There are plenty of semi compulsory events during the year that mean you'll need to fork out for someone. Not that I'm a total miser or anything, but yearly events can come around when you haven't really thought about them and then just sting your wallet. Of course there's Christmas, friends and relatives birthdays, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day... all of these days will probably cost you something, whether it's a gift or travel expenses to get home.
I recently thought that if I was in a relationship then this month could end up just as expensive as Christmas. Relationship's are supposed to be worth their weight in gold, but I'm pretty happy about not having to consider the cost of Valentine's Day on my wallet. I recently read that people in a relationship spend about £750 a year on their partners, and February comes as one of the most costly months - along with December. People are prepared to fork out big sums for their Valentine's gifts, especially on traditional gifts like flowers, chocolate and lingerie, all of which see sales shoot up around this time of year.
How you afford the constant stream of gift giving is, however, something that not all of us give enough consideration to. A survey by Moneyexpert found that people could save as much as £547 a year if they changed their accounts to the five best financial products. Recently I've noticed one of the best ways to save is through getting one of Alliance and Leicester's current accounts. It's got an interest free overdraft for twelve months (which can be agreed to be up to £2500) - you can also get 8.5% AER for balances up to £2,500. Seeing as I don't have a whole lot of savings, I'd say this is pretty much incredible.
