Make sure you pay the minimum into your current account
Many of the leading current accounts carry a 'minimum' funding clause requiring you to pay in anything from £500 to £1,500 every month. Failure to do so can lead to some strict penalties. Typically penalties include reducing the interest rate you earn, a penalty charge and your provider may even close the account or transfer it over to a less attractive product.
Don't lose your 0% period
If you have a credit card with a 0% deal (or another introductory offer) make sure you aren't late with a payment or miss one altogether. If you do, your introductory offer will be out of the window and you'll be stuck on the standard rate of interest.
Be particularly careful if you set up a direct debit when you apply for a new card. Many people assume their direct debit will take effect immediately but it often takes a month or two to set up. Therefore make sure you check your statement otherwise you could inadvertently miss a payment and as a result have the introductory offer cancelled. It will say on the statement whether or not the payment will be collected via direct debit that month.
Remember the cheapest debt is paid off first
Most credit card providers use a payment system whereby the cheapest debt is cleared first. If you apply for a new card because it offers a long interest-free period on balance transfers, don't be tempted to spend on it as well as you will not start paying off your purchases until the transferred balance has been cleared, leaving you accruing interest at a higher rate.
Only use a card for spending and moving a balance onto, if the introductory periods last the same length of time for both usages. And never use a credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM - not only will you probably be charged a higher rate of interest, you will also pay a withdrawal fee.
Be aware of withdrawal restrictions
Many savings accounts are dubbed 'easy' or 'instant' access because you can, in theory, withdraw your money at any time. However, many of the leading easy access deals will punish you or apply restrictions to taking money out.
Some accounts limit the number of penalty-free withdrawals that can be made each year - you'll be penalised with a loss of interest if you make more withdrawals than that. Another common tactic is not to pay interest in the month a withdrawal is made.
Excess on insurance
Most insurance policies include an excess which means you'll pay a pre-determined amount of any claim that is made. For example, if you need to make a claim on your home insurance for £300 but the excess is £250, you'll only receive £50 towards the cost from the insurer. What's more, your premium is likely to rise the following year because a claim has been made and you may lose some of your no claims discount.
Therefore think twice before claiming on your insurance - you may be better off just covering the entire cost yourself.
Online energy deals
The cheapest gas and electricity deals are online tariffs. However, if you sign up for one of these products you need to be careful because many have conditions you must adhere to - fail to do so and you could find yourself bumped on to the more expensive standard rate.
For example, the market-leading British Gas Websaver 3 deal insists that customers sign up to its online account management and paper billing within eight weeks of joining or they will be moved to the standard tariff.
Stick to download caps
Most broadband deals impose download caps - this is the amount in gigabytes that you can download over a monthly period. Exceed this limit and you could be punished.
Typically if you exceed your download limit you may be charged for extra usage - for example 3 Mobile charges its PAYG customers £1 per megabit (Mb) if their allowance is exceeded. Other companies may simply move you to another package that better suits your usage or terminate your agreement.
Assess your mobile phone use
Many people face sky high mobile phone bills because their tariff does not reflect how they use the phone - they sign up for deals with a certain number of voice minutes and texts included but then have to pay more when they exceed these limits.
Take a look at some old mobile phone bills and assess how many texts and minutes you use each month - then use our comparison tool to compare deals and find a more appropriate tariff for you.
Always pay in the local currency
If you're going abroad on holiday this summer and use a credit or debit card while you're there, you may be offered a choice of whether to pay in the local currency or in sterling. Always pay in the local currency - the value of the transactions will be converted into sterling using Visa or Mastercard's rate of exchange which is likely to be much more competitive than the rate the retailer will use.
Be aware of risk based pricing
If you apply for a loan or credit card, be aware that the rate you see advertised may not be the rate you are offered. Many providers use a process called risk-based pricing.
The advertised rate - referred to as the 'typical' rate - must be offered to at least two thirds of successful applicants. The remaining third could be offered a higher rate. Risk based pricing is, in a nutshell, the process of charging different rates to different borrowers.
Disclaimer: Please note that any rates or deals mentioned in this article were available at the time of writing.
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