Debt Management Plans

A Debt Management Plan can be handled by yourself or on your behalf from a Debt Management Company. It can be a great debt solution for a temporary period, or when you can’t manage financially every month. Because a Debt Management Plan is informal, you or your creditors can opt out of the agreement at any stage.

Advantages of Debt Management

A Debt Management Plan is a Informal Arrangement, so you have complete control over it.

There is no need for formal Insolvency Procedures.

You are being pro-active about dealing with your debts, which could prevent further legal action.

You will have a lower more manageable payment every month.

Creditor pressure and harassment will be relieved.

Interest could be frozen.

Self-Help Debt Management

You can administer a Debt Management Plan by yourself and there are certain charitable organisations out there, to help you and show you how to go about this. You renegotiate your payment terms with your creditors showing them that you are struggling to meet payments, By doing this you will mostly find that they are sympathetic about it. The fact that you are dealing with the problem shows that you are committed to repaying the debt. If you leave it until your creditors are threatening some sort of action against you, they will be less sympathetic.

It isn’t easy to set up and maintain your own Debt Management Plan. You’ll need to be a ‘tough cookie’ in order to negotiate the best deal for you; they may in any case refer you to a Debt Management Company. This is discussed in the next paragraph.

Debt Managment Companies

A Debt Management Company is an organisation that negotiates and handles your Debt Management Plan on your behalf. There are so many firms that offer this service and most charge a fee for their service, which will come out of your monthly payment (usually ranging from 15% – 18%).

The good thing about a company handling your Debt Management Plan is they may have more weight when it comes to dealing with your creditors. In some cases, they may even get your interest frozen. They are normally very good at following structured guidelines for your income and expenditure and can normally come up with a reasonable monthly payment that will leave you comfortable to get by every month, whilst paying down your debt. Also, you will make one payment to the company and they will disperse it accordingly, instead of you having to handle all the payments yourself.

How long does a Debt Management Plan last?

The length of time of a Debt Management Plan depends wholly on how much the debt is, what your monthly payments are and how long your circumstances remain the same. You may want to remain in the plan until the debt is cleared, or you may see it as a more temporary measure. You may have little debt to pay off and have a lot of disposable income every month, or you may have higher debt and less disposable income.

If you want to remain in the Debt Management Plan until the debt is paid in full, a rough guide of the duration of the plan can be obtained by dividing your total debt by your new monthly payment amount giving you an approximation of the total number of months it is expected to last.

Tipping Etiquette

It’s a question many of us ask ourselves while on holiday. How much should I tip? It can be tricky, and, if you’re not careful, you could end up either embarrassing yourself or causing offence to another party. So, what’s the correct number? 10%? 15%? 18%? And what if service is included? How much should you tip then?

Tipping in some countries will cause just as much offence as not tipping in others. So, in an effort to make things clearer, and with a little help from my friends (and the odd Lonely Planet guide), here are some tips I’ve discovered on holiday that should make your trip a little smoother:

Australia and New Zealand

Tipping is not widely expected, and may even cause offence to some. However, tipping in restaurants is becoming more common, and a 10% tip for good service will be appreciated by restaurant and bar staff. Taxi drivers and hairdressers do not expect a tip.

Egypt

One of the first words I learnt when I went to Egypt was ‘baksheesh’. Literally meaning ‘spread the wealth’, this is Egypt’s monetary way of saying thank you for services rendered. Tipping is discretionary, but a couple of Egyptian pounds (one Egyptian pound is roughly 10p) here and there goes a long way. Porters, tour guides and waiters all appreciate baksheesh, and whether it’s for a meal or for someone carrying all those purchases you made in the souk back to the hotel, every penny counts. Remember to carry change and ask for small denominations when changing your money. Small bills are a prized possession in Egypt because, obviously, no one gives change for a tip. One exception is taxi drivers, who, as my Egyptian friend says, are usually rude anyway, and will probably try to rip you off. So, needless to say, don’t tip them.

France

Service is included by law in France, and your bill may state ’service compris’ to indicate this. In any case, it is polite to round up the bill to the nearest euro, or to add 10% for exceptional service. Taxi drivers and porters will always appreciate a couple of euros for efficient service. However, watch for signs that say ‘Pourboire Interdit’, which means that tipping is forbidden.

Greece

In Greece, although a service charge is automatically included in your bill when eating out, this does not necessarily mean that it will go to the waiters and waitresses. So, if you’re satisfied with your meal, a tip of 8-10% is customary. Bear in mind that during the Christmas and Greek Easter holiday periods a service ‘bonus’ of 18% will be added to your restaurant bill as a holiday extra for the waiters. When travelling around, rounding up your taxi fare to the nearest euro is also the norm.

Germany

Although a service charge is included (appearing on your bill as ‘Bedienung’), it is the norm to tip up to an extra 10% of the bill, especially in upmarket restaurants. One word of advice: never say ‘danke’ when paying unless you are really appreciative of your meal, because more often than not, this will be interpreted by the staff as a signal to keep the change. In addition, hand your tips to the staff when paying the bill instead of placing it on the table as you leave. A customary practice in the UK to save awkwardness perhaps, but this will cause offence in Germany. In taxis, add a euro or two to the total to keep the cabbie smiling.

