Most of you will know that the cost of your mortgage has been rising and, despite predictions of further interest rate cuts to come, many of you feel at risk.

And as we said recently, something also worth remembering is that over 1.4 million of us will see our fixed rate mortgage deals end in the next couple of months; and that may not be good news...it means that most of us will have to find on average an extra £200 per month more to meet the cost of servicing our mortgage.

So what should you do? Here are a few options:

If you have a repayment mortgage the temptation is to switch to an interest-only mortgage, if only for a year or so, to ease the burden of having higher mortgage bills. But this is not a long-term solution and you will have to be disciplined to switch back to a repayment deal when you remortgage again, or when rates fall and payments become more affordable.

You could also choose to extend the duration of your mortgage, but again this will cost you and it could be a temporary option. In most circumstances you should try to continue to repay your loan and reduce the term. But a £200,000 mortgage will be about £150 a month cheaper over 25 years than 20 years.

If you are about to remortgage, why not give yourself an insurance policy by remortgaging for more than you need and then repaying the extra immediately? This will give you the option, (should your mortgage terms allow) to make underpayments or take a payment holiday should the going get tough.

Many lenders give borrowers such flexibility, as Ray Boulger of mortgage broker John Charcol explained:

"If you have a £200,000 mortgage on a £300,000 property you could remortgage for £210,000 and repay the extra £10,000 immediately. If you don't use the £10,000 buffer it won't cost you a penny, but it gives you flexibility because you have 'overpaid'. It may be useful for self-employed workers who experience a bad month. Although you will pay more interest should you underpay or take a payment holiday, it will be a lot less costly than missing a payment, which will show up on your credit rating."

There are competitive deals still available, although they come at a cost. But you may decide it is worth paying a big fee (add it to the loan) to secure a decent rate. This could be worth it if your mortgage is £150,000 or less if the fee is based on a percentage of your loan.

For example, C&G is offering a 2 year fixed rate mortgage at 4.99% with a 2.5% fee which is tempting if you want more affordable repayments (and let's face it, who doesn't?!)

Ray Boulger's other tip is to get an application in early if you are due to remortgage in the next three months or so:

"If the situation worsens and you are on the borderline of having 75% loan-to-value (LTV) it may be worth getting the valuation done now. If lenders get tougher the valuation may be lower, potentially making your loan, say, 80% LTV," says Boulger. "The difference in the rate you get will be higher, the greater your LTV."

Overall, if you are about to remortgage, talk to your existing lender and start planning early: at least two months before your loan is due to expire. Other things worth considering are the following:

- If you are one of the 1.4m homeowners coming to the end of a cheap fixed-rate deal, it pays to get some impartial advice on comparing mortgages.

- Use any spare cash to reduce your mortgage balance and maximise the amount of equity in your property.

- Don't be tempted to use your home as a piggy bank to fund things such as a new car. If you are going to release equity, make sure it's for home improvements that will add value to the property.

- Consider paying a higher arrangement fee to obtain the lowest discounted, variable and fixed rates, particularly if you are borrowing a large sum.

- Fixed-rate mortgages are rarely cheapest at first but remove the risk that your costs may rise in future. People with large mortgages and those who value peace of mind may favour fixing.

- Do not just stop or miss payments, as you could lose your home. Talk to your lender about any difficulties as they are much less likely to take you to court if you are communicating

- Ask your lender if you can reduce monthly payments or suspend them to get past temporary problems.

- If you need to cut costs, ask if your lender is willing to extend the period of your mortgage or convert it from a repayment basis to interest-only.

- Beware that reducing monthly payments or increasing the length of the loan will mean you pay more interest over the whole period that the debt remains outstanding.

- Remember that switching to interest-only means you have to find some other way of paying this debt eventually, perhaps from an inheritance.

- Keep a money diary for a week, including all income and expenditure. Draw up a budget and work out ways to economise.

- Save money by shifting other debts to cheaper rates, such as switching any credit card balance to an interest-free offer.

Ultimately, even though many of you are uneasy about what happens with your home loan in 2008, you can avoid mortgage misery if do a bit of homework!

How did your mortgage do last year?