moving our accounts: Direct Debits, Standing Orders etc - it used to be a real pain filling out paperwork to inform the companies of your new bank details. I have to admit that this stopped me from moving on a couple of occassions. A piece of good news that should encourage you; banks now have the ability to automatically transfer standing orders and direct debits. This makes moving your account far simpler. Top tip: keep your old account open for a while after you’ve switched just to make sure that payments are no longer being processed by your old bank.

Which bank account is best?

Ok, let’s head on back to our original questions; first, are you always in credit? By this, I mean do you never touch your overdraft facility at all, not even by a few pennies? If so, you need to look for the best in-credit accounts on the market. Currently, the best option is the New Alliance & Leicester Premier Current account. If you join online before 28 May Alliance and Leicester will give a £100 sign-up bonus plus 0.5% in-credit interest, but you have to you pay in £500/month. An added bonus with this account is they will also give a 0% overdraft for the first year (but because you’re always in credit you are not going to use that, are you?). After the first year is up, you’ll pay a usage fee of 50p a day (up to £5 a month) applies after that. Your maximum overdraft limit will be £2,000.

Before you rush off to your local branch, read this - in order to qualify for the £100 bonus, you have apply online, and use their ‘Premier Switching Service’ to move all of your direct debits/standing orders to your new account. You also have to pay in at least £500 from a non-Alliance & Leicester account within 11 weeks of opening. The bonus should be paid within four months of grabbing the deal.

Still wavering? Here’s a couple more bonuses for you - Free annual multi-trip European travel insurance worth up to £60 and a referral service which pays £25 to both you and a friend if you refer them. An easy way to earn some free spending here would be to team up with a few friends who are planning to switch banks and refer them…but I do not endorse this method!

What’s the catch? Yeah, there’s always one thing that could put the brakes on. In this case, you don’t qualify if you’re held an Alliance & Leicester OR Abbey account in the previous three months!

Next up, are you use your overdraft facility? If you’re regularly in the red you’ll want a bank account that has minimal charges for using your overdraft. So which bank has the cheapest overdrafts? Guess what? It’s the Alliance and Leicester Premier Current Account that wins hands down. Just scroll back up to check out the details. You will notice that there is a catch with this account - if you’ve held an A&L bank account in the previous 3 months you don’t qualify for the freebies. If you’re one of the unlucky few, maybe you should take a look at the Abbey. They are offering 0% overdraft for 12 months but after 12 months you will pay an Advance Overdraft rate of only 12.9% EAR. Another bonus with this account is that when you switch, Abbey will offer to match your previous overdraft (up to a maximum of £5,000.) To qualify of this account you must deposit at least £1,000 per month.

Ok, that’s the two major groups covered but what about the ‘in-betweens’? There’s no hard and fast rule here. You could switch your bank account based on the information above or you could simply go down the path of shifting your overdraft onto your credit card. To some of you this might seem like an odd idea but in some cases the APR on your card is actually lower than your bank account overdraft fees. At the end of the day, you’ll have to get back to good old fashioned arithmetic and work out the best option for you.

I haven’t laid out all the options available to you; simply searching around and comparing offers is probably the best way to go. One point to note when looking for the best bank account alternatives for yourself - ALWAYS READ THE T&C’s. Got that?

We know we’ve had some US readers, so here’s a link for you (because we know the way our banks over here work in a slightly different way to your ) - choosing a bank account

At a guess, I’d say you already know what the benefits of broadband internet are so I won’t give you a long winded description; needless to say you are here looking for tips on cheap broadband. But not only cheap, you want reliable internet connectivity - I’m going to give you rundown of high speed broadband suppliers who will set you up at a minimal cost.

ADSL (broadband) is basically a very high speed way of getting the internet into your home. The technology works by converting electronic data in noise in pretty much the same way as a dial-up connection however, higher speed ADSL connections are achieved through more efficient data conversion and by using a greater frequency range. Confused? Don’t worry, the tech lesson is over…

When you first subscribe to broadband, you’ll find that most decent companies will supply you with all the necessary equipment; broadband modem, filters (attach to your homes telephone junction box to ‘clean’ your signal), settings etc. Typically, setup time takes about a week and you shouldn’t notice any difference to your telephone line (ADSL works over telephone lines). Most service providers tend to lock you into your contract for between 12 and 18 months in order to make money on the equipment they supply.

How to choose a broadband package

First, you need to work out what’s best for you.

