Here's a question for you: is it better to fix the interest rate on your Mortgage or find the best rate on offer from easy-access accounts?

Naturally, the answer depends on your attitude to risk, your expectations of future interest rates and your intentions for your savings pot. For example, if you rely on your savings to supplement your income, perhaps because you're retired, then the security of a fixed rate of interest may be a vital piece in your financial jigsaw.

On the other hand, if you're simply aiming to earn a high rate of interest on your nest egg and you expect interest rates to rise over time, then you might choose to take a gamble and go for a variable rate which may go up. Note that your emergency fund (to cover life's little mishaps, usually three to twelve months' salary) should always be in a top easy-access account, because you must be able to dip into it at short notice.

Is this the right time to fix your mortgage?

when interest rates have risen? The cost of fixed-rate mortgages is based on "swap rates" - the interest rates at which banks loan money to each other.

These swap rates rise when banks are anticipating that the Bank of England will increase interest rates, and they fall when a cut in rates is predicted. Over the past few weeks, there has been a dramatic Increase in swap rates on the anticipation of inflation and that the next adjustment will be a move upwards.

This has meant that banks cannot secure funds at lower rates and are able to offer more keenly priced mortgage deals.

So is not the time to fix?

What can we do to save ourselves from the impact of inflation in the long term?

Here are few things we can do

1 Keep money in short term funds.

2 Watch interest and yield rates and lock them in when you're comfortable.

3 Invest in commodities.

4 Invest in gold.

5 Rework your debt.

6 Cut your spending even more.

7 Consider using inflation-indexed securities in your portfolio.

8 Own your own business.

9 Build or preserve your earning power.

10 Consider landlording.