People who want the best savings rate should start by looking at individual savings accounts, commonly known as ISAs.

This is recommended by totallymoney.com, which recommends ISAs because they are tax free – the rate advertised is what a saver can expect to earn.

ISAs are especially appealing to mature savers. From this year, individuals aged 50 and over can deposit up to £5,100 into an ISA. Anyone below that age is able to deposit £3,600.

The website went on to acknowledge that it can be tricky for savers to beat the rate of inflation, with basic rate taxpayers needing a savings rate of 4.63 per cent to keep up with any inflation rises.

Rising inflation is good news for those in debt however, as borrowed money lessens in value as inflation increases.

This could, in the long term, make saving easier.

According to Halifax, almost half 44 per cent of households in the south-east have an ISA, which is slightly higher than the 43 per cent in the east of England.

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People interested in putting money away for a rainiy day have already been beaten about a lot during the recession. With interest rates at record lows meaning that making any money from savings has become a thing of the past and encouraged many people to start spending more. However, there are more than just low interest rates for savers to worry about now, as inflation spikes can also make it worse for the thriftier amongst us.

The higher levels of inflation will mean that that the value of money in savers accounts will be lowered while the low interest rate is doing nothing to compensate. Some industry experts have suggested to consumers that they use the money to pay off debts or shift the money into the stock market instead. However, people with serious savings are unlikely to be the same people that are seriously in debt, while the stock market represents a significant risk in some cases.

The Bank of England noted that inflation will likely rise as high as per cent in the next few weeks but then quickly sink down below the 2 per cent inflation target.

Recent research has suggested that most of the best savings accounts have already been pulled. Kevin Mountford from Money Supermarket said:

?This sudden fall in savings rates will have caught many by surprise, and coupled with December’s unexpectedly sharp rise in inflation means 2010 looks like it may be a difficult year for savers.?

Of course, low interest rates do mean that mortgages are costing people significantly less and those looking to get a new mortgage can find some very good deals right now.? The average inflation rate for a tracker deal with a deposit of 25 per cent is now 3.63 per cent, the lowest that has ever been noted since records began in 1997.

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It has been reported that consumers in the UK are saving 136 per cent more compared to the same period last year.
A new study conducted by Birmingham Midshires, Britons saved an average of £776 in the three months before January 2010, compared to £329 in the same quarter last year. This is still less than the £849 saved in the three months leading up to July 2009.
John Bianco, head of Birmingham Midshires Savings Products, said it is “encouraging” to see that people are taking their savings seriously, putting away more and raiding less.

He added: “In the current economic climate, people have revisited their savings habits with a marked increase in people saving for a rainy day.”

Last week, the Co-operative Bank Savings claimed that three-quarters of women attempted to rein in their spending during the recession.

John Hughes, director of retail products at the institution, said that many consumers believe they have become financially savvier over the past couple of years.

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Virgin Money has announced putting money into Isas has grown in popularity for savers over 50.
As a direct response to the government increasing the limits placed on Isa contributions for people aged over 50 from £7,200 to £10,200 a year, there has been an increase in the sums that individuals have paid in.

The biggest increases have been seen in income funds, with contributions going up by 130 per cent between October 5th 2009 and January 5th this year.

Additionally, figures from the Investment Management Association have shown that a record net £23.6 billion was invested into retail fund sales in the 11 months to 30th November 2009.

Grant Bather, spokesman at Virgin Money, said “With the Isa allowance of £10,200 to be extended to all savers in the new tax year, we would urge all investors to consider making the most of the increase in the tax efficient allowance.”

For investors who prefer to put their money into shares, Virgin Money reported in December that advisors were optimistic about emerging markets this year.

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The UK economy has begun to show growth, starting the last three months of last year. However, this has been the worst recession since records began, with painfully small growth of just 0.1% from the Office for National Statistics.
The predicted growth was 0.4%, and even that was fragile. This is causing some to worry that we are heading for a so-called double-dip recession and could re-enter negative growth.
The country plunged into official recession in the second quarter of 2008 and shrank by 6% over the 18 months. In 2009 alone, it slumped by 4.8%, which has been the biggest fall since the records began.
The figures from the ONS are estimates, using around 40% of the data, which means they could still be revised, with some analysts warning there may still be surprises ahead.
Although the UK has moved out of recession, this is not immediately restore the pitiful job market. A report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development showed that 1.3 million people had lost their jobs since the start of the downturn.
Unemployment fell slightly in December, but the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has warned that the number of people out of work is likely to remain high for some time.

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The recent cold snap shows the financial benefits to be gained from running an energy-efficient home. New figures revealed that an extra £1.2 billion worth of power was leaked by homes and offices in the last two weeks alone, compared with a normal winter.

Experts from the management consultancy firm Faithful and Gold conducted a study of Britain’s 26 million homes and two million offices, concluding that the significant amount of cash had been thrown away due to poor energy efficiency.

