A completely free, non-profit, independent, consumer help e-mail

Update Note 19.3.03 The Mortgage mentioned below is being withdrawn. It will still be available tomorrow (Thursday) by contacting Bradford and Bingley Marketplace or Charcol directly. The reason is that due to the war in Iraq, the interest rate for fixed rate mortgages has shot up due to predictions of a swift end to the war. In fact the City measures they're based on has gone up by 0.75% this week - a very rapid rise, which means if you want a fixed rate mortgage, grab it as quickly as possible.



Welcome to my latest money tips e-mail.   There's top tips on mobiles and mortgages here.  Plus I know ISAs are boring, but if you have savings and you haven't used your ISA allowance you are giving the taxman more money than you should - and nothing annoys me more than that! So stop it and read the ISA bit - you've only got a fortnight left.  Martin
 

New market leading cheapest way to call mobiles

Unsurprisingly for long term members, it's www.telediscount.co.uk again.  It has cut the cost of calling a mobile to just 10p a minute at all times (it was 15p).  This means during the day it is roughly half the cost of almost all other providers.  It's also now the cheapest way to call in the evenings.  However don't use telediscount at the weekends, then 10p is expensive, even BT is cheaper.

To see how this fits into the 'cheapest home phone' deal, click here
For a full explanation of how Telediscount works, click here

ISA allowance – Use it or Lose it

The last day to open an ISA is April 5^th.  If you haven't used 2002-2003 ISA allowance by then you lose it.  Remember an ISA is just a wrapper you can put whatever type of investment you choose into it.  At it's most simple it's a tax free instant access savings account, if you've got any savings and you've not used your ISA allowance you should quickly put the money in there.  A range of tips below:

For a full guide to ISAs click here

Cash ISAs

i.The current top paying mini-cash ISA is the Monmouthshire Building Society at 4.25% instant access - http://www.monbsoc.co.uk/

ii. If you don't need instant access, there's a new cunning way to get a guaranteed top rate and access to your cash. A full article about how to do this will be on the site on Monday.

Shares ISAs:
i.  If you know what you want to buy a fund, for heavens sake don't buy them direct.  Do that and the fund manager will charge you for advice you haven't received.  Instead use a discount broker who will rebate some or all of the commission back to you.  For a full explanation of how to do this, and some top IFA suggested fund picks, click here.
ii.  Drip feed.  If you have money to invest, but don't necessarily want it in the stockmarket right now, there is a way around it.  Many discount brokers allow you to put money into a ‘stocks and shares ISA' but keep it there as cash, earning interest (at a relatively low rate).  Then you can drip feed the money into your chosen investment to help smooth out the ups and downs of the market.  As long as you get the cash in before the end of the tax year on April the 5th, you can then spread it over next years investments (and get next year's allowance too).

Mortgage:
It mightn't be the safest time to buy a house, but mortgage rates are the lowest for a generation.   The one that really caught my eye this week is a 10 year fixed rate deal at just 4.59% - the lowest i've ever seen.  It wasn't long ago we were struggling to get a 5 year fix at this level.  The mortgage is offered as an exclusive deal by Bradford and Bingley www.marketplace.co.uk.  It has all the usual flexible features – overpayments, underpayments, payment holidays and borrow back.

On the negative side, ten years is a very long time to lock yourself in.  The penalty for getting out is hefty at 6 months interest.  The decision process is relatively simple though – if surety that you'll be able to afford repayments is the key, then fixing for 10 years at such a low rate isn't a bad idea. If not then there are two or three year deals available that are probably much more suitable for you rates are down to the 3.5% level for the shorter term offers.  Remember for every 1% you drop in rate you save £800 a year on a £100,000 house.

For a full 5,000 word guide to how to save money when Remortgaging click here

If you have a question

That's it for the moment - remember if you have a question for Martin, then don't send an e-mail - just come into the Discussion section on the site and post your question there, I'll do my best to answer all questions.

All the best Martin