Credit Crunch Conquered

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, no doubt you'll be aware that the current financial market is in somewhat of a downturn. Luckily, this doesn't mean that your life should have to suffer. Using our credit crunch beating tips you can tighten your belt without having to miss out on the things you love.

Every Little Helps, Shop Savvy

When shopping at the supermarket, look at the products you are buying and see where you can make savings. You will often find that you can trade down when it comes to the essentials in your basket. Instead of buying branded items, try the supermarket's own brand. Often you will be unable to tell the difference. Once you're making these savings regularly, consider stepping down again and trying the supermarkets value brand. This way you can find the cheapest way of getting your shopping without sacrificing taste.

When buying online, there are thousands of bargains to be had if you know where to look. Many sites use voucher codes to provide discounts to their customers, but these often aren't widely published. However there are sites on the internet that group these vouchers together in one place allowing you to find the latest deals from the sites you use. One of the leading sites in this field is MyVoucherCodes (http://www.myvouchercodes.co.uk).

Change Credit Cards

One area where you could be saving is by changing your credit card to find the best promotion. Many credit card companies offer bonuses and interest free periods for new customers. So if you've had the same card for a long time, you may not be benefiting from the best deal. To check out the latest deals on credit cards from the leading companies, visit http://comparesaver.co.uk/compare-credit-cards

Smarten your Savings

Making the most of your savings is a great way of growing you money. With many accounts, interest rates can be variable, so it's worth shopping around for the best deals. You should also consider how you are saving, and whether you will need to dip into your money now and then. If you know the money will not be touched for a long time, a fixed rate bond will often have the highest interest rates, although the lower rate of an instant access account may be more suitable if you will need the money regularly.

It is also wise to put whatever money you can away in case of emergencies. It is also a good idea to save in several different places. This way you can assign different accounts for the different luxuries that you are saving for. For example you could have one account designated for saving towards a new car, one for your holiday, one for a new kitchen etc... This is often preferable to just saving in one place as you can really see how much you have and can budget accordingly. To compare savings accounts visit http://www.comparesaver.co.uk/compare-savings-accounts.

Write a money diary

One of the easiest ways of saving money is to find out where you're actually spending it. Make a money diary tracking your spending during the week. Identify areas of unnecessary spending and work to eliminate them. For example, rather than buying coffee at work from the coffee shop, make it from granules, you could save as much as £3 a day doing this. Also consider a packed lunch rather than buying a sandwich at lunch time.

Spend what you have, not what you will have

When making purchases, using a debit card rather than a credit card means that you will be spending money that you actually have rather than money that you are borrowing and will have to pay back later. Spending in this way will make you less inclined to spend money that you don't have.