Hello everyone!

The Money Hospital staff are taking a well earned break over the faestive period but we just wanted to wish you all a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Thanks for your continued support, readership and comments!

See you in 2008!

Mobile phone contracts can be a huge pain in the rear...

...where do we begin?

Hmm, how about the fact that thousands of you have lost money through dubious mobile phone cashback deals?

A new report from consumer group Which? said it receives hundreds of calls each month from customers complaining they are unable to claim their money back and they now want cashback schemes banned altogether.

Cashback deals allow you to pay upfront for your handset and contract and then claim a portion of your money back over a certain period of time. Often funded by commissions from the phone network, cashback persuade many of you to sign up to expensive price plans.

However, the deals have proved controversial because the terms and conditions can be difficult to understand, (and even harder to meet) meaning thousands of you fail to claim. Also, many firms often go bust before you are able to reclaim your money.

By March 2007, Ofcom, the telecoms watchdog was receiving 500 complaints about mobile phones every month, with half referring to cashback deals.

Clearly they were not proving popular...

So, in July Ofcom brokered a voluntary code of practice with the five mobile phone networks, which said they should not use unreasonable terms for customers trying to claim their money back. It also said customers should have at least 60 days to post bills in support of their claims.

Ofcom supported the industry code on the basis that it would lead to a "significant" reduction in the volume of cashback complaints.

That has not happened though has it?

An Ofcom spokesman said:

"We believe the number of complaints is still too high. We are now talking to both the mobile operators and the retailers and are looking at implementing other measures to give consumers more protection."

When Which? checked ten dealers' websites in October, it found offers on six of them breached the industry code.

The e2save.com website, which is part of Carphone Warehouse, gave just 30 days for bills to be returned instead of the recommended 60 days, Which? found.

Which? editor Malcolm Coles spook about their findings:

"We think mobile phone cashback deals that make customers jump through hoops to get their money should be banned. Thousands of people have already lost money through these dodgy deals, so don't touch them with a bargepole."

Vodafone said it continues to communicate with its dealers and distributors, and remind them of their responsibility to treat customers fairly.

Orange said it has recently reissued strict terms and conditions on cashback deals to ensure high standards of customer service. A spokesman said the company had stopped 100 dealers selling Orange phones in the past 12 months because they failed to comply with the rules.

Which? said it had told the five mobile phone networks about the findings of its October investigation.

Now, we'll just have to see if they are going to do anything about won't we?

Have you been ripped off by a mobile phone cashback deal? Why not let us know?

Let's be honest, most of us get at least one Christmas present we really don't want...

The question is, what should you do with it?

There are always a few options:

• Hide the gift -always a good choice but tricky if you forget to put it on display or wear it when the giver visits you

• Burn the item -a bit draconian we admit, but certain gifts do deserve it. However think of the pollution factor and possibility of the item exploding etc.

• Sell the gift on eBay -you could make a tidy sum on a gift that cost you nothing.

• Give the item away - probably the wisest move (unless you are daft enough to give it back to the person who gave it you originally!)

Did you know that we are set to recycle 73 million unwanted presents this Christmas? In fact we are passing on presents worth an estimated £264 million!

A survey by Citi shows that over 50% of us receive an average of three unwanted Christmas gifts (although we don't know what percentage of that is socks), and almost half of these are given to someone else.

You girls are the most prolific recyclers, with nearly half of you admitting to giving second-hand gifts compared to only 40% of us boys.

But 37% of you who were polled have discerning taste; saying you only pass on "nice" presents to others!

Alison Wright, chief marketing officer at Citi UK commented on their survey:

"A great number of us are missing the mark when it comes to buying the perfect Christmas gift. But it is important to remember who gave each gift to ensure you do not commit the ultimate Christmas faux pas -- and give somebody their unwanted gift back by mistake."

So, if you end up getting a present you wish to see the back of, what are you going to do with it?

Why not let us know?

The worst Christmas present ever?

Assuming you are one of the lucky people that gets to receive cash this Christmas as a bonus or present, why not stash it away and do something with it?

Yes, we know you might just want to blow it all in the sales come January (or perhaps even before then!) but you won't get rich that way.

And let's face it, with the way the economy going at the moment, it makes sense to look after every penny.

With that in mind, why not use your bonus to boost your savings, review your finances and make your future more secure?

Before you save though, you need to clear any debts first; having a clean slate, helps you examine your savings and think about the best option, some of which are:

A rainy day fund

• No matter how old you are, you should have enough to cover life's unexpected emergencies and those rainy days; ideally this should be enough to cover your outgoings for six months.

• Keep your emergency fund in an easy access account, such as an instant access savings account. There are plenty paying more than 6% at present:

• If you invest £1,000 with Alliance & Leicester, you can get 6.5% AER on its instant access/direct account.

