12th November 2009
With November just around the corner and the daylight hours dwindling, the Christmas season is drawing closer and closer. The event evokes images of families swapping presents and pleasantries, great turkey dinners and crowding round the television to wat...
27th October 2009
The historically low base rate of interest has not been particularly kind to savers in the UK, with the measure falling from five per cent to 0.5 per cent in just 12 months. Those hoping the situation will improve are unlikely to have taken much comfort f...
27th October 2009
It is a subject which splits opinion on a daily, weekly and monthly basis – the housing market. The sector is pored over in minute detail, with many lenders, bodies and other organisations publishing figures at the end of each month, detailing average h...
26th October 2009
Much of the analysis during the fallout of the financial crisis has focused on how the events since the autumn of 2007 have affected multi-national organisations and governments around the world. However, normal families have also been hurt by the downtur...
26th October 2009
As those over 50 try to work out how best to make use of the extra ISA allowance that has now come their way, those of us with a bit more youth on our side still have to wait until next April for the new limits to come into play.
Having come into eff...
20th October 2009
Like the kids who’ll be the first to benefit from them, the Child Trust Fund has done a lot of growing up in the four and a half years since it was launched.
Introduced in January 2005, the accounts are designed to ensure every child has some savin...
25th September 2009
Personal finance has become part of the national psyche since the beginning of the economic downturn, with consumers up and down the land pondering the best home for their money.
On the face of it, savers have had a torrid time of it since the crash s...
24th September 2009
To fix or not to fix? It is a question that many potential homeowners have no doubt pondered recently. The ship which sees many borrowers paying next to no interest on their repayments has long sailed, but with predictions of the base rate not reaching fo...
24th September 2009
While banks and building societies cautiously begin to make more mortgages available to the residential market, the buy-to-let sector remains a shadow of its former self. Latest figures suggest that since reaching its peak in September 2007, the number o...
23rd September 2009
As a nation that likes a credit card or ten, it is a safe bet that many Britons choose to pay just the minimum repayment necessary each month, barely making a dent in the figure they owe.
Granted, this approach will work for some, especially those who ...
19th August 2009
Since the recession started hitting consumer’s pockets, making the most of your money has become something of a national obsession.
With interest rates plummeting to all time lows, even those conscientious enough to save have had to spread their net...
08th August 2009
Another day, another story of economic recovery. Surveys, reports and studies have flowed thick and fast in the last couple of months, detailing house price increases, increasing consumer enthusiasm, an upturn in manufacturing and a soaring FTSE100. Even ...
30th July 2009
In a month or so, thousands of students will be packing up their things in preparation for the beginning of their university course, experiencing perhaps a mixture of nerves and excitement. Fresher’s week, socials and speedy integration will likely be u...
18th July 2009
It is widely believed that it is the small and medium sized (SME) businesses community that will provide the drive and momentum that will eventually lead the country out of the current recessionary period. For that reason it is pleasing to see some positi...
02nd July 2009
With Bank of England Base Rate at an all time low, many savers have well founded worries about the level of returns they can expect on their hard earned savings. If this predicament rings true, fixed rate savings accounts are certainly worth thinking abou...
