MSE's weekly round-up

MSE's Money Tips email: Cut Council Tax costs, dine out for a discount, claim £25 cold winter payment? & more

Some highlights from this week's email include...

• Can you shave £1,000s off your Council Tax bill? From checking your tax band to seeing whether you qualify for discounts, there are plenty of ways to cut Council Tax costs.
  
  

• Eat out for up to 50% less this January. Restaurants including Pizza Express, Harvester and Zizzi are offering big discounts during the January retail slowdown.
  
  

• Check whether you're due a £25 cold weather payment. More than 650,000 households across the UK (excluding Scotland) are eligible to claim a payment as temperatures plummet.

READ THE FULL WEEKLY EMAIL 

Key MSE News: How Nationwide customers can boost their chances of a free £100

• In each of the past three years, Nationwide has given select customers a £100 'Fairer Share' bonus.
  
  

• Our news story explains how Nationwide customers can boost their chances of receiving the bonus, based on last year's criteria.
  
  

• The Fairer Share bonus isn't guaranteed for 2026, with Nationwide likely to confirm in May.

READ THE FULL NATIONWIDE FAIRER SHARE STORY

Hot deal: Nourish to flourish with 60% off organic fruit and veg boxes

• Starting 2026 with a health kick? This MSE Blagged deal gets you 60% off your first two fruit and/or veg boxes from organic online grocer Abel & Cole. If you then subscribe, you can grab 50% off your third and fourth boxes.
  
  

• You need to enter code ACMSEJAN26 at the checkout by 11.59pm on Friday 30 January.
  
  

• It's only open to new customers, or those who haven't ordered in the last six weeks.

SEE THE FULL FRUIT & VEG BOX DEAL

What's new on MSE: Lost power to your home? Here's what to do

• With power cut warnings issued as winter storms batter the nation, our new power cut guide can shed light on just what to do...
  
  

• Arm yourself with the knowledge of what steps to take and who you can contact for help.
  
  

• We detail power cut preparation and also the compensation you may be due.
  
  

READ THE FULL POWER CUT GUIDE

The latest from Martin Lewis: Martin answers: 'Should I fix my energy tariff, even if prices are dropping?'

• MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis tackled this query in the latest The Martin Lewis Money Show episode.
  
  

• See Martin answer and explain in detail why fixing now is likely to be better than waiting.
  
  

• He describes how the Budget's '£150 off energy bills' in April should make those savings even greater.
  
  

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

And finally, from our social channels: Stay safe as scammers ramp up student finance swindling

Are you a student? If so, be extra vigilant as criminals are exploiting the January student finance payment window to ramp up scam attempts.

They claim to be from legit organisations using texts, emails and phone calls, and try to trick you into sharing personal info and/or bank details.

So, watch out for suspicious-looking messages and NEVER share info with someone you don't recognise.

SEE OUR 30+ TIPS ON SPOTTING SCAMS