Becoming a born-again consumer is easier than most people think, says Brendan Burgess, accountant and the man behind the financial advice website, askaboutmoney.com.
"Financially speaking, you should start with the big things. If you get them right, you're well on your way to financial success."
For many people, their biggest single outgoing is the mortgage, and here borrowers stand to make massive savings by switching their business to the best available deal, he says. "Many borrowers whose mortgages are a few years old will be able to avail of rates as low as 4.5 per cent, compared to the 5 per cent-plus they are paying.
That means a saving of about €2,000 a year for the lifetime of the mortgage."
Burgess says he doesn't bother about smaller financial outgoings which often fixate other people, such as bank charges.
"I pay €70 a year in bank charges and could probably save a few bob elsewhere but the service is good and I won't be changing unless that alters."
People with access to cash should at least make sure they get a good rate of savings for their dead money, rather than leaving it languishing in a current account or low-interest deposit account; savings rates of up to 4.5 per cent are available.
However, long term, money should be invested in some way, rather than held on deposit, Burgess advises.
"If people are paying interest regularly on their credit card, they should ask themselves whether they really need plastic credit.
He also questions whether young and fit people should bother paying for health insurance in order to subsidise "fat alcoholic smokers".
These days, there is plenty of unbiased information available to consumers, from the brochures and web-pages of the Financial Regulator (www.itsyourmoney.ie) to the financial advice available free on askaboutmoney and buyers' guides on the National Consumers Agency site, www.consumerconnect.ie.
Making a complaint is also easier than it used to be - in most cases.
"Most companies have a process for dealing with complaints and they realise that if they treat consumers well they will come back time and again," Burgess points out.
His advice is to make the complaint in a reasonable manner, take the name of the person who is accepting your complaint, obtain an e-mail address and follow up with written confirmation of what has been agreed.
This might seem daunting but it actually takes less time than it seems.
"Making complaints is often a matter of personality, but once you've made a couple of them you get into a groove," says Burgess.
