Money advice

To try and help you stay in control, we’ve collected together some information that’ll give you:

• Advice on how better to manage your finances (and stay out of debt)

• Ideas on how you could save money (including how to change your energy supplier)

Watch where you borrow money from

• Most people have to borrow money at some stage in their life, especially in an emergency…when the car needs new tyres and the washing machine breaks down at the same time
• But you need to be very careful about where you borrow from and how much you’ll be paying back
• Things aren’t always as appealing as they first seem

• Your local Citizens Advice Bureau can give advice on the different ways to borrow money, how to borrow sensibly and how to avoid some of the pitfalls of borrowing which can lead to problems with debt. Find out more here

How to save money on your energy bills

Energy bills can be expensive, but there are a few things you can do to keep the costs as low as possible

Tips include:

• Setting the hot water and the heating to come on only at times when you really need them, rather than having them on all the time

• Closing your curtains before it gets dark. When it’s cold, curtains made of heavy material will really make the room warmer

• Have a look here on our heating page for more information

Saving money by switching to a new tariff or energy company

• Many people have saved lots of money by changing their tariff or switching to another energy provider

• You could save hundreds of pounds a year by spending just half an hour on a price comparison website

• Price comparison websites help you compare the different energy deals available and they’re a great way to see what’s around

• But shop around on the price comparison sites too. They don’t all feature all the companies you can switch too

• Switching can be very easy to do. The companies do most of it for you