Italy

When dining in restaurants, a 10-15% service charge (coperto) may already be included in your bill. If that is the case, don’t feel obliged to add any more, and if not, a 10% gratuity is sufficient. In many Italian cafés, you will often pay more to sit down and enjoy your coffee, hot chocolate or gelato rather than standing at the bar anyway. So, if you do sit down, an extra €0.50 is a sufficient tip. (You won’t find better hot chocolate than in Italy, but that’s another story.) Smaller trattorias and pizzerias don’t expect a gratuity, and tipping a small family-run business may even cause offence. Taxi drivers also do not expect a tip. When I attempted to leave one in Florence, my friend practically slapped the coins out of my hand. Again, however, rounding up to the nearest euro is fine, or if your cab driver helps carry your bags you may want to extend this to a couple of euros.

Japan

One word. Don’t. The Japanese are pretty clear cut when it comes to tips. Any monies left are more likely to cause offence than gratitude. The number stated on the bill is what you should pay. No more. No less. ‘Nuff said.

Spain

Service charges are included in the food prices on the menu in Spain, and tipping is a matter of personal choice. Most people leave some small change if they’re satisfied and 5% is usually plenty. It’s common to leave small change at the bar and café tables, or if you eat tapas or sandwiches at a bar, it’s just enough to round the bill to the nearest euro.

USA

Tipping is serious business in the States. Many service staff get no more than minimum wage, and rely on tips to supplement their income. One of my colleagues (whose name shall remain anonymous) was actually chased out of a diner because they didn’t leave a big enough tip when eating. So, tip generously, and often. You should leave a 15% minimum tip in diners, restaurants and cafes, and if service is really good then 20% is more the norm. In bars, slipping the bartender around a dollar per drink will ensure that service will never be a problem. And finally, when out and about in the States, tipping an extra 15% to your taxi driver is the usual custom.

I can’t afford to tip

Almost a third of Brits have reduced their tips because of the recession, so you’re not alone if you’re feeling the pinch. But savvy travellers know that tipping hotel staff at the start of a holiday often means you get a better service for the duration of your stay. And a better service means a better holiday. If you’re going somewhere you will have access to the internet, one way to make sure your holiday is affordable is to use online banking to keep track of your transactions. Finally, don’t forget to adopt our goal: Have a cheap holiday. It really can help you to save those pennies!

Bad Credit

Paying your expenses on credit could end up costing you dearly as lenders hike rates on loans, credit cards and store cards to their highest levels in years.

Despite the credit crunch, most people are still spending in the manner they have become accustomed to. Although there is an argument for using some types of credit to sensibly balance short-term variable costs (e.g. Christmas) and protect your purchases, you’d be wise to be on your guard against high APR loans and plastic with high interest rates. There are five main forms of credit that should be avoided wherever possible:

1. Pay day loans

Google ‘pay day loan’ and you’ll get a whole list of companies willing to lend people between £100 and £1,000 ,which doesn’t have to be repaid when they pay day. While this might seem an easy and relatively safe way to borrow, interest rates are often a staggering 1,355%. So although you don’t have to have a credit check to take out this type of loan, you could end up seriously in debt despite only borrowing a relatively small amount.

Andrew Hagger, of moneynet.co.uk, says: “Unless you know for certain that you’re in line for a windfall from some other source, it’s sheer madness to borrow in this way.”

Research from price comparison website uSwitch.com show that someone borrowing £750 from one pay day loan company, which has an APR of 9889.3%, could end up paying back up to £1,687.50 if they defer repayments for a total of five months.

Louise Bond, personal finance manager at uSwitch.com, says: “Some companies will allow consumers to defer repayment for several months, which can rack up a phenomenal amount of interest. The current economic climate is perfect for these organisations to lure in unsuspecting cash strapped consumers that are often so desperate, they really don’t care how much interest they have to pay.”

2. Log book loan

Log book loans allow car owners to borrow between £500 and £50,000 by using their vehicle as collateral. In most cases, the lender will not run a credit check and many will allow you to borrow against the value of your car even if you bought it on a finance deal.

The catch is the APR – these are typically 430%. This means a loan of £1,500 will turn into £1,845 in just one month or £4,180.00 if you defer payments for 78 weeks.

Hagger says: “If you can’t keep up with the repayments, you’ll lose your car. Sheer lunacy.”

3. Credit card cheques

The current climate has highlighted the danger of spending on credit without any plans as to how you will pay off the debt. But despite this, credit card companies continue to send out cheques that enable card-holders to make purchases from organisations that don’t accept credit cards.

While this might seem an ideal way to buy products or services from firms that don’t accept plastic payments, interest rates tend to be around the 30% mark. The provider will also charge you a handling fee, typically around 3%.

4. Credit card cash advances

Another trap many credit card-holders often fall into is using their plastic to withdraw cash. APRs on cash advances tend to be expensive across all deals and with no interest-free period, your debt will start increasing from the moment you punch in your pin.

And, as Hagger points out, people with 0% balance transfer or purchase deals will still face interest of around 27% if they withdraw cash.

