Sales fever has hit the high street over the last week but as well as bargains on clothes and electronics, the new year can also be a good time to grab decent deals on your finances.

A number of banks and building societies have launched new rates on savings accounts, credit cards and mortgages. But these rarely come free of pitfalls, so it is worth paying attention to the small print.

Barclays tops the polls for one of the best interest rates on a savings account with its new regular saver paying out 12.5 per cent gross. The rate has been increased by 25 per cent from the start of this month until the end of February. It is fixed for 12 months and applies exclusively to regular deposits of between £25 and £250 per month.

If you pay in the maximum monthly contribution of £250, you would receive £203.94 gross at the end of the year term, or £163.15 if you are a basic rate taxpayer and £122.36 for higher rate taxpayers. If you paid in £150 monthly, you would receive around £122 in gross interest.

To qualify for this account, you must already have a Barclays current account that you pay at least £1,000 into each month. Another downside is that you cannot make any withdrawals during the year. If you withdraw money or miss a payment you will lose the 12.5 per cent rate for the entire year, and instead receive the less attractive Barclays Easy Saver account rate of just 3.46 per cent.

Money market funds are diversified portfolios that are composed of short-term securities of creditworthy corporations, banks and other financial institutions, and federal, state, and local governments. U.S. Treasury bills and bank certificates of deposit, for example, are common holdings of money market funds.

There are two distinct categories of money market funds. So-called taxable money market funds pay dividends that are subject to federal, and possibly state and local, income taxes. Taxable money market funds include:

* U.S. Treasury Funds invest primarily in direct U.S. Treasury obligations whose principal and interest payments are backed by the "full faith and credit" of the U.S. government.
* U.S. Government Funds hold high-quality obligations of the U.S. Treasury as well as agencies of the U.S. government.
* General Purpose Funds invest in the short-term debt of large, high-quality corporations and banks.

The second category of money market funds is known as tax-exempt or municipal money market funds. Tax-exempt funds invest in short-term securities of state and local government agencies, and provide dividend income that is tax-free.

There are two basic types:

* National Tax-exempt Funds invest in municipal obligations issued by state and local governments around the country. Such funds provide income that is free of federal income taxes.
* Single State Tax-Exempt Funds hold municipal obligations issued by state and local governments of a particular state. Such funds provide income that is free of federal as well as state and local taxes.