It's obvious that shopping around for the best deal could save you money but wasting
time looking in an ineffective way is unlikely to save much and could even end up costing you more in the long term.
With that in mind here are four top tips for comparing financial products to save money.
Changing the way that you look after your money could be the first step towards having more of it in the future so here come the top tips, I hope they're helpful.
First, identify where you're losing the most money: that could be in interest on a credit card or in overdraft fees or even in fees for sometimes going into an overdraft that you haven't arranged with your bank. Share:
The most money you lose might not be a lot but it's all unnecessary if it can be avoided elsewhere and it usually can.
From that point identify a product would be right for you. From the examples above that could be a 0% balance transfer credit card or 0% purchases credit card or a bank account with fewer fees than the one you have at the moment.
When you compare credit cards you'll usually find that products are arranged like this so they should be quite easy to find.
The second point is to consider your credit worthiness and history.
It's all very well looking for a 0% balance transfer credit card but if you have a poor credit history that certainly limits your options a lot and you may be best off speaking to your lender directly rather than getting an entirely new product.
That brings us to the third point.
For the above reason, availability and discounts on other financial products should be a factor when you compare current accounts. Going with a bank that has a good reputation and other good products that you might be interested in in the future could reap rewards far into your financial future.
Finally, don't be afraid to chase a rate.
For most of us, avoiding fees and charges is now as important as actually making money from our money but that doesn't mean you should be afraid to chase a rate.
When you compare savings accounts you'll notice that many accounts - especially ISAs - have an introductory rate that lasts for around a year once that's over you're ready to chase down the next best deal by starting to compare again.
Remember that the more you do this the easier it'll be so get stuck in and reap the rewards in years to come. Good luck!