:00:00. > :00:00.Brothers, he had a string of hits in the 1950s and '60s. Now on BBC News,
:00:00. > :00:14.it's time for this week's Your Money with Declan Curry. Hello and welcome
:00:15. > :00:17.to Your Money, your weekly guide to making the most of your cash, here
:00:18. > :00:20.every weekend on BBC News television - available all week on the BBC
:00:21. > :00:24.iPlayer. This week - clearing up some of our
:00:25. > :00:27.New Year hangovers. First, how to get rid of those hideous Christmas
:00:28. > :00:32.gifts. We've got some tips that will strengthen our hand at the returns
:00:33. > :00:34.counter. Then, some New Year's resolutions to get our money into
:00:35. > :00:39.better shape. Nigel Cassidy has gathered some of
:00:40. > :00:43.the best suggestions. And some tricks and tips to manage
:00:44. > :00:46.our debts - how to keep the cost down, how to stop it becoming a big
:00:47. > :00:53.problem. The debt charity Step Change shares its advice at no extra
:00:54. > :00:57.charge. So what did Santa leave? Jumpers
:00:58. > :01:02.that don't fit? That hideous lamp? That jewellery you wouldn't wear in
:01:03. > :01:04.a darkened room? How do you get rid of it? Jasmine Birtles, everyday
:01:05. > :01:16.money expert, runs the website moneymagpie.com. In some of these
:01:17. > :01:22.cases we have right on our side. In others we are relying on goodwill
:01:23. > :01:30.from the shopkeepers. First of all, the item does not work. Right is on
:01:31. > :01:36.your site. You can take it back to the shop and the shop is your first
:01:37. > :01:43.port of call. It does help if you have proof of purchase. If it is
:01:44. > :01:48.broken, then you can go back to your aunt and uncle and say you love it,
:01:49. > :01:57.just a bit of a problem in that it is broken. Do you have proof of
:01:58. > :02:04.purchase? It could be a receipt or credit card statement. If it has the
:02:05. > :02:10.name of the shop, then it is much easier. You can take it back and say
:02:11. > :02:17.obviously it is yours. You should be able to get your money back. But you
:02:18. > :02:28.have to have that proof of purchase? Unless it is branded. Who brings it
:02:29. > :02:36.back? Is it the person who bought it or received it? Ideally the person
:02:37. > :02:40.who bought it. If it is one of those chains and you have proof of
:02:41. > :02:49.purchase, then you can take it back yourself. The shopkeeper deals with
:02:50. > :02:55.this. The shopkeeper is the first port of call. If desperate you can
:02:56. > :03:00.send it back to the manufacturer. You are entitled to a full refund
:03:01. > :03:09.but they might say you are entitled to a credit note. You are entitled
:03:10. > :03:12.to a full refund. Something you bought for Christmas did not arrive
:03:13. > :03:19.on time. You bought something else instead and now the wretched thing
:03:20. > :03:24.has turned up. If you bought it and it is supposed to arrive by
:03:25. > :03:31.Christmas and it did not come when the sellers said it would come, you
:03:32. > :03:37.can send it back. Does it have to have that agreement with the seller
:03:38. > :03:41.beforehand, a contract that said delivery before Christmas?
:03:42. > :03:48.Absolutely occurs otherwise you could have bought something and you
:03:49. > :03:54.get it and don't like it. There has to be a reason. There has to be a
:03:55. > :04:00.type of contract that it would be there in time. Of the rules
:04:01. > :04:06.different if you ordered online? Yes. You have a seven-day cooling
:04:07. > :04:09.off period from when you get the item and unlike with piling it on
:04:10. > :04:15.the high street, if you don't like it, it is the wrong size, colour,
:04:16. > :04:21.you can send it back for whatever reason. There is a time limit. You
:04:22. > :04:30.have a cooling off period of seven days. The reason I ask is Christmas
:04:31. > :04:38.was more than seven days ago. It does depend on the sellers. Some say
:04:39. > :04:43.you have 14 days, 30 days. If you buy something from a high street
:04:44. > :04:49.brand, sometimes they will take it 30 days back. Something you bought
:04:50. > :04:59.on the high Street, there is nothing wrong with it, it is just a bile.
