MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

12 Christmas MoneySaving crackers...
A selection box of things to do over the next week to save you cash
Quickly cut energy bills by 15% with new cheapest fix | Free £25 Amazon just by opening (not switching) a bank account | Big Christmas sales, including Boots, BA, M&S & more | New. Shift debt to 0% for 36mths and get £25 on top | When will mortgage rates drop? | And far more...

Christmas week has just begun, and focus is being drawn into last-minute wrapping, festive feast prep and how to entertain the kids or grandkids. So we're keeping this email short, sweet and early (sending on a Monday, not our usual Tuesday night), with just a few things you can do to save money (and have fun) over the next few days... 

1. Track Santa as he delivers presents on Christmas Eve. A free way to sprinkle a little festive magic. Peek online or download a free app to track Santa.
   
   
2. New. Cheapest energy fix - lock in for over 15% less than the Price Cap. This Fuse Energy 1yr fix is the new cheapest fix at an average 15.2% cheaper than the current Price Cap. And as the Cap will rise on 1 Jan, the saving's even bigger compared to that. Fuse is a new-ish small challenger supplier, but we've had strong customer service feedback on it. As always, whether it's your cheapest depends on where you live & your usage, so the link goes via our full Cheap Energy Club comparison (in the tariff, click 'more' to see full unit rate & Standing Charges for your region). 1 April changes: Fuse has confirmed it WILL cut the price of this fix on 1 April, in line with the shift in govt policy. See which suppliers will pass on the 1 April Budget energy cuts to those on fixes. 
   
   
3. UK base rate cut... when will mortgage rates fall? The Bank of England cut the UK base rate from 4% to 3.75% last Thursday. If you're on a tracker rate mortgage, you should see the same fall. Those on variable and standard variable rate mortgages should see a similar fall, but it's not guaranteed. See our Lender-by-lender mortgage rate cuts: How much and when? news story. Those on fixed rate mortgages are unaffected, until your fix ends, that is, when you'll be moved onto the standard variable rate. PS: Also see what the rate cut means for savers, credit cards and loans.
   
   
4. New. Free £25 Amazon voucher just for opening a TSB account. Open a new TSB Spend & Save* account via this special link and, even if you don't switch to it, you'll get an email to claim a £25 Amazon voucher within 90 days (check your spam folder). And that is that. However, if you choose to use it, you can earn £5/mth for 6mths if you make 20+ monthly payments on its debit card. The account also gives access to a 5% regular saver letting you save up to £250/mth for a year. More info in our TSB Spend & Save review. Credit score impact: This will add an application to your credit file, which can have a minor short-term impact, so don't do it if you're imminently about to apply for important credit, such as a mortgage. Related: Get up to £200 to switch bank. 
   
   
5. Important. Please add us to Google's 'Preferred Sources' so you still see MoneySavingExpert high in search results. Google now lets you choose preferred sites for news results, please click its special Source Preferences link, and ensure the MSE box is ticked.
   
   
6. 35% off Oxfam Unwrapped charity Xmas gifts, eg, 'Safe Education for Girls' gift card £13 (normally £20). Make a donation in someone's name. See this plus many more ways to do good at Xmas. PS: To say thank you to our users, MSE will be supporting a good cause on your behalf.
   
   
7. New. Festive credit card debt piling up? Shift it to 36mths INTEREST-FREE + get £25 cashback. A 0% balance transfer is where you get a new card that pays off debts on existing cards for you, so you owe it instead but interest-free for a set time. The new longest is now Barclaycard's 36mth 0% (3.45% fee) - the longest 0% deal since 2018 and, crucially, everyone accepted gets the full 0% length. Transfer £2,500+ within 60 days and you'll also get £25 cashback (which helps cover some of the one-off fee), plus 12mths of Apple TV. Full info & more options in Top balance transfers. Golden rules: Repay at least the monthly minimum & clear the card before the 0% ends, or it jumps to 24.9% rep APR interest.
   
   
8. Why, weirdly, you should open Christmas gifts before you give them this year! Watch Martin's YouTube Xmas gifts warning video explainer & do also subscribe to Martin's YouTube channel. This was part of his main podcast:
   
   

   New Martin pod. It's Love Actuarially! Base interest rate cut help. And will you get £150 off energy bills? Plus, your random acts of financial kindness. All in Martin's main podcast this week. Listen via BBC Sounds | Apple | Spotify etc. Question Time 'Successes Special'. Council tax £6,000 refund! £700 saved ditching O2! A warranty schmarranty winner! In a special 'Success Time' edition of Martin's Question Time podcast, this week it's all about listeners who've saved - they talk you through what they've done and Martin explains what you can do too. Including multi-bank switching successes, getting Apple to overturn its decision not to replace a faulty iPhone, and a £100,000 win. Listen via BBC Sounds | Apple | Spotify etc.

   
   

9. When will the big Christmas sales start at Amazon, Boots, M&S, John Lewis & more? See our Christmas Deals Predictor. Plus, sales already on from Asos | Asda George | British Airways | H&M | Ikea | The Entertainer.
   
   
10. Did you buy a car on PCP or HP finance between 2007 and 2024? Use our free tool to see if you've a complaint. Check if you're likely affected and are due a share of around £8 billion compensation. Get your complaint in now (if you haven't already) so when the redress scheme launches next year, you'll likely be part of the 'opt out' group - meaning it'll be done automatically and faster. Full info in Car finance reclaim.
    
    
11. Free Christmas cheques. Simply print one out and pledge to do something nice. It could be babysitting for a friend, breakfast in bed, or a promise of a massage. Free printable Christmas gift cheques.
    
    
12. Do you play the 'put all fines in Free Parking' rule at Monopoly? If so, that's inflationary - it puts too much money in circulation and will massively extend how long the game will take. If you want quicker games, avoid this. That's just the start of Martin's Monopoly hacks, Scrabble strategies, Connect 4 cheats & backgammon bootcamp - watch Martin Lewis: How to Win at Board Games! from 2024, which is still on ITVX.

PS: A final thought from Martin... "Like millions, I'm taking a break from work over the festive period. So while I started this email off, I've left the rest, like all the emails you'll get until 2026, in the overly-capable hands of the MSE team. More importantly though on behalf of the team and I...

"We'd like to wish all who celebrate a joyous, peaceful and warm-hearted Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you for your continued support. To those working this Christmas so the rest of us don't have to... thank you. And most importantly, for those who find this time of year difficult, grief-filled, or lonely, we wish you easy passage through it, with more smiles than you expect."