The Citizen's Advice Bureau has confirmed that it dealt with a record number of debt-related problems in 2009.

The CAB's advisors handled 2.27 million debt problems last year, accounting for 60% of the organisation's enquiries. The firm also reports that it is dealing with 9,500 new debt and benefit problems every working day.

The chances are if you're an aspiring first time buyer, you've never even heard of mortgage "rationing". That's because the last decade and more have seen banks and building societies bending over backwards to lend money, rather than check whether buyers have the means of repaying the vast sums they've been borrowing.

Whilst the housing market boomed, that wasn't a problem as both banks and borrowers thought the rising cost of property would ensure no-one would lose out.

A recent report suggested first-time buyers should head to Oldham if they are looking to get on the property ladder. The report found that home buyers with a 25 per cent deposit could expect to pay the lowest monthly mortgage bill in any English city coming in at just £353 a month.

Housing hunt

To buy a property with a 25 per cent deposit in Oldham requires savings of £22,754 compared against £32,362 and £25,917 in other areas such as Leeds and Liverpool. The average 25 per cent deposit is now equal to £29,901 but this figure varies considerably from town to town. A 25 per cent deposit on the average London property for example is equal to £79,892.

There's been plenty of talk about a rise in interest rates. But it hasn't happened so far and if most economists are right, it still won't happen for some time yet.

And that means there are plenty of savers out there who have been waiting patiently (or not) for their savings situation to improve.

If you are a regular reader of this column, you'll be getting constantly updated with the best ideas of how to make your money work harder for you. That's vital if you don't have money to waste and want to make sure you have a financially comfortable life - both now and in retirement.

But what if you don't have a mortgage, savings or any investments? What if simply surviving on your salary feels like an almost impossible task?

Interest rates have been stuck at 0.5% for almost a year now, and though many mortgage holders may be celebrating, savers and investors are not, especially those with pitifully low cash ISA deals. When cash ISAs were first launched in 1999, the average rate was 5.71%, now, it is just 2.12%, and if you want instant access to your cash, the average rate is a miserable 0.76%.

So what are the options?

Everyone has enjoyed having a pop at the Greek Government's spending habits but figures released earlier this week suggest the UK is actually running up debt even faster.

The Government was reported to have borrowed a whopping £4.3 billion last month - just under £100,000 every minute - making January the worst month ever recorded, in terms of debt, for the UK.

New figures released today show that consumers are reluctant to increase their grocery budgets, despite the UK officially emerging from the recession.

According to mysupermarket.co.uk, special offers made up 41% of a customer's trolley in January - the highest percentage on record - compared to 32% during the same month last year. While one in 10 shoppers admitted to having changed their preferred supermarket in favour of a rival's latest deals, cutting an average £7.10 from their bill.

Whilst there's plenty of talk about whether the Bank of England's base interest rate will rise, there's no indication of it doing so in the near future.

The talk, of course, has led to some lenders tentatively raising their rates recently. But unless the Bank makes a rapid change of course, further rises on the High Street look unlikely.

New figures have revealed that the number of home repossessions reached a 14-year high in 2009, as personal debt levels in the UK hit almost £1.5 trillion.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said 46,000 homes were repossessed last year - an increase of 6,000 on 2008. The figure was, however, 2,000 less than CML's most recent forecast and almost 30,000 less than the company predicted at the end of 2008.