The news is currently full of stories about the ever-worsening credit crunch. Because of this we have come up with our at-a-glance guide to what is going on in the world of personal finance, how it will effect you and how you can reduce its effects.
Contents
1. Credit cards & loans
2. Savings
3. Mortgages
4. Tips to further reduce the effect of the credit crunch

Today is the 25th annual ‘No Smoking Day’, which occurs on the second Wednesday of every March. It is a day which encourages smokers to join in on “The Great No Smoking Day Challenge”.
According to the No smoking Day charity, around 2.25 million people are planning to quit today.
Quitting smoking will not only bring huge benefits to your health, but will also be very healthy for your finances.
The average male smoker gets through 14 cigarettes a day at a cost of over £1300 a year. This amount of money would easily cover the average dual fuel bill for a year, and leave you will a substantial amount of change.
And, you won’t just save money through not buying cigarettes because non-smokers also benefit from cheaper life insurance policies.
A year after giving up smoking, you will be classed as a non-smoker by life insurance standards. This will typically cut your life insurance premiums by a third, but could reduce them by as much as 50%.
Darren Dicks, head of protection marketing for Norwich Union, said: “As well as not spending around £5 a week on every pack of 20 cigarettes they would have bought (which could add up to £1,825 a year for a 20-a-day smoker), people could save twice over by cutting the price of their protection products too.
“People who smoke have an increased risk of heart disease, breathing disorders and certain cancers, to name but a few illnesses, which is why non-smokers often pay significantly less for life insurance and critical illness policies.
“So bearing in mind both the health and the monetary benefits, No Smoking Day could be the perfect day to stop,” he concluded.
For help with giving up smoking visit the No Smoking Day website.
To compare life insurance policies click here.
To see how much you could save by quitting smoking why not try out our Smoking Calculator

Top tips to improve and maintain your credit rating
Ash said: Interesting, would you say a late payment once in 6 months would be bad? It was only a day or two la...
[More]
Student Special Part 1: Home Insurance
James said: I remember when looking for a policy, that insurers weren't particularly happy with house sharing, a...
[More]
£100 for switching to Alliance and Leicester Premier Current Account
Sarah B said: This is a great offer, i've just applied for one and got my mum and dad too - get an extra £25 for r...
[More]
Market leading credit card offer from Capital One
meringue87 said: Wow!! what a great offer from Capital One! It's been a long time since a credit card company have of...
[More]
Poll results – 50% think credit card offers have deteriorated over past two years
meringue87 said: I think they have definitely got worse over the last couple of years but they seem to be picking up ...
[More]