A recent survey conducted has shown that a fairly large percentage of British citizens are completely unaware as to how much money they have in their bank accounts.

The debit card has become more and more prevalent in our culture and indeed from a personal look, I spent probably more money on my debit card then when using cash.

These statistics are worth worrying about. It turns out up to ¾ of British adults stated there was more in their current accounts than there really was. Most who took part in the survey weren’t even able to accurately say how much was saved in their savings accounts

♦ Londoners are the most ‘incorrect’ when it comes to knowing how much money they actually have. By around £90.

♦ Most overestimate by around £70 - a fair amount when you really think about it.

Solution?

Essentially we all need to properly control and manage our finance. That way we only have ourselves to blame. Banks are becoming more and more helpful. Helpful banking is becoming the ‘new’ thing. Which let’s be honest is a good thing for society.

I even managed to get an appointment at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon.

The ideal solution (if you own a computer!) is to use online banking. This is real time, and you will be easily able to find out exactly what is going on with your bank account within seconds of ‘login’.

“Being in control of your money starts with knowing how much you’ve got and where it is being spent. Online and telephone banking made that easier and now mobile phone banking is taking it a step further”

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Lets be honest, we seem to be moving towards a lot more friendly society and banks are slowly moving towards a much more consumer friendly approach - help for what matters!

OK, so we all know that when you get to the coveted status of owning your own house one of the first things you do is either smash down a wall or change the kitchen, bathroom or even paint the walls some garish colour and use that horrible shiny style wallpaper.

Probably the best thing to do first is to have a look in the loft and see what the situation is with the insulation. Fitting some decent insulation is pretty cheap and can see you saving money on heating bills for a very long time…

The article below was made available by Start - which is part of the Princes Charities

Insulating your loft – it might sound dull, but this simple DIY job could be the best paid day’s work of your life.

How come? If you have yet to insulate your loft, you could be missing out on a saving of around £150 per year on your annual energy bill. And if you don’t move house for the next five years, you could save up to £600* – just for one day’s work.

One budding energy saver enjoyed a bit of extra help today. This morning, Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, and Euan Sutherland, CEO of Kingfisher UK and B&Q, joined forces with Start and put the finishing touches to the lucky Londoner’s insulation.

Sutherland said: “Fitting insulation in your loft is the single most effective thing people can do to green up their homes and save money.”

B&Q has already started helping homeowners to go green with the introduction of its One Planet Home range of eco products and has further plans to help by introducing eco advice centres offering advice and support on eco and installed services, online eco advice at www.diy.com and qualified eco-advisors in B&Q stores.

Commenting on Start, Sir Richard said: “This is a fantastic initiative. It will help give people practical ideas on how to lead greener and more sustainable lives. Making a difference doesn’t have to be about grand gestures; if people start to do these little things in their everyday lives it will have a big impact. It should save money as well as help preserve our planet.”

If you’d like to find out more about loft insulating, check out our essential guide.

* Figures taken from the from Energy Saving Trust. These are estimated figures based on insulating a gas-heated, semi-detached home with three bedrooms.

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