If you are looking to finance a new flat screen television or go on holiday, or any other luxury, a personal loan is not your best option. Fortunately the financial crisis has made most people more aware of their finances and changed the way they think about borrowing.

More people are saving to buy life’s luxuries, and we are far less reliant on loans and credit for our spending.

If you need the money for something really important, then borrowing through a personal loan, is far cheaper than through the use of a credit card.

Here are five tips for personal loans.

1. What are your options?

Before starting the whole application process for a loan, you should check whether you have any cheaper options available for borrowing the money.

There are a couple of things you should think about first before borrowing from a bank, You should work out how much cash you really need, whether you can save the amount, and whether you can borrow the money you need from friends or family.

An easy way to borrow cheaply, is to use your credit card and for a small fee transfer the debt to a new zero per cent balance transfer card. For the introductory period, you will not have to pay any interest, but when that expires the amount can start racking up hefty interest, so you should be careful to make sure you know when the period expires, and set up a strategy to ensure you don’t exceed the period, whether that means transferring any balance remaining to a new card or having paid the amount off depends on you.

2. Check your credit rating

If you find that your only option happens to be a loan and have started shopping for one already, you should know that the “typical” low rates aren’t actually offered to everyone.

Lenders who advertise such rates, are not obliged by law to offer those rates to everyone and unsurprisingly only tend to offer them to a small percentage of their customers, who tend to have near perfect credit ratings.

If you don’t happen to have a perfect or near perfect credit history, then you have a very low chance of being offered the best rates in the market. Lenders will either turn you down or offer you the loan at a higher rate.

You should also be acutely aware that how often you apply for loans is noted by borrowers, and if they get a sense that you have tried to borrow money many times in a short period of time, that starts to send alarm bells ringing.

So make sure you apply for a credit report and have an idea of how clean your record is, before starting the application process for a loan.

3. Compare the TARs

Whenever you shop for a loan you should take your time and look for the best deal, as you would do for any other product.

Whilst many of you are familiar with the Annual Percentage Rate (APR), which is the rough rate of interest you pay annually for a loan, you should also be aware of the lesser known TAR.

TAR stands for Total Amount Repayable, and is an accurate indicator of how much the loan actually costs, and sometimes when you find out the true cost of a loan, it can be quite an eye opening experience.

Always check the TAR when comparing different loans with one another; it is the best way to ensure you are getting the best deal available to you.

4. Avoid secured loans!

Personal loans tend to be what is known as unsecured loans, that is to say they are not backed up by collateral. This differs with the secured loan which is backed by collateral such as your car or house.

Secured loans often seem to be cheaper than unsecured loans, but before jumping in, you should be aware that they often come with variable rates of interest. This means you run the risk of having your interest payments spike into something that becomes unaffordable.

They can make sense, but you should be careful to understand what the trend in interest rates happen to be, and whether you run the risk of them spiking before you have paid off the debt.

5. Minimise your term

The best way to keep the cost of a personal loan down is to pick the shortest term you can possibly manage. Doing this ensures you pay the least amount in interest rate charges. Taking a look at the numbers as an illustration. The rule is the shorter you borrow money for, the less interest is charged.

Finally, after investigating TARs you’ve undoubtedly been suitably shocked at how much your seemingly cheap personal loan will cost. Assuming you borrowed $ 3000 at 7.9% APR

Paying back a $3k loan over 5 years would mean a total repayment of $3,641 – $641 obviously being interest.

Repay it over 3 years and it would cost $379 in interest saving $262.

And over 2 years it would cost you just $253 in interest, saving another $126.

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That kind of insecurity is usually a result of inability to decide what to do and what the consequence of a particular course of action may be.

Many people confuse fact with fiction when trying to decide how to solve their problems so in this post, we try separate truth from fiction.

1) You could Go To Prison If You Don’t Pay Off Your Credit Card Debt

Total Fiction: You will not be sent to jail if you end up defaulting on an unsecured loan or credit card debt.

The worst legal thing that can happen is you could be issued with a court order that stipulates how much of your income must go towards paying off an individual debt.

If legal action is taking against you by a creditor such as a bank or credit card company, and a judgement passed, that will remain on your credit record for a number of years, which will negatively affect your ability to obtain future financing.

Once the court has ordered you to make a payment, and you still find you cannot make the payment, you will still not go to prison, but the court may require your employer to make the payment on your behalf by deducting it directly from your salary.