• Newcastle Building Society, pays you 6.43% on its savings account, while Birmingham Midshires and ICICI Bank both pay 6.41%.

• Before signing up for a tempting rate, you need to look at the terms and conditions carefully to make sure the account is right for you. Often ,there can be restrictions on withdrawals. For example, with some you face losing the interest for any month a withdrawal is made.

• Everyone over 18 is allowed to invest £7,000 tax free a year in an individual savings account (ISA) and over 16s can invest £3,000 in a cash ISA. Any interest you accrue is tax free -so make the most of such accounts.

• You can invest up to £3,000 in mini cash ISA and up to £4,000 in a mini stocks and shares ISA or £7,000 in a maxi stocks and shares ISA. Cash ISAs are good for your rainy day fund, while equity ISAs are more for medium-term savings over 5 to 10 years.

• If you are blessed with still being relatively young- lucky you! You have longer to save and you could take a bigger risk and opt for equities, which over time tend to perform better than cash.

• There are many different types of investment such as trackers funds, investment trusts, unit trusts, corporate bonds and individual shares.

• You can also put these types of funds into an ISA wrapper within the maximum at £7,000 a year, and reap the tax-free benefits. Lovely!

• Financial advisers can help you choose the right fund. You can open a fund with £500 or £1,000 and start paying in as little as £35 or £50 a month. But you must read the info before you invest and sign up and beware the management fees which can seriously dent your profits.

• If you are a little bit older, then it probably makes sense to use your Christmas cash to top up your pension.

• The big advantage with personal pensions is that they attract tax relief at your standard rate of tax. This actually means that the government tops up your fund! (for example if you pay in £78, the government tops this up to £100).

• You can also take 25% of the value of the fund tax-free at retirement, but you must use the rest to buy an annuity.

• This year, the boys that work in the City will take home bonuses totaling £7.4 billion; nice work if you can get it eh?

• If you are one of the lucky ones, the investment world is your oyster. You can choose from buy-to-let property, overseas property investments, hedge funds and derivatives; or art, diamonds or gold...anything really.

• But remember the rules; when it comes to speculation, only invest what you can afford to lose.

• With a financial background, you're probably a shrewd investor anyway but you can't go wrong by getting rid of personal debt, such as credit cards and personal loans, and paying off the mortgage up to the maximum allowed without incurring redemption penalties. This can save you thousands of pounds and enable you to pay off your mortgage years earlier.

Or, if your bonus is really pitiful, why not just spend it down your local!

Picture the scene...

...You have been on a Christmas night out and through ill fortune or your ability to drink like a fish, you have unfortunately lost your purse or wallet.

That's right; no cards, no cash, no phone and the prospect of a very long and cold walk home.

But it doesn't have to be this way thanks to an emergency cash service that offers you card-free withdrawals!

If you are a current account customer with Royal Bank of Scotland, and you find yourself in the unfortunate position described above, you can just pop along to your nearest cash machine and withdraw up to £300!

The "emergency cash" service will be offered to any of you that are NatWest, Ulster Bank, Tesco Personal Finance or RBS account holders when you ring up to report your cards missing or stolen.

It sounds great. How does it work?

• When you call the Bank's Lost and Stolen Helpline to report the loss or theft of your debit card, you will be automatically be asked if you need 'Emergency Cash'.

• If you can from a sentence coherent enough to explain you do, you will be then told you can access up to £300. (This service will be free of charge up until Friday 11th January, after which there will be a fixed fee of £5.)

• Bank staff will try to establish your identity using three stringent security questions. If you get them all right, you will then be issued a new one-off pin number. (Naturally if you can't even remember your own name at this point, we think it is highly unlikely you will get the cash)

• Once the PIN number has been obtained, as an extra security feature you have a three hour window to get your cash t any one of RBSG's 7,000 UK-wide ATMs before the PIN expires. (If you can't find an ATM after 3 hours of searching, then you are definitely in the Christmas spirit)

• Once you have your PIN, you can pop along to any RBSG ATM and then press any of the six blank (numberless) keys on the machine's key pad. The 'Emergency Cash' screen will then be displayed at the ATM and you then simply key-in the PIN number you were given and follow the on-screen instructions to get your cash.

Glossing over the reason most of his customers will need to use the service, Paul Geddes, chief executive, consumer banking at Royal Bank of Scotland Group, instead chose to focus on the inconvenience of being stranded without your bank cards, cash, phone etc.

He said: "The new service will provide customers with a lifeline when they have lost their debit card or had it stolen and need urgent access to the funds in their bank account. It's really simple, secure and completely unique, so we think it will be valued by our customers."

On the other hand, we can't knock the service really as it is a very good service if you are sober and have genuinely lost your belongings or had them stolen during the course of your night out.

We are confident it wil be prove to be a popular service during the festive season, but what do you think?

Need the loo? Use your phone!