The flow of money, and how it is managed on both a national level by the Government and on a personal level by yourself, will be fundamental to how successful you find this coming year. The scarcity of money on a national scale will create some interesting and challenging situations at every stage within the financial spectrum, and this will require you to focus on your own finances in a way not experienced for a generation. Below are some tips on how to save money and make the most of what you have:

Don't overdo the overdraft

Over the past few years, the access to cheap credit has been plentiful and widespread, to the point where most people wouldn't think twice about dipping into their overdraft facilities if necessary. All that is changing now, and there will be more significant consequences for those who stray outside their authorised overdraft limits.

Over 2009, it will pay to rein in your spending, or at least have a conversation with your bank, if there is a risk of you slipping into unauthorised borrowing. To give you an idea of the implications, the average authorised overdraft borrowing rate is 14.8%, whilst interest charges on unauthorised borrowing are currently 60% more.

Re-energise your energy bills

Spiraling energy prices are hitting every UK household at a time when they could probably do without it. During 2008, average prices for gas and electricity rose by 48% and 28% respectively - a huge leap regardless of your personal salary levels. Naturally, this price increase is felt most particularly during the winter months, so it might be a good time to use one of the few weapons that you have against the energy price rises - the laws of competition.

There is a possibility that the government could get tough with energy companies in March, and that prices could fall by as much as 20%, although winter will have passed by then and you can still save yourself hundreds of pounds in the meantime by doing thorough research and switching tariffs or energy companies.

Mobilise your phone use

As the mobile telephone market matures and begins to plateau in the UK, largely down to the innate success of the phone companies in putting a mobile phone in the hands of virtually everyone, the game is about to change. 2009 will bring a whole range of new, largely SIM-only deals to the market, and this will be good news for the consumer.

Most people have at least one handset that they don't mind using, and the no-frills value of solely acquiring a SIM will become ever more attractive in these cash-strapped times. ASDA and IKEA have already launched their initial offerings in this field, and expect to see similar offers from all the larger retailers, allowing you to get a great deal as the price of mobile communication drops.

Clear your cards

As with the overdraft reduction, 2009 will be a good year to try and clear some of your credit card debts if you have any, or at least ensure that you begin to pay more than the minimum amount required each month. It may be hard to find the extra cash to do this, but you will be saving yourself huge amounts of money in the long term.

If you have a £2,500 debt on your cards, for example, and pay only the minimum (2%) on an interest rate of 14%, it would take 232 months (nearly 20 years) to repay the original amount, plus interest of £3826. If you paid back an extra £50 a month, the payment duration would only be 37 months (3 years) and interest of only £1,005. The difference is considerable.

Get interested in rates

The British Government is wading into historically uncharted waters with their consecutive interest rate cuts: at their current level of 1.5% they have never been so low. Whether this will actually translate into an increase in lending, and therefore the potential for business growth, remains to be seen, although it will mean good news for consumers prepared to shop around.

If you own a property, switching to a Standard Variable Rate (SVR) mortgage could potentially save you a huge amount each month, although the banks are aware of this opportunity and are making it increasingly difficult to do so through the insistence on larger deposit sums. For savers, it also pays to shop around, as a number of new, foreign owned account providers will enter the market in 2009. This will make the market more competitive and there will be relatively good deals to be had by those prepared to do their research.

Caveat Emptor

As you may have noticed over the Christmas period, retailers are becoming increasingly desperate to try and attract what disposable income you have. This has led to a bewildering variety of cut-price deals in just about every sector in retailing, meaning that you will almost certainly purchase an item for less money in 2009 than you would have paid last year.

Whilst this is of course good news, be on your guard to ensure that you are not lulled by the cheapness into spending more than you can afford, on items that you don't actually need. 2009 will be all about holding onto money, and the clearance of any debts, so don't let those discount signs distract you.

The good news (finally)

Despite all the dire predictions for the first six months of 2009, even conservative experts are claiming that towards the end of the year we may be able to see signs of a recovery.
There is every indication that the recovery will be a long one, although at least the downward curves seen in so many financial charts these days will have bottomed out and will start to pick up again.

This means that many of the financial areas that have been devalued in recent months, from the strength of the pound, to savers rates, to house prices, will start to rise. The stock exchange itself is predicted to grow by at least 10% during 2009, providing a few interesting opportunities on cheap stock. If you play your financial cards right in 2009, you will escape the worst of it and may well set yourself up for a rewarding 2010.