Personal Finance and Investing

Today marks moneysupermarket.com’s tenth birthday. Its launch introduced the concept of online price comparison to the UK and over the past decade we have helped around 500 million visitors save money. In 2009 alone, moneysupermarket.com’s customers saved themselves more than £400m by using the site to shop around and find the best deals.

Life before moneysupermarket.com

It’s easy to forget what life was like before comparison sites, but if you think renewing your car insurance is a chore now, remember what it was like when you had to phone insurers individually.

And how did you find the best savings account or credit card?

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Many of us, at one time or another, have found ourselves short on money and our paychecks remain days – or weeks – away. Overspending can result in high credit card debt; something that we all want to avoid.

Instead of using credit cards to make ends meet, make a household budget to better manage your money. Luckily, there are easy ways to get a grip on your budget so you can save your credit card purchases to only those that you can afford to pay back:

• List all of your expenses, even the most insignificant – The best place to start when making a budget is with a list of expenses. Accou

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Consumer debt has reached an all time high. Credit card companies are seeing charge offs happen at a much higher rate than in the past. Unsecured debt is often the first thing that a person will let slide when times get really tough. However, most responsible consumers don’t feel good about not paying their obligations. If you find yourself in this bind, you can find the best debt consolidations for your needs.

Home Equity

This is one of the options that has the least impact on your financial standing with creditors. However, you must take steps to eliminate debt problems before you default on your credit card accounts. H

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The U.S. government through the Treasury Department has decided that it‘s time to put some pressure on the banks in the area of mortgages. As most people know, there are millions of consumers unable to make their mortgage payments in a timely manner. Troubled mortgages continue to grow in numbers as more consumers fall behind on their house payments, and the government feels the banks have not done enough to help homeowners prevent foreclosure.

The Assistant Secretary for the Treasury Department, Michael Barr, was quoted in the press as publicly stating that mortgage companies need to do much more to assist people behind on their payments or who are having difficulty meeting current payments. H

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