The Motely Fool have 8 good tips on dealing with debt. There's nothing amazing about the list, but it does give good, solid and practical advice.
Ladies, this one is for you. If you're going to be at least 25 weeks pregnant some time after 6 April 2009, be sure to claim your one-off, tax-free payment of £190 from HMRC. This is called a Health in Pregnancy Grant, and is designed to help you prepare financially for the birth of your child. £190 doesn't exactly go that far anymore, but it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
To qualify for the grant:
Continue Reading »The Bank of England decided to lop another 0.5% off the base interest rate taking it to a low of 1%. Sadly, I don't think this is going to have much of an effect in helping the economy to recover. Money isn't expensive, it's just hard to get hold of. Lowering the interest rates to silly levels isn't going to get the banks handing out the cash any quicker. They're just going drop the rates on savings and those loans/mortgages they're obliged to, and pocket the rest. They've got balance sheets to improve and they'll gladly do that at the expense of their customers.
Good news folks, the Competition Commission has finally grown a set and banned "fear-based" PPI selling: from 2010, lenders will be banned from selling Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) within a week of loans or credit cards.
Plus 'single premium' PPI, where its cost is added to the loan, accruing thousands in interest, will be completely banned.
Continue Reading »The "credit crunch" has officially hit and the UK is in a recession. Times are going to get a lot harder, though I hope some of the tips on FrugalFergal.co.uk will help lessen the impact, and people are going have to reign in their spending and put their finances in order.
One of the first things to do during a recession is get rid of as much debt as possible. This post assumes you've already done that and the only debt you have left is your Nationwide tracker mortgage. I say Nationwide tracker mortgage as this is all I have experience with, but you may find your lender offers a similar service.
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