1. How long will you spend on the web?

Broadband internet prices are usually based on the amount of data transferred. Measured in Megabytes (MB) , or Gigabytes (GB), the amount of time you spend browsing different pages racks up the data transferred - opening one page will clock up a minimal transfer of data but looking at hundreds of different sites while you are logged on will eat up far more data units. But don’t worry, most suppliers have a fairly general usage policy so, unless you’re downloading hundreds of MP3’s or watching a lot of TV on the net, you should be ok. As a rough guide, viewing 25 web pages will use about 1 MB which means that with a 1 GB monthly usage limit you’ll be able to look at around 25,000 pages. You can always keep an eye on your data use by downloading such as Rokario. This will let you know how much of your monthly quota you are using.

2. What speed will you need?

If you’re only interested in browsing relatively simple web sites i.e looking at your web mail or browsing our money saving tips site then a basic broadband of 512Kbps (which is about ten times faster than regular dial-up) should be fine. Watching movies, browsing videos on YouTube or internet based TV programmes will, generally, need higher speed connection to get a decent playback. If you’re in the second group you’ll want to consider anything up to 8 Mbps broadband.

3. How technical are you?

You have to be honest here - if you don’t know how to setup your modem ask. Some cheap internet providers do provide technical support ranging from a little visit from a techie to telephone helpdesks. But be aware, both of these services usually cost money so if you can get help from ‘a friend who knows’…do it.

Bundled Broadband or not?

Some of the cheapest broadband packages come as a bundle of telephone+ADSL. Probably the cheapest broadband bundle on the market is TalkTalk but be aware that their service can be a little flakey (I’ve used it in the past) but they do have an excellent forum which plenty of technical advice.

Mobile Users

If you travel with your laptop it’s unlikely you’ll want a fixed internet connection - you’ll be wanting 3G which we’ll cover in another post.

Moving broadband provider

If you’re an existing broadband user and you want to switch suppliers the process is pretty simple:

First, check to see if you are locked into your existing supplier. If you leave before you lockin period has expired you could be penalised - read your contract for more info

Second, ask if you will you be charged for migrating. Most providers will transfer you onto their service for free as the competition for customers is fierce. However, there are still a few companies will charge you a migration fee. You should only move to one of these companies if there is a really good reason i.e. you know nothing about computers/internet and part of the fee includes fitting and configuration of your equipment.

Third, get your MAC. Phone your existing broadband supplier and ask for your MAC code (Migration Authorisation Code). There should be absolutely no problem getting this. Typically most companies will ask why you are leaving them, so, if you’re simply after a cheaper internet connection - NOW IS THE TIME TO HAGGLE! You may actually get a better deal from your existing provider. Still moving ISP? OK, now pass your MAC to the new supplier. By giving this code to them you should see minimal outages as your broadband account is moved.

Free and subsidised broadband

There aren’t many suppliers of free broadband and the first one that springs to mind is TalkTalk. If you decide to go down the free route make sure you check out some reviews and forums first otherwise you’ll only have yourself to blame.

There are some cracking deals on broadband for existing owners of certain contract mobile phones. For example, Orange customers can get Orange broadband for free. Otherwise you’re looking at £9.79 a month which, nonetheless, is still pretty cheap.

O2 have a similar deal where they will knock about a third off the normal price of broadband internet for existing customers (basic 8 Mbps costs £7.50 per month). This is a pretty cheap broadband deal when you consider that they will throw in connection, a wireless router and technical help for free! The only downside is that the service is currently only available to about half of the country right now but this will get better.

If you’re a Sky TV customer you can get 2 Mbps Sky broadband for free (2 GB usage cap) but only if you sign up for the Skytalk home phone package. Standalone broadband will cost you £5/month. There’s also a £60 installation fee for the base package, and you’ll need to be in a Sky network area otherwise the price will start to rise

Best Buys on Cheapest broadband packages

We’ve listed what we think are the best 5 broadband products on the market. The list is based on pricing so if you’re after that something extra, shop around.

Bundles

First, TalkTalk. As we’ve said before, TalkTalk’s home phone and broadband is definitely worth looking at:

For £19.41 per month you get line rental, broadband, free evening & weekend national calls plus anytime local calls. With the TalkTalk Essential package you are locked in for 18 month contract but connection fees are included in the overall price. Definitely worth looking at if you’re a heavy phone user.

Next, Virgin Broadband. This broadband bundle starts at £22.75/month but is ideal if you don’t have a landline as the calls and internet run over fibre optic cables. Tell that to your neighbours!

Cheap standalone broadband packages

The cheapest option we found is Plusnet Option 1. You get 8 Mbps, a free wireless router and 10Gb download limit for £5.99/month inc. and free wireless set-up. The 10GB applies to daytime only and then move to unlimited downloads from midnight to 8am - the ideal time to download movies and MP3’s. If you go over their daytime download allowance you’ll be charged £2 for 2GB. This contract will tie you in for 18 months.

Be Value is another good option. Prices start at £10.13/month which gives you unlimited downloads (subject to fair usage), a wireless router and free tech support. The Be Value broadband package is subject to a 12 month contract.

