Getting The Best Deal

Visit www.moneysupermarket.com and be amazed by the amount of hard work they've done in order to enable you to compare the merits of various financial services. Insurance, banking, credit cards, pensions, all have been examined to help you make an informed choice. Recommended. A similar service is offered by www.moneyextra.com, should you wish to delve even deeper.

Reclaiming Bank Charges

Some people have recently been successful in claiming back penalty charges from banks on the grounds that these are illegal. Details on the process can be found on the Which website. Please note that not having tried this ourselves, we do not necessarily recommend this course of action, but merely suggest that further investigation may be fruitful.

Checking your credit rating

If you need to establish your credit rating www.checkmyfile.com can help you so to do. Their "free stuff" is relatively unhelpful, but for a fee you can establish how you are likely to be thought of by large financial institutions. A similar service (among others) is provided by www.experian.co.uk, who will supply your credit reference file for free.

Finding an ATM - wherever you are

Link provides a locator to find your nearest ATM. Investigate on a map or enter a postcode to find your nearest: www.link.co.uk

Interactive Calculations

Visit www.thisismoney.co.uk to conveniently calculate every kind of financial equation: VAT, currency exchange, tax, interest rates, the effects of inflation, and how to cut bills. You can even get a set of lottery numbers generated for you!

Conversion

Enter any sort of a value at www.metric-conversions.org and with one click all the complicated formulae are done for you. Lots of fun stuff too.

When it comes to meatspace conversion of actual physical money, we are told that Senli Cash & Go in the Tourist Information Centre on Broad Street has 'the best exchange rates in town', and operates on a no fee, no commission basis. It has a helpful website at www.cash2go.senli.co.uk and can be reached by phone on 01865 203319 or fax on 01865 245901.

For advice about taking money abroad, the Lonely Planet guide is most informative about arrangements in different countries. Go to www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide and select the area you're visiting.