If the economy, the budget and your own personal finances have got you down and you’re tired of hearing that you should cut back on pub nights in order to pinch a few pennies, then read on to learn our favourite credit crunch money saving tips.

Let’s start with the easy stuff:

1.  Skip the tumble dryer: Hang your clothes to air dry. In the heat we’ve been having, even your jeans will be dry by morning!

2. School run carpool: You’re all going to the same place at the same time, right? Why not create a rota with the other parents; not only will you save money on petrol, but you’ll free up some time as well.

3. Home cooked meals: Stop buying ready-meals and dining out, instead cook dinner at home. Not only will you save money, but you’ll have healthier meals as well. Pack up any leftovers for lunch.

4. Market shopping: Get out your reusable sacks and head to the market on the weekends. You’ll eat more salad and vegetables and save money – bonus!

5. Cash-back sites: If you’re going to be shopping online then shop via a cash-back site and get some money back on your purchases.

6. Charity shops: Second-hand or charity shops can have some great bargains and not just on clothes. You can find toys, games and cheap jewellery as well. Be sure to check out the shops in the posh areas as the locals tend to donate name brand fashions and other gently used items.

…and now the not-so-easy stuff:

7. Online savings account: Many online banks offer strong interest rates on their savings accounts. Search around for a great rate and start tucking away whatever you can each month to build up a nest egg or rainy day fund.

8. Think before you buy: Not as much effort as looking for a new bank account, but skipping impulse buys might be more difficult than you think. If it’s something that you WANT and not something that you need, walk away and hold off buying the item for a month. If after a month you’re still feeling the need, make cuts elsewhere in your budget to accommodate the expense.

9. Utility providers: It’s much easier to keep paying the bills that are sent to you rather than researching new utility providers, however a change could save you money. Use a comparison website or make a phone call or two; you may find a cheaper alternative who wants your business.

10. Review your insurance: Whether it’s life insurance, income protection, health insurance or just the insurance on your mobile phone, look into cheaper alternatives. The credit crunch has caused companies to review their rates and you could pinch a few more pennies in this area.

If you’ve pinched every penny and occasionally come up short, Wonga is here to help with fast, short-term loans online. We deposit cash straight into your bank account within 15 minutes of approval, 24/7. Visit our homepage and move the sliders to customise your own loan.

We’re all going on a summer holiday, no more worries for a week or two… Ah, Sir Cliff’s song still rings true for many at this time of the year, but funding a summer break can still cause a seriously furrowed brow.

If you’re aiming to get away for a week or two in the sun (or even the rain) here are a few Wonga tips for cutting back on costs and making sure you enjoy yourself without being left in debt until Christmas.

1. Be as flexible as our unique cash advance service! In other words, if your budget is limited, start with an open mind about where you might consider going, for how long and when. Lots of websites and traditional travel agents will provide inspiration and you can still find plenty of last minute deals if you’re not set on a particular destination or type of accommodation.

2. Book smart. If you’re prepared to commit yourself early and have the cash available, consider booking up to a year in advance when there are plenty of cheap seats and hotel rooms still available. That’s right - get next year’s holiday booked now! This may seem extreme but most agents, whether on or offline will be more than happy to find you a deal to start filling their books for next season now.

3. Be a night owl. If you’re prepared to catch flights, ferry crossings or trains at unsociable hours you’ll find better prices and it’s a small sacrifice to make.

4. If you’re set on going abroad, find out which countries you’ll get more Wonga for your pound first. Destinations such as South Africa are currently very cheap because the pound is strong.

5. Check your Nectar Points or Airmiles if you’re in such a reward scheme. You may be able to pay part or all of your travel expenses that way.

6. Not everyone is as transparent as Wonga when it comes to pricing. So make sure you shop around and read the small print when shopping for flights. Many budget airlines are introducing more add-on fees for everything from checking in to using the toilet. Make sure you understand all the costs you’ll be charged before booking.

Whatever you’re doing this summer, have a great break. And, should you need any last-minute cash, remember a short term loan from Wonga can provide you with funds that you can repay on a date that suits up to a month later.

