Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

5 Jan 2004: Tsunami Donations, Urgent 99p Flights, New Years Resolutions, Don't Apply For Credit Cards, Plasma TV hunt and much more MoneySaving.....

This info may be out of date. Read this week's emails

The following is the text of Martins Money Tips Email sent on 5 January 2005

Happy New Year. It has been a sad start to 2005. I'll start with Tsunami donation news, then onto other MoneySaving.

TSUNAMI APPEAL

DONATIONS UPDATE. The main site to donate is www.dec.org.uk. UK taxpayers please click the 'gift aid' box so the charity gets more without it costing you (article). New: text DONATE to 83321 and £1.50 will be donated via your mobile bill/credit. To free up cash to donate see the last money tip. Also see site discussions on Ways to give money and Provide ongoing help. The site poll is 'how much have you donated?' Vote, Discuss.

50p PLEDGE EXTENDED UNTIL SAT, £2,500 DONATED SO FAR. After emptying the site's charity fund last week, I calculated i could donate 50p* for every new UK receiver of this e-mail by midnight on Tue. Huge thanks to all who told others, it means 5,000 joined (about 2,500 more than usual). As more cash is needed it's extended to this Thur, Fri and Sat. Please tell everyone (office noticeboards? email friends?) they can add themselves at www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips. My hope is it gives people a further way to be involved and is win-win-win for the Appeal, the site, and new MoneySavers (it's based on the hungersite model).

NORMAL MONEYSAVING

URGENT. RYANAIR 99p+TAX FLIGHT SALE. Sneakily and speedily check availability. Ryanair has 2 million seats on sale, yet as usual finding the cheap ones is the problem. Regulars will know the site has a clever piece of free technology to beat this. Tell it where and when and within 5 seconds it'll find you every cheap flight. Flight Checker

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS. Plus full monty money makeover. Good intentions oft vanish when effort is needed so I've written a raft of quickly do-able resolutions where the benefits should last the whole year. New Article: Resolutions. For those wanting a full Money Makeover, m'book the Money Diet will take you through it (Amazon is currently cheapest) and Which's Be your own Financial Adviser is a good accompaniment for more hardcore endowment/pension/investment stuff.

GREAT 'CHEAPEST PLASMA TV' HUNT. Time to tap MoneySavers' collective research power to find the UK's cheapest; current top spot is £985 for a 42". Add your suggestion or read others here. Other Great Technology Hunts: DVD Recorder, Sat Nav, Freeview Box (started pre-Xmas so the best prices will be at the end of the discussion). See all Great Hunts

Reminder. Reduce the cost of international calls
Notice. Asda dropping petrol price to 76.9p discuss
Reminder. Cut the cost of existing loans

DON'T APPLY FOR NEW CREDIT CARDS! While there are good offers out there, often better deals are launched in the 2nd half of Jan. As no current top players look likely to disappear, I'd hold off unless you need 0% immediately. When/if new deals are launched I'll detail them in this e-mail. In the meantime it's worth tidying up current credit with the Credit Card Shuffle. For the best current cards view all credit card articles.

WARNING REMINDER. TAX SELF-ASSESSMENT DEADLINE 31 JAN. Those with self-assessment forms for 2003-2004 tax year must send them to the revenue by January 31 or be fined £100. Chat Forum: Cutting Tax

LATEST QUICK CHAT TIPS (also see Chat Tips GOLD)

M&S online bargains - can you make a Mega Saving?
Samsonite suitcase less than £14 delivered
Sky Starter Pack Under a tenner
Sony Home Cinema (amp and speakers) £150
Philips DVD-R 100-pack under £20 Can you find cheaper?
Long-term MoneySaving: don't chuck, recycle
Friends DVD (various seasons) Under £14
Nominate Post of the Month £50 winner for January
Post of the Month for December (winner is donating their £50 to Tsunami appeal)
Bargain hunters' daily update of top finds

CHEAPEST CAR HIRE FOR HOLS. There's a comparison service for overseas car hire being launched. I'd love your feedback to see whether it should gain full "recommended" status. Car Hire Comparison

RANT OF THE WEEK. HALIFAX CHARITY CREDIT CARDS GAVE £1 MILLION IN 2004. WHAT A WASTE! Halifax is boasting about its Cancer Research, Mencap and other charity affiliated credit cards yet it donates just 25p in every £100 spent on the card, compared to up to £2 on some cashback cards. Pitiful! Donate cashback yourself instead and tax rules mean the charity gains possibly 10 times more. Article: Ditch charity cards

TELLY HOLIDAY FAMILY WANTED! I'm presenting an ITV1's Tonight with Trevor MacDonald on getting a cheap package holiday. Want to take part?

DON'T BE CONNED BY THE HSBC SALE! Even with its 25% discount most of its products are pants. Its loans, online credit card and bond aren't close to best buys. Its current account gives new customers 0% overdrafts for 9 months, but Alliance and Leicester's is 12 months. Its home insurance offer is worth checking but often beatable and its 'top' mortgage rate only lasts a year, and only for those borrowing under £100k. Related articles: current accounts, loans, home insurance, mortgages

Andrea's Freebies (also see Freebies GOLD)
Energysaving lightbulb, Clipper Tea, Caesar dog food,
Bold Lavender and camomile sample, Stuffynose nasal strip

HOW BIG WILL IT BE BY NEW YEAR? Champagne Contest. Three months ago there was a challenge to predict the number of email recipients on Jan 1st. Find out who won the champagne. New contest: what's your prediction for next year?

Well that's the first tip of the New Year underway. I hope there'll be lots more MoneySaving coming this year. Maybe not quite to the extent that MoneySaver Toozie took it to on her weekend away, but more cash in people's pockets anyway. Please do tell people about the site and this email.

I hope you save some money.

Martin

*As a precaution, to ensure I don't cripple the site, I'm setting a cap of £10,000.

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