It's getting round to that time of year again - the end of the tax year is fast approaching and it's time to get your ISA organised, so it's just a little bit scary how little people know about ISAs and what their allowance actually is.

The Co-operative Financial services found that 76% of the over 50s don't know how much their annual ISA allowance is, while Barclays found that 42% of consumers are unaware that the new ISA limits come into force on 6 April this year and of those NS&I surveyed, only 15% understood the new limits.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks have estimated that this ignorance, which has meant people aren't making the most of what they are entitled to, could collectively cost us as much as £13 billion in tax we didn't have to pay.

So, I think it's time to clear a few things up!

ISA savers who usually leave it until the last minute to invest in a tax-free savings account could be missing out this year.

With Good Friday falling on 2 April and Easter Monday on 5 April – the end of the financial year – savers with money still to invest must act more quickly than usual to ensure they take advantage of their full cash ISA or stocks and shares ISA allowance.

I was in a HSBC bank branch last week and frankly, it was an experience like none I've ever had before.

Rather than simply have a row of tellers sitting behind glass which you approach from the ranks of an orderly queue, the bank entrance is an open lobby with rows of cash machines and a staff of one helpful woman. If your needs are more complex than those dealt with by an ATM then she gives you a numbered ticket and you are sent off to what can only be described as a holding pen with the reassurance that your wait should only be "five to seven minutes".

Well, everyone knows that sort of guesswork is pure smoke but it sounds like they know what they are talking about. Anyway, back in the holding pen you wait until you are summoned by a bank employee, who in my case descended from above in a glass elevator. Very Willie Wonka.

He was perfectly helpful and we concluded our business but the whole thing was slightly bizarre. What's wrong with banks the way they were?

A recent debate on banking conducted by consumer organization Which? has revealed an almost total lack of trust in banks, with 96% of people agreeing the banks act more in their own interests than those of their customers.

One consumer summed up many people's views by saying: "Banks don't value customers. They view us as cash cows."

At the Big Banking Debate in London last week, many said the banks won't learn their lesson from the financial crisis, after benefiting from taxpayer-backed bailouts. People also slammed irresponsible lending, especially to those who are most vulnerable.

Not the kind of money news you were expecting? It's certainly not the kind of money news I thought I'd be writing about, but it's true, honest!

Urban music performer Tinchy Stryder has been at a school talking to children about investing wisely. The star has been encouraging kids in London to get into the saving habit as part of a new scheme contributed to by the government to start teaching personal finance in schools.

Believe it or not, the 22 year-old partly funded his first album from selling clothes, so is no stranger to the importance of saving.

If you are a parent-to-be, once the initial joy of having a baby has passed, you will probably start wondering how you're going to pay for it.

Amid all the excitement of pregnancy, it is easy to ignore the financial aspect of having a child. But don't leave your financial planning too late.

First babies are always more expensive than subsequent babies because you need to make big purchases like cots, high chairs and prams and may even have to find a new flat or change your car.

How do you make ends meet when your little bundle arrives? And how do you save money for your child later on?

Banks have been forced to come up with all sorts of new wheezes in the last couple of years. In an effort to balance the books a little more effectively, they have had to attract savings from customers before they are able to start lending money a bit more freely. It's a back-to-basics kind of approach: the sort of thing they used to have to do before they hit on the clever notion of inventing money.

However, with savings rates looking decidedly miserable, and everyone struggling to find cash to start a savings account or investment, they are having to be a bit clever about it.

So they have increasingly been bringing in products with strings attached. Santander will join the host of companies offering it next week. So what's the catch, and is it worth it?

For most people the idea of saving anything is enough to raise a wry smile. How are we supposed to be able to afford to put anything away when we are struggling with unemployment in the family, or pay freezes, and rising costs?

But however short of cash you are right now, there's a very good chance that at some point in the future you're going to hit an even rougher patch, and if you don't have any cash to fall back on, it could sink you.

There is always a way to cut back just a little on expenses, whether it's walking instead of taking the bus, or drinking tea rather than fizzy drinks. It may seem like penny pinching, but that's the whole point. Pinch less than £1 a day from your budget and after a year you could be sitting on savings of £350 or more.

Once you have the money, there's the whole question of what to do with it, but I was speaking to a bloke from HSBC the other week, and he told me of a great way to make things simple.

We're all guilty of it - thinking we'll get organised and give our finances an overhaul - and then putting it of for as long as humanly possible.

It's easy to get bills and leave them unopened and ominous - I do it all the time. I genuinely knuckled down yesterday though, opened all my bills and my bank statements and had a good sort out of my accounts. Nothing was as bad as I thought, and I honestly can't tell you what a relief it is to have done it - it's a weight off my mind.

So, if you're going to brave spring cleaning your finances, here's a bit of help to make it just that bit easier.

A new survey has revealed that there is strong demand to reform the banking system. The survey, commissioned by the Better Banking Campaign found that 70% of believed access to basic services is a right.

An unbelievable amount of people - between five and seven million - have no access to mainstream credit and nearly two million don't even have access to basic bank accounts.

So can the campaign really work, and what changes is it aiming to implement?