Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

SITE SPEED – NEARLY THERE: The Main Site's now faster than Posh Spice's reactions when David receives a text.  Yet even post-upgrade, the Chat Forum still creaked after last week's tip.  Further tweaks should mean it now zips for you Please feedback (though it does mean the ‘users online' indicator isn't working properly)

BEST SAVINGS FOR CHILDREN (& USE YOUR KIDS AS A WEAPON AGAINST TAX). This week's new article is the top Children's Savings Accounts.  Grab the freebies, grab the best interest rate and utilise your children for an extra £1,900 tax free savings. Not pretty, but it works!  Read it

USA RETURN FLIGHT FREE WITH 6 BOTTLES OF WINE: A top chat tip, spend about £40 in Sainsbury and get the flight. Of course there are catches, but it's do-able Read more

FULLY UPDATED BEST BALANCE TRANSFERS ARTICLE:  If you have existing debts on a credit card, I've done a full update explaining the best ways to save money. Here

THE GREAT “Posh Nosh No Dosh” HUNT.   Continuing my quest to utilise MoneySavers' combined knowledge, the latest Hunt is for good prices at top restaurants – read or add suggestions to Posh Nosh No Dosh.  Past Great Hunts include ‘Cheapest & Best Internet Dating', ‘Cheap Places to take a Date',   ‘Kids' Summer Holidays Days Out' & ‘How to get a flight upgrade'.

NEW CHEAPEST LOAN + EASIER TO OBTAIN LOAN:  The Co-Op has launched a 5.8% loan via price comparison service Moneysupermarket for all amounts from £2,000 to £25,000.  The rate is ‘typical' which is the polite way of saying – it depends on how good your credit score is.  If you can get it, the rate's a bargain.  For those with only moderate credit scores, Liverpool Victoria has a 6% loan available which may be slightly easier to get.  More info, contacts and full loan article.

BOOTS ADVANTAGE TOE SEPARATOR CHAMPAGNE CHALLENGE:  Amazingly Boots still hasn't closed this Chat Forum found free money loophole.  It gives 100 Advantage points (worth £1) for anything bought from its ‘Natural Collection', yet three items cost under a quid, including toe separators for 49p.  Buy them and you're 51p up.  Buy 50 and you're £25 up. (full details). To help the countless MoneySaving households now with hoards of these, I'm giving a bottle of champagne for the most creative usage su ggestion Read or enter 

BEST CASHBACK CARD AMEX – WHO ACCEPTS IT: Amex is currently the cashback credit card King (full cashback article), but it has ‘acceptability problems' MoneySaver Galstonian is compiling a cracking ‘who does who doesn't' list.

T-T-T-TESCO possibly repeatable £10 shopping vouchers are back.  Read more

CHAT FORUM TIPS

Half Price Theme Park Tickets Click Here

£5 off at Brewers Fayre Click Here

1/2 price Tefal steam iron (iron, eh what's that - ML?) Click Here

National Coach travel for £1 Click Here

MoneySaver MP Cash Machine Charges Parliamentary Motion  Click here

50 digital prints for £4.99 Click Here

Cheapest Playstation 2 Discussion Click here

Very poor tip for people with bad taste Click Here

June's Post Of The Month £50 award winner Click Here

Nominate a Post Of The Month winner for July Click Here

CHAT TIPS GOLD: A new  categorised collection of the last year's Chat Tips

BUDGET THE MONEYSAVING WAY, UPDATE: There was an amazing response to the new budget planner spreadsheet (read more or download it).  I know technical glitches due to software incompatibility has stopped a few people using it.  So we're hastily working on an ‘online' no-download needed version which should be here in a week or two. 

Andrea's (Sheel's actually Andrea's on hols) Freebies: Energy Boost tablets,

Pedometer voucher (Eng & Wales), Bounty Packs for Mums with babies & toddlers,

Surcare trial wash pack, Sylk (for ladies) , free Cinema tickets,

Try Me Free Summary, Freebies GOLD

REMINDER FREE £25: Open a First Direct current account, they give you £25, then withdraw it.  Full details.  Also read the best paying current accounts article.

WANT A CREDIT CARD or OVERDRAFT MAKEOVER? If you live in reach of the Peak District an ITV1's Tonight with Trevor McDonald I'm presenting is looking for a case study.  E-mail  julia.berg@granadamedia.com

HOLIDAY SPENDING & CURRENCY QUESTIONS AS IT'S SUMMER TIME:  If you're tripping away (or buying from overseas websites), the right credit cards are the cheapest way to spend ,if you do need some Traveller's cheques or foreign currency then see this discussion or if you're converting substantial amounts of foreign currency see this one (do read all the way through). And as an aside do get the cheapest travel insurance while you're at it.

WARNING: AVOID CREDIT CARD CASH WITHDRAWALS esp. CAPITAL ONE. The arrival of Chip & Pin means you probably now know your credit card pin numbers – yet NEVER, EVER, EVER withdraw cash on them.  Do that and you'll be charged both a fee and a higher than normal interest rate (often even if you pay your bill off in full).  Worst still Capital One now has a hideous new policy, I was interviewed about on Radio 4 's Moneybox on Saturday (read their article or listen to the interview) Discuss this.

OK that's it for this week.  It's been a busy one, I've been filming in Derbyshire all week (a Tonight with Trevor MacDonald programme, while I've ‘experted' on it before, it's the first one I'm presenting, so I'm excited, I'll let you know when it's on) and there's a raft of things happening as you can see above.  I hope I haven't info overloaded the tip (I took out popular past tips section to help cut down the size).

As always please, please do suggest to everyone you know they sign up to this e-mail – I'm getting close my 100,000 ambition and am itching to reach it.

I hope you save some money

Martin

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