Many shops try to scare us into buying pricey warranties for virtually all electrical goods, yet many are a complete waste of money. However, if you want peace of mind, there is a way to get them far cheaper than accepting retailers' jumped-up policies.

Use a special credit card to pay for your electrical purchase that gives you a year's additional warranty on top of when the one-year manufacturer's one ends. But make sure you repay the card in full each month so there is no interest.

The top-pick card offering this is Nationwide's Gold card (16.9 per cent APR if you do not repay it in full). This also gives you cheap overseas spending in Europe.

Other cards offering this warranty extra are Ulster Bank's Gold card (16.9 per cent APR) and Egg Money (18.6 per cent APR). For more info, see www.moneysavingexpert.com/warranties