This survey, conducted by the charity, has shown that the poorest families will spend around one-third of the amount that the average family will during the festive season.

The average family in the UK will spend between £530 and £690 on items related to Christmas including; gifts, decorations, food and drinks. However, when questioned, the majority of families with a smaller income said that they would be spending around £182.

This breaks down as approximately: £34 on food and drink, £28 on decorations, £6 on cards and £114 on gifts, for a basic Christmas.

Many of the parents asked felt that there was an increased level of pressure on them to provide gifts for their children that, normally, would be more expensive than they can afford.

The main reasons for this appear to stem from the retailers and media providing a constant bombardment or the latest “must have” items. This constant advertisement makes it easier for children to see something that looks great on the flashy adverts, and therefore allows them to keep reminding their parents about said item.

And it doesn’t get better as they grow older, with another major concern for parents being the expectations of their teenagers expecting electronic goods such as MP3 players, the latest mobile phone or tablet PCs.

Despite these pressures, many parents are still planning to spend less than £200 in total this year, with gifts being more practical purchases than gimmicky toys, such as clothes.

What can be drawn from this report is that it highlights the balancing act that a low income parent must maintain: on one side not wanting to ruin the magic of Christmas for your child, whilst having to maintain a sense of reality about the costs.

Some parents may feel the need to take out a personal loan over the festive period in order to tip the balance in favor of their child’s excitement. While this can be a good method in the short-term, it does mean that they will still be paying for Christmas long after the turkey has gone and the presents it paid for have been discarded by their owners.

An alternative to this is a 0% purchases credit card. With this, the holder will not pay interest on any purchases that they have made for up to 15 months, allowing them time to save up again without having to struggle to make payments each month.

Or how about trying to snap up a saving with hundreds of online discounts and vouchers to use in the top stores?

Another area of comparison is to be found in what we might call household efficiency or discipline savings. How much could we be saving by organising our food shopping more carefully to reduce wastage, or by switching off our electrical devices rather than leaving them on standby? Quite a lot, as it happens.

[Read more at Which4U]

We could all do with taking some of the stress out of the Christmas shopping period, which only tends to add to an already manic list of commitments.

A trip to one of Europe’s finest Christmas market towns might be just the ticket.

Anyone planning to shop overseas for Christmas, though, even from the comfort of their own homes, should note the duty-free limits, which have been amended slightly in November.

HMRC’s guidelines for travellers or those ordering online show individual allowances before import duty and VAT become payable. Some of the basic rules regarding duties payable are as follows:

Non-EU

• If returning from a non-EU country via commercial travel, you are allowed £390 worth of goods for personal use, with the exception of tobacco and alcohol. Above this, and up to £630, there is a flat rate of 2.5% payable. If any one single item is worth more than the £390 allowance, duty is paid on the full value of that item.
• From November 1st, goods ordered over the internet or by mail order from outside the EU are subject to VAT if the package value exceeds £15.
• If ordered goods exceed £135 in value, they may be subject to customs duty.
• Duty-free quotas are strict on alcohol and tobacco brought in from outside the EU. Small measures of spirits or fortified wines are included, plus beer and still wine. Tobacco products can be combined but not exceeded to form the duty-free allowance.
• A gift sent to the UK from outside the EU (between private individuals) incurs import VAT if the package is worth £40 or more.

EU

• There are no limits on the amount of duty-paid goods that can be brought back from another EU country, provided that they are for personal use.
• Border staff may ask questions if you are found with the following quantities of alcohol or tobacco to establish that they are for personal use:

- 110 litres of beer,
- 90 litres of wine,
- 10 litres of spirits,
- 20 litres of fortified wines,
- 800 cigarettes,
- 200 cigars,
- 400 cigarillos or
- 1kg of tobacco

Full details of these regulations are available on the HMRC website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/index.htm.

Credit Cards for Travel

If you are fortunate enough to escape away for a break, what about the best method to pay for your goods abroad?

Credit card suppliers often apply hidden charges when their plastic wares are used outside of the UK. Such charges might include:

• an extra percentage added to the sum withdrawal;
• high interest on the transaction amounts, even if the balance is subsequently cleared;
• and/or a cash withdrawal fee of 2-3%.

Debit cards are often astonishingly expensive to use as well. Providers will tend to add a penalty charge every time a card is used, making a host of small transactions very costly

Among Which4U’s credit cards for travel is Saga’s Platinum credit card (over 50s only), which offers a 0% charge on foreign currency payments around the world, plus free emergency travel assistance.

