June 10, 2012 / Posted in  Advice, Banking, Borrowing, Europe, Money, News

The UK and European economies are struggling against some sternly testing headwinds at present and the impact is being felt by families right across the country and the continent. So perhaps it should come as little surprise that households in Scotland are feeling the financial squeeze to a significant degree as well.

Evidence if it were needed of just what families north of the border are having to contend with currently from a financial point of view came this month in a report from the Bank of Scotland...

June 2, 2012 / Posted in  Advice, Banking, Loans, Money, News

Debt has become part and parcel of money management for many millions of British consumers but taking on too much can of course lead to serious financial difficulty. The question of quite what amounts to having serious levels of debt is an interesting one and it was posed recently in a survey by the financial protection company Bright Grey.

According to the study, a typical UK consumer only considers themselves to be in serious debt when they have racked up arrears in excess of £14,400. The company behind the research suggests that the figure reflects a rather worrying attitude towards debt that goes some way to explain why Britain is currently so heavily indebted as a nation.

And seriousness in the context of financial difficulty is per...

May 31, 2012 / Posted in  Advice, Borrowing, credit card, Finance, guide, Money

Inefficient use of credit cards is costing UK consumers considerable sums of money on an annual basis, according to the price comparison company MoneySupermarket, which has published a list of hints on how to avoid falling into that particular trap.

Using a card with a low interest rate of course will help you keep the associated costs down and it is well worth shopping around the find out where the best deals are to be found...

May 27, 2012 / Posted in  Borrowing, credit card, Finance, Money, News

You may or may not have noticed but the prevalence of contactless payment options across the UK is steadily on the increase. Barclaycard has announced its latest effort to promote the use of such technology in stores and outlets of various kinds in the shape of what it calls the PayTag system. The idea is that mobile phone users can attach a small PayTag sticker to the back of their handsets and pay in a matter of moments by touching it to a suitably equipped terminal.

The phenomena look set to catch on and its advocates are convinced that the contactless payment systems being introduced will serve to ease congestion within the busier supermarkets and other retail outlets around the country. The American-owned supermarket chain Asda recently became the latest business to opt in on the scheme, which is still in the pilot stage, with 25 of its stores soon to be equipped with PayTag technology.

Asda’s inclusion in the project follows the lead of its great supermarket rival Tesco, and sees it join the likes o...

May 21, 2012 / Posted in  bills, How To, Money, transport

Just about everyone who lives in London understands that buying or renting a property within a short distance of a Tube station adds to your outgoings but a new report has highlighted just how much of a premium Londoners pay for the privilege.

Remarkably, figures from the building society Nationwide suggest that a property within 500 metres of an Underground stop is on average some £27,000 more expensive than an identical property a further kilometre away...

May 16, 2012 / Posted in  Banking, Borrowing, Europe, Money, News

British holidaymakers are often finding themselves paying out considerably more than they bargained for to access their own cash while enjoying some overseas sunshine. Spain of course is the biggest draw traditionally for British sun seekers but there are additional charges being levied as millions of holidaymakers use either their credit or debit cards right across the continent and beyond.

Setting off on holiday is generally a major outlay for households regardless of the circumstances but the latest figures on the subject have shown that foreign withdrawals cost UK tourists a collective total of around £263 million every year. On a one off basis, the charges for withdrawing cash in Spain or in any other European hotspot do not seem all that steep at £2.75 but the costs can easily mount up with repeated visits to the cash machine.

A researc...

May 13, 2012 / Posted in  Finance, Money, News, pensions

A majority of retirees across the UK consider saving money for the future to be their number one financial priority, with only a minority willing to splash their cash on enjoying themselves on a day-to-day basis. The finding comes from a report into the attitudes of retirees towards their money from the life insurance and financial services giant Prudential.

With the economy struggling for growth and household finances being squeezed by inflation, it is understandable of course that people no longer in work would be keen to keep a tight reign on their outgoings...

May 6, 2012 / Posted in  Advice, guide, How To, Money

Finding enough spare money or savings to set off on holiday has proven an unrealistic ambition for many cash-strapped British households in recent years and it is perhaps more important than ever to find ways of keeping holiday costs to a minimum. The good news is that there are ways to make that happen and still to have plenty of family fun in the sun.

One way of giving yourself a better chance of getting away on holiday this year is to use a travel rewards credit card like the one being offered by American Express right now. There are other loyalty card and discount schemes run by rival credit card companies as well and while you will have to spend considerable sums in order to qualify you could make some really worthwhile savings as well.

Economic conditions around the UK don’t seem to have improved much over the past year but there is evidence to suggest we are ...

May 2, 2012 / Posted in  energy, gas, Money, News, power

The scale of debts owed to energy companies supplying households around the UK grew steeply over the course of 2011 and the situation is adding significantly to the financial concerns of many thousands of British families.

According to the price comparison service uSwitch.com, there are close to four million households around the country currently in debt to their energy supplier, with the average level of arrears at just over £140 in early 2012. On a collective scale across the UK energy debts are now believed to be worth in excess of £478million and rising.

The growing scale of the issue reflects the general financial struggles that virtually every family in the UK felt over the course of last year, as well as the significant and remarkable rises in the cost of paying for gas and ele...

April 28, 2012 / Posted in  Advice, Banking, guide, Money

Remaining calm and mapping out a realistic strategy is a far more effective way to manage your finances than worrying about potential money problems or the position you’re currently in. That’s according to a new study on the subject from National Savings & Investments (NS&I).

Setting money aside as savings can be a real struggle for many of us, and the UK’s economic difficulties of recent years mean these efforts have become both more challenging and more important than ever...