:05:00. > :05:07.Yes, if you have some sort of proof of purchase, if it has the brand,
:05:08. > :05:10.you are really going to have to take their goodwill and the goodwill now
:05:11. > :05:17.is not quite as much as it used to be.
:05:18. > :05:20.Train tickets have gone up in price again this week. There are some
:05:21. > :05:23.useful tips to keep the price of train travel as low as possible.
:05:24. > :05:27.Obviously, buying online, in advance is way cheaper than just turning up
:05:28. > :05:30.at the ticket office on the day. And if you make the same journey over
:05:31. > :05:34.and over, a season ticket is likely to be cheaper than buying each time.
:05:35. > :05:37.Here are a few more. If you travel after the daily rush-hour or at
:05:38. > :05:41.weekends, a network railcard could save you up to a third off of most
:05:42. > :05:44.tickets. It costs 30 quid and is valid for a year. Sometimes two
:05:45. > :05:46.single tickets are cheaper than a return ticket. Not always, but
:05:47. > :05:50.sometimes. Some websites will let you set up an alert, so you'll get
:05:51. > :05:53.an email when cheap advance tickets become available. That could save
:05:54. > :05:57.40%. And it's worth checking for alternative routes. You may find
:05:58. > :06:02.that a longer journey by an indirect route is cheaper than the direct,
:06:03. > :06:11.express service. To find them, use the advanced search settings when
:06:12. > :06:14.checking the timetable online. Ding dong! Some news about the
:06:15. > :06:17.housing market. More than 6,000 people have applied for a mortgage -
:06:18. > :06:20.under the Government's latest Help to Buy scheme. But only 750 homes
:06:21. > :06:24.have actually been bought. The rest are still in the pipeline. The
:06:25. > :06:29.scheme helps us buy a home if we've only got 5% of the price saved as a
:06:30. > :06:32.deposit. The Nationwide, the biggest building
:06:33. > :06:35.society, claims house prices rose by over 8% last year. Of course, that's
:06:36. > :06:40.one average figure for the whole nation. London prices jumped by
:06:41. > :06:45.nearly 15%. In the north of England, prices were up around 2%. And
:06:46. > :06:56.typically, houses are still worth less now than they were in 2007. The
:06:57. > :06:58.Bank of England's interest rate is unlikely to rise this year, say the
:06:59. > :07:02.UK's top economists. The BBC rang them up and emailed
:07:03. > :07:05.them, and 93% of those asked predicted no change to the bank rate
:07:06. > :07:09.this year. Of course, the Bank's rate is one thing. Wat you actually
:07:10. > :07:12.get for your savings, or pay for your mortgage is quite another.
:07:13. > :07:18.Those actual rates were driven down hard as the high street banks were
:07:19. > :07:21.flooded with cheap money. Many people who were left without
:07:22. > :07:24.electricity over Christmas because of the weather are set to get some
:07:25. > :07:27.compensation. UK Power Networks, which owns electricity lines and
:07:28. > :07:30.cables in London, the South East and East of England, and Electricity
:07:31. > :07:35.North West with customers in the north west of England both say
:07:36. > :07:39.they'll stump up. So too will Scottish and Southern Energy Power
:07:40. > :07:44.Distribution. It says it will pay ?54 to customers who were without
:07:45. > :07:47.electricity for 48 hours. There's another ?54 for each full 12-hour
:07:48. > :07:53.period that you didn't have electricity after that. If you were
:07:54. > :07:57.cut off on Christmas Day itself, you'll get ?75. The company said it
:07:58. > :08:02.will write to its customers over the next five week, but you can also
:08:03. > :08:05.make a claim online. Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution
:08:06. > :08:11.covers the area from Yeovil in Somerset to West London and from
:08:12. > :08:18.Oxfordshire to the Isle of Wight. It also supplies northern Scotland.
:08:19. > :08:28.New Year. Time for a make over for your money. Here's Nigel Cassidy.