5. Unauthorised overdrafts

If you exceed your overdraft limit without permission from your bank then you face being hit with hefty charges. The test case on bank charges may mean banks will have to reduce these in the future, but until then you should check your bank statements as often as possible to ensure you don’t slip into the red unwittingly.

It might also be worth applying for an overdraft facility from your current account provider in advance as a safety net should you accidentally overspend.

Money Saving Websites

Your PC is a powerful gateway to a host of money-saving websites. Most of us use a few big shopping sites to help find bargains – but there are a host of safe and reliable websites around to help you cut the cost of specific tasks. Here are 20 of the best.

1. Cut your spending Greener, cheaper power

The Energy Saving Trust website offers a host of calculators that will help you cut your energy consumption – and your bills – as well as information on grants and money-off offers for home improvements and energy-efficient appliances.

2. Control your spending

lovemoney.com online banking service allows you to view all your various transactions and balances in one place and lets you compare your outgoings, so you can see where your money goes each month and identify any savings you can make.

3. Get the cheapest groceries

Price comparison website My Supermarket lets you compare prices and find promotional offers from the big four online supermarkets – Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Ocado and Asda. The site will even offer to switch the products you choose for cheaper available alternatives.

4. Get paid to shop

Cashback site Quidco offers cashback from a range of popular online retailers, including Tesco, HMV and Dixons. Cash rebates can be as high as 10% of your purchase cost and you don’t have to register your credit card and bank details. Instead an annual £5 membership cost is deducted from the total cashback you earn.

5. Compare thousands of prices

So-called price-scraper website Kelkoo scours all online retailers to find the cheapest prices on a huge range of items, from electronics to fashion items and mobile phones. The site also runs its own cashback reward scheme.

6. Find free stuff

Innovative recycling website Freecycle works as an online swap shop. The site matches people with goods they want to get rid of with people who want to use them. Goods can either be donated or exchanged and the scheme covers nearly 500 local areas.

7. Get money off purchases

Voucher code website Myvouchercodes offers another way to enjoy cheaper shopping. The site works by advertising deals and discounts from high street retailers and online shopping sites, which can be picked up by entering a special e-code. Members can enjoy reductions of up to 75% from major retailers.

8. Make free phone calls

Online telephony service Skype allows you to make free unlimited phone calls over the internet to other Skype users and offers reduced rates on calls to landlines and mobile phones. The software is free to download, there’s no subscription fee and the application also works on certain mobiles.

9. Avoid premium rate lines

Campaign website Say No to 0870 encourages users to avoid calling premium rate 0870 telephone lines, which can cost as much as 15p a minute. The site lets you type in the name of the company you want to contact and gives you a list of standard-rate (or even free) alternative contact numbers.

10. Find free web access

You can find the nearest public place offering free Wi-Fi through site Hotspotlocations. The site lets you search more than 3,000 UK outlets offering free web access – which means you could dump your costly dongle.

11. Fill up your tank for less

Price comparison website PetrolPrices.com lets you locate the lowest-priced fuel in your area. All you have to do is register and enter your postcode – the site will then locate the lowest prices for petrol, diesel and even LPG fuel near you.

12. Find cheap flights

“Price scraper” website Skyscanner searches thousands of travel websites to find the cheapest flight deals on all major airlines – which means you can enjoy a cheap getaway without enduring the hidden costs and baggage limits of no-frills airlines.

13. Get a railcard

You don’t have to be a student to enjoy cheap rail travel: the official railcard website lists the various discount schemes that allow you to enjoy a third off selected rail journeys. There are four national schemes – the Young Persons Railcard for 16-25s, the Senior Railcard for the over-60s, the Disabled Persons Railcard and the Family & Friends railcard – priced at between £20 and £28 per year.

14. Free days out in the capital

Keep yourself entertained in London without spending a penny with online travel guide London Is Free. The site lists all free events in the capital, from exhibitions to comedy nights and gigs.

15. Explore the world

Catering for the more adventurous traveller, Couch Surfing lets you stay anywhere in the world for free. The scheme works by putting travellers in touch with locals offering free accommodation in more than 230 countries. Be aware – there are some horror stories to be found online.

Cheaper entertainment and computing

16. Never pay for books again

Avid readers can save significant sums through community website Read It, Swap It. The site works as a swap shop for book-lovers; registration is free, and the only charge is a £1.40 postage fee.

17. Turn your PC into a jukebox

Free music streaming service Spotify lets you listen to millions of songs at no cost. Registration is free (although you may need an invite from another user) and the service allows users listen to an online catalogue of six million tracks for free with adverts between tracks or for £9.99 a month an ad-free service.

18. Watch better TV

Nothing on TV? Why not turn to YouTube? There’s far more available than home-made videos – the archive now includes classic Channel 4 shows and thousands of on-demand music videos. And, with a VGA cable, you can watch them all on your home TV.

19. Run your PC for free

You don’t have to pay upwards of £100 for a basic Microsoft Office package – freeware suite Open Office boasts a comparable suite offering five office functions, including word processor, spreadsheet package and simple graphics creator. It is absolutely free to download and completely safe. Join our Kit out your PC for free goal to discover other ways of saving money.

