Published: 17/03/2009

With the worst of the winter hopefully behind us and summer just around the corner, now's a great time to give your finances the 'once over'. So as well as dusting down the lawnmower ready for another year and starting those little decorating jobs, don't forget to review your finances as part of your annual spring cleaning routine.

Some of your financial products may be getting a bit old and dusty and in need of replacing, whereas others are proving to be a huge drain on your resources and need to be scrapped as soon as possible.

To help get you started, here are four areas for you to focus on in 2009.

• Time to dump those store cards
• Mortgage rates are falling, so make sure you're still getting the best deal you can
• Check your savings rates
• Are you paying too much for your life cover?


In the majority of cases store cards are just an expensive rip-off. Stores will entice you with special offers and then take advantage of you with extortionate rates of interest. Some of these cards are charging rates of up to 30% meaning you'll be paying way over the odds for interest charged on your purchases. Often these cards are aimed at the young or less well off which makes it even more shameful.

Our message to you is dump them now and switch the debt to a 0% credit card or alternatively a low cost personal loan with a structured repayment plan. Once you've cleared the balance, make sure you chop the card in half and write to the card provider asking them to close your account - that way you'll avoid the temptation of spending on it again in a moment of weakness. Switching your store card balance of £500 to a 0% credit card will save you a staggering £150 per year - so check out the best credit card deals and get your spring clean off to a flying start.



If you are one of the millions of borrowers who haven't reviewed their mortgage for a few years then it's time that you checked out what's on offer. So whilst you're giving your home a bit of a facelift, don't forget to see if it's worth upgrading your mortgage too. For people with 25% or more equity in their homes there are some great new rates available and therefore some substantial savings to be made.

If you do only one thing to improve your finances this year you really should investigate whether you can make savings in this area, after all your mortgage is likely to be your biggest financial commitment and you could be pleasantly surprised. Our advisers are able to do the sums for you and will be able to tell you exactly how much you can save. All our advisers are regulated so the advice that you receive will be accurate and truthful and at the end of the day it will be down to you whether or not you decide to take any action. Click here to check out the deals or to arrange to speak to an advisor.



One of the biggest scams pulled off by banks and building societies is to lure you into their savings accounts by offering market leading rates, then, once they've filled their coffers with your money they discreetly lower the rates and hope you won't notice.

With bank base rate having fallen by 5% in the last year it means that there are literally billions of pounds of savers' money sitting in accounts which are now paying a paltry amount of interest.

So don't let them get away with this daylight robbery - check the rate you are getting on your savings accounts and if it's not good vote with your feet and move your balance to a better paying account. Remember loyalty counts for nothing, so it's worth checking your accounts every few months to make sure you know when it's time to move again! To find the best rates for your nest egg, just click here.



Spring is a good time to review your life cover and to make sure that you not only have the right amount of protection in place to protect your dependents, but also that you are not paying over the odds for your cover. Unfortunately, many people sign up for a life policy and then forget about it, however your circumstances are constantly changing, so it's important that you make sure your life cover arrangements are still up to scratch.

Due to continued competition in the market, life insurance premiums have never been lower than they are today so if you took cover out some time ago you may be able to reduce your premiums or alternatively increase the level of cover for the same price. Our advisers can help you decide on the levels of cover required as well as searching to find you the cheapest premiums. So as part of your spring clean, why not take five minutes to get a no obligation quote today - you could be pleasantly surprised by how much you could save!