Alternatively the court may issue another order which allows the credit card company or bank to take some the of the sale proceeds when you sell your house. These type of court orders are not that uncommon, however the order does not require you to actually sell your home, only that when you do ultimately sell your property, the creditor has the right to receive some of the proceeds.

2) Credit card companies Can Send Bailiffs To Collect

Another old wives tale is that credit card companies can send their bailiffs round if you are a habitual defaulter and miss payments continuously.

This is nonsense, card companies do not have the right to send a bailiff to your home, if someone from a card company threatens you with that kind of action, you should simply not believe them.

Card companies can apply to the court to send a bailiff round, and can only make that application once a judgment has been passed against you. Before the court has passed judgment, the only thing a card company or creditor can do is hire a debt collector who can try and collect the money owed, but the debt collector has no legal authority, so you are not even required to speak to him.

3) Bailiffs Do Not Have The Right To Force Their Way Into Your Home

This is not true, ordinarily bailiffs do not have the authority to force their way into your house to take your belongings. They can however apply for a warrant to force entry, though in practice this is very rare.

If you end up behind on rent or mortgage payments, your landlord or mortgage lender may obtain a court order to force eviction. In that situation, bailiffs have the power to break in to your home. Bailiffs also have the right to break into your house if they have previously been given permission to enter your home, and you have failed to stick to a debt repayment arrangement.

In general though, bailiffs have a code of conduct that they must adhere too. To begin with, they must provide their identification and authorization if they are asked for it. If they are collecting rent, they are required to only attempt to do so between sunrise and sunset and in practice, really between the hours of 8am and 8pm.

4) A Bad Credit Ratings Is For Life

This is untrue, bad credit ratings usually last a few years, in most developed countries, no more than six to eight years.

5) You Need To Pay For Debt Advice

This is complete fiction and is a debt rip off. Some lenders will try and charge you for advice, and there is absolutely no reason why you should be paying anyone any money for advice, because it can be gotten free from a number of debt counselling organisations who will provide guidance on a range of options to suit your personal needs and help you with your debt problems. So don’t pay for something you can get for free!

6) If You Die Your Family Will Have To Pay Your Debts

This is mainly false, but has a little truth to it. In general, your family are not liable for your debt in the event of your death. If however you have borrowed money jointly, with your spouse for example, then that person is liable for all your joint debts in the event of your death. The person however will also end up with full ownership of any asset that the debt was used to acquire, for example property.

If your estate has sufficient assets to cover all liabilities, that will be done by the executors of your estate. If there is a remainder after settling all outstanding debts, that will be distributed, and if your estate is not large enough to cover your debts, then what ever remains is usually written off.

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1. The Debt That Never Ends

The minimum payment on many credit cards barely meet the interest being incurred on your debt, which means if you only ever make the minimum, you’re debt will never reduce and seem to be endless. Occasionally a card will be offered with such a low minimum monthly payment, that your debt ends up actually growing.

So if you want to ensure that your debt ends up being a thing of the past, then make sure you make payments well in excess of your minimum monthly payment.

2. Negative Payment Hierarchy

Perhaps the single most important thing when it comes to understanding your credit card debt, is the concept of negative payment hierarchy.

Simply put, when you make a payment towards your debt, the money is used to pay of the debt which is attracting the least interest, whilst the debt that incurs the most interest is left unpaid.

So for example if you have part of a balance on a zero per cent transfer deal, and the rest attracting interest at 18 per cent APR, and you make a $500 payment, thinking you will reduce your debt, well that money goes towards your zero per cent deal, whilst the balance that costs 17 per cent continues to remain unchanged and attracting interest until the full debt is paid off.

The easiest way to avoid this pitfall is to have one card for your balance transfer and a separate card which you use for purchases. That way you can isolate which debt is paid off whenever you make a payment.

3. The Hidden Cost Of Balance Transfers

Balance transfer deals are unquestionably a good way of reducing your overall cost of debt. But they do have hidden costs, for example through NPH a 3 per cent fee for a zero per cent balance transfer might on the face of it seem very reasonable, but might actually mean an APR of 4 to 11 per cent.

If you want to ensure you have a low APR, you should look for longer deals with lower fees. Save your money in an account that pays reasonable interest, and pay the entire balance off at the end of the offer.

4. Balance Transfer Fees Can Cost Interest

When you transfer a balance onto a zero per cent card, the fee is usually added to the balance, but some lenders may class the fee as being a purchase and charge you interest on the fee and because of NPH, the fee will continue to incur interest until the whole balance is cleared.

