Dear listener,

Has a major announcement on extending tax-free savings through ISAs turned into a bit of a damp squib? Treasury Minister Ed Balls says it's all great news. But I press him to tell us just how much we WILL be able to save tax-free in an ISA?

Bankruptcies up, home repossessions up, and interest rates may well go up soon. Mortgage and debt experts tell us how to avoid overstretching yourself and where the best deals are. And one bank tells us why borrowing five times your salary can be a responsible thing to do.

A new sort of card allows people to spend with plastic without borrowing - or even having a bank account. But spending your own money can come at a high price. Are pre-paid Visa and Mastercards good value for money?

It should be safer for the over 60s to sell part of their home to raise cash when new regulations come into force in April. But a consumer group warns that the Treasury has not gone far enough. We ask its chairman what the gaps are.

Last week we asked your views on how to make cash machines more secure after we revealed that only one in four of the high street machines were protected against thieves armed with hi-tech devices that steal our data and then our cash. This week I put your ideas to the industry.

More on all those stories on Money Box - Saturday at noon, Sunday at 9pm and on the web any time - and there's more information on our website about these items now.

Best wishes,

Paul Lewis

PS Don't forget if you missed last week's programme you can still hear all the items or read the transcript on our website, where you can also have your say on money issues and do lots of other interesting things. http://www.bbc.co.uk/moneybox

e-mail Paul Lewis