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Smart Consumer: Shopping around can keep rising insurance costs down

You'd probably guess that home insurance premiums have risen in the last year and you'd be right.

How to drive down the cost of your car insurance

If you think that the easiest and most effective way to reduce your car insurance premiums is to switch provider, you'd be right.

Shopping Around: Croissants

Flaky and buttery, a good croissant should be a very tasty treat. This week we put four own-brand croissants to the test and scored primarily on taste and consistency while giving a nod to nutritional values and price.

Don't let property management charges go through the roof

Do you live in an apartment block or housing estate that is managed by an agent? How much is your management fee each year? Is it too much?

I booked the wrong flights -- how can I get a refund?

Q: Sean writes that he "booked flights for my holiday the wrong way round in error."

Smart Comsumer: If someone phones to say your computer is broken, it's a scam

'Have you noticed your computer going slow?" the caller asked. Rae Teskey said she hadn't. Undeterred, the caller advised her that she had an error on her computer. "You need to fix it straight away or you'll lose everything," he cautioned.

Smart Consumer: Bargain hunters, get ready to scan and scram . . .

By John Costello

A shop-till-you-drop mentality will soon no longer be a requirement when it comes to bagging bargains galore in the winter sales.

Shopping Around: Quiche Lorraine

Shortcrust pastry, some bacon and plenty of egg and cheese; this week we tasted Quiche Lorraine. Only one of the five tasted, from Dunnes, is produced in Ireland. We scored on taste, nutritional values, ingredients and price.

New stove stopped money going up in smoke

"The heat was just going out of the chimney", recalls Mark Crowley, a farm manager from Waterford. "With a bag of coal costing us around €17, we needed to replace the open fire".

Put to the Test: Cereal bars

Some people like to have a box of cereal bars handy for those days when the alarm doesn't go off and there is no time for breakfast. But after tasting cereal bars this week, we were nearly in a sugar coma! These really are treats in our opinion, but then again each to their own. We scored on taste, ingredients, nutritional values and price.