Warning: Your broadband cost is likely to rise 8% in April
Yet many can LOCK IN fast fibre for '£18/mth' now

Outrageously, broadband providers are allowed to add above-inflation price rises mid-contract (we're campaigning to change that), meaning millions will see their bills increase near April's start. Our firm-by-firm rises list goes through it in detail, but here are the typical rises from the main providers:

BT, EE & Plusnet 7.9% from 31 March | Sky avg 6.7% from 1 April | TalkTalk 7.7% from 1 April | Virgin Media 8.8% from 1 April | Vodafone 7.9% from 1 April | Shell Energy 6% from 1 April

So if you pay £40 now, you'll pay roughly £43 from April. Yet seven million households are currently out of contract. You don't have to put up with hikes, and can switch providers without penalty. Many can halve prices and double speeds, taking advantage of short-lived promo deals via comparison sites (these links take you to ours), not direct.

• Don't want to switch? Haggle. If you're out of contract and free to move, you're in a powerful position to haggle. In our December poll, the vast majority of those who'd haggled with the big broadband firms were successful. Use the deals above as a benchmark to help you get your costs down. Not sure how? Read full Broadband haggling tips.
  
  
• Slow broadband? Test your speed - is it the Wi-Fi or the connection? Do a broadband speed check - first when using Wi-Fi, then by plugging your device into the router (if you can). If Wi-Fi's a lot slower, try our eight speed-boosters.
  
  
• At least 50% of customers must get the advertised speeds at peak times. The providers above also tell you the estimated max speed you're likely to get before you sign up.
  
  
• Switching usually only means about two hours' downtime. You're told the switch time, and most don't need an engineer to set it up - though some moving to or from Virgin may (you're told before applying).
  
  
• Members of cashback sites can sometimes undercut deals. In some cases, the cashback can mean these sites undercut promos elsewhere, though sometimes the deal differs - so check carefully. More in Top cashback sites.

The fight to be top for OVERSEAS SPENDING hots up
New. Halifax Clarity: Perfect rates & pays you £20 
VERSUS Chase: Easy to get, perfect rates & 1% cashback

If you're going abroad, whether speedily sorting for Easter, good early prep for summer, or owt else, be careful - DON'T PAY TO PAY. Whether it's bureaux de change or just using your usual plastic, there are lots of hidden costs. Yet thankfully there's a host of specialist cards for using abroad which give you near-perfect, bureau-beating exchange rates EVERY TIME YOU TRAVEL (so sort now then you needn't do it again), and the competition has just heated up. PS: If you prefer cash, say for budgeting, that's fine - just ensure you do a speedy travel cash comparison to get the best rates.

• How specialist overseas spending cards work. Spend on plastic abroad, and the card firms get a near-perfect exchange rate on the day, but most charge a 3%-ish 'non-sterling exchange fee' on top. So spend £100 worth of euros and it costs you £103 - and there can be more fees with some too. The specialist cards don't do this, so you get just the same top exchange rate the bank does, and the £100 costs you £100 (or arguably, with some, less)...

• Which is the winning card? Er... it depends. It's a fine call, and all are good, but if you want the analysis...
  - The new Halifax cashback is simple, and only takes a banana-swipe to get the £20 (ie, use it to buy a banana at a supermarket). Yet not everyone will be accepted for it.
  - Chase is easy to get, though to beat the Halifax £20 you'd need to spend £2,000+ at home & abroad (over more than one month as it's max £15/mth). But that's not a lot, as Chase is the best flat-rate UK cashback card.
  - With the credit cards, you use them and are billed later (only do this if you'd pay them off IN FULL). Whereas Chase is a debit card (if it's not your main account, just add cash from your main account).
  - The cashback makes Halifax the winning credit card for many. But Barclaycard wins for big spenders who withdraw cash.
  - As credit cards, Halifax & Barclaycard have a secret purchase-protection superpower. Buy something costing £100.01 to £30,000 and pay for any of it (even 1p) using one of them, and Section 75 laws mean your card provider's jointly liable with the retailer, so you can go to it direct if things go wrong while spending abroad (or anywhere for that matter). As a debit card, Chase only gives you the lesser, though still useful, chargeback protection.
  
  
• There are other specialist cards too, but whether it's worth switching is questionable. If you've already got a specialist debit or credit card (eg, First Direct, Starling, Santander 123/World, the NatWest Credit Card, Virgin Money's Travel Card), the above do beat them (generally due to the cashback), but it's marginal so most needn't bother switching.
  
  
• Always pay in local currency, not pounds. With these cards, you only get the special rate if the card does the conversion. So if overseas ATMs / shops ask, 'Do you want to convert to pounds?', say no. See Martin's Pay in euros blog.
  
  
• To lock in a rate, get a top prepaid travel card. The cards above give you the top exchange rates on the day you spend. Specialist prepaid cards let you load on to them in advance, and choose the day the currency's converted. So you're taking a punt on how you think rates will move. App-only Revolut* costs £4.99 (for the physical card, the digital one's free) and gives the perfect interbank rate midweek on up to £1,000 exchanged per 30-day period. Exchange more than this, or at weekends, and there's a 1% fee. Plus you can only do £200/mth of fee-free ATM withdrawals (max 5 withdrawals a month). Revolut won't credit-check you, but you'll be ID-checked. Our full review and more options are in Prepaid travel cards.