Financial advisers are expecting to be overwhelmed with debt concerns as households struggle to pay higher water and power bills this year, the Herald Sun has said.

The newspaper reported the finding after revealing that about 350,000 Victorians currently have blacklisted credit reports for failing to pay utility bills, skipping loan repayments or declaring bankruptcy.

In addition, it noted that securing credit will become even more difficult once the federal government passes plans to give banks and finance companies more access to personal details such as every credit card, home and personal loan repayment made over two years.

Carolyn Bond, chief of the Consumer Action Law Centre, said that the changes would exacerbate debt problems.

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Aussies spent a record $22 billion on credit and charge cards in December last year while card repayments also rose during the month.

Reserve Bank figures show that the total value of credit and charge card transactions rose by ten per cent in December, the Australian Associated Press reported.

CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian suggested that the high spending proved that Australian consumers were feeling more confident about using their credit cards.

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Grocery shoppers will be able to quickly compare prices after Woolworths put the cost of 5,000 items online.

The move will allow customers to search for the best deals by flicking between the Woolworths website and Aldi website, which also features the prices of certain famous brands, the Daily Telegraph reported.

However, the newspaper said that Australia still falls behind other countries like the UK where customers can enter their entire shopping list into a single site, which then calculates where the basket is cheapest.

Christopher Zinn, a spokesman for the consumer advocacy group Choice, said: “It’s a start, we’ve got to hand them that. But

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ATM alerts that warn customers about the fees incurred for withdrawing cash have helped to save Australians $125 million, it has been revealed.

Research by the Daily Telegraph found that since March last year, when all ATM owners were officially obliged to reveal fees before transactions, consumers made 280 million withdrawals during the rest of the year compared to 342.2 million during the same period in 2008.

People are usually charged $2 for taking money from an ATM that is not owned by their bank.

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A growing number of Aussies are abandoning their big weekly shop in favour of topping up grocery supplies when they need to, it has been revealed.

Research by the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) revealed that instead of bulk shopping, customers are now buying smaller amounts of goods several times a week, the Daily Telegraph reported.

In addition, the AACS noted that people are feeling more confident about their shopping power, with convenience stores and petrol stations experiencing 8 per cent sales growth in the past 12 months.

The news may serve as further encouragement to Australians who decide to compare credit cards. Last week, the Australian Associated Press reported that Aussies spent a record $22 billion on credit and charge cards in December last year while card repayments also rose during the month.

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