Judging the Hidden Costs of Credit Cards by Michael Hanna
Recent reports from CreditAction and the National Debtline appear to show that UK consumers are becoming more financially aware and are looking to reduce their levels of personal debt which have spiraled seemingly out of control over the past few years. ... Despite the industry wide introduction last year of the "honesty box" in all credit card statements designed to outline the costs of loans and any additional charges, it seems that the activities of some of the financial services, especially certain credit card companies are misleading consumers and making it difficult to determine the...

Money Saving Advice by Alastair Taylor
This article contains a list of money saving and investment tips. They are in no particular order and just appear as the author thinks of them Credit cards can be a great money saving vehicle, as long as you pay them off on time. If you purchase an expensive item on the first of the month, then... Credit Cards – Company Expenses If you end up claiming a lot of company expenses then try to put all purchases on your credit card, and make sure you claim for the expenses as soon as possible. ... Credit Cards Most credit card companies offer some type of reward system, this is typically...

Personal Finance - Have Consumers Had a Belly Full of Personal Debt? by Rachel Lane
For months, we were trigger-swipe happy, putting our groceries, clothes, holidays and service charges on our credit cards. We wanted mortgages, we took out loans, we watched Property Ladder and What Not To Wear. Whether you were born middle class, had middle class aspirations, you became middle... This morning, The Guardian printed a story based on the fact that Nationwide had reported a 0.2% decrease in the average house price, whilst the Times reported on a statement from the Bank of England, showing that credit-card borrowing was at its slowest rate for more than four years, with...

Mortgage and Credit Card Companies Under the Spotlight on Consumer Charging by Richard Green
For the first time since May 1996 reports have indicated that wage increases have risen faster than house price inflation. According to Nationwide, "The overall picture remains one of a gently softening market". The signs indicate that the housing market activity is finally starting to pick up,... The Chief Executive of Money Advice Scotland, Yvonne Gallacher, said of the prospect of reduced credit card fees: "This would make a big difference to the thousands of low-income credit cardholders who struggle to pay off these fees and charges." Moneynet is not so optimistic for consumers, and...

Mortgages - Higher Lending Charges are Outrageous by Michael Challiner
After you scraped together a modest deposit for your new home you may think you're home and dry. Think again. On top of there's the surveyors and solicitors to pay. Then the government want a slice. You've got to pay stamp duty at 1% of the property's price (if the house costs more than £250,000... We think it's time for the Office of Fair Trading to open up the box and take a look inside in the same way as they did with credit cards. ... And with all today's hi-tec credit checks and the risk based assessments used to process your application, you'd think the lenders were doing enough to...

Loans, Mortgages, Credit cards: Interest Rate Rises Around the Corner by Michael Challiner
Financial traders in the City are expecting interest rates to rise by half a percent by the end of this year. These days the Bank of England prefers to make a series of small changes to interest rates rather than one large change, so watch out for the first 0.25% rise around August time... In the first three months of this year the Halifax reported house prices up by 1.6% and the Nationwide reported prices up 2.3%. ... The rates on credit cards and loans are usually variable, so these aren't likely to rise until the Bank of England moves – but you can bet your bottom dollar that when the...