Money

I usually write blogs as the 'MoneySavingIdiot', chronicling my attempts to practise what we preach at MSE (the last one was on switching bank accounts). But as this is a more personal blog, written ahead of World Mental Health Day, I thought it would be better coming from MSE Kelvin. So, here's my tale of my own mental health struggles and how I've battled credit card debt...

However you keep yourself organised – be it a detailed Filofax, kitchen calendar, mobile reminders or a pile of post-its – here are key dates for the year ahead that you can't afford to miss.  

The MSE Forum is a one-of-a-kind place, and a big part of what makes our community so special is the way MoneySavers encourage one another by joining challenges. These quests range from ways to meet your savings goals to ideas for setting budgets so that you can trim your spending.

If the past couple of years involved less international travel and more home decluttering, then like me, you may have found a veritable treasure trove of random coins and notes from countries you're not sure you ever visited, or even still exist (and even if the country still does, the currency may not!). In this blog, I'll show you how I easily turned mine into spendable cash and how you can too.

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.

Every week it’s the same old, same old. First, a reader expresses shock (and even disgust) at the size of their insurance renewal quote. It sparks an angry phone call to an indifferent insurer which in turn triggers an urgent visit to a price comparison site. Big savings then emerge (£100s and even £1,000s) – often with...

Virgin Money has reissued its one-year fixed savings account, offering Flying Club air miles instead of cash interest. While it's not for everyone, work it right and you could be flying high on future trips.

Earlier this month, First Direct and HSBC cut their market-leading regular savings rates from 5% to 2.75% on new accounts, leaving M&S Bank as the sole 5% survivor. The cut means that, excluding M&S, the next best rate that's accessible to all is 3% from Virgin Money, much closer to rates offered on other types of savings accounts. So, are regular savers still worth saving in? We run the numbers to find out...

Did you miss the first two sure-to-be-award-winning MoneySavingIdiot blogs (on train delays and travelling abroad)? If so, then here's the idea. Although working at MSE means I help people save money, I suck at doing the same for myself. So I'm attempting to improve my cash-related competence and help inspire other non-natural MoneySavers. This week: credit scores.