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Every penny counts at this time
of year as money is tighter than ever and with only 35
shopping days until Christmas you've probably got other
things on your mind than mortgages, credit cards, loans and
insurance. However, being shrewd with your cash could
finance your Christmas spending.
Our
calculations show that you could save close to £500 in
the month leading up to Christmas and more than
£5,000 over the course of a year by switching now. Let's
take a look at what should be on your switching shopping
list:
If
your savings are languishing with one of the big four banks
you're likely to be missing out on a decent interest rate.
An account paying 1.2%AER will earn you just £120.66 in
interest on a £10,000 balance over the course of a year and
just £10 before Christmas. However, by switching to the
market leading ICICI HiSave
Savings Account you could earn £45 by Christmas and
nearly £560 in 12 months.
Deal
to consider:
ICICI HiSave Savings Account at 5.45%AER.
Could earn you £558.82 in interest on a £10,000 balance over
12 months.
MOTOR INSURANCE
Your
premium quote depends on your car, location and many other
factors but for a typical Ford Focus 16v Zetec 1.6 you could
save £141.98 over the course of a year by switching from one
of the most expensive providers to the cheapest - in this
case the Post Office.
Deal
to consider:
Post Office car insurance could save you more
than £140 in twelve months.
HOME INSURANCE
For a
four bedroom detached house in St Albans more than £190 can
be saved over 12 months by switching from one of the more
expensive providers to Barclays.
Barclays will also under cut your renewal quote and give you
£50 cash back if they can't beat the offer you receive.
Deal
to consider:
Barclays could save you £16 by Christmas and
more than £190 in twelve months - plus they have a £50 cash
back offer.
CREDIT CARDS
Those
who make the effort to choose the best deal to suit their
needs will reap the rewards. If a £2,000 debt is switched at
16.9%APR is switched to one of the 51 credit cards offering
0% on balance transfers such as the
Halifax One -moneysupermarket.com
special there would be
no fees to pay in the first year meaning a saving of
£64.86.
Also
be wary of store cards. If you spend £2,000 on a Burton
Account Card with a massive 29.9%APR it would cost £481.18
in interest over a year. However, if the same £2,000 were
spent on the Halifax One card -
moneysupermarket.com special, with 0% on purchases
for 12 months, you would save £481.18 a year.
Deal
to consider:
Halifax One - moneysupermarket.com special
with 0% on purchases and balance transfers for 12
months.
With
more than five personal loans on the market at less than 6%
you should definitely look to switch if you're
on a high typical APR. For example, a typical family could
save £198.12 in interest payments in
just one year, and nearly £17 by Christmas if they
switch their £7,000 personal loan on a typical APR of
10.9% to the Moneyback Bank
loan at 5.6%APR.
Deal to consider:
Moneyback Bank loan at 5.6%APR.
Following the recent base rate hike to 5% there's never been
a more important time to remortgage from an SVR rate to a
low fixed rate mortgage. Switching from the Cheltenham and
Gloucester SVR to the Abbey
two-year fixed mortgage (link to finder) with a
£150,000 remortgage on a £200,000 house price could save you
£180.66 in the month before Christmas and £2,371.92 in 12
months.
Deal
to consider:
Abbey two-year fixed rate. Could save you
£2,371.92 in 12 months.
It's
not just in these areas either. There are savings to be made
on a range of financial products so head over to
www.moneysupermarket.com now and grab yourself a better
deal:
|
Product |
Over 1 month |
Over 2 months |
Over 12 months |
|
Loans |
£16.51 |
£33.02 |
£198.12 |
|
Savings |
£35.42 |
£71.03 |
£438.16 |
|
Savings - Regular Savers |
£1.56 |
£4.68 |
£121.56 |
|
Credit Cards |
£0.00 |
£0.00 |
£64.86 |
|
Store Card |
£44.20 |
£87.61 |
£481.18 |
|
Utilities |
£22.03 |
£44.06 |
£264.33 |
|
Home Insurance |
£15.98 |
£31.96 |
£191.72 |
|
Car Insurance |
-£19.49 |
£11.32 |
£141.98 |
|
Travel Insurance |
£8.29 |
£16.58 |
£99.50 |
|
Overdrafts |
£21.30 |
£42.60 |
£255.60 |
|
Current Accounts |
£7.50 |
£15.04 |
£92.60 |
|
New Car Finance |
£135.80 |
£158.60 |
£386.60 |
|
Mortgage |
£180.66 |
£361.32 |
£2,371.92 |
|
Total Savings |
£469.76 |
£877.82 |
£5,108.13 |
*All
figures compiled by moneysupermarket.com and correct to
November 17, 2006.
REMEMBER YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP
REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.
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