O2 has a decent offering in their 20 Mbps broadband offer. For £14.68/month (note, first three months are free) you get 20Mbps with no download limit, modem and connection fee are included in the price and free technical support on an 0800 number. If you’re an existing O2 customer (contract or PAYG) you’re in for a bonus - O2 will sell this broadband package to you for £7.34 per month.

That’s it, 5 cheap broadband deals currently doing the rounds. Like I said before, make sure you get the full details no matter which package you choose and happy surfing.

We’ve spoken about the horrendous rates people are paying for their store cards and credits cards before. We’ve been having a look around at the best balance transfer credit cards currently on the market (we’ll keep this list updated as and when). Before we dig too deep, we’ll talk about balance transfer.

What is Balance Transfer?

Basically, it’s where one credit card company pays off your debt on other credit cards or store cards - this then leaves you owing money to the new company but can save you a lot of money. Here’s an example; Bob owes £2000 on a card from ‘Hand over Fist Credit Co.’ at a APR of 18%. Bob takes receives a new credit card from ‘We’re Here To Help Credit Co.’ and then transfers his £2000 debt on this new card. The bonus here is that the new card gives him 0% interest for 18 months. Quids in!

0% Credit Cards…

For most people, that’s exactly what they’re looking for. 0% means exactly that - it’s like having a short term loan where you only pay back the cash without interest. Generally, you’d start looking around for sites and companies that give credit card rate comparison statistics or the best best balance transfer offers. It’s really that simple. The only downside that we’ve found is that most top balance transfer deals are for new cardholders only and, generally, require you to shift your debt within short time of opening the card account. Top tip: make sure you check out the minimum monthly repayments - not all 0% deals are born equal!

When it comes to your old credit card, most experts recommend cancelling it. There are a number of reasons for this but the main reason is that certain issuers may reject you if you already have one of its products, or have held one in the past twelve to eighteen months.

So what next? All you need to do is get you new card, transfer the balance then put it away. The key here is not to use your sparkley new credit card for anything but balance transfer. Why? Because most vendors will hike your interest rate up as soon as you use it for any transaction other than a transfer which is not what you want.

Now we get to the really meaty part - what sort of deal do you need? We’ve decided to describe two: 1) life-of-balance transfer deal - with this type of deal you’re looking at a fixed rate for the duration of the loan i.e £4000 at 5.5% for the time you have an outstanding balance on the card. With this type of offer most vendors tend not to charge you for a balance tranfer. 2) 0% credit card balance transfers - 0% interest but for shorter periods, i.e. 12 months and you typically pay a fee for moving your debt over to the new card.

Below, we’ve listed the best offers currently available on both types of card.

Cheapest long term deals

Barclaycard Simplicity - 6.8% plus there’s no fee provided you shift your debt within 60 days of opening the card. (Balances of over £5,000 transferred is charged at 6.9%). You also have to have an income of £10,000, be 21 or over, and not have another
Barclaycard.

Leeds BS - 5.9% plus 2% fee. If you intend to take over 5 years to repay your debt this is the best card available. There is also a one time fee of 2%. This card also offers cashback and a 0% rate for new purchases - DO NOT use these features as you’ll end up jumping to the standard rate of 17.9% APR. No income restrictions but you must transfer balance in 60 days of getting the card.

Best 0% credit card balance transfers

If you can pay your debts off in under a year, or you’re happy to jump ship and apply for a new card near the end of the 0% deal then you need to be looking at these cards:

Virgin credit card - 0% for 16 months with a one time 2.98% fee. Virgin have giving the best deals for a long time now so it’s well worth a look.

Abbey - 0% for 15 months but with a marginally higher fee of 3%. Best bet if you already have an MBNA card. No minimum income, Standard rate: 15.9% APR (if you come out of the offer period or use your card for a purchase).

Egg - Transfer debt to Egg* and you get 0% until 1 June 2010 with a one-off fee of 3%, followed by 16.9%
APR. The sooner you apply, the longer you get on 0% rate.

If you’re happy moving cards every time a deal ends or you can clear your debt fast then the 0% interest credit cards are definitely the way forward.

Anyway, we hope this article on the best balance transfer credit card deals has been helpful. One thing we can’t repeat often enough - if you have a 0% deal, transfer your debt then put the card away and DO NOT be tempted to use it otherwise you’ll find that most companies will automatically up your interest rate.

If you’re looking for easier ways to afford this buying outright you should look at some of the credit card plans from
Virgin or Asda Finance.

Over the past 6 months we’ve seen a huge drop in interest rates but, unfortunately, mortgage rate haven’t seen anything near the same drop. This is compounded by the fact that the lowest rates are only being offered to buyers with a large deposit to play with.