Inspired by a recent article by the Times, here are a few tips for the so-called Credit Crunch Generation -students who are graduating into a world where jobs are increasingly hard to come by and banks aren’t always willing to help. As the Times points out:

As the UK jobless total soared past the 2.26m mark this month, David Blanchflower, the economist, said unemployment among young people had become a “national crisis”. The number of under-25s claiming jobseeker’s allowance has increased by more than 200,000 to 456,000 in the past 12 months, and almost 20% of those aged 16 to 25 are unemployed.

Grim reading indeed. So here are some suggestions for young people keen to keep their finances in good order while looking for that big break…

1. Check the terms of your current bank account, especially where overdrafts are concerned. You might not benefit from student deals for much longer, but see what you can hang onto and switch to a graduate, rather than regular account. Beware of huge overdraft fees should you go over your limit too - your bank is unlikely to be as understanding now you’ve no longer got student status. That means you could be charged as much as £20 per day for slipping over your limit with a regular account!

2. Consider moving back home. OK, so you’ve just been enjoying a taste of freedom, and the last thing you want to do is sponge off your folks, but you can come to an agreement about helping with bills and if you can find any kind of bridging employment you’ll actually be able to save for a deposit much faster than if you’re paying full rent. It could be a compromise worth making and setting a defined time period gives you  a clear goal. You won’t have to worry about repaying your student loan until you’re earning national average wage. 

3. Get into good habits right away and start a budget. It’s easy with a free service like ours and will make you feel more in control of your cash, even if you’re on a limited income for the time being. 

4. Always do your research when considering credit of any kind. A flexible Wonga loan can help with urgent expenses and means you’re not saddled with long term debt for example, but it wouldn’t be a good way of financing a car purchase. Likewise, a traditional bank loan may seem appealing but will require a long term commitment. There’s more information about borrowing and debt on our website.

Wonga is all for money saving and careful budgeting, but surviving the credit crunch can be a gloomy business and we all need cheering up from time to time. That’s why we’ve been giggling over a spoof list of thrifty tips for saving a quick quid on Lovemoney.com.

Judging from some of the comments left, not everyone has understood they were having their leg pulled, but some of these suggestions certainly made us laugh…

1) Don’t pay babysitters. Instead, “get young couples who are thinking about having kids to ‘rent’ yours for the evening. They get to see what it will be like, and you can get paid instead of paying for sitters.”

2) Tell everyone you’ll be out of town for Christmas. “That way, you can shop in the January sales for presents.”

3) Scour the office for the humble penny. “A good place to find money is on people’s desks. If you look in the cup that has pens and pencils or the container that holds the paper clips and rubber bands you can be sure to find small coins covered with lint.” (Editor’s note: This is stealing. So I don’t recommend it.)

4) Stamp out food waste in the kitchen. “After eating avocado, rub the inside of the skin against your face, it makes a great face pack. You can also use it to buff your shoes.”

Alternatively:

“I buy whole milk and when nobody is looking the milk gets a good glug of water from the tap to eek it out a little further.”

Or:

“When we have toast and jam, I spread the butter on the outside edges of the toast and spread the jam in the middle to fool my other half. Looks proper but doesn’t really taste any different.”

5) Toilet tips. “Squeeze a loo roll into an oval shape. It doesn’t roll out so easily - and kids tend not to use yards at a time!”

6) Car costs. “Park forward-facing when possible; reversing takes more gas.”

Of course if you’re seriously interested in getting better control of your finances, we strongly suggest using a budget. Use Wonga’s free budget service, it’s easier than you might think.

Concern from Which? over a new breed of UK bank account and the associated bank charges was recently discussed by the Beeb. It’s another example of the high street banks finding new ways to extract cash from customers after coming under massive pressure about unauthorised overdraft fees.

Naturally the likes of HBoS have denied any link and defend their new rates, which include a fixed £5 daily fee for an unauthorised bank overdraft. If you’re only stuck £50 or £100 into the red for a week or two the cost will really add up!

The simple fact is that banks make little or no money from people using traditional current accounts in a sensible way, so they rely heavily on hitting a minority with big overdraft charges, plus other fees, to make money. So now existing overdraft charges could be on their way out, is it really just a competitive market that’s prompting a new style of current account to emerge?

Which? certainly don’t think so.

Phil Jones, head of money research at consumer group Which?, said a new trend was developing while the OFT inquiry into the legality of bank charges rumbled on.