20. Secure your PC for free

You can also find solid, reliable anti-virus software for free from a surprising source – Microsoft. Its Security Essentials suite provides full anti-virus protection, as well as malware detection and removal. The only requirement is that you own a legitimate copy of Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7.

Save Money By Using Cashback Websites

The major cashback websites are Quidco (www.quidco.com), the UK’s largest with 730,000 members, Top CashBack (www.topcashback.co.uk) and Cashback Kings (www.cashbackkings.com) These sites make money by referring customers to travel retailers, including giants like First Choice, Thomas Cook and Hilton Hotels.

They earn a commission on any sale made to a referred customer, which they share with you. In fact, so-called “100 per cent cashback” portals like those listed above give you all the commission. They make their money via a flat-rate annual fee (Quidco takes your first £5 cashback earned) or on-site advertising.

Signing up with a cashback site is straightforward: enter your email, choose a password and select how you’d like to be paid. Money is generally returned to you via cheque, BACS or PayPal, with no limit on what you can earn.

Your experience on the travel retailer’s website is unaffected but you must begin your shopping journey by clicking through from the cashback site, so your purchase can be tracked via a harmless piece of computer code known as a “cookie”.

While recent research by shopping comparison website Kelkoo suggests that 40 per cent of online shoppers have never used a cashback site, and a quarter have never heard of them, Adam Bullock at Top CashBack measures “between £4 million and £5 million” spent monthly on travel via their site.

Cashback sites are currently running significant deals. “Travel is a popular segment at this time of year,” says Richard Yendall, founder of Cashback Kings, “but apart from business travel, it tends to die back through the rest of the year.”

Expect deals on every part of your holiday, from flights, rail and hotels to insurance, airport parking and even travel essentials such as guidebooks, maps and clothing.

At Quidco’s easy-to-use website, for example, there’s seven per cent cashback available on stays at Hilton Hotels; 10 per cent on short-breaks with Superbreak; six per cent on cottages4you; seven per cent on Norfolkline; up to 12 per cent on bookings of various types at Expedia (only one per cent on flights, however); 10 per cent on Hertz car hire (booked and payed for online); and over 230 more deals with some well-known holiday providers.

Top CashBack lists 500 travel merchants with offers including four per cent cashback on P & O Ferries bookings, three per cent on Virgin Atlantic holidays, five per cent with camping and family specialist Siblu Holidays, up to 6.5 per cent on Thomas Cook holidays and plenty more in their dedicated Travel section (www.topcashback.co.uk/travel-cashback).

At Cashback Kings there’s 7.5 per cent cashback on BAA airport parking, four per cent on Eurocamp and Eurostar bookings, up to five per cent on Crystal Holidays, two per cent on all Qantas flights, five per cent on Interhome, up to 16 per cent on Holiday Extras and a £4 bonus for taking out a Caxton FX prepaid Mastercard.

And to maximise your savings, check the websites regularly as new offers come on-stream almost daily. Many of the deals are available across all the sites but occasionally they are exclusive to one.

Computer Buying Tips

It seems to me that, for most of the noughties, computer hardware (computers, laptops, screens and so on) developed much faster than it needed to for the average user. If you are a Web designer or play resource-hungry computer games, it’s worth paying a premium for a top-spec computer. For the rest of us, this rapid development has pushed down the cost of more basic hardware rapidly and dramatically.

My laptop collapsed yesterday under the weight of heavy usage, so I’ll be buying a new one. Two years ago I spent just £450 on a laptop. Today, I’m looking at getting my usual brand, Toshiba, for £350 brand new, complete with much better specifications. (If I was watching the pennies I could make it around £250 by sticking with XP instead of getting the new Windows 7.)

Still, just because things are cheaper it doesn’t mean we can’t get ripped off any more. Here are some rip-offs that I’ve noticed whenever I’ve shopped around for new computers.

1. The High Cost Of Advice

Going into a computer shop you can get good advice, but you tend to pay a premium for it and you leave yourself open to sales tactics. This is to be expected, so it’s not a rip-off that we should complain about. On the other hand, it’s one that’s easily avoided! Get free advice from the internet.

2. Huge Price Differences

A quick internet search using finds two computers with almost identical specifications and benefits. One costs £430 and the other £510, which is £80 (or almost 20%) more.

In defence of the computer shops, I reckon a huge number of them don’t deliberately try to mark up their prices. It’s just that new hardware is constantly being released, so it must be a bit of a nightmare staying on top of prices and reducing them every couple of months as newer products arrive. Still, it shows that it pays to shop around.

3. Credit Terms

One website was charging £700 (OK, £699.99) for a laptop. It was sold to visitors at just £7.47 per week over 156 weeks. That is ‘just’ £1,165, which is ‘just’ £465 (66%) more than the basic price!

Outrageous credit terms are not unusual. I found another seller charging the same horrendous APR of 40%. It admitted that a computer costing £600 was £1,000 after three years. This is easy to avoid. If you can’t afford to pay in one go, you should first consider either saving up or buying a budget model. If you can’t do that, get a credit card that allows you to spread the cost over 10 months interest free, so that you don’t pay any extra.