The Post Office Platinum card offers 0% commission on card use abroad and also waivers the 2.5% cash advance fee on foreign currency ordered through the Post Office.

Nationwide’s credit card operates a loyalty spending system, so that every £100 spent gives an allowance of £20 commission-free foreign currency purchases. Spending £250 per month on this card would offer the equivalent of £600 per year in commission-free transactions.

Are you planning a Christmas shopping trip abroad? With one of these credit cards, the savings really do mount up.. Why not make an application in good time and look forward to the extra funds you’ll have for those fabulous markets?

Keith McDonald
Which4U Editor

So, how does that work exactly for a savings account?

Santander’s new Upfront Interest Bond has caused some controversy across the web this week, so perhaps it’s time to investigate this particular product a little closer.

[Read more at Which4U]

Voucher codes are the best money saving tool on the net and there are thousands upon thousands of deals to be found just in time for the holiday season, if you know where to look.

Finding voucher codes is incredibly simple, with tons of great sites which offer fantastic bargains. You will even find that most sites tweet regular updates or send email alerts for new vouchers, meaning you never have to miss out on the best deals.

Once you have found a site you like you can search for bargains on all types of purchases, from camping to computing and everything in between. You can also search for the site’s top offers, or vouchers just for Christmas. Some of the best and biggest online retailers like Very, Littlewoods, Argos and Tesco offer great deals, all you need to do is simply search for Very voucher codes in Google and you’ll be astounded by some of the incredible deals you can get.

Voucher codes that can be used in larger online stores are ideal for Christmas presents, but you can also find codes for restaurants, events and activities like massages, spa days or even hot air ballooning.

Some people are reluctant to use voucher codes because they feel they won’t work properly or are not legitimate. Although the industry did experience some teething troubles at the beginning voucher code sites are now highly regulated and very much above board, so there’s really no excuse not to use them!

Christmas is approaching fast and the thought of packed high streets full of stressed out shoppers fills most of us with dread; but when you use voucher codes you never need to step outside your door. Once you have had a go at using voucher codes you’ll see that not only do they offer the convenience of online shopping, but they also offer much better deals than you can find on the high street.

So if you are a born bargain hunter then don’t miss out on some of the best online bargains available. Stay stress free by doing your Christmas shopping online and make your money go further with voucher codes. Once you’ve experienced that amazing saving feeling you’ll wonder why you’ve never tried it before.

Stats from Halifax’s ISA report shows a striking correlation between age and average ISA savings. The average ISA balance stands at roughly £8,500.

The results show a remarkable contrast in the amounts that different age groups hold in their ISAs.

• Between 25 and 34, the average is just £3,100.
• Between 35-44, the average is c. £4,800.
• Between 55-66, c. £11,000
• Between 65-74, c. £12,500
• 75 and above, c. £14,100.

There is also, as one might expect, a division by region. The report suggests that average savings are much higher in the South of the UK than in the North.

It is not a perfect correlation, however. The proportion is skewed in favour of the older age brackets. Admirably, it demonstrates that, on average, pensioners still manage to retain solid savings levels despite high food and utility bills.

The low amounts recorded for young people can be explained by a number of factors: higher unemployment; the cost of living; the expense of travel; high demand for new and expensive technological products; and larger mortgages.

Nevertheless, the older generation clearly have a part to play in mentoring the young to make stronger commitments to saving.

It is important to note that standard cash ISAs are not necessarily the most competitive products on the market. Longer term bonds, especially those fixed to inflation, have a better chance of curbing losses made in real terms.

Which4Us savings tables can show you some of the best rates available on the market. Why not see if you can increase your savings with a better deal?

Keith McDonald
Editor, Which4U

Generally speaking, the best ISA rates available on today’s savings market come with a catch – the high rates on offer are likely to fall after 12 months.

This is due to providers offering bonus rates in order to attract more custom. However, once the bonus rate expires, the level of interest paid on your savings is likely to fall significantly, leaving you earning less than you could be elsewhere.

A report from the Office of Fair Trading found that just 11% of savers that hold an ISA will switch to a new provider each year.

Savings planTax-free ISA savings accounts were first introduced in the UK 12 years ago as an incentive to encourage people to save. According to the latest figures, 17.5m people in the UK currently hold around £143bn in cash Isas.

