With the cost of living in the UK rising at a higher rate than it has for some considerable time the people of the UK are feeling the need to cut back on their spending.
A survey carried out by the Alliance and Leicester found that over half of those surveyed had already started cutting back on spending. One of the most popular steps taken to save money has been to change gas and electric suppliers. Around 20 percent of those surveyed have done this already. Behind that comes sourcing low or zero interest credit cards, enabling people to cut the amount they pay on their borrowings.
There will be more and more people looking at ways to cut back on their spending as costs keep rising, so being aware of areas where savings can be made can only be helpful. As an Alliance and Leicester spokesperson commented, it is sensible to look for the best offer in all areas of living, since a saving is a saving.
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Representatives from Virgin Money have been discussing the potential purchase of troubled Northern Rock, they being part of a larger consortium.
The plan, if accepted, will be to make an initial GBP 11 billion payment, via commercial debt providers, and then put in a further GBP 1.3 billion for fresh capital investment. At the moment Northern Rock appear to accept the proposal put before them although there are questions over the longer term risk that taxpayers would face on the outstanding debt position.
The government will no doubt acknowledge this risk but it will be mitigated in some way by the interest rate they will earn on it, bringing extra revenue in to cover the risk, to a certain extent anyway. Right now Virgin Money look like firm favourites to take the Northern rock situation on, though only time will tell if that is the case.
Citibank is providing Euro transfers and third party account payments with no fees to its customers.
Covering 31 European countries the Citibank initiative will get money into any bank account in Europe within 3 days. The fee free element applies to Citibank current accounts and savings accounts that use the Euro as their currency. Accounts that use a currency other than the Euro will have a charge of 2 percent levied for currency conversion.
A spokesperson from Citibank saw this new initiative as one that would speed up the whole banking process in Europe and make the transfer of money inexpensive and safe. It is expected to be especially popular with customers who have overseas properties and also those who send payments to bank accounts in different European countries.
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