4. Service Cover

Many stores offer their own service cover for up to five years. This can push the cost of a £700 laptop up to about £920. That seems to work out at £44 per year, but it doesn’t. Firstly, the odds are quite reasonable that you’ll replace it in maybe three years, so you’ll waste the last two of the agreement (unless it is transferable, but the terms will typically be quite onerous). Secondly, the warranty will likely cover it for the first 12 months, wasting that year too. That means you may be spending £110 per year on the two years in between.

For most people it’ll work out better to buy a reliable brand (HP and Toshiba have always worked for me), to ensure the basic warranty is good enough, and to maintain your computer well from the start. A simple internet search will give you plenty of tips on how to do that. Then, if there is an occasion where you need to repair the computer, you can just take it to a repair shop and pay a one-off charge. You’ll probably spend a lot less on repairs than £220!

The double hit of service cover and a computer paid for on credit can be extraordinary. I saw a £710 computer that would cost £1,550 with service cover paid for on credit!

5. Other Optional Extras

Some websites add extra items automatically, or otherwise heavily recommend them. I just had a quick look and saw Norton’s virus scanner added for £30 to one laptop, for example. However, you can get quality virus scanners for free (I use AVG’s free scanner at the moment and I’m satisfied with it).

Supermarket Scams Uncovered

Believe it or not, recent figures suggest that over the past few years, the wholesale price of basic food essentials, such as bread and butter, has plummeted almost 50%.

No, I’m not making this up. And yet, I can’t say I’ve noticed. In fact, every time I’m at the checkout, I’m continually amazed at how much money I manage to spend on food each week.

So why are my food bills continuing to spiral upwards? Well, apparently, supermarkets simply haven’t been lowering their prices in line with declines. And in fact, prices have still been going up.

If you ask me, this is a bit sneaky. Unfortunately, however, it’s not the only trick adopted by many supermarkets – there are lots of them. So here are seven supermarket scams to avoid at all costs…

Size Matters

You might think you’ll save yourself some pennies if you buy larger packs of goods. After all, generally speaking, buying in bulk is supposed to be cheaper.

But according to research from mySupermarket.co.uk, shoppers could be paying up to 46% more by opting for bigger packs. For example, an 800g jar of Hellmann’s mayonnaise was found to be 33% (99p) more expensive than buying two jars of 400g mayonnaise.

The best way to avoid this is to always check product details before buying – it’s a really good idea to check the price per weight. Although this may sound like a lot of hassle – particularly if you’re walking around the supermarket in a bit of a hurry – if you shop online using mySupermarket.co.uk, you will find it much easier.

That’s because this nifty website allows you to track how much your shopping would cost at each of the UK’s four major supermarkets (Sainsbury’s, Tesco, ASDA and Ocado/Waitrose). It also means you can easily see how much you’ll be paying per gram/kilogram, so it’s easy to check which is the cheapest option, no matter how big or small the packet.

What’s more, it will also tell you when you can ’swap and save’ by substituting a bag of grapes for a box of grapes, for example. The savings soon stack up!

Special Offers

Special offers such as ‘buy one get one free’ deals can be very tempting. But while in some cases these can help to slash your food bills, they don’t always provide the best value for money.

Often you’ll find the very best deals are on perishable items such as fruit and vegetables. So unless you can guarantee you’ll eat two bags of satsumas in a few days, you may find you end up throwing a lot of food away.

What’s more, if you head down to your local greengrocers or market, you will probably find you can buy the same product even cheaper. Or simply grow your own!

Similarly, be wary of deals such as ‘buy one get one half price’ and ‘two for £3′ – if you don’t actually need to buy two, don’t get too sucked in. Some supermarkets cunningly raise prices one week and then reduce them the next so that they can claim a discount. So don’t buy more simply because you can.

Delicious Smells

I have to confess that I fall for this one on a regular basis. I just can’t resist the smell of freshly baked bread as I walk down the bakery aisle. Usually this trick works its magic and I find myself loading up my trolley with the stuff.

But try not to let yummy smells tempt you into buying items you really don’t need or didn’t intend to buy in the first place. Stick to your shopping list!

Relaxing Coffee Shops

These days it seems that supermarkets are determined for you to spend hours and hours wandering around their aisles.As a result, coffee shops such as Starbucks and Costa have started springing up in supermarkets, allowing you to while away the hours, enjoying a cup of coffee and a spot of lunch, before continuing to amble along the aisle.

After all, what better way to spend your day than in the supermarket? And the longer you spend in the supermarket, the more you might spend on your food bill! Don’t get sucked in – walk in, stick to your shopping list, get out!

Product Placement

Do you ever find yourself wondering what’s at the top of the supermarket shelf? The one you can’t quite reach? Supermarkets will often put the most profitable items at eye level so they are easy to find, while the cheapest items will be at the very top or very bottom of the shelf. This means you may need to be prepared to do some hunting if you want the best bargains.

Similarly, you may find the most expensive products, such as electrical goods, are placed near the entrance to the supermarket. Meanwhile, the cheaper basic foods will be towards the exit – so you’ll have to pass the tempting electrical products to get to them.