The research aimed to find out the amount of energy required to maintain a temperature of at least 20 degrees Celsius in a home as outside thermometers plummeted to minus two degrees Celsius.

Ellie Horwitch-Smith, an energy management expert with the firm, said: “As outside temperatures fall, the cold truth is that already inefficient buildings perform increasingly badly as heating systems struggle to maintain the indoor temperatures demanded of them. Heat is simply lost at a greater rate if the temperature drops.”

Some techniques which could be used by householders in a bid to reduce the amount of energy lost include improved insulation on all perimeter walls.

Scaled-down results of Faithful and Gold’s research showed that an average three-bed semi-detached British property spent an additional £37 heating their home over the last fortnight of cold weather.

An energy-efficient property – while also inevitably producing greater bills during an icy period – would have resulted in just a £23 premium.

The team of experts also estimated that a particularly inefficient office may have cost bosses an extra £149 on top of normal rates to heat over a two week period.

Last September Ratedpeople.com advised homeowners to deploy insulation products in advance if they wished to reduce their gas and electricity bills.

The website also suggested that insulation helps to preserve warmth inside a home once temperatures outside begin to fall.

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How much money does your entire family spend in a single week? If you sat down and added up the totals we’re sure you would be genuinely amazed at how much money filters through and back out of your household on a regular basis, especially if you have teenage children!

According to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics however, you may well not be spending as much as the typical family in Northern Ireland. The country has come out on top as the one spending the most per week per household, beating England, Scotland and Wales.

The ONS has revealed that the average payout for families amongst the six counties of Northern Ireland totalled as much as £479.70 between 2006 and 2008, around £14 more than people in England, £46 more than Scotland and £73 more than those in Wales.

So what are the people of Northern Ireland spending that extra money on? Some of the largest difference in expenditure includes clothing and shoes, which comes to around £34 in Northern Ireland and only £22 in England. In fact, our clothing and footwear spend has dropped by a large amount and figures haven’t been so low since 2001.

Spending in England as a whole might be lower than Northern Ireland, but overall spending in the South of the country and London was actually much higher than the average, so it certainly depends on where you live in the country, not just the average itself.

How much do you think your family spends every week on everything from new shoes to paying the telephone bill? It’s easier to work out your monthly totals first if you have a lot of monthly outgoings such as direct debits.

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Here in Britain, adults are becoming increasingly confident about the economy in 2010, according to NS&I. Their new report marks a change from previously stated statistics.

Because of this, many savers are thinking of investing more money this year than they did in 2009 and 30 per cent of men are planning to start putting more money to one side for savings.

NS&I state that around 27 per cent of the population is looking to save more cash this year than they have previously.

NS&I’s savings spokesperson, Tim Mack, said: “People are increasingly confident that they will save more over the next year than they have done in the last year.”

It was stated recently that the proportions saving each month had only increased to 47 per cent from 45 per cent in 2005, so this report marks a change in opinion by many NS&I customers, despite increasing economic instability.

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One of the best ways to avoid falling behind on your energy bills is to use an online comparison to switch gas and electricity suppliers, according to Think Money.

Think Money recommended carefully checking the details of the deals which you see offered before choosing the one which is cheapest and best for you.

The National Housing Federation’s recent survey found that as many as seven million households in the UK could be living in fuel poverty due to high gas and electricity bills. When a household spends ten per cent of their income on the energy used to power their home, this could mean fuel poverty.

A good way to ensure you are paying the correct price for your energy usage is to take regular meter readings.

Think Money said: “Keep in mind that most providers offer a discount on fixed direct debit payments, so if you’re looking to save money, it might be worth making the switch.”

Other tips include budgeting your money to make sure you can cover your average energy usage, which will cover your higher winter bills, and adding a little extra to your bills each month to help build up credit on your account.

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According to new research the amount we put away in our savings hasn’t changed much in the last few years, despite the recession and the lower interest rates that you might think would stop people from putting so much away every month.

People were putting away around 6% of their yearly income in 2005 and are still putting away around the same amount in 2009, according to National Savings and Investments.

Despite little happening in terms of the amount, the NSI believe that the actual reason for people to save has shifted. Previously people tended to save up for holidays or other special occasions whereas now savings are used more as a ?safety net? or an emergency sum of money.

The figures also show that people are paying off their debts more than ever.

Borrowing on cards has risen by over ?100 million in the last month but that?s balanced out by a huge ?731m fall in consumer credit ? the biggest ever recorded. Less people are getting credit in the form of things like bank loans, car loans, and hire purchase agreements from catalogues or HP stores. Adrian Lowcock of BestInvest said:

“Considering interest rates on savings accounts are at such low levels, investors are using their money to greater effect, paying off mortgages and investing in assets that produce a higher yield than cash. Debt levels have come down and many investors have taken advantage of the new Isa allowances introduced in October.”

Obviously the fact that people are continuing to save and get themselves out of debt is great news. However, it will be some time before interest rates rise and savers really see any advantage in their continued saving habits.

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