You could be forgiven for forgetting all about the saving habit this year. With interest rates still languishing at 0.5%, millions of savers are earning next to nothing on their cash.
Bad news is also in store for hundreds of thousands of people who took out fixed-rate bonds paying around 7% 12 months ago.
Now, as these deals expire, rates are about to come down with a bump. Bradford & Bingley's High Life 2-in-1 bond, for example, was paying 8% last summer but this will drop to only 0.1% at maturity if you fail to move to a better-paying account. For someone with £10,000 of savings, that would mean their annual interest falling from £800 to just £10.
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In the second of a 10-part series, we look at how you can maximise your returns in this low-rate environment.
1 Loyalty doesn't pay
The average instant-access account was paying just 0.15% at the end of April. David Black of Defaqto, the financial analysis firm, said the best deals have big introductory bonuses, so you should make sure to move your money when the bonus period ends.
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ING Direct's Savings Account, for example, pays 2.75% on deposits of £1 or more. This includes a 2.22% introductory bonus payable for one year.
Beware accounts that limit the number of withdrawals you can make. For example, Citibank's Reward Saver (issue 2) pays 2.00% - which includes a nine-month introductory bonus - but customers do not receive interest during any month in which they withdraw money.
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2 To fix or not to fix
Most banks and building societies write to customers when their fixed-rate deal ends but there is no requirement for them to do so under the banking code, which means that your money could be stuck in a poor-paying account without you realising it.
The best fixed-rate bonds now pay around 4% - half their levels a year ago but are still better than moving into a "rollover" account. ICICI's Hisave two-year deposit pays 4.35% on a minimum £1,000 deposit, for example. Someone with a £10,000 balance would earn £840 more in gross interest than if they left the money in an account paying the average rate of 0.15%.
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For people with large savings, Abbey has a one-year bond offering 3.75% on a minimum investment of £25,000.
Even though experts are forecasting interest-rate rises, it could be 12 months before Bank rate picks up - and even then it will take a while for rates on instantaccess accounts to catch up.
Kevin Mountford of Moneysupermarket, the price-comparison site, advises savers to pick bonds that tie you in for a maximum of two years.
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"By summer 2011 the likelihood is that market conditions will have improved and there should be some good deals available," he said.
3 Monthly interest
Choosing to draw monthly interest on a fixed-term bond means you get a slightly lower rate but there are still some competitive offers. Nationwide's monthly interest one-year e-bond offers a guaranteed 2.99% on deposits between £10,000 and £25,000, and 3.09% on those between £25,000 and £50,000.
4 Safety
The golden rule is to put no more than £50,000 - or £100,000 for a joint account - into any one brand. This is the limit protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and covers interest as well as the original investment.
This is particularly tricky with the current wave of mergers in the buildingsociety sector, despite the fact that the Financial Services Authority, the City watchdog, has said that merging societies can keep separate compensation limits. Suppose you took out an 18-month bond at 3.72% from Cheshire building society, which is owned by Nationwide. If the latter subsequently took over West Bromwich, in which you also had savings, deposits up to £50,000 in each society would be protected.
If you took out the Cheshire bond after the merger, however - without realising it was owned by Nationwide - you would not get dual protection.
5 Regular savings
If you are an HSBC Premier, Plus or Passport account holder, you are eligible to open HSBC's Regular Saver, which pays 10% fixed for a year if you invest £25 to £250 each month.
Suppose you invested £250 a month. If you are a higher-rate taxpayer you would earn £97.50 interest in a year.
Investing a lump sum of £3,000 in ING Direct's cash Isa at 3% would leave you with approximately £30 less in annual interest. This may not sound like much, but these days every little helps.