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Want to save more in 2010? Here are the best ways to squirrel that cash away...

The New Year usually leaves people in one of two financial boxes. Either wincing while opening those credit card statements, or resolving to save more over the year ahead.

If you're lucky enough to find yourself in the latter category, here are a few tips to kick start your savings habits well into 2010.

Festive savers

If you're already thinking ahead to next Christmas, but are worried that you won't be able to afford it, a few providers offer specially tailored Christmas savings accounts designed for this purpose.

These accounts provide better value than traditional Christmas club schemes, more peace of mind that your money is secure (need I mention Farepak), and complete freedom over the presents you choose.

Chorley and District Building Society is the current market leader, and pays 5% on its Santa Saver account.

You can save anything from £1 to £150 a month, and whatever you've saved, plus interest is paid back to you on 26th November, just in time for Christmas.

You can even make up the money for any months you may have missed prior to opening the account.

Many of you won't have heard of this building society minnow, and if you don't fancy stashing your cash with the Chorley, then Skipton Building Society also offers a Christmas saver that pays 3.2% on payments from £10 to £250 per month.

Regular savers

An alternative to the Christmas saver is a regular saver.

You may be too late to save for next Christmas, but if you want to get into the habit of putting something away each month over a one year term, then a regular savings account may be right for you.

The top account at the moment is the Norwich and Peterborough Family Regular Saver, which pays 5%. You can choose to save from £1 to £250 each month, and can even dip into your savings once during the year without penalty, although you need to have dependent children in order to open one.

If you have more to save, you could opt for the Principality Building Society, which pays 4.5% on amounts from £20 to £500 per month.

For something a bit more mainstream, the Barclays Monthly Savings Account pays 4.25% on amounts from £20 to £250, and unlike the Principality account, you can miss payments without penalty.

Old habits...

Many lovemoney.com readers have criticised the value of regular savings in the past. Some complain that a lot of money goes into these accounts for relatively little interest back.

Personally, I think they are an excellent way of getting into the habit of saving, and you can easily build up a handsome amount without realising the money is coming out of your account each month.

But for traditionalists, there are still a wide range of easy access accounts available.

While the rates may not seem high, remember that the Base Rate is at a record low of 0.5% - so returns of over 3% are actually pretty darn good.

However, these accounts rarely do what they say on the tin, and you often have to do a better job than Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes to decipher what exactly 'easy access' means to different providers.

Zooming its way to the top is the AA's Internet Extra Issue 1 account, which pays a rate of 3.15% AER (3.3% if you save £50,000 or more). However, both the AA account, and the Birmingham Midshires Telephone Extra account which also pays 3.15%, include bonuses of 2.8% and 2.65% respectively.

If you open either of these accounts, put a note in your diary to move your money when the bonus expires, or the interest rate you'll get will quickly tumble.

Alternatively, if you have at least £25,000 to save, and are willing to give three months notice on any withdrawals, the Investec High 5 account tracks the five highest-paying savings accounts according to Moneyfacts, and pays you the average of these rates on your account.

The rate is updated weekly, and currently stands at 3.32%, so you can always guarantee that your money will always be working hard for you, no bonuses attached. You can find out more about the Investec High 5 account by watching our video.

Compare savings accounts at lovemoney.com

More: Your 2010 survival guide / Achieve your money resolutions in 12 steps