No1 Piece of advice is paying out less money

Get rid of luxury you don't use but have for credibilty

• Satellite or Cable TV.....Cancel or downgrade your package to reduce your outgoings
• Mobile Phone Tariffs...Look around for a better deal(for example I have Tesco Pay as you go and get 150mins free talktime if I top up £15 every month,this is better than the £30 Tariff I was on before
• Car Insurance look around for better deals on the net
• Home insurance look around for better deals on the net
• Get to know shops better i.e. Farmfoods you can get 12 cans of Pepsi or Pepsi Max for £2.25(this is not an offer price like the supermarkets)
• Use shops like Poundland to buy toothpaste etc if you are not willing to give up your branded toothpastes or hair products
• Smokers (It would be cheaper to give up) but you could save £350 a year if you switched from Lambert and Butler cigarettes (£4.99) to a brand like Pall Mall (they have 3 different strengths) which is around £4 a packet
• If you have a credit cards you can get your payments down quicker by paying extra to your card on top of the minimum payment here is an example

Outstanding balance of your Credit Card £3800
interest rate as: APR Monthly 15.9%
minimum payment as a percentage of the balance3%

The Bottom Line
It'll take you 225 months (that's over 18 years) to pay back £3,800 if you only pay the required minimum of 3.00%. Over that period of time, you'll pay an additional £2,776.38 in interest. If you could aford to pay an extra £10 a month towards your credit card debt, it would mean you'd repay it in 114 months (just over 9 years) and you'd save yourself £824.79 in interest. In fact, if you could aford an extra £25 a month, you'd repay it in 74 months (just over 6 years), and save £1,350.24.

Car Drivers

The way to beat fuel prices is to walk but you can change the car you have to one with a smaller engine.Also look at bank loans as opposed to car finance which is very expensive and restricts you from selling the car should you need to. Smaller cars mean less fuel,less tax in some cases and cheaper insurance. I have a friend who parks 3 miles away from his work and cycles the rest,this saves him 30 miles of fuel a week(and has helped his figure as well as making him sleep better at night,lol)

Late night shopping--Don't be lazy and get yourself to the supermarkets after 8 pm and pick up some bargains for the freezer,we all know bread can be frozen so why pay £1.39 for a loaf when you can get some for 10p each

Magazines and Newspapers...or propaganda rags

You are on here reading this blog so why not read the news and the gossip on here instead of using paper unessarily and better still keeping your money.

My last tip is the best one!!

Stop spending money because you are bored. Don't drag the kids or the husband/wife to the shops. Remember to take a basket and not a trolley,otherwise you will end up with lots of BOGOFs or 3 for 2s. Ok on things that you will use in the near future but be careful!

Go for a walk,cycle,hit some golf balls in a local field, go and watch a football match/Hockey Match in a local park.Write a blog on the internet to help others who are useless with money like us.

email me your suggestion creditcrunch@themarshalls.me.uk