Oct

2005

Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

27 Oct 2005: A years interest in a day, free bingo, triple Tesco points, 5.4% savings, cheap board gemes, Diwali dialling, christmas credit card preparation, last chance for double discount car insurance and much much more MoneySaving... Extra Ti

This info may be out of date.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

The following is the text of Martin's Money Tips email sent on the 25 Oct 2005. It also includes the text of the special 27 Oct "TIME TO SWITCH ENERGY PROVIDER" e-mail at the end

Hiya. It's a strange time of year. My logo's gone Halloween, but Christmas has three mentions in the tip below. However there are more immediate celebrations around....

Happy Diwali for all celebrating next Tuesday. As a top note, you can call a range of Hindu populous countries from 1p/minute next week (without an account or changing phone) through provider Pennyphone More details

LISTEN TO THIS TIP'S MARTIN'S MONEY MUTTERINGS
Streamed : Broadband / Dial-Up
Download : Broadband / Dial-Up
(Discuss what's said)
For help read this

		The Ones Not To Miss	MSE

Earn a year's interest in a day - Christmas budget boosting loophole
Supermarkets operate savings stamps schemes to encourage people to save with them for Christmas. The interest is usually paid on a set day, regardless of how long the cash has been there. So dunk the money in the day before and get a year's interest (4%) in a day, nicely boosting your Xmas budget. It works in Tesco, Asda, Kwik Save and others. New Article: A Year's Interest in a Day. Related Articles: Where To Start With Saving, Cutting Edge Internet Shopping (Special mini-mutterings)

Classic board games for £5.99 Guess Who, Buckaroo, Operation plus other family favourites Everyone's a winner

5.4% top instant access savings; ICICI's back on top
ICICI HiSave account is a totally clean (no tricks) account paying 5.4% interest, which can be opened with just £1. It's a massive top payer and'll remain so even when it drops to 5.15% on 1 Nov. I had ditched its best buy status after terrible customer service feedback, mainly caused by over demand. This has now eased off, and after an improved response I've reinstated it. Yet I'd still open it with just £1, in case of application delays, then move the rest of your cash in once it's set up. View/apply: ICICI* or better still read Top Instant Access Savings Account Related Article: Where To Start With Savings

Triple points at Tesco Extra online this week, effective 12% discount
Triple Clubcard points for all Tesco Extra Online spending this week (eg wine, movies and music). Though never spend your points in store; convert them to deals vouchers and they're worth four times as much. More Info Related Article: Value Your Loyalty Points

SPREAD THE SAVINGS! Pls suggest friends/family/colleagues get this email too

URGENT! Christmas Card Preparation for borrowers and the debt free
Credit card applications take up to six weeks, so now's the time to sort out the right plastic for Xmas. If you're debt free: use a cashback card to gain up to £2 back per £100 spent. Top player is the Amex Platinum* card, see Best Cashback Cards article. If you need to borrow for Xmas: (please plan, prepare and Budget first) you need a card with a cheap interest rate for spending. For card tarts Halifax at 12 months 0% is cheapest, for those wanting an easy life Capital One* is 6.9% permanently. Read Best Card For Purchases article.

Play Bingo for free This Thursday. Great Chat Forum Spot Buckle my shoe!

Cutting the cost of your existing personal loan; don't rule it out
Sadly switching out of an expensive loan isn't as simple as cancelling it and getting a new one, but it is possible and some will make huge savings. To find out if you can, read my updated article: Cut the Cost of Existing Loans View/apply: Moneyback Loan*

LAST CHANCE! Double Discount Car Insurance Ends 31 October More Info/Discuss/See Successes

The Don't Forgets

Make up to £130 with a mate with the Top Current Accounts: Apply/View: Alliance & Leicester* Lloyds TSB* Article
Free safer system for online spending Cahoot Webcard
Water Bills: Cut the cost
Internet Shopping: Be a Savvy Shopper: Cutting Edge Techniques

Great Cheapest Airport Parking Hunt
So you're a good MoneySaver. You've Bagged a Cheap Flight or Bartered For a Bargain Beach Trip, you've found the Cheapest Travel Insurance, worked out the Cheapest Way To Spend Overseas, you've got your special Cheap Roaming Mobile ready, then you arrive at the airport and pants - where do you park the car? So I'm tapping MoneySavers' collective knowledge to find the cheapest parking at every UK airport. Add your ideas/read others Past Great Hunts: Local Sim, Text Messages and Free Info

Grants Galore - solar panels, Car LPG conversion and more
Last week I asked you how to grab a grant. Savvy MoneySavers have found you can get free cash to fund Solar panels, Car LPG Conversion and Grants for Budding Inventors

Quick Chat Tips

Warning! Bargains listed here tend to sell out quickly

Daily Bargains Update

Chat Tips Gold

Free £36 of kids toys by Recommending a Friend
Samsung Black and White laser printer £49.99 in store
La Senza half price sale Pants down
Kids clothes Get them cheaper
Guinness Book of Records £8.97 Can you beat it?
Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: Halloween Party ideas
Nominate post of the month for October

		More MoneySaving	MSE

Stop paying for caller ID on your phone! Stop it, stop it, stop it! And save £25!
A few months ago BT announced that caller ID on its phones is now free (read it), yet if you'd previously subscribed it doesn't mean BT has stopped charging you. All you need do is cancel the service and sign up for BT 'privacy' - saving £6 a quarter.

FLIGHTCHECKER SALES WATCH £29 flights from Birmingham to Faro, Alicante & Malaga each way. The flights, using Flybe, include taxes and charges. Use the free FlightChecker to find the seats in seconds.

Warning! Don't trust credit card or loan Direct Mail
I received a mailshot today from Capital One inviting me to a special offer of 6 months 0%, yet it's got an open to all offer of 14 months 0% (with a balance transfer fee) at the moment. Be warned direct mail deals don't have to be the same as those on the open market. Full details and what to do. Related Articles: Best Balance Transfers, Cheapest Personal Loan

Andