EACH week The Scotsman gives you a top ten guide to pertinent financial issues.
From mortgages to credit cards, debt can make it easier to pay for things on a daily basis. But rising costs are increasingly squeezing household incomes, driving more people into financial difficulty and aggravating the UK's personal debt crisis.
Eric Nisbet, director at Independent Insolvency Practitioners, offers tips on how to keep your cash in your pockets for longer.
1 SET A BUDGET It really doesn't matter if you do this on the back of an envelope or on a spreadsheet, but writing down what comes in and what goes out will help you understand how much is really left to spare or by how much you are over-spending each month. Setting a budget takes very little time and is easy to do, and it can be invaluable in helping you keep a grip on your finances.
2 SWITCH SUPPLIERS We all need to heat our homes, use our telephones and have access to the internet, but why pay more than we have to? Prices from different suppliers can vary hugely and shopping around for the cheapest deal will get you the same service but at a better price. Even if you have switched energy supplier before, it is worth checking every few months to see if there are better deals available.
3 SQUIRREL MONEY AWAY Putting small sums of money to one side may seem boring, but when it comes to summer holiday spending, a new pair of shoes or a school trip for the kids it can make a real difference – and it'll be worth it.
4 CONSIDER YOUR TRANSPORT USE Nobody's talking about hitching here, but getting into a school run or sharing the drive to work could cut out a lot of miles and lower the monthly fuel bill. It wouldn't be bad for the environment either.
5 CHECK YOUR STATEMENT Banks make mistakes like everybody else and you need to check that they are not made at your expense. Looking over your statement is also a good way of understanding where you spend your hard-earned cash. You've worked your socks off to make it; you might as well see where it's going.
6 PHONE A FRIEND Problems shared are problems halved and talking through money worries with someone else can help. Things are rarely as bad as they seem, although they can end up that way if you don't do anything.
7 CASH IS KING Paying with cash is the best way to really get an idea of what you are spending. It's easy and convenient to stick things on plastic, but handing over the folding stuff makes us think that little bit harder about what we're buying. Try taking a tenner less than usual each time you visit the hole in the wall and see how far you can make it go.
8 INSURANCE – DO YOU NEED IT? Salesmen are always telling us to buy insurance and in lots of cases it just isn't worth paying for. It is, however, worth taking a look at what you've got and if you're not sure then get some impartial, professional advice about which policies may not be worth keeping.
9 JUST SAY NO When did this become such a dirty expression? Saying no doesn't always have to be a negative thing and can be really empowering. Rather than getting harassed into spending money you really don't want to, turning something down will make you feel more in control.
10 EVERYONE KNOWS SOMEONE WHO'S HAD DEBT PROBLEMS Getting sound, impartial, professional advice is really important when it comes to dealing with debts that are becoming problematic.
If you think you are going to need such advice, make sure you know what it is going to cost and get a personal recommendation from someone who has been through the same thing.
The full article contains 654 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
