This is a test post - not any more!!

The Bank of England’s recent spate of interest rate cuts means that savers have very little to be happy about so far in 2009. Banks and building societies haven’t really done themselves any favours when it comes to repairing consumer confidence in the UK banking system.

What I mean is Banks have been falling over themselves to cut savings interest rates as soon as The Bank of England annouces a rate cut but at the same time they’re showing very little interest in cutting mortgage rates. Personally I think a good round of mortgage interest rate cuts is exactly what a lot of people could do with right now…

Still, this just goes to show; the banks are always going to look after their profits above and beyond anything else.

So what can you do to get the most out of your savings??

Shop around and find the best savings rates. Try a few comparison websites; www.moneyextra.com www.moneysupermarket.com www.fool.co.uk

If you can really afford to tie your cash up for 3 or 5 years, you might be able to get a better interest rate. These are useually called fixed rate savings accounts. I had a 3 year ISA with a guaranteed rate of return so this may be an option you could consider…

Of course there is little point saving money if you already have debts to clear. The interest payments on your debts will be far greater than any interest you might earn on a savings account so make sure you are debt free before you begin saving. Far easier said than done for most people living in the UK today I fear.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 18th, 2009 at 5:38 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.