"Well it seems like a bit of a coincidence that while this court case is going on - and it looks like the banks are going to lose and have to repay consumers what they’ve unfairly charged them - that they are actually introducing a whole range of accounts with different charging structures."

The popularity of payday loans online has increased dramatically over the past couple of years as more companies offer payday services and UK consumers experience more frequent cash flow problems. As the Times highlighted this week, Brits have collectively seen an alarming fall in wealth over the past year or so:

The wealth of households in Britain fell by 17% last year, the biggest drop for at least 40 years, as house prices slumped and the stock market plunged.

The fall of more than a sixth in household wealth - measured by the value of housing and the investments people have in pensions, Isas (individual savings accounts) and other assets - is the biggest in cash terms on record.

It means that each household is poorer, on average, by tens of thousands of pounds. The drop in wealth last year is equivalent to £20,000 for each individual in Britain and £45,000 for each household.

But although payday loans provide some people with a welcome lifeline when there’s a sudden hole in their finances, they should be approached with extreme caution. Many lenders make claims about same day cash deposits that simply don’t stack up in reality and most charge fixed fees per £100, regardless of the length of loan.

The payday loans trap

Most worryingly, some less scrupulous payday lenders base their service around keeping you in debt and will automatically roll your balance from month to month unless you actively take steps to repay it. And that’s where the cost of a payday loan can really add up. They can offer a valid, last resort solution if treated with respect, but fail to repay one on time at your peril!

Flexible cash advance from Wonga

A Wonga cash advance online isn’t tied to your payday and can be taken for anything between five and 30 days. Rather than rigid payday fees, we charge interest by the day so you can control the the cost by selecting the exact amount of cash you need and the specific number of days you want it for.

We also carry out a sophisticated credit check as part of our application process, whereas many payday loans are advertised on the basis there isn’t one. This may sound like a plus if you’ve got a poor credit record, but using Wonga responsibly can actually help improve your credit rating over time, as we report all timely repayments back to the credit bureaus.

So if you need some emergency cash and are considering looking for payday loans online, check out Wonga first and see for yourself how flexible we are. If you like what you see, it’s also worth knowing we’re the fastest lender in the UK, providing cash deposits within minutes around the clock.

TYPICAL 2698% APR

In another classic example of the big banks being about as transparent as a swimming pool full of mud, Barclaycard has today announced a ‘major’ interest rate cut for its credit card customers… Only snag is that the interest cut applies to just a quarter of Barclaycard customers.

It’s certainly welcome news for those Barclaycard customers who are considered safe bets, but three-quarters of customers - some nine million - aren’t getting a bean. That’s because ‘their risk of defaulting had increased’ according to Barclays’ bosses. It smacks of Barclaycard wanting to look good but only delivering meaningful improvements to a minority. Those people still reap the rewards of recession-induced government pressure, but most people get the same, or even a worse deal.

Check out how the credit card providers have been steadily increasing their rates…

At Wonga we believe in transparency. We’ve never changed our interest rate and the same rate applies to everyone who wants to apply. We may be more expensive than a sensibly used credit card, but we’re all about offering you a short term loan, rather than trying to keep you in debt for as long as possible.

And many cheap credit card deals aren’t as cheap as they might appear once you check the small print or don’t keep up with repayments. Think short term. Think Wonga!

Yep, it’s perhaps one of the worst kept secrets since it was rumoured that Barack Obama might be the next president of the US, but the UK is officially now in recession. Here’s an extract from a Guardian article published this morning.

The UK economy contracted by a worse-than-expected 1.5% between October and December from the previous quarter, beating the quarterly declines seen during the 1990s recession, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed today. This followed a 0.6% slump in the third quarter. Two or more consecutive quarters of contraction are regarded as a recession.

The fall in fourth-quarter GDP was the biggest since the second quarter of 1980, the year of the Bristol riots, the Iranian embassy siege and British Leyland’s launch of the Metro.

Alan Clarke of BNP Paribas believes that the UK is not even half-way through the downturn yet, and predicted that GDP will continue to shrink through 2009.

“It’s a case of two quarters down, four to go,” Clarke said. “All the indications are that this recession is worse than the one of the early 1990s.”

