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The thing that I love most about being a saver and an investor is watching my savings interest and dividends (the income paid by shares) come rolling in each year. However, I haven't been a saver for very long -- only a few years, in fact. For most of my adult life, I spent far more than I earned, building up a bigger and bigger debt mountain until I almost collapsed under its weight. These days, when I look back over my financial records, what strikes me, apart from how much I could overspend each month, is the sheer amount of interest I paid over the years. In my darkest hour, I had three personal loans and (unlucky for me!) thirteen credit cards, with a total debt close to £50,000. With a debt of this magnitude, my interest bill came to thousands of pounds a year. Ouch! Still, when I finally bit the bullet and actually started tackling my debts, I found several ways to minimise the amount of money I wasted paying interest. Here are a few lessons that I learnt in my long battle with my borrowings: Bank accounts Overdrafts, especially unapproved overdrafts, are a terribly expensive way to borrow money. For example, slip into the red without permission and you'll be hit with an unauthorised overdraft fee of £30, plus a further fee of up to £39 for each bounced cheque, Direct Debit or standing order. What's more, you'll pay interest at annual rates of up to 32%. Aaargh! If you'd like to find an account which treats you as an adult, instead of punishing you for minor misdemeanours, check out the deals in our Banking Centre. For example, independent researcher Moneyfacts rates Alliance & Leicester's Premier Direct Current account as the stand-out Best Buy for people whose accounts are regularly, or even occasionally, in the red. Credit cards Although there are around 1,300 differently branded credit cards in issue in the UK, almost all are issued by these six leading lenders. Hence, because the credit-card business is concentrated in the hands of just a few players, interest rates tend to be clustered together. Indeed, although the average annual interest rate on a credit card is 15.6% APR, most cards charge more than this. Thus, a debt of, say, £3,000 on a typical credit card could cost you in excess of £500 a year in interest. My advice would be to play your cards right by shifting your outstanding balances to one of the dozens of credit cards which charge no interest on balance transfers for an introductory period. For example, the popular Halifax One Visa card charges no interest on transferred debts for the first year, on payment of a 2% balance-transfer fee (minimum £2, maximum £50). You'll find this card, and many others, in our Credit Card centre. Mortgages and other secured loans For most homeowners and homebuyers, their mortgage will be their biggest debt by a long chalk. Indeed, with the average mortgage debt close to £85,000, even a small reduction in your interest rate translates into big savings. Furthermore, if you're paying your lender's standard variable rate (the rate paid by all borrowers who aren't enjoying a special-rate deal), then you could be paying, say, 2.5% a year over the odds. I could explain at great length all the tricks that you could use to bring down the cost of your mortgage and related expenses. However, the simplest thing that you can do is to ask a reliable no-fee mortgage broker to do all the legwork for you. You'll find the award-winning London & Country Mortgages, plus great deals from various lenders, in our Mortgage centre. Personal loans As I explained in This Blunder Will Cost You Thousands, choosing the wrong personal loan can leave you nursing a nasty financial hangover. Not shopping around for the lowest total amount repayable (always compare TARs instead of APRs) could mean forking out a grand or two in extra interest. Furthermore, buying rip-off payment protection insurance could be an even bigger mistake! If you want a personal loan from £1,000 to £25,000, pay a visit to our Personal Loan centre, where you'll find many leading lenders and an easy-to-use search engine which scours the whole market on your behalf. Store cards In my view, store cards are perhaps the single most unattractive mainstream borrowing product in the UK. Thanks to their sky-high interest rates (almost on par with those charged by loan sharks), I refer to them as the Devil's Debt! However, you can ditch your store-card debts in the same way as you would your other plastic debts. So, if you don't pay off your store cards in full every month, transfer your balances to a 0% card, cut up your store cards and steer clear of them forever more! Alternatives to banks and building societies Around eight million people are routinely turned down for high-street credit, which has led to a boom in impaired-credit lending and doorstep money-lending. However, there's no need to go on bended knee to banks or building societies to borrow or save. For instance, as I explained in Getting By Without Banks, two-thirds of us are eligible to join credit unions, which are not-for-profit, community-based financial organisations which offer cheap loans and fair savings rates to their members. Furthermore, by becoming a borrowing or lending member of online financial exchange Zopa.com, you can borrow money at great rates, or even lend your own spare cash to others, as I explained here. That's it from me -- good luck with bashing your borrowing costs! More: Find great bank accounts, credit cards, mortgages and personal loans via the Fool!