VICTORIA BISCHOFF: Small simple steps to financial recovery

Throughout my teens and early 20s, I spent every penny I earned the moment it landed in my account.

My mum had done her best to teach me some budgeting basics, and I learned the hard way how expensive mobile phone bills can be. 

But there was no proper personal finance education when I was at school.

I was just sent off to university with a student loan, overdraft and credit card — what could go wrong?

Fortunately, this is no longer the case, as most children are now taught something about managing money before they leave school.

But it’s not enough – and more needs to be done to help educate those already sent out into the world without any guidance.

The problem is that many people think personal finance is ‘boring’ or are intimidated and assume that they won’t understand the jargon.

But as families prepare for hard(er) times ahead, having a firm grasp of your finances has never been so important, which is why Money Mail has devoted the whole of today’s issue to the vital topic of how you can ride out the recession.

There are small, simple steps we can take to put ourselves in the best possible position.

If I could offer just three tips, the first would be to not bury your head in the sand.

We’ve all experienced that feeling of being too scared to check our bank balance at one time or another.

Living with that level of anxiety permanently is enormously damaging — and often unnecessary. 

Banks and lenders have an obligation to help the vulnerable and those stuck in debt, particularly now. 

And there are a host of debt charities, such as Citizens Advice, National Debtline and StepChange, who have experts on hand to help.

My second tip is one I often write about in this column but can’t repeat often enough: loyalty does not pay.

Thousands of people still stick with the same bank, energy supplier, insurer, broadband firm and mobile phone provider year after year, because they mistakenly believe they will be rewarded for decades of loyalty. 

But these companies do not deserve one iota of your trust. They are trying to pick your pocket at every opportunity.

Official figures show that Britons are spending less as families frantically try to build up emergency funds.

Yet many could save hundreds of pounds in a matter of hours just by making a few calls.

Only yesterday my colleague Miles Dilworth shaved £250 off his car insurance bill thanks to one 15-minute phone conversation.

Had he blindly accepted his renewal quote, he’d be paying £40 extra a year instead.

This leads me to my third tip – if you make a saving, tell everyone how you did it.

You might not want to brag, but I guarantee that your relatives, friends and colleagues won’t be complaining if it helps them save a little extra, too.

Companies only care about their bottom lines. It is not in their interests to share the secrets of how customers could save money. So if you don’t pass on the know-how you’ve accumulated with your loved ones, who will?

Bond buzz

Money Mail’s Prudent Investor says on Page 45 that he gets deeply excited about the monthly Premium Bond draw.

I fear I may have become a little obsessed with the NS&I Prize Checker app of late.

After I used my fingerprint to log in yesterday, it told me it is 15 days until the next results on September 2.

On the day, a message will pop up reminding me to check no one is around, and then I tap ‘Reveal results’ to find out if I’m a winner or a loser.

‘Sorry’ usually flashes up on my screen – but, earlier this month, I was greeted with a picture of a boy with an ice cream in celebration of a £25 win.

With interest rates as low as 0.01 per cent, I challenge you to find a more exciting way to save right now.

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