So make sure you read the fine print, understand the terms of the deal, and kick up a fuss if something like this happens when it shouldn’t.

5. Typical APRs Not Obtainable

Typical APR’s quoted by lenders are only ever offered to customers with the best credit score, and for most people lenders offer APR’s which can often be much higher than the typical APR quoted.

Some lenders may even reject the application outright, and pass the details on to a less than savory lender who will make the loan.

If you have been rejected, then do not take out a product offered by a third party, and make sure you check your credit report for any errors.

6. High Increasing Standard Rates

Even if you manage to obtain the typical APR, they are exorbitant at the best of times, and can average as much as 10 per cent above the cheapest personal loans, and lenders can hike interest rates at will. So always keep your options open, and if you can, balance transfer the debt and take advantage of low interest rates.

7. Calculating APR

Lenders can calculate their interest in different ways, and some estimate that there are as many as 12 different methods, which means APR’s can have very little meaning.
The best way to avoid this is the age old zero per cent balance transfer, but you should also seek to avoid cards which have lots of fees and charges.

8. ‘Cheap’ Monthly Interest

Cheap monthly interest rates are disingenuous. In fact I would go as far as to say they are outright fraudulent. A monthly interest rate of 1.5 per cent might seem like a good deal, but in actual fact it adds up to 19.6 per cent APR, which is far higher than the average rate. So make sure you are not taken in by cheap monthly rates.

9. Credit Limit ‘Rewards’

Some lenders may say they are rewarding you by increasing your credit limit. You should be careful not to see your new limit as a target for spending, and add to your debt burden for no reason.

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Funding luxuries are not the best way to use a personal loan. But if you have a genuine need to borrow $10,000, or an amount that a credit card is just not going to cover, then a personal loan is the product for you.

Here are three tips when shopping for a personal loan

1 Make Sure A loan Is The Right Option

If you’re financial need is less than $5000, then a personal loan is not the way to go.

For small sums of money, then credit cards are likely to be your best bet. There are a couple of ways you can finance using a credit card. The first is using a zero per cent purchase card, or alternatively you can spend the money on an existing credit card, and transfer the debt to a zero percent balance transfer card, and that will enable you to money for a small fee and pay no interest.

2 Compare the TARs

When shopping for a loan, the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is not the only thing you should be looking at, and you should also take not of the Total Amount Repayable or TAR.

Knowing what your TAR is on an amount your borrow is the best way of being 100 per cent certain how much the loan is going to cost and what you need to pay over the lifetime of the loan.

The TAR incorporates any interest payable as well as non option fees incurred. So really it is the best measure of understanding how expensive the loan is, and an invaluable tool when trying to compare deals.

3 Keep It Short And Sweet

When you do need to borrow money, it is important to borrow as little cash as you can possibly manage, and do so over as short a time as is humanely possible. Doing that will ensure you keep your interest costs as low as they can be.

Borrowing more than you need has absolutely no utility, and it is likely you will end up spending the loan on something you don’t need resulting in you carrying debt for longer than you have to, and paying more for the privilege than you need to.

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So why so much online angst over credit cards? Well the very real overwhelming fear that most people have of being in over their head in debt. Others worry that having a credit card, whilst not resulting in too much debt, may lead them to spend more money than they ordinarily would.

A lot of people who don’t have credit cards, just don’t see the point or any benefit from owning one. So the purpose of this piece is really to show how credit cards, if used correctly can be really beneficial.

1) Get Out of Debt Using A Credit Card

It may seem counter-intuitive that a credit card can help you get out of debt. If you tend to rack up huge bills that you struggle to pay at the end of every month, you might even think the notion a credit card can help you clear your debt is a joke.

The fact of the matter is there are a ton of 0 per cent balance transfer credit cards out there, that allow you to transfer an existing balance on a card, for a small fee onto another card, which doesn’t rack up any interest charges for the time the offer is valid.

So if you carry existing debt, a zero per cent balance transfer credit card allows you to establish and define your debt, and allows you to stop letting your current debt snowball, and pay it down instead.

Balance transfer credit cards only allow you to shift existing debts from your existing credit cards on to the new card, so it won’t be useful if you don’t have a credit card already, and if you don’t clear up the debt before the interest free period expires, then they can start attracting hefty interest, so you should be aware when the period expires, and ideally if the balance has not been cleared, find another balance transfer deal you can shift the debt too.

