MONEY COMMENT
Join The Money SAS!

By Cliff D'Arcy
January 29, 2004

What fun I had yesterday - not! In the morning, I headed for Edinburgh airport to fly back to London after taking part in two women's workshops on female financial fitness. I arrived at Edinburgh airport at around noon, giving me a leisurely three hours before my flight.

However, thanks to the snow, my flight was delayed and we eventually boarded the plane at four o'clock. More fun followed when Heathrow airport was closed, so we ended up spending a painful 3½ hours sat in the plane before finally taking off!

I probably would have expired from boredom, had it not been for Paul, the passenger sitting next to me, who was an environmental consultant. Being a keen environmentalist myself, we had a long chat about global warming, renewable resources, manmade pollution and so on.

I then started waxing lyrical about The Motley Fool and financial planning. When Paul revealed that he and his partner are expecting their first child this year, I urged him to join the Money SAS – the Switchers And Savers!

I explained that we would all be much better off financially if we shopped around for products – particularly financial products – more often. Here's a list of ten 'shop arounds' that I gave to Paul:

• Savings accounts: why leave your money in one of the thousands of accounts that pay 2% a year or less, when you can earn over 4% with no strings attached?
• Mortgages: finding a cheaper home loan whenever you can do so without penalty (even if you stick with the same lender) can save you tens of thousands over the life of your loan.
• Credit cards: you can save hundreds of pounds a year by playing your cards right.
• Personal loans: are cheaper than ever, so it's possible to switch to a new deal and pay less interest.
• Bank accounts: why earn a miserly £1 a year for every £1,000 in your account, when you can earn forty times as much?
• Insurance: you can save a small fortune by slashing your premiums without cutting your cover. This goes for life, home, motor and travel insurance.
• Telephones: switch your home telephone, mobile and Internet connection to cheaper tariffs.
• Energy: it's simple to switch your gas and electricity to low-cost suppliers, which should save you £150 a year or more.
• Tax: by following these tips, you can keep the taxman from getting too greedy.
• Investing: why pay a fortune to fund managers, when most fail to beat a cheap, simple index tracker?

So, if you're struggling to make ends meet – or are expecting your bills to rise – join the Switchers and Savers today!