ISA activity usually picks up around the end/start of every tax year (April 5th/6th) so competition is heightened in an effort to draw in new savers.

In April, the annual ISA limit rose from the previous level of £10,200 to £10,680 which mean savers can deposit up to £5,340 into cash ISAs and the remainder into stocks and shares ISAs or up to the full amount into a stocks and shares ISA.

Savers who currently have a cash ISA, or who are planning on opening one are being urged to check the interest rates offered and be aware of when they will fall so the account can be switched.

Fixed Rate Bonds

Meanwhile, those who are prepared to lock their funds away for an extended period of time are getting the best interest rates offered for over a year, according to Moneyfacts.

The financial information service has said that rates offered on relatively short-term fixed rate bonds have been on the rise since August last year.

The average interest rate for a one year bond I currently 2.85%, the highest level since March 2010.

This follows a rate of 3.42% offered on the average two year bond, 3.7% for 3 year bonds and 4.1% offered on 5 year bonds.

However, savers must be sure that they are happy with losing access to their funds for the agreed fixed duration, as requiring early access would result in a hefty penalty.

The firm has revealed that interest rates paid on fixed rate bonds with relatively short fixed terms have been rising since last August.

However, despite increasing rates savers are still worse off than they have been in recent years as decent returns are still had to come by due to record lows to the Bank of England base rate which has been sat at 0.5% since March 2009.

The encouraging movement suggests the Bank rate will rise in the coming months which would be passed on to savers through improved returns on savings accounts.

According to Moneyfacts, savers can expect to lock in on a rate of 2.85% with the average one-year fixed rate bond which marks the highest levels in over a year.Savers seeking the best rates might want to consider a two-year bond, which currently pays an average of 3.42%. Go one step further with a three year fixed term and you could be earning a rate of 3.7%, and for the highest rates available, a five year bond for an average interest rate of 4.17%.

Michelle Slade, of Moneyfacts said that short term bonds are seeing the most significant increases and are currently the most popular bonds amongst savers.

However, she added that savers must ensure that this type of savings accounts is the best option for them before committing to a fixed rate bond, as making early withdrawals could lead to hefty penalties.

By Sam Gooch

According to the government, the tax-free Junior ISA will allow parents to make contributions of up to £3,000 per year into these savings accounts – substantially higher than the recently scrapped Child Trust Fund which allowed just £1,200 of deposits per year.

In last year’s May Budget we leaned that Labour’s Child Trust Fund was to be axed, which soon became a highly controversial and high profile spending cut enforced by the coalition government.Under the previous scheme, all children born after September 2002 were eligible for the tax-free savings accounts scheme, which provided a £250 voucher to all newborns, to beinvested in a Child Trust Fund account and locked away until the child turned 18.

After the government announced that the scheme was to be axed from the start of 2011, voucher contributions were cut to just £50 per child, while previous plans to provide an additional payment when the child hit seven removed completely.

As expected, babies born from 1 January 2011 are no longer eligible for the vouchers, however parents can contribute up to £1,200 a year adding to a tax-free pot.

The Junior ISA will be available to all children aged under 18, including those that were born before the Child Trust Fund, however any children that already have a Child Trust Fund account cannot open a Junior ISA.

Share Dealing Accounts

Share dealing accounts offer an effective tool to manage your stocks and shares from one easy-to-access place, making it simple to track the progress of your investments giving you the potential for earning money online from the comfort of your own home.

With a share dealing account you can get access to shares listed not just on UK markets, but also on international stock exchanges.

These account can not only be used to buy and sell shares, but also provide the option of trading in many other types of investment including Funds (such as OEICS and Unit Trusts), Corporate Bonds, Investment Trusts and Gilts, helping you to make the most of the stock markets.

Having one account t manage all of your investment activities has its advantages – you can store everything electronically which means you never have to worry about paperwork and you can access your account from anywhere in the world,  24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Share dealing accounts can also be used to incorporate your ISA allowance, which means you could invest up to £10,200 per year (soon to be £10,680) without having to pay a penny in income tax on your earnings.

This is great news for investors as it is possible to build up huge amounts of money providing a substantial income while paying nothing to the tax man.

It is important to remember that unlike a standard savings account that provides a guaranteed return, shares can go down in value as well as up, so you must be ready to take a risk.

However, if this is something that you are interested in simply click the Which4u banner at the top of the page and go to the share dealing section on Which4u.co.uk.