With the price of energy going up all the time, any help with our fuel bills right now is pretty welcome isn’t it?

Certainly when we told you about the £150 energy bonus for families some of you were pleased but as its for families receiving child benefit, some of you felt left out.

Now the government is expected to announce a new package to help the millions of you that have fallen into fuel poverty. This is due to them coming under pressure to act after the latest price increases from Britain's energy suppliers.

As you are no doubt aware, four of the big six energy companies (EDF Energy, British Gas, E.ON and Scottish and Southern Energy) have already increased our gas and electricity prices this summer, pushing the annual average dual-fuel bills to between £1,210 and £1,328. ScottishPower and RWE npower are expected to follow suit.

John Hutton, the business and enterprise secretary, spoke about the situation saying: 

"There is genuine concern about the difficulties people will face paying heating bills over the coming winter and we are looking at extra support."

Unfortunately it is not clear about how the package will be funded (so nothing new there right?).

Energy companies have already reached an agreement with the government to increase funding to help those in fuel poverty (defined as households that spend 10% or more of their income on their energy bills).

Want to beat the energy price rises?  Save up to £365 on gas and electricity for your home

There have been calls for a windfall tax on energy company profits though the government is said to be cautious about such a move because it could hit companies' investment plans.

Today a coalition of Age Concern, Child Poverty Action Group and National Energy Action has challenged the government and the energy industry to make social tariffs fair for the 5.5 million households that will be in fuel poverty this winter; that’s 2 million more than in 2006.

The organisations argue that while the amount the six energy suppliers spend on social assistance schemes has increased by £50 million this year, it has fallen as a percentage of their profits. They want social tariffs to be made mandatory and to be the lowest rate offered by suppliers.

Paul Dornan, head of policy for Child Poverty Action Group, said:

"The poorest families now face an urgent situation … The voluntary approach is failing and government and the energy companies need a plan of action within weeks”.

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So, the government wants to help us with our fuel bills but they are not sure how.

What do you think would be a good plan?

Apparently women are braver than men as house prices fall!

Falling house prices have not deterred 75% of us from buying a property, says money website Fool.co.uk.

But while men show greater hesitancy to dip their toes in the property market now, the women are not put off.

• Fearless Females

Women are noticeably braver than men as house prices drop. More than 8 out of 10 women will consider buying a house in the current economic downturn. That compares with a third of men who are reluctant to act at the moment.

The caution shown by men is largely reflected across the country. Buying a property in an uncertain market is tough, and 1 in 4 of us want to wait and see before committing ourselves.

• Gutsy Gaels

However, 84% of Scots and 80% of you in Wales think that market conditions are irrelevant.

The same cannot be said of people in the South West, where only 68% of you are tempted to buy in the falling market.

Those of you living in the West Midlands are also reluctant to buy right now with almost 30% happy to sit on the sidelines.

David Kuo, Head of Personal Finance at Fool.co.uk, says:

“Nobody wants to lose money, especially when they are buying something as important and expensive as a house.

“But trying to predict the bottom of the property market is a mug’s game. It is more important to decide if the house you want to buy is right for you, and if you can comfortably afford to meet the mortgage repayments.

“If you are concerned about negative equity, then the best remedy is to increase the size of your deposit or to step up your monthly mortgage repayments.

“Tea leaves are unreliable at the best of times. So rather than wasting your time reading the contents at the bottom of your cup, spend time trawling through mortgage best-buy tables instead.”

So, what do you think of Fool’s findings? Are women braver than men when it comes to the property market?

Why not let us know?

© Fool.co.uk 2008

It’s in no doubt that lenders make a lot of money out of the mortgage market.

Now, the big name mortgage lenders stand accused of using underhand tactics to boost their profit margins.

They have done this by raising their mortgage fees by as much as three times more than they were a year ago.

Financial data firm Defaqto says that HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Abbey are among the worst offenders, having raised their arrangement fees on some deals by 183%, 110% and 92% respectively in the last year!

Overall, mortgage lenders have raked in £3 million in the last month alone by hiking fees on fixed rate mortgages by an average of £50…

…while at the same time they make covering it up by announcing they are cutting their mortgage rates.

In addition they are also boosting their margins by failing to pass on the full reduction in the cost of wholesale funds, and charging more on unsecured personal loans.