Changing Layout

It drives me mad when I walk into my local supermarket to find that everything has been moved around.

This is another cunning ploy adopted by supermarkets and means that however well you thought you knew the layout, you can guarantee you won’t know where anything is anymore, and you’ll be forced to traipse around the supermarket looking for everything on your shopping list.

As a result, you’ll pass other tempting items which you’re more likely to throw into your trolley. So again, stick to your shopping list!

Location, Location

If you often run into your local supermarket at the station to pick up a few bits on your way home from work, be careful. That’s because prices can change depending on the store location – even if it’s the same chain.

Very large stores are likely to be the cheapest, while convenience stores and those in petrol stations and at motorway service stations will be more expensive. So try to avoid doing a big shop in the more expensive stores.

Train Fare Rebate

1) What am I entitled to?

The criteria for compensation differs between train companies, so check individual company websites. The type of refund also varies – some offer cash refunds, while others reimburse you with vouchers; some cover for delays of 30 minutes, while others have you waiting an hour before they refund. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t meet the criteria, claims are often considered on an individual basis.

2) When to claim

Make your claim as soon as possible after the incident to heighten your chances of receiving a rebate; most train companies must receive applications within 28 days of the ticket’s expiry date. You can claim an immediate refund from the ticket office at the station if you decide not to travel because your train is cancelled or delayed – often subject to an administration fee.

3) Are train firms always liable?

Compensation is usually only issued if the reason for the delay is within the control of the company, so if extreme weather conditions are to blame you may not be eligible for a claim.

4) What about season tickets?

If you hold monthly or annual season tickets and are subject to repeated delays you could be entitled to a discount. Each train company has punctuality and reliability targets – so if your route has consistently been below that target you can get a rebate.

5) How to make a claim

Get as much information as possible about the cancelled or delayed journey and make the claim in writing to the train company concerned. Download a form from the company’s website (Transport for London’s is at tfl.gov.uk/tube/contacts/refunds.asp ) – you’ll often be asked to supply tickets and receipts, but be sure to keep a copy for reference.

I’m going to summarise articles we’ve written that’ll save you the most money. These are the greatest money-saving tips.

1. And this one’s just for starters…

I’m going to begin by telling you something you shouldn’t buy to save yourself thousands. I’m talking about insurance that protects your mortgage, loan or credit card repayments. My colleague Cliff D’Arcy has for many years campaigned against the extraordinary cost of this product, revealing that such insurance can cost £3,000 on a loan of just £7,500!

You can, however, consider buying the same insurance separately through a stand-alone insurer, which you can find on the internet. These typically charge 1/10th of the price that your lender charges, and the terms and conditions tend to be better. Alternatively, consider my favourite insurance: income protection insurance. We wrote about this in Five ways to protect your income.

If you’ve been paying for this insurance, there’s a good chance you have a case to claim your premiums back. Read Rip-off insurance: Get your share of £200m compensation to find out more.

2. No salespeople required

Selling a £150,000 home could easily cost you £3,500 in estate agent fees, even if you negotiate on price. That’s a lot of money for very little work. Consider what they actually do:

• They value the property. This is a free service they do in return for a chance to sell their services to you.

• They might spend 120 minutes on emails and phone calls (assuming 10 minutes a week for 12 weeks).

• They might spend 400 minutes showing people around your home (assuming about 20 visits lasting an average 20 minutes each, and this includes the 10 minutes or so it takes them to drive to and from your property).

• Add 60 minutes for preparing all the advertising (such as taking photos for sites like Rightmove).

• Add on 30 minutes for the paperwork (which is generous as this is always standard letters and forms).

Add this up and, in total, they’re earning about £344 per hour. They’re not doctors. They’re not lawyers near the top of their field. Even after deducting their minuscule expenses (for photos, brochures and advertising, for example), that’s one heck of a wage.

On top of that, they’ll ‘kindly’ instruct HIP providers, insurers, solicitors and even lenders for you – whilst charging you a fat, hidden commission for the ’service’.

An estate agent does just three key things, all of which lovemoney.com, in the past 15 months, has given you guidance on doing yourself:

• Establish the property price. Read point three in Sell your home in seven steps (although you may want to skip over point two).

• Arrange viewings at the weekends (in groups if you want to save time), and write a list of things to tell prospective buyers (e.g. about friendly neighbours, transport links, a modern boiler, and other benefits that aren’t obvious about the property). A list is cheaper and less forgetful than an estate agent. There’s more on arranging viewings in Sell your home online.

3. Cutting the cost of saving for retirement

Although this section is much shorter than the last, it’s likely to save you six times as much money! Whether you’re investing in a pension, a shares ISA, or something else, you’re probably investing in managed funds, which means that a human (or a team of them) is looking after your money.

We talk about the advantages of ditching managed funds and letting a computer run your investments in Two simple ways to invest better in shares. If you invest just £100 a month for 40 years you could easily save yourself £18,000 in fees and you can expect that the computer, simply by mimicking the stock market, will outperform almost all managed funds!

