Accommodation
This is where you live. It includes where you live with your parents, a hostel, somewhere you rent, or a home you are buying on a mortgage.

Accounts
If a bank or building society holds money for you, it holds it in an account. A current account is an everyday account, which you use to pay money in or take money out. It helps you to budget and manage your money and pay for things in a convenient and secure way. A deposit account is for savings.

Accurate figure
If you believe an estimate on your electricity or gas bill is wrong, you can ask the company to send someone round to read the meter. This means they will have an accurate figure of the power you have used. They can even show you how to read the meter yourself, so you can phone up and give them an accurate reading in the future.

AER
This stands for 'annual equivalent rate'. It shows what the interest rate would be if the interest on savings was paid just once a year. Actually interest is paid more often, such as four times a year. You can use the AER to compare the interest rates of different accounts directly with each other. The higher the AER, the more interest you will get on your savings. If you borrow money, the AER will show you how much interest you will pay. The lower the AER, the less interest you will pay.

After tax
This is what you are left with after you have paid tax. You must pay tax on most types of income (such as interest from savings, earnings from your job and pensions), but everyone can earn some money before they have to pay tax. In 2007 to 2008, you can earn £5225 before you start to pay income tax. If you are 65 or over, this rises to £7550. Some older people may get a higher allowance.

All risks
An all-risks insurance policy will cover extra risks such as the loss of or damage to possessions which you have taken outside your home.

APR
This stands for 'annual percentage rate'. This tells you the cost of a loan as a yearly interest rate. It includes the interest and any other charges. You can use this to easily compare the cost of one loan with another. For example, a loan with an APR of 15% is more expensive than one with an APR of 11%.

ATM
ATM stands for 'automated teller machine'. These are also known as 'cash machines'. You can find them in many places including banks, shopping centres and railway stations. You can use them to get money out of your account. You need a cash withdrawal card and a personal identification number (PIN) before you can use an ATM.

Available credit
This is the amount of money you can borrow on a store card or credit card. It is your credit limit less the amount you have already borrowed.

 

B

Balance brought forward
This appears at the beginning of a bank or credit card statement. It shows the amount of money you had in your account, or you owed, at the end of your last statement.

Bank
This is an organisation that makes money by providing a range of financial services, such as current and deposit accounts.

Bank loan
This is money you borrow money from your bank. You pay interest on the loan - the amount you pay is agreed when you take the loan out.

Basic bank account
You get a basic bank account from a bank or building society. You can use it to pay in money, get cash out and pay bills. It does not let you spend more than you have in your account, so you cannot go overdrawn and run up overdraft charges.

Birth certificate
All children born in the United Kingdom are registered on the Government's National Register of Births and Deaths, and issued with an official birth certificate. It is an important record of your identity. If you lose your birth certificate or if it stolen, report it to the police and go to your nearest register office to apply for a new one.

Borrowing
If you borrow money, you intend to pay it back. You might borrow informally from friends and family or take out a formal loan from a bank, for example, with a written agreement.

Bounced cheque
If someone writes a cheque but there isn't enough money in their account to pay it, the bank will refuse to pay it and 'bounce' the cheque. The bank usually sends the cheque back to the person it was written out to (the payee) with 'return to drawer' stamped on it. If this happens to you, you should ask the person who wrote the cheque to give you cash instead.

Buffer zone
Some bank or building society accounts have a 'buffer zone'. This is a free temporary overdraft so you can take money out up to a fixed amount, even if you don't have the money in your account. You will not be charged for being very slightly overdrawn on this basis, as long as you don't go beyond the agreed amount.

Building society
These offer a range of financial services and are similar to banks. Their main role is to provide mortgages.

Buildings insurance
This type of insurance pays out if the structure (the actual building) of your home is damaged. For example, it may cover you if tiles fall off your roof during a storm, or if your house is damaged by fire.

C

Calendar month
These are the months as shown on the calendar. The number of days can be as low as 28 (February) and up to 31 (such as March).

Capital
Your capital is the amount of money you have saved or invested.

Cash
Cash is actual money - coins and notes. Cash is the simplest way of buying something. It is not a good idea to send cash payments through the post, but you can pay bills such as gas and electricity in cash at post offices and banks.

Cashcards
Cashcards, or cashpoint cards, are the simplest type of account cards. You can usually only use them at cash machines (with a personal identification number, or PIN) to withdraw cash, check your balance or print out a mini statement.

Cash flow forecast
This is a forecast of how money will flow into and out of a business. It is usually split into months.

Cash inflow
If you run a business, the cash inflow is the money you receive through your business. If the money you receive is more than the money you have to pay out, you have a 'net cash inflow'.

Cash outflow
If you run a business, the cash outflow is the payments out of your business. If the money you receive is less than the money you have to pay out, you have a 'net cash outflow'.

Cashflow
This is a record of all the money coming into and going out of a business over a period of time.

Catalogue
Goods for sale are shown in a catalogue. You can buy them on credit and pay in weekly or monthly instalments. The goods will usually be delivered by post. The price of the goods in the catalogue may be more than the price in a shop.

Charges
These are the fees and interest that you have to pay when you borrow money or buy on credit, for example.

Cheque
A cheque is a written instruction to a bank. If you have your own cheque book with your current account, you can use cheques to pay money to other people or to get money for yourself out of your account.

Cheque guarantee card
This is a plastic card issued by a bank or building society to guarantee that the amount of money on any cheque you write (up to a certain amount) will be paid, whether or not there is enough money in your account.

Civil partner
A civil partner is someone who has entered into a formal arrangement (known as a civil partnership) with a same-sex partner so they have the same legal status as a married couple.

Clearing
This is the time it takes for a bank to transfer money from one account to another. This is why you usually have to wait a few days before you can take out the money from your account from a cheque you have paid in.

Compound interest
Interest is the amount of money you pay for borrowing money. When you have to pay compound interest, the interest due is added to the amount you owe so you have to pay interest on this as well. This means the amount you owe can increase dramatically in a short time. Compound interest can also apply to the amount paid on your savings in a bank or building society.

Comprehensive car insurance
Comprehensive car insurance covers you for accidental damage to your own car as well as any injury you cause to another person or damage you do to another car. It also covers you if your car is stolen or damaged by fire. It is more expensive than third-party insurance.

Consumer
A consumer is someone who buys goods or services for their own use. So, when you buy groceries or take out an insurance policy, you are a consumer.

Contents insurance
Contents insurance covers the possessions you keep in your home. Some policies will let you replace damaged items with new ones. The amount y