2) You Can Make Money Using A Credit Cards

Charging your weekly grocery shopping or petrol bill to your credit card might be enough to send a shiver down your spine, but the fact of the matter is, if you know you can afford to clear your credit card bill at the end of every month, then using it do your shopping can earn you money.

By now you are probably wondering how the devil that works, well the simple answer to that is cash back.

Some credit cards offer you cash back on your purchase, and if you get a new card the amount can be up to 5 per cent during the introductory period and then between 0.5 per cent to 1.25 per cent afterwards, depending on how much you spend.

Cash back means you can go about doing your daily shopping, in the knowledge that you are earning or saving on everything that you buy. You just need to be careful and remember that if you don’t pay off your credit card bill at the end of the month, you will be hit with interest rate charges.

3) Credit Cards Protect Yourself From Being Ripped Off By Retailers

Credit cards are quite heavily regulated by the government, and this means there is a certain amount of protection guaranteed by the government when you spend on one. If there ends up being some kind of problem with the completion of a purchase, then your card issuer is liable for refunds, and this means that when you spend or buy something using your credit card, there is an added level of protection that prevents you from being ripped off.

Credit cards really do have their benefits if you use them wisely, so be careful.

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1. Paying off your mortgage with your credit card

Paying off your mortgage with a credit card is something that should be avoided at all costs. In the immediate term, you may not be paying more interest, but in the long term your interest payments will balloon, and do so very quickly.

This is because most mortgages cost between 3 to 6 percent in annual interest whilst credit cards charge anywhere between 15 per cent and some even charge more the 30 per cent.

Instead of using your credit card to pay the mortgage you would be better off asking your lender for a payment holiday, and allow the interest accrued to build up. This is far cheaper than other forms of borrowing.

Those people who resort to using a credit card to pay off their monthly mortgage are clearly indicating they are in financial trouble, and goes to show they are having difficulty because they are unable to pay off their most important monthly bill.

Not getting that particular house in order will ensure the individual’s debt problem with spiral out of control.

2. You end every month in the red

The most obvious sign of financial ill health is if you find yourself being overdrawn by the time pay day arrives.

If this is happening to you, then it is a clear signal that you are spending too much.

Overdrafts, especially of the type that have not been approved by your lender is one mof the most expensive ways one can borrow money.

The quickest solution is drawing up a budget and eliminate unnecessary expenditure. Ideally, you should also seek to find a way to generate more income.

3. You don’t know how much you owe

It is extremely dangerous to not know how much debt you are in, particularly if that debt is carried on credit cards.

Card issuers allow their borrowers to pay off a fraction of their loan, and this is particularly worrying because by simply making the minimum monthly payment the borrower allows high levels of interest to build on the amount left unpaid.

Also credit card companies are more often now cutting the credit limit of their borrowers, or they could require you to pay a higher minimum every month which could end up being problematic.

If you are in this position, gather up all your credit card statements, and calculate your total debt, and start working out how to get yourself back into the black.

4. You don’t have a rainy-day fund

Being able to comfortably live of your income without having to get into debt is an excellent start, but one should always endeavour to have some spare cash just in case.

Ideally most experts recommend that we should have 3 months equivalent of rainy day fund tucked away, which will help should you ever be made redundant.

Make sure the money is in an instant-access account, earning a decent rate in interest – the best pay over 3%.

If you want to establish a rainy day fund, they putting aside a quarter of your money every month for a year will go a long way towards to goal of having three months income as cash by the end of year.

5. Your income is not protected

Thinking about the bad things that could possible happen, such as job loss or sickness is unpleasant, and it is no wonder there very few of us actually do it.

If you have a family who depends on your earnings, then you have an obligation to ensure that your income does not suddenly dry up, if the worst should happen.

Insurance is one way of protecting your income. Income protection policies give you the ability to choose how much income you will receive and for how long if you find yourself in a position where you cannot work. The higher and longer the protection the more it costs to insure.

6. You don’t have a pension

The most important financial advice out there is the earlier you start planning for retirement, the more you will have at retirement, and you should start saving for this period of lie as early as possible.

Even if you can’t make large payments into a pension fund, whatever money you do manage to put into a fund will have longer to grow the earlier you start.

Relying on any property you own to fund your retirement, is not completely guaranteed either, if the property market is down when you need the cash, you will end up in a worse position when you need the money than expected.

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1. Set A Goal

Obviously we would all love to be out of debt and in the clear, sooner, rather than later. The first step towards a debt free life is the stated goal of destroying your debt.