4. Don’t look to your mortgage lender for help

There are a couple of things that mortgage lenders offer that sound friendly, but really end up costing you thousands.

Some of them will encourage you to take a payment holiday. While this sounds nice, it means that you will end up paying more interest on your mortgage every month until you have paid the whole thing off! Read how a three-month payment holiday might cost you, on a £150,000 mortgage, almost £2,000 extra interest in The true cost of a mortgage payment holiday.

The same goes if you agree to let the lender add any arrangement or other fees to your mortgage, rather than paying for it yourself up front. The extra interest you’ll pay on a £1,000 arrangement fee will almost double the cost of the fee by the end of the mortgage, as we explain in Why you should pay your mortgage fees up front.

5. This could be the big one

I’ve mentioned already that Cliff D’Arcy is the champion who tries to help people understand the extraordinary cost of buying protection insurance on your loans through your lender. In the same way, Jane Baker is as much a champion against the hideous cost of buying an annuity (a monthly pension income after you retire) from the same company you’ve been saving your pension with during your working years.

She calculates that by taking your pot of retirement money elsewhere and getting someone else to pay you your annuity income, you could save yourself almost £24,000 in 20 years.

So why not improve it? Even if you have good credit, excellent credit will get you better mortgage rates on your home loan, potentially saving you thousands of pounds. Here are 101 tips to help you do just that – everything you ever wanted to know to be financially successful.

Pay your bills on time. Duh right? But this can significantly help your score, even if you make the minimum payment.

• Keep your credit card balances low. Avoid owing a lot of money, makes payment time less miserable.
• Don’t close unused credit card accounts. It lowers your credit score when they lose records on previous transactions – which happens when you close a card.
• Avoid temptation and cut extra credit cards. It’s just too easy to charge on one more… And even easier to forget that 5th credit card bill.
• Only keep bare minimum of credit cards available for charge. Finding a wallet big enough to contain all your credit cards is probably not the best idea in terms of controlled spending.
• Don’t open extra credit card accounts. That 10% off your first purchase is probably not the best idea if you’re only going to use it once or twice.
• Make sure you shop around for the best rate on a credit card. There’s no need to donate extra money towards the credit card companies.
• Make sure you receive all the cards you applied for. You don’t want to take a chance that someone else got the one lost in the mail.
• Keep track of where all your credit cards are.
• Utilize free credit reports by checking Equifax and Experian.
• Check your credit report 3 times a year to monitor any identity theft or security issues. But be sure to stagger these reports so you can monitor it over time.
• Opt for paperless statements for better security and to save trees.
• Don’t buy bigger things because you can charge it, debt affects your credit score as well.
• Don’t charge items you need months to pay off and isn’t a necessity.
• Check around for the best interest rates on your home loan before going with that mortgage company.
• If you’re divorced, make sure to separate your accounts after the divorce.
• Start building your independent credit as soon as possible.
• For those who are not in love, try to marry someone who has not declared bankruptcy – or even better, with excellent credit.
• Meticulously examine your credit report and make sure to remove any inaccuracies.
• Check back to make sure inaccuracies on your report has actually been removed.
• Avoid too many inquires. Potential creditors will inquire about your credit score, too many in a short amount of time can affect it.
• Don’t apply for too many credit cards, inquires, debt, multiple liabilities, etc all negatively impact your score.
• Buy within your means.
• Don’t buy that car, house, whatever that’s just out of your range.
• Don’t put yourself in stressful debt situations.
• Charge what you can pay off quickly.
• Don’t skip payments; even paying the bare minimum is better.
• Don’t default on a loan.
• Don’t declare bankruptcy.
• Lower your monthly payment by charging less and buying what you can afford.
• Talk to your bank and try to waive extra fees and charges.
• Avoid late fees. Banks charge around £38 per late payment – ouch!
• Try and get late fees waived from your bank.
• Avoid overdrafts.
• Get overdraft protection.
• Avoid signing up for extra monthly services you don’t need.
• Evaluate all existing bills from monthly services; are you getting a lot of enjoyment from all of them?
• Look into refinancing with a lower mortgage rate, interest rates are at a record low.
• Talk to your creditors if you can’t make a payment ahead of time, they may allow you one freebie in return for a loan extension.
• Don’t avoid mounting payments; procrastination often leads to more late fees.
• Don’t close accounts with good payment history.
• Remember while the credit reports are free, the actual score may not be.
• Try not to carry a monthly balance if you don’t have to.
• Don’t apply for more credit cards in an attempt to combat existing mounting debt.
• Request to be an authorized user on your spouse’s accounts if they have good credit.
• Avoid charge-off accounts, negative items such as this and bankruptcies can stay on your credit report for 7 years – ouch!
• Take less vacations each year to pay off debt – it’s no fun, but it’ll give you a better rate on a mortgage later on.
• Don’t exceed your credit limit. Seriously, that last purchase just isn’t worth it sometimes.
• Look into secure credit cards to prevent overdraft fees which lower your credit score. Secure credit cards make you pay upfront, so your credit card bill “payments” are just deducted from what you’ve already paid.
• Narrow what you buy with credit cards and find the right rewards program for that. For example, if you’re a student, get a card for what you spend the most money on – say books, and use that credit card only on books, and find a rewards program that offers more cash back on books. This way you’re not overcharging and letting debt get out of control.
• Try not to charge over 30% of your credit limit, and never charge more than what you can pay off within a short amount of time.
• Never use your credit cards for an impulse buy.
• Don’t incur debt that generates interest – this makes monthly payments and budgeting far more difficult as it’s increasing the owed amount beyond what you’re spending.
• Establish a bill paying day each month so you don’t forget any, and it’s a consistent method of preventing procrastination.
• Build credit history – approximately 15% of your credit score comes from the length of your credit history.
• Don’t be more than 30 days late on a credit card. If you have to be late on a card – your credit score isn’t affected until after 30 days.
• Find a reputable credit counseling place for financial advice if you need it.
• Be educated in your purchases and financial situation.
• Watch out for future interest rates – many credit card companies offer 0% APR, but that goes up into an astronomical rate after the 12 months.
• Don’t practice credit card arbitrage. This is when you borrow money from one credit card account and use it to invest in other places while paying this card off with another one that has 0% APR. While making money from your good credit may sound like a good idea – the juggling often leads to missed payments or opening too many credit card accounts which lower your score.
• Don’t subscribe at freecreditreport.com if you don’t want to enter credit card numbers and have to cancel later.
• Go to Quizzle if you want a free credit score (many other free credit reports charge you for the score).
• Watch forms of “revolving credit” which lowers your credit if you have a high withstanding debt balance.
• Don’t open accounts too rapidly and close together.
• Checking your own credit report and score does not count as an inquiry which lowers your score.
• Have a healthy balance of different types of loans and credit cards. Too many credit cards or too much taken out on a loan may hurt your credit score.
• Set a goal of a credit score above 700 to encourage you to check it the 3 times a year to see if you’ve reached it.
• Your salary does not affect your credit score, so even if your debt is relatively small compared to your income – charging over 50% of your credit limit still affects your score negatively.
• Your age and location also does not affect your credit score, so build your credit with positive habits early.
• For those with existing good credit scores – try using to leverage a good interest rate from your credit card company (but keep in mind they may use a different scoring system).
• Do not cosign a loan with someone with bad credit.
• Inquires from yourself or employers pulling reports does not affect your credit score.
• Utilize your credit cards in a way that spreads out debt, so the amounts owed are low on each card.
• Never close a credit card that still has a balance.
• Don’t close your only credit card left with available credit.
• Don’t close your only credit card.
• Watch out for the universal default clause that allows creditors to increase your interest rate.
• Make sure the grace period is long enough for what you need.
• Make credit card and bill payments a few days before the due date to ensure it credits you properly and on time.
• Don’t write bad checks. Bounced checks are tracked by banking systems and can affect your credit score.
• If you already have bad credit, look into lenders that offer loans with flexibility, such as the FHA Express.
• Get a co-signer with good credit to help you get that loan.
• Try to keep a consistent employment record. Switching jobs every other month makes you look flighty to a potential lender regardless of credit scores.
• Set an amount you can pay down your debt each month. Then make that the first payment you make when it comes time.
• Pay down all high balanced credit cards equally – it’s ok to have remaining balances on all of them if it’s all low (this is better than 2 maxed out credit cards).
• Make sure you know your limits on credit cards – if your limit is much lower than you thought (making your balance relatively higher), that may be attributing to your low credit score.
• If you have old cards that never get used, use them periodically so that they are still getting as much weight in the credit scoring formula.
• Charge small amounts with the old cards you never use, and pay it off quickly.
• Lower your collection amounts – if you have inaccuracies on your credit report, consistently check and dispute them so you don’t have an outstanding collection amount.
• If you miss one payment, or know you’re going to miss one, see if your lender will simply erase that from your credit history (providing that you’ve been a great borrower).
• When reading your credit report: watch out for accounts that don’t say “current” or “paid as agreed”. Comments such as “paid charge-off” may hurt your credit, so make sure to dispute the wrongful listings.
• If you see accounts listed as unpaid on your credit report, and you declared bankruptcy since then, make sure to correct the bureaus.
• Credit limits on your credit report shown lower than they actually are, need to be disputed.
• Negative items that are older than 7 years should have fallen off your report. (10 years for bankruptcy)
• Don’t focus on misspellings of your name on credit reports (if identity theft is related then you’ll see open accounts you don’t recognize long before that).
• Be patient. While changing your habits and budgeting hardcore is painfully clear to you, this takes awhile to show up on your credit score.
• For beginners in building their credit – look into department store credit cards. These may be easier to get and also restrict where you can use it at, often only in that store.
• Avoid credit repair scams. You can repair your credit through good budgeting and reasonable purchasing; don’t believe bad credit scores can be wiped away magically.
• Don’t pay for multiple credit scores from different places. FICO score is the major one, but don’t feel like you need to pay for all of them.
• Employers checking on your score when you apply for a job cannot affect your credit score negatively.
• Having good credit is not rocket science. Budget well, keep track, and be educated in your finances and a good score will naturally follow.