Here are some average fees on fixed rate mortgages from the 3 lenders mentioned:

Abbey - £1,076.10; up from £561.54 in August last year

RBS - £868.23; up from £413.50 this time last year

HSBC - £313.78; up from £111 charged a year ago

The huge fee increases cancel out the benefits of the latest rate cuts.

Take Abbey for example; it has cut the rate on its 3 year tracker mortgage  from 5.89% to 5.79%, but raised the arrangement fee by more than 30%; from £1,499 to £1,950.

On a £200,000 loan, the changes result in a mere £9 cut in mortgage repayments to £1,275 a month, if fees are added on.

David Black of Defaqto said: 

“Lenders are able to use arrangement fees as a hidden way of boosting the overall cost of the mortgage. It’s worrying that some of the lenders taking the most business have introduced the biggest fee increases.”

The fee rises come amid a frenzy of rate cuts in recent weeks, with mortgage lenders spurred on by sharp falls in wholesale borrowing costs.

However, most lenders have failed to pass on the full reduction to us. Two-year swap rates (used to price fixed rate mortgages) have dropped by 50 basis points in the past month, but the average rate on a two-year fix has fallen by not even 20 basis points from 6.96% to 6.79%, according to price-comparison website Moneyfacts.

Those of us that are homeowners are not the only ones to suffer; mortgage lenders have raised rates on unsecured loans by an average of 2.6% since the last time Bank rate was at its current level of 5%, Defaqto said.

In December 2006, the average loan rate was 8.7%; 2.6% higher than the present average of 11.3%. The best-buy rate on a £5,000 loan now costs £277 more over four years.

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Credit cards are very useful or very problematic, depending on your attitude to using them.

Now, hundreds of thousands of us will see the minimum repayment on our credit cards rocket to £25; this could hurt many of us already struggling to repay our debts.

In October, if you are an Alliance and Leicester credit card customer, you will see your minimum repayment terms switch from the lesser of 3% or £5 plus any interest charges to the greater of £25 or £5 plus any interest charges.

While any move that reduces the size of your underlying debt is a good one, the hike will worry many of you whose budget doesn't stretch immediately to such levels.

The changes will chiefly affect those of you with 0% credit cards who have been paying the £5 minimum but now face a huge jump to £25, and those of you with smaller credit card balances.

Unfortunately this means that those of you in lower-income households in careful control of your finances could find your monthly repayments rise to unmanageable levels.

Cash strapped customers

Sean Gardner at price comparison site Moneyexpert.com said that this is not good news:

'Such a move could cause problems with people who are managing their debt carefully, especially when everybody's income is so much tighter. And because people are becoming more stretched, an increasing number are now paying back the minimum.'

MBNA, the credit card company that provides A&L with its cards, will roll out the same changes to other lenders it supplies, including Virgin Money and its own-brand customers.

But although the higher £25 minimum repayment could cause a few of us a measure of financial distress, the greater monthly sums will chip away faster at our outstanding debt and slash the overall amount of interest needing to be paid.

7 reasons why you should use your credit card for everything

Why not compare other credit card deals to see if you could get a better deal?

In debt for decades

Repaying credit card debt by spending just the minimum amount each month (usually 2.25% of the outstanding sum) can leave you in debt for decades. Yet about 3.38 million of us make only the minimum repayment, compared to 20.9 million who repay their credit card bill in full. 

Finance website Moneynet.co.uk shows that if you have the average UK credit card balance of £1,384 at 18.9% and make the the 2.25% minimum repayment each month, it will take you a staggering 27 years and eight months to pay it all off!

Worse, you would pay £2,673 in interest charges!

Spokesman Andrew Hagger commented on this crazy situation saying:

'Imagine someone told you that your £1,384 purchase would cost you a total of £4,057 (including interest) and would take you nearly three decades to repay, you would think you'd be mad to entertain such a buy. But because consumers don't appreciate the real cost of their credit-card spending with low minimum repayments, many will just carry on regardless.’ 

This kind of danger stems from the credit card lenders' allowing us all to to pay a tiny percentage of the outstanding debt each month, rather than sticking to a set payment that eats into the underlying amount owing. This way, interest can continue to build up in the bank's coffers as the debt is slowly eroded over many years.

Minimum repayment madness

For those of you owing thousands on a credit card, the minimum repayment trap can get ludicrously expensive.