There are a number of really simple things that can be done to achieve that goal such as budgeting your expenses and keeping a diary of your spending habits. Both of which will enable you to calculate where your money is going and how much if any, spare cash you can generate to attack your debt load, once your monthly living expenses have been met.

2. Move Your Debt To A Zero Percent Card

It is not the most revolutionary new advice, but moving your credit card debt on to another card and taking advantage of a zero per cent balance transfer deal is really one of the best ways of getting on top of your debt.

Once you get to the end of the zero per cent period, you should be ready to move whatever balance you did not manage to clear, to another zero per cent card, before the higher APR comes into effect.

3. Reduce Your Overdraft Interest Charges

Borrowing on an overdraft can be a difficult habit to break, especially when the finances are stretched. If you find yourself having to dip into an overdraft regularly, why not try and reduce your interest bill by switching to a current account that offers lower interest rates.

Many banks offer lower or ever zero per cent overdraft facilities for the first year, so long as you are making regular payments into your bank account. These offers are only introductory, so you should be aware that once the offer period is up, you will have to make regular interest payments, so you should make every effort to get back into the black as soon as possible.

4. Get Advice

Prior to the credit crunch, lenders seemed very happy to hand out credit as if it were sweets. It is therefore not that much of a surprise that some people carry a little more debt than they are comfortable with.

If you find that you are in over your head, there are a number of free debt counselling services, where you can get advice and you can do it for free.

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If you are still feeling the pinch though, it can take its toll on your body, causing a variety of symptoms from body pain, sleeping difficulty and exhaustion. There is even a name for the condition, as silly as it sounds it’s called Recession Strain Injury, and there are millions of Australians who owe more than they can manage and are at risk of suffering from physical stress symptoms as a result of money problems.

If you find yourself suffering from financial tension, here are five tips that can help you get your financial position into a healthier condition.

1) Diagnose Your Problem

Perhaps the first thing you need to do is calm yourself, and once you have taken a deep breath, write down your after tax take home pay each month. Doing this is the first step in defining what your boundaries are for a financially healthy life.

You might find you can extend your earnings by claiming welfare payments if you are unemployed, renting a spare room out, or taking a part time job. If you know what you have written down is the end of it, then you will have to learn how to live within your boundaries.

2) Take Control Of Your Life

Once you have determined what your boundaries are, you need to start looking at where the money is going. You need to start looking at your monthly credit card and bank statements to find the exact source of your financial pain.

Writing down your daily expenditure is a useful way of tracking where your money is going, and whether you are making the best use of your dollar. I run a monthly spread sheet, which records everything I spend on my debit or credit cards, and every time I take money out from a machine. In the age of internet banking its easy to see where and when you spent your money, and the spreadsheet lets me know that perhaps I am exceeding my monthly limit, and where I can cut back on spending.

Sometimes I don’t want to know where and when I spent my money, because I know perhaps I have gone a little too far, but it’s something I have disciplined myself to do, It is important to know the news even when it’s not good.

3) Get Your Life In Order

After you have worked out what your monthly budget is, and where exactly your cash is going, the next thing you need to do is work out which expenses are the most important to you, as opposed to which of your creditors are giving you the most grief.

You need to focus on the most important payments; mortgage or rent is the absolute first. There isn’t anything more important than keeping a roof over your head. After that you should start looking at any court ordered payments, and unpaid tax, because legal action apart from being more than a pain, adds to your financial burden. Finally you should look at any unsecured debt you have such as credit card or your overdraft.

4) Maintain calm

Even if you find yourself in a financial pickle and under a mountain of debt, the courts tend to guarantee your right to a basic standard of living. The courts have no interest in seeing you being impoverished. This means the court will ensure you have enough cash to pay your mortgage and utility bills, as well as feed and clothe yourself and family.

5) Talk things over

Find someone you can talk too, obviously if you are married or in a relationship, the first person is your partner, it is important to have some support if you want to turn you debt situation around. Creditors are not necessarily rigid unhelpful organizations you would think they are. They have a vested interest in helping you pay off your bills, and have plenty of experience in soothing customers who find themselves overwhelmed.

If you are single, then talk to a friend or debt councillor, but make sure you find someone you can talk over the things that are causing you the financial stress you are under. It is important to understand and believe you are not alone.

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Here are four ways to save big in 2010.