But there’s good news from HSBC. They’ve launched a new range of mortgage deals, including products that allow for loans of up to 90% of a property’s value. Good news all round but in particular for first time buyers and current homeowners who have found it hard to move due to a lack of capital to finance their deposit.

HSBC Mortgage specifics

HSBC is offering a two-year fix at 4.99% that will be available on loans up to 90% of the property’s value. Prior to this, the best deal on the market was 5.99% (90% mortage) being offered by the Yorkshire Bank.

There are a couple of one catches though - firstly, this deal is for home purchases only and is only available to customers with either of the following HSBC products: Plus and Premier Plus current accounts. The second point that may put some potential buyers off this off is the booking fee: £1,499.

If you’re after a cheaper option, you’d do well to look at another HSBC mortgage - 5.49%, fixed for two years. Sure, the rate is hight but you’ll save a hefty fee - this one comes in at £199. which is why it works out to be better value on mortgages below £180,000.

Yes, you read that right. A report just produced shows a large number of high street names have pushed the APR on their store cards to extortionate levels. The store cards are, in effect, types of credit cards - but they can catch unwary shoppers with their guard down. True, these cards let you ‘buy now, pay later’ (with some cards offering up to 59 days of interest free credit) but with interest rates of 17% on purchases and 25% (and upwards) on cash withdrawals do you really want to be paying through the nose?

So, who are the worst offenders? Well, in some cases, you’ll be rather surprised. At the top of the list is Creation Account Cards (can be used in stores listed in the DUET network) who charge 30.9% APR! When you consider that the current base interest rate is 0.5% you get an idea of how much money you’re losing by using one of these credit cards.

Other companies caught firmly in glare include Burtons, Dorothy Perkins, Edge Card, Miss Selfridge, Outfit and Wallace (all with APR of 29.9%). Slightly lower down the ladder, but no less extortionate, come Bhs, Karen Miller, New Look and Oasis who all feature an APR of around or just under 29% on their credit cards.

Just out of interest, the lowest APR seen on this list is with Fortnum and Mason who still manage a staggering 15.3%!

What can you do? It’s simple - pay your store card off as soon as possible, then bin it (take great satisfaction in cuting up your credit card before burning/throwing it away ). If you’re not in a position to pay this off quickly the best bet may be to get yourself another credit card. Now, this may seem counter-intuitive but what you’re looking for is a card that gives you 0% on balance of transfer for a period of time. Move your debt to the new card then take great pleasure in destroying your store card! Then you can concentrate on mopping your debt with your new interest free credit card. (Tip: put your new card away somewhere and don’t be tempted to use it - some credit card companies will charge you full interest levels once you make a purchase on it)

…fill your car up on a Friday!

A recent report carried out by Brendan McLoughlin of petrolprices.com suggests that a large number of petrol stations actually increase the price of fule by up to 2p on Fridays. It seems that some underhand premises are fully aware that many drivers have a tendency to fill up on a Friday in preparation for the coming weeks commute!

In other words, if you want to keep the cost of commuting by car down, try and top up your fuel earlier in the week. If this isn’t posSible, make sure you only buy what you need and avoid the garage on a Friday.Equally, where possible don’t fill your fuel tank up completely - the extra weight actually uses more fuel! The easies way to avoid being fleeced is to keep an eye on the most competitive fuel stations - simply go to petrolprices.com and enter your postcode to get a listing of nearest, and cheapest, petrol stations.

Now, to many readers 1p/2p difference in the cost of a litre of petrol might not seem much but to hardcore commuter racking up 1000’s of miles per year this can mean a significant saving on your car fuel bill.

Anyone that owns a credit card knows they can be both a curse and a life saver. The main problem with this form of credit is the cost - credit card interest rates can hit up to 30%! It would be fair to say that most of us would be better off without a credit card - it’s simply too easy to rack up a large bill then find yourself unable to pay it off. But, if you absolutely feel that you must sign up for one why not make the card work for you by taking a look at cash back credit cards.

The idea is simple; you spend using your credit card and the card company uses a reward scheme whereby you benefit in the form of a payback.

Don’t be fooled, you won’t make huge sums of money from these schemes - the typical rate offered is around 0.5% cashback on the purchase value i.e you spend £100 you get 50p back. The best cash back rates can reach up to 5% but in many cases the amount you can earn back is capped!

You also need to aware of the criteria that credit card companies set in order for you to qualify for cash back - ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS READ THE TERMS! Did you get that? Good, make sure you do it.

Another factor to consider is this: some lenders only offer you cash back against your credit card purchases for a set, initial period whilst other lenders will base the amount of money you get back credit card on our credit card spending levels (see above; capped cash back).

The bottom line here is, where possible, avoid credit cards unless you absolutely must have one, in which case you should serious consider getting a cash back reward credit card.