Spending with plastic exceeded 1bn a month for the first time in May and has stayed above the 1bn mark ever since.

The Central Bank numbers follow a new report by market research firm Datamonitor which found that Irish people are deeper in debt than anyone else in the EU, owing an average of 5,750 each in unsecured borrowings from finance companies, credit card firms and credit unions.

That is more than twoand-a-half times the European average and the debt burden is set to grow faster in Ireland than in any of our neighbours for the rest of the decade.

MORTGAGE SWITCHING COMPETITION HOTS UP

Bank of Ireland has joined the growing list of lenders that are poaching each others' customers with cash inducements to switch mortgages.

It is targeting people who are trading up the property ladder, offering a 750 contribution towards legal fees and 150 towards the costs of furniture removal.

Other lenders, including Bank of Scotland (Ireland) and Ulster Bank, pay even bigger cash inducements and borrowers do not even have to move houses to qualify. All they have to do is switch mortgages.

Bank of Ireland reports that people moving homes can get badly stung by hidden costs including deposits, legal fees, removal costs and estate agents fees. According to its market research, the main emotion experienced by people who have made the move is relief that it is all over.

SAVERS BEGIN TO REAP WHAT THEY SOW

Savers are starting to reap the rewards of this month's interest rate hike by the European Central Bank as deposit rates creep ever upwards.

Anglo Irish Bank has pushed the boat out by paying a market-leading rate of 6% interest on its regular saver account from tomorrow. While Anglo does not explicitly track the ECB, it has at least put a floor under the rate of interest by promising that it will not drop below 4.5% over the two-year savings term.

Regular saver accounts, also available from AIB and Bank of Scotland (Ireland), offer top rates of interest in a bid to keep customers saving after their SSIAs mature.

For lump-sum savings, Northern Rock has widened its lead over RaboDirect by paying 4% interest from the end of this month. Rabo's new rate, which kicks in from Wednesday, is 3.7%.

THE BEST ADVICE IS TO TAKE NO ADVICE

People planning to cut their tax bills by making a pension contribution before the 31 October pay-and-file deadline can also save money if they are willing to pass on expensive investment advice.

Discount brokers such as nofinancialadvice. com have cut charges to the bone on the off-the-shelf pension plans offered by Canada Life, Eagle Star, Friends First, Hibernian, Irish Life, New Ireland and Standard Life. By stripping out the charges, which eat into investment returns, taxpayers can look forward to a substantially bigger pension at retirement.

The downside is that discount brokers offer no advice - they simply execute your order. So if you need hand holding the choosing the right pension for you, expect to pay for the privilege through commissions and other fees that will be built into your pension plan.