According to consumer revenge website Moneysavingexpert.com, a £3,000 debt at 17.9% on a 2% minimum repayment (£60 in your first monthly payment) would take you 41 years to pay off and cost you £6,400 in interest alone.

Need help with your debts? Check out our debt section for advice and debt management solutions.

Debt charities, (which have seen record numbers of heavily indebted individuals get in touch for advice on coping with their borrowing) are recommending that you pay more than the minimum, even if it is just a few extra pounds each month.

Take that same balance of £1,384 at 18.9% and minimum repayments of 2.25%: if you made the minimum repayment and an additional £10 each month, the time taken to repay the debt would shrivel by 20 years to seven years and eight months, and you would pay just £890 in interest charges, Moneynet's research shows.

A mug’s game?

Frances Walker at the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) debt charity said:

'It can make such a massive difference, and so we always advise people to pay over by a slight amount, even if it's just a couple of pounds. The real problems begin if you've more than one card and you are paying the minimum on both; you can get locked in for years and years. It really is a mug's game; you absolutely need to clear as much as possible.'

Only two card lenders (Capital One and Coutts, the private bank) insist on a 5% minimum repayment, and the Capital One 'Classic' Visa card carries a monster 34.9% APR!

As a rule, you should pay off the most expensive credit card debt first if you have more than one, and (if possible) try to shift your existing debt to a new card that offers a cheap balance-transfer deal.

Use our Defaqto credit card calculator to get a great deal on balance transfers.

Another option is to set up a direct debit to ensure you never miss a credit card repayment (this costs you a £12 fine) and then make overpayments by telephone or direct from your current account each month.

Sources of free debt advice include:

• Citizens Advice: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/ The Citizens Advice service is a network of independent charities that helps people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers.
• Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS): http://www.cccs.co.uk/
• National Debtline: http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/
• Payplan: http://www.payplan.com/
• Shelter:  If you are struggling with the cost of your mortgage or with any other housing problem should go to http://www.shelter.org.uk/ or call Shelter's free housing advice line on 0808 800 4444. 
• The Financial Services Authority: The industry regulator has a series of practical guides on managing your money at http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/
• Speak free of charge to an independent debt adviser who can provide you with advice and solutions to help you resolve your debt and credit problems

In these troubled financial times, we could all do with a bit of extra income, preferably from the work we do.

But before you storm into your boss’s office, throw your stapler at him and demand he gives you a bigger salary, read our top 10 tips on becoming a smooth negotiator:

 1. Do your homework

Consult job ads, recruiters, and colleagues to find out the pay range for your job. Then work out the skills you need to claim the top 10% of that pay range.

2. State your objectives clearly

When you ask for a meeting, don’t talk vaguely about "prospects"; be clear that you want to talk about your contribution to the organisation and that you’re asking for a pay rise.

3. Be clear about what you want

Are you really after a pay rise, or would your life be improved by something else, such as flexible working or more varied work? Know exactly what you are asking for.

4. Create the right impression

Make sure you look, act and sound like a person already holding down a job paying the kind of salary you want. Don’t try to negotiate a pay rise in an old suit.

5. Make your pitch

Your opening needs to be about your contribution, and not about money. Talk about what you have added to the role and how you have made a difference.

6. Bid, don’t complain

Managers get defensive when it comes to pay issues! No matter how carefully you make your case, what they will hear is "I’m unhappy". Be careful to ensure that you communicate how much you enjoy the job, particularly those parts where you have extended your job content. 

7. Don’t talk about your bottom line

Don't be tempted to talk about what you "need" financially, or about your financial commitments or pressures. Talk about the value you add to the business. 

8. Let your boss shoot first (not literally!)

Keep your cards close to your chest. Try to find out what your employer is prepared to offer before you say what you would like. Even if your employer asks "What did you have in mind?" it’s worth at least one attempt to find out what might be possible.

9. Negotiate like a pro

Don’t believe that the first offer, particularly if it’s made quickly, is the last word. Relate your proposed total salary in monthly terms to the annual bottom line contribution of the job, and be aware of how much it will cost to replace you.

10. Assert yourself

Stand up for yourself! Demonstrate exactly the same robustness and negotiation skills your employer expects you to use in the job.

Are there any other tips you can think of that can help you get that elusive pay rise?

Why not let us know in the comments?