Starting your own business
Despite the credit crunch and stricter conditions on lending, the UK's personal debt levels continue to rise. According to recent research by a leading accountancy consultancy, the UK's debt levels are higher than average GDP for the second year running. This means that the country would have to dip into next year's earnings to pay off all its outstanding personal debts. Personal debt is amassed through mortgages, loans and credit cards and it has increased by 7.3% in the past year to almost £1.5 billion. Although we need people to spend in a recession, it is dangerous to continue to spend more than we earn. In fact, this is what got us into this mess in the first place. Personal debt per household is on average £58,290 including mortgages, £181 million is paid in interest every day, Government national debt increases by £5,454 every second and 2,696 people are made redundant every day. All this makes starting up your own business and going it alone extremely scary. Therefore you need financial support to help you and even bail you out in times of need so you don't become bankrupt - which according to government reports happens to one person every 11.5 minutes. Therefore it is imperative that you get yourself a decent savings account to look after your current investments but also to provide somewhere safe to leave your potential future investments. At the moment banks are making it harder and harder to get a loan, therefore they are boosting their savings accounts. Alliance and Leicester are currently offering some particularly attractive rates on their savings options. You could choose to put your cash into fixed rate bonds. You can get up to 4.2% interest, this interest can be paid monthly or annually and you can invest as little as £1. Or you could choose an Online Saver with 3% interest at a variable rate paid annually. Like most banks they want you to invest with them so are constantly fighting for your cash. Once you start earning from your new start-up business and you increase the amount you put into your savings accounts, you will start earning interest or 'free money' from the bank. Savvy saving and a well-though out personal business plan mean you can work for two days a week and earn more than you did when you worked a nine to five every weekday.

|