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Make a Financial Budget
The Financial Services Authority has released the results of a survey into people's habits regarding finance in the New Year and makes suggestions about how they could get their finances into better order.
The research reports that well over half the people questioned had very little idea of how much their extra Christmas spending was going to amount to and a quarter of people would use loans or credit card accounts to fund their spend. They also conclude that sorting out personal finances is less likely to happen as people would rather book a holiday or sign up to a new diet.
The release of the report is not well timed as it also talks about how people should approach the festive spending period, yet the information was only made available to the public on the 28th of December, when the loans and credit card overspends would already be in place.
The report does however point to advice provided on the organisation's MoneyMadeClear website, where people can view information about working out a financial budget and what they should do if facing debts that may not be under control.
Shopping around for a loan is one of the suggestions given and the guide answers questions about debt consolidation and how the use of financial comparison websites can help people get the best deals.
The guide is very simple and straightforward and provides basic information about planning ahead for one-off annual bills, switching to a cheaper energy supplier, keeping a financial diary so you'll have a better idea about where your money is going and making sure people are claiming all their state benefits and tax credits. Checking the APR on loans to get an idea of the overall cost of any borrowing is suggested and then shopping around for a better deal. They should also warn people to be careful about early repayment charges before they decide to switch from one loan to another.
The guide also includes some warnings about things not to do, such as borrowing cash from a credit card, taking out loans without really knowing if the loan repayments are going to be affordable and only making the minimum payments required by credit cards.
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