1. Cut The Middleman Out

Many people waste thousands of dollars in estate agent fees. The easiest way to save big this year is to cut the middleman out completely when you sell your home.
There are a ton of property websites that are already around and more coming online every day that allow you to list your property for no charge whatsoever. The sites aren’t just limited to people wanting to sell their homes, but renters can also make use of the service.

Google Property rolled out its service in Australia last year, and the search engine giant provides online property search services that allow everyone from agents to property owners alike list their property completely free, allowing potential buyers to see the exact location using Google Maps.

2. Look For Larger Retirement Income

If you haven’t started planning for retirement, and you are reading this piece, then it goes without saying that you probably know you need to start that nest egg as early as possible. Obviously in Australia it is mandatory to invest in superannuation (super) funds. But that doesn’t mean to say it ends there and it is always wise to look at additional products for the extra kicker after retirement.

When most people plan for retirement a lot of them opt for annuity products. An annuity is a guaranteed monthly income stream until death and some products are even linked to the inflation rate. What most people don’t realise is, that as much as 20 per cent can be saved just by shopping around for these products.

If you look around on the internet, there are a number of websites that enable consumers to compare different annuity products. So make sure you shop around..A 20 per cent savings can mean tens of thousands of Dollars that you gain over the lifetime of the product.

3. Get Upgrades

You can save more than $1000 just by shopping around for insurance upgrades.

According to the AAA, which reviews car insurance prices, consumers can save on average as much as $500 by shopping around instead of continuing the same policy with their current insurer.

The same can be done with almost all insurance policies you hold. Shopping around for home insurance can save hundreds of dollars. So when it comes time to renew, don’t treat the renewal as par for the course. Look around for the best deal on offer and lock in some terrific savings in 2010.

4. Cut The Petrol Bill

Going to the cheapest petrol station rather than the most convenient one, can save you as much a 7 cents per litre of petrol. If you save even half that amount per liter and drive 12,000 miles per year, that is a savings of over $500 a year, which is certainly nothing to be sniffed at.

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If you think you are the only one wondering how to make ends meet this Christmas, don’t worry, you’re not, with just a few weeks left until the holidays, many of us are working on especially tight budgets this year.

The good news is that there are plenty of ways to save cash in the build up to the holidays, so here are ten tips to save money.

1.Design A Tight Budget

If you know it’s going to be a lean Christmas, then designing a budget that fits your finance is an important first step. You should take into account the cost of presents, food and decorations etc, and do your best to stick to it.

Draw up a frugal Christmas budget – factoring in the cost of food, presents, decorations etc – and try your best to stick to it. To get things started, sign up to the Manage on a small budget goal.

2. Look To Celebrate On The Cheap

If you intend to celebrate Christmas by dining out, then scope out a place that is inexpensive and fun to do it in first. Don’t make the mistake of deciding on somewhere without considering the cost first, and running the risk that your bill ends up tearing your budget to shreds.

3. Always Compare Prices

If you are doing Christmas shopping, then always look for the best price for the items you want, and using price comparison websites is an easy way to find the best deals out there.

4. Hunt For Vouchers

Before you go out and spend money online, you should hunt for voucher codes that can more often than not, knock down the cost of your shopping bill quite substantially.

5. Look For The Cheapest Travel Deals

If you plan on spending Christmas with family or friends, then there are a ton of travel deals online, and spending time finding good deals is a great way to save a little moolah.

6. Buy The Cheapest Petrol

If you are driving up to see your friends or family this holiday season, then check out comparison websites like motormouth.com.au to find the cheapest petrol prices in your area.

7. Look For Secondhand Bargains

Before forking over for brand new Christmas decorations or an new chairs to fit loved ones or friends who are joining you for a meal, you should see if you can hunt down a second hand Christmas bargain for a few dollars. It’s all out there, everything from clothes, furniture and other gift possibilities.

8. Find Inexpensive Recipes

If the catering bill over the holidays is breaking the bank, have a hunt around for inexpensive recipes. There are a ton of recipes out there that are both nutritious and yummy, using less expensive cuts of meat.

9. Make Your Own Presents

You don’t have to be Michelangelo to be able to make a thoughtful Christmas present for friends or family, and it’s a great way to spend some time, and can save you a ton of cash.

10. Make Your Loyalty Points Count

Lots of people spend all year saving up their supermarket loyalty card points, and then splurge during their annual Christmas shop. Loyalty points from supermarkets tend to be worth more if they are spent online rather than at the supermarket. So make them count and spend your loyalty points wisely.

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