Team Blog

It's that time when we pick through the remnants of the chocolate selection box and gaze back wistfully on another year in the MSE Forum. Reminisce with us over the funniest, wisest and most popular discussions of 2021.

Online reviews have changed the face of shopping and travel. Whether you're after headphones, an inflatable flamingo, or a honeymoon hotel, it's possible to instantly mine the online opinions of swathes of people. But can you trust everything you read?

Many schools are off from the end of this week for half-term, and if things seem a little strange, it's not just because Halloween falls next week too. Even if you're not comfortable going out and about during half-term, there's still plenty of fun to be had at home for Halloween.

Switching bank – Martin's been telling you to do it since the heady days of 2003 when Spirit in the Sky by Gareth Gates and The Kumars reached number one and national newspapers regularly reported when David Beckham changed his hair. Yet our most-recent poll of MoneySavers found one in three have NEVER switched their main bank account. Outrageous.

There's been a bumper crop of donations to charity shops this summer, thanks to people's lockdown clear-outs. Charities want you to take advantage, so we've rounded up our top tricks and tips to help you find the best items – including where to head for designer clobber, spotting sales and buying online.

I've been digging about in pots of dirt for a few years, and I want to share with you my 'greenprint' in the form of top MoneySaving tips to grow your indoor garden from one plant into a hundred. With this as inspiration, plus sun, water and a bit of your own trial and error, your ceiling's the limit.

I wrote this round-up in March last year, at the start of the first national lockdown. But with each part of the UK now back in some form of lockdown, and many of us struggling to keep ourselves entertained, it feels like a good time to remind you of some of the best free games you can download for an iOS or an Android device.

Salons and barbers are once again temporarily closed across the UK due to lockdown restrictions. If you're in need of a haircut you might be tempted to take matters, and the scissors or clippers, into your own less-than-qualified hands – so this blog is here to offer some dos and don'ts from the MSE team and fellow MoneySavers who've tried it, plus a few video tutorials from the pros.

As getting together with overseas relatives looks unlikely this year sadly, many will be posting treats instead. Whether you want to send make-up to Melbourne, a wetsuit to Warsaw or a toy T-Rex to Texas, the obvious answer's to scurry to the post office – but the cost can add up, especially for heavier parcels.

Face coverings are now mandatory on public transport in the UK, as well as in shops, so sewing your own could save you money. I'm going to show you two ways to make masks, or alternatively where to buy the cheapest ready-made versions.