Ten ways to save cash in the New Year.

Christmas is done for (well, nearly) and the credit-card bills documenting this year's excesses are not far away, so today might be a good time to examine your finances to see if there is any way you can save yourself a few bob.

1 ADD IT UP

There must be a good reason that the first tip in virtually every money-saving guide stresses the need to better gauge where the waste is by writing down exactly what you're spending your money on. It's not the easiest thing to do - the pen and paper are never close at hand when you're blowing the average monthly wage of a Caribbean islander on a late-night mojito - but it is still worth trying to keep a log. If you can't write everything down immediately, just get into the habit of asking for receipts for all your purchases and at the end of each day, add them up. By the end of a month you'll be able to see exactly where all your money is going.

2 CLEAR IT

If you're like the rest of us, the chances are that a good chunk of that money is going on funding your credit-card habit. Clearing your credit-card debt or, at the very least, switching to a company offering a lower rate of interest and a zero rate on balance transfers, should be among the first things you do in the New Year. It might also be worth considering a low-cost loan, although the borrowing-to-clear plan only works if you exercise some restraint with the card and don't race to your limit immediately after you've cleared it.

3 SHOP AROUND

The easiest way to save a bundle of money is through shopping around for home, motor and health insurance. Just before Christmas a Pricewatch colleague managed to save herself €1,000 on her mortgage-tied life assurance by making three phone calls. She had a policy with a major bank which was costing her and her husband €109 per month. The website www.123.ie quoted her €639 per year with 50 per cent discount in year one. Over the lifetime of her mortgage, her savings will amount to €13,700.

Motor insurance is equally competitive and quotes can differ wildly. The Financial Regulator has excellent cost comparisons on its website, www.itsyourmoney.ie, which should be checked out by anyone keen to save themselves more than a few bob. If you do get a lower quote, make sure you let your current insurance company know - you'll be amazed at how willing it can be to match your new quote simply to hang on to your business.

When it comes to health insurance, a single person can save more than €100 a year by switching to a cheaper provider. Visit the Health Insurance Authority website, www.hia.ie, for easy-to-follow price comparisons.

4 RENT ONLINE

The days of walking miles in the freezing cold and driving rain to return a video are over, seeing as how it is getting easier to rent DVDs online. This route can save you a fortune, both on the cost of actual rental (packages start from €7.99 a month) and on the inevitable late fees when you forget to bring the damn things back on time. Movies by Mail is the new online movie rental service available from An Post (www.anpost.ie). Other rental service websites are www.moviestar.ie and www.screenclick.com (formerly Busy Bee DVD).

5 MAKE A LIST

Our major supermarkets pay people buckets of money to work out the best ways to get us to part with our cash, and while we may think we're immune to the soothing background music, the judiciously placed "offers" and the smell of baking that wafts through the aisles, the bill at the checkout would beg to differ. That's why it is important to make lists and stick rigidly to them. Not only will it be cheaper, it'll make the trip to the supermarket shorter too.

6 QUIT IT

In addition to giving up smoking (the single biggest money-saving idea for smokers) and cutting down on the booze, you should also consider the perhaps counter-intuitive step of cancelling any gym membership you may have. If you go three times a week every week then the €70 it's costing you every month is money well spent. If you go once a week or less, cancel it immediately and go running (or walking, at the very least) a couple of times a week, which won't cost you anything.

7 FLOG IT

One man's junk is another man's treasure (or at least something someone might be prepared to spend a a fiver on). There is money to be made turning your useless unwanted stuff into cash by flogging it on eBay. Clothes, CDs, DVDs, kitchen equipment, and almost anything else you can think of, can be converted into cash. It's much easier to do than you may think and has the added benefit of freeing your house of much of its clutter.

8 FREE STUFF

While you might want to consider getting into the business of selling your own stuff, there are plenty of others who are just as keen to give their stuff away for nothing. There are a growing number of online communities whose aim is to give away things they no longer have any use for. Such action is both environmentally sound and cost-effective (as it reduces refuse charges). For starters, Dubliners should visit Free Trade (www.dublinwaste.ie), the local authorities' online initiative, which helps people pass on unwanted household items for nothing. Before Christmas there were swings, sandpits, windows, TVs, roof tiles and, er, traffic cones available. If you're not in the Dublin area, try www.freecycle.org or www.jumbletown.ie for similar services in your region.

9 CUT THE COST OF FUEL BILLS

The Power of One people have some excellent and effortless suggestions for saving yourself more than €200 this year and every year. A phone charger left plugged in or a TV left on standby will use up to 20 per cent of the energy required when they are fully on. Lowering your thermostat by just one degree reduces heating bills by 10 per cent, while LED lights and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) last up to 15 times longer than traditional bulbs and require just 20 per cent of the energy.

10 DIY HOLIDAYS

Book your DIY holiday online; not only will it be better, it'll be cheaper too. Almost all airlines now take web-only bookings, more hoteliers are using their own home pages to sell directly to tourists (if you want ideas of where to stay, you can always pick up a brochure in your travel agent's then find the relevant hotel sites on the web), and online travel services such as www.lastminute.comoffer low-cost packages. A word of warning, however, before you book any hotel as part of your DIY holiday: make sure to visit www.tripadvisor.com to find out what other people say about the town you're planning to visit or the hotel you're going to stay in.