:08:29. > :08:35.Last month the post brought good cheer and Christmas cards. Now it is
:08:36. > :08:40.mainly is bills. All the evidence is millions get into a financial mess
:08:41. > :08:48.because of a poor grasp of the basic financial tasks. Judging by the kind
:08:49. > :08:54.of calls flooding into debt lines like this one, Paul money-management
:08:55. > :08:58.is as much a factor as reckless borrowing. People do not understand
:08:59. > :09:05.their payslip, interest rates all the interest risks. Do you know how
:09:06. > :09:19.much money is in your account? Not really. I check every fortnightly. I
:09:20. > :09:25.check daily. Rarely. I let you check it. Checking your statement is one
:09:26. > :09:31.thing. Understanding it is another. People don't know how much money
:09:32. > :09:36.they have got in their accounts. One in six not knowing whether the
:09:37. > :09:42.number at the bottom is the mud in their account or it includes the
:09:43. > :09:45.overdraft. The new centre for the Public understanding of finance has
:09:46. > :09:54.been setup to promote knowledge personal finance. You make a start
:09:55. > :10:00.by not turning a blind eye to your financial position. Check your bank
:10:01. > :10:03.statement and reconcile it, put together a household budget. That
:10:04. > :10:08.will tell you if you have scope to save or whether you have a problem
:10:09. > :10:11.spending more than you are earning. Think about what your long-term
:10:12. > :10:18.plans are and how they need to be financed. We all live for today for
:10:19. > :10:24.eight degree but eventually we will need a pension and if you start to
:10:25. > :10:29.plan too late it is financially disadvantageous. With half of us
:10:30. > :10:34.finding it hard to pay our bills, it is not surprising people are out
:10:35. > :10:39.looking for bargains. Many will resolve to get a grip on our
:10:40. > :10:42.finances but inevitably we will buy financial products we cannot
:10:43. > :10:48.understand and borrow money we cannot repay. The advice is to get a
:10:49. > :10:53.firm grip on your income and expenditure, make a budget, stick to
:10:54. > :10:58.it and do not commit to anything unless you understand the cost,
:10:59. > :11:03.benefits and risks. Let's get more advice on how to deal with those
:11:04. > :11:09.Christmas debts. Edward is from the debt charity step change. The New
:11:10. > :11:15.Year bills are only just arriving. What is the plan for dealing with
:11:16. > :11:22.them? The first thing is to draw up that detailed household budget, that
:11:23. > :11:26.list of your incomings and outgoings and covered your essential household
:11:27. > :11:32.bills, your rent, mortgage, council tax, utility bills and then you can
:11:33. > :11:38.work out what you can put towards repaying your debts. It is a good
:11:39. > :11:42.idea to take a look at your bank statements and credit card bills
:11:43. > :11:49.anyway because there might be things you are paying for that you have
:11:50. > :11:56.forgotten. Absolutely. You can have that clear out of your finances
:11:57. > :12:05.every year. Cancelled those direct debits you are not using. There are
:12:06. > :12:10.some signs that your debt is running out of control. There are things
:12:11. > :12:13.that people tell us that in retrospect they realise their
:12:14. > :12:18.finances were getting out of control. Are you juggling your
:12:19. > :12:27.household bills, are you borrowing to pay off existing debt? Are you
:12:28. > :12:31.borrowing just to make it to payday? Those are signs that your debt
:12:32. > :12:36.problem might be more serious and you really need to think and get
:12:37. > :12:41.advice and support at that stage. That point about advice is important
:12:42. > :12:44.because there are lots of companies that say they will help you deal
:12:45. > :12:50.with your lenders but they will charge a fee and their risk free
:12:51. > :12:59.advice available. There is high quality, free and impartial advice.
:13:00. > :13:04.If people are struggling, those free and independent sources of advice
:13:05. > :13:09.are the best places to go. If you are finding it a struggle to meet
:13:10. > :13:18.your payments, there is no shame in going to your lenders and asking for
:13:19. > :13:23.a deal. Absolutely. If your lenders are not as helpful as you would
:13:24. > :13:32.like, come to one of the debt advice organisations. That is all from us
:13:33. > :13:40.this week. You can go online to find out more advice and information. You
:13:41. > :13:42.can also follow our feed on Twitter. Thank you for watching. More next
:13:43. > :14:02.week. See you then. Let's bring you a statement from the
:14:03. > :14:10.family of the British man killed in Libya. The family are shocked and
:14:11. > :14:13.devastated to hear about his death in Libya.