Lots of you are trying to cut back on your spending at the moment. It’s not always
straightforward but there are some simple ways you can cut costs.
We thought it was about time we shared some of these tips with the ‘Watchdog’
viewers. So, we rounded up some experts in personal finance, mortgages, savings
and debt and sent them to Milton Keynes to offer some face to face advice.
You can watch the results here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/
We’ll be taking Watchdog back out on the road in the coming weeks but for now here
are our experts top tips on how you could start saving money now!
PERSONAL FINANCE
Clare Francis
Editor of MoneySupermarket.com
First and foremost think - “Can I really Become a savvy shopper. The retailers are
afford it?” and “Do I need it?” Most of our struggling at the moment but that’s led to
impulse buys end up being the ones that there being some great discounts for you on
topple a budget at the end of the month. If the high street. Look out for vouchers online,
you can’t afford it – simply don’t buy it. If in the paper and also buy-one-get-one-free
it’s something you’re desperate to have - offers - but make sure it’s something you
then plan ahead, put a little money aside really need first!
each month and budget for it.
There is plenty to be saved with gas and
Get your bank statements out. You need to see electricity in particular. if you’re paying
where your money is going every month. You quarterly you may find that switching to
may find that there are some old subscriptions direct debit payments saves you money
or direct debits that you simply don’t need any per month. You may also want to check
more. Also, payments such as for your mobile out one of the online tariffs as they tend to
phone, broadband service, insurance and be the cheapest. It’s possible to save £300
utilities need to be regularly monitored to make a year this way!
sure you are getting the best deal out there. The
market changes fast so make sure you’re on the Consider how you spend money on a day to day
ball with what your company, and others, are basis. This includes simple purchases such as a
offering at the moment. There are plenty of coffee on the way to work. Do you need it or
websites out there that can help you to gather could you simply wait till you get to the office or
information on the most up-to-date deals so it’s perhaps even grab one at home? Cutting back on
worth checking online regularly (your local un-necessary spending can easily lead to having
have free web services if you don’t
library may MORTGAGES a hundred pounds extra at the end of the month.
have home internet).
PLEASE NOTE: The material is for general information only and does not constitute specific investment, tax, legal or other
form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain
independent, professional advice for your own particular situation.
MORTGAGES
David Hollingworth
London and Country Mortgages
24yr old David (centre) gets advice on buying his
first property
Start shopping around for your mortgage
Overpay, overpay, overpay! By maintaining
early. You can secure a deal as much as 6
your payments you could save tens of
months in advance. This should help
thousands on interest over the term of the
sidestep any issues around your equity
mortgage. However, you MUST check that
disappearing as house prices continue to fall.
you won’t suffer any penalty as a result of
overpaying.
Try and get together the biggest
deposit you can afford. This has
always been the case but never
more so than now – the days of
100% and 95% mortgages are gone.
It’s recommended you have at least
Check what your existing lender will offer 10%, but get more if you can as it
you but always shop around. will open up more options in today’s
mortgage market.
If your mortgage payments become Don’t be drawn in just by a low rate. These
difficult get in touch with your mortgage days mortgage products can come with fees
lender at earliest opportunity, it is that amount to thousand’s of pounds. People
always good to communicate with your with smaller mortgages may want to consider
lender as they may be able to offer a going for a deal with a higher interest rate and
solution. a lower fee, as it could cost less overall.
PLEASE NOTE: The material is for general information only and does not constitute specific investment, tax, legal or other
form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain
independent, professional advice for your own particular situation.
SAVINGS AND INVESTMENTS
Danny Cox
Head of Advice at Hargreaves
Lansdown Financial Practitioners
First off, I think it is important to always keep a When investing in shares I recommend
good ‘cash cushion’. This is an emergency fund buying unit trust so that your investment is
that you keep in an instant access bank or spread over several different markets and
building society account so if you ever need funds. The same applies for fixed interest
money you can get it straight away. I would funds, such as corporate bond funds.
recommend that you keep 6 to 12 months worth Purchasing in this fashion spreads the
of expenditure in that account. investment and also the risk (for more
information on what Unit Trusts are, visit
the Direct Gov website at
www.direct.gov.uk).
Spread your investments - don’t put all
eggs in one basket. If you decide to invest
in cash at any point then I would
recommend only putting £50,000 in any
one account. This is because the
government will protect up to £50k but not
beyond.
Make your investments work hard for you by
paying lower charges and paying less tax. Choose I would also recommend that once you’ve
investments where you will get the best invested don’t check up on it too often –
performance and interest rates. people can become caught up in the
constant changes in the market - remember
Think about why you are investing, set yourself investments are often long term and the
goals. For example, perhaps you want to invest for minimum most people should be looking to
extra income or maybe it’s capital growth you are invest, particularly for shares, is around 5
after? Maybe it is growth now and income later? years (though this entirely depends on the
These targets will help you decide which individual situation).
investments to go for.
PLEASE NOTE: The material is for general information only and does not constitute specific investment, tax, legal or other
form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain
independent, professional advice for your own particular situation.
DEBT
Rob Sandalls
Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS)
DEBT
Emily meets with Nicky about her £70,000
debt. Luckily, Rob was on hand to help.
Create a budget for your household
showing all income and expenditure,
including any benefits you receive. If
this shows you have more money
going out than coming in you need to
acknowledge the problem and do
something about it. Do not bury your
head in the sand.
If you are struggling to pay your debts
talk to your creditors at the earliest
opportunity. They are prepared to
listen and can often agree to accept
reduced payments, though this is
entirely at their discretion.
If you cannot agree an affordable
amount to pay back directly with
your creditors then I would
recommend getting in touch with
your local Citizens Advice Bureau
(CAB), National Debtline or the
Consumer Credit Counselling
Service (CCCS) for free debt advice.
With credit cards do not get into the Do not be tempted to consolidate your
habit of making minimum payments. debts as this will often result in a loan
This will mean it will take longer to being secured against your property. In
repay the debt and you will pay more any case your monthly payments may be
interest. Always try and overpay if you smaller but you will pay back much more
can afford to. money over a longer period of time.
PLEASE NOTE: The material is for general information only and does not constitute specific investment, tax, legal or other
form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain
independent, professional advice for your own particular situation.
USEFUL LINKS
Switching Energy Supplier
British Gas recently announced that they will be cutting their prices in February 2009. This
is likely to lead to many other suppliers cutting their prices too, so before you switch we
would suggest waiting until the market settles so that you can make the most out of the
price changes.
Once you are ready to take a look at switching, there are a number of price comparison
websites endorsed by Consumer Focus which should give up-to-date figures on tariffs from
different energy companies. We have listed these below. The process generally takes a
couple of minutes and you need to give details about how you pay your bills and your
usage, so it helps to have your latest bill to hand. Once the sites have calculated your
savings you can apply to switch through the website or you can contact the energy
company directly. You might want to compare savings across a couple of these websites.
You can also use some of these websites to compare anything from insurance to
broadband packages.
Price comparison websites:
uSwitch.com http://www.uSwitch.com
Confused.com http://www.confused.com
Switch with Which? http://switchwithwhich.com
Unravelit http://www.unravelit.com
HomeAdvisoryService.co.uk http://www.homeadvisoryservice.com
energyhelpline.com http://www.energyhelpline.com
TheEnergyShop.com http://www.theenergyshop.com
SimplySwitch http://www.simplyswitch.com
UKPower.co.uk http://www.ukpower.co.uk
MoneySupermarket.com http://www.moneysupermarket.com
Energylinx http://www.energylinx.co.uk
SaveOnYourBills.co.uk http://www.saveonyourbills.co.uk
Disclaimer: These price comparison websites are not endorsed by the BBC but they have
been accredited by Consumer Focus for being in accordance with its Confidence Code.
PLEASE NOTE: The material is for general information only and does not constitute specific investment, tax, legal or other
form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Always obtain
independent, professional advice for your own particular situation.
USEFUL LINKS
Managing Money
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/your_money/default.stm
• http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingMoney/index.htm
Mortgages
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/mortgages/
• http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingMoney/Mortgages/index
.htm
Savings and Investments
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/savings_investments/
• http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingMoney/SavingsAndInve
stments/index.htm
Debt
• Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB): www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
• National Debtline www.nationaldebtline.co.uk
• Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) www.cccs.co.uk
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/borrowing_debt/default.stm
• http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/index.htm
Consumer Energy Organisations
CONSUMER FOCUS
http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/
CONSUMER DIRECT
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/EnergySupplyandPost/energysupply/
SAVE ENERGY
http://campaigns.direct.gov.uk/actonco2/home/in-the-home/save-
energy.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term={keyword}&utm_campaign=defra
ENERGY SAVING TRUST
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/
SAVING MONEY ON ENERGY BILLS - OFGEM
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Consumers/SaveMoney/Pages/SaveMoney.aspx
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