It’s set to be a tough time with plenty of worry about job security and the cost of living, so make sure your finances are in the best possible order. The easiest thing you can do is maintain a budget. Check out our free budget calculator service. It doesn’t take long to get started and can really help put you in control of your wonga.

An article in the Times this week about personal loans highlights how banks and other lenders seem to be fighting to offer the worst loan deals at the moment - in a potential bid to curb demand. Despite gargantuan cuts in the base rate recently, a cheap loan is becoming harder to find than a new Christmas number one for Cliff. Here’s an extract:

The cheapest loan available is now 8.2 per cent – that is more than four times the base rate at 2 per cent. Experts say that providers may actually be trying to price themselves out of the market as the availability of credit continues to be squeezed.

Several providers have increased personal loan rates in the past four weeks – including Barclaycard by 2 per cent, Sainsbury’s Finance by 1 per cent, and Britannia building society and Lombard Direct by 0.5 per cent.

At the same time cheap bank loans are vanishing, the number of lenders who are willing to help out is also shrinking:

Lending on personal loans dropped by 26 per cent in October in comparison to the same month last year, according to uSwitch.com. Whilst six months ago borrowers could get rates of 7 per cent or less, all of these deals have now disappeared. Moneyback Bank, which consistently offered loans as low as 5.5 per cent over the past two years, has closed for new business completely.

Last year almost 1.3 million people took out an unsecured personal loan to consolidate debts – but with interest rates rising and credit being harder to obtain, less borrowers will have that option.

If you’re having trouble finding a cheap loan, or any loan at all, now might be the perfect time to try a short-term Wonga cash advance. You will need to pass our online credit check but, unlike the banks, we lend cash to tide you over for up to 30 days, so we’re not looking to predict your reliability over several years. You also won’t be left making repayments for years either of course!

While plenty of people will be looking forward to Christmas, this year will no doubt be a stretching one for many. And with financial strain usually comes stress.

It’s an expensive time of year and the pressure to ‘buy’ yourself a happy Christmas can be intense. Whether it’s your desire to buy the right presents, to cook up a festive feast for the in-laws or just afford the basics like Christmas cards, it can be a worrying (as well as wonderful) time.

So with the Credit Crunch all over the media like an unsightly rash, it’s no surprise there’s a mountain of money saving tips out there right now. Try searching for ‘money saving Christmas’ and you’ll get over 1.3 million results. Thankfully you can always count on Wonga to keep things simple!

We’ve trawled cyberspace for you and sorted the wise from the wacky. Here are our favourite five tips to have yourself a merry little Christmas on a budget.

1. Set yourself a realistic limit on everything from presents to food and stick to it. Most overspending occurs when you’re not thinking, stressed and get lured into an impulse purchase. So make sure you write down your limits and make it a challenge to beat them.
2. It’s easy to borrow in haste and repent at leisure, so make sure you consider any credit very carefully before committing. Loans and credit cards can seem appealing at times of financial stress, but they don’t mean an end to your cash worries, they merely delay them until the new year. A Wonga loan is a short term loan designed for short term cash flow problems. That means you won’t be left making repayments come next summer, but you should still consider whether you could really do without the cash before applying.
3. Don’t succumb to unspoken pressure to have the perfect Christmas. For example, if you’ve been giving and receiving presents of a certain value with your family for years, don’t assume it has to be so this year. Discuss more sensible budgets or even the idea of a ‘Secret Santa’ gift approach, where you all spend £5 on one person and have a bit of fun. You might find everyone’s relieved at the idea of spending less this year. And it wasn’t so long ago that the season of goodwill didn’t entail spending a small fortune on pressies!
4. Entertainment needn’t cost and arm and a leg either. Classic TV and walking the excess grub off are both part of Christmas tradition, so don’t feel you have to be in a pub, restaurant or cinema to enjoy yourself. Get back to basics and enjoy just being with friends or family. Knowing you’re saving cash should help you relax too.
5. Finally, let’s cheat! Here are a few thrifty suggestions rolled into one… Send eCards for one year, tart up cheap brown wrapping paper with a roll of ribbon, buy new decorations after Christmas for 75% savings, spend any reward points you’ve earned this year and check out low-cost gift guides like this one from the Guardian. Oh, and shop around for the best price on EVERYTHING - retailers are struggling too.