COMMENT
Four Things To Do Before New Year's Eve!

By Alison Hunt (TMFAlly)
December 6, 2005

Are you all prepared for Christmas? Bought and wrapped the presents, planned the festivities and generally raring to go? Well, spare a thought for your finances. Although January doesn't mark the start of a new financial year, there are still deadlines creeping up and if you're not prepared for them could cost you a pretty penny. What's more, we tend to potter along for months, believing everything to be rosy but failing to notice that interest rates have slipped and our cash is simply eroding away! A quick clean up, in time for the New Year is what's called for.

So without further ado, check out these four things that you really should do before New Years Eve, and plan to start 2006 as you mean to go on!

1. Submit your Tax Return

Although the deadline for tax returns submitted on paper was all the way back in September, anyone planning to fill in their return online still has until the 31 January 2006. However, you can save yourself a lot of hassle by submitting your tax return before 30 December 2005. If HM Revenue and Customs receives your return by this date it will calculate how much you owe and, as long as it's below £2,000 (and not too complicated) can collect it through your tax code.

Unless you have a particular fondness for writing large cheques to the taxman, submitting sometime in the next three weeks is the way to go, so start searching for that login, P60 and P11D now! And don't forget, submit by 31 January at the very latest, or you'll be charged an automatic £100 penalty!

2. Earn more Interest

So many of us are guilty of apathy where our savings are concerned. Although it may seem that earning 2%AER is pretty much the same as earning 5%AER, it can make a huge difference, depending on how much is in your account.

Interest earned on £3,000 by a higher rate taxpayer in an account paying 2% AER is a measly £36 each year. Stash that in an account paying 5%AER and you'll have a far more respectable £90 to play with. And make use of your tax-free, mini-cash ISA allowance, and you could be earning a whopping £150 each year! So don't hang about, move your savings to a high paying account and make them work harder in 2006!

Find an account paying over 5% AER in our Savings Centre.

3. Pay Less Interest

We all know that there's no point earning 5% on our savings if we're paying 11% on our debts! If you have a number of debts to repay and a stack of cash in the bank, it will usually make far more sense to throw that money at what you owe. Get those debts paid off and then you can replace those savings. Alternatively, if you have expensive credit card debt, consider transferring the balance to a 0% card for balance transfers. By moving your debt to the Halifax One card, or example, you could have up to twelve months, interest-free to repay it!

You can apply for the Halifax One card, and a host of others in our Credit Card Centre.

4. Pay Less for Energy

If, like the rest of us, your energy bills have been getting closer and closer to the size of a small country's national debt, don't just put up with it. It's never been easier to switch supplier and now that most of the big providers have publicised their increases, it's a good time to do it.

Check out one of the many price comparison websites and find out how much you can save. With up to £200 to be saved each year, it could be well worth your while! And don't forget, taking out a dual fuel deal with one supplier may not be the cheapest way to do it; check the prices for separate suppliers too.

Find out more in our Get out of Debt Centre.

So there you have it, four things to do before New Year's Eve. Go on, follow these tips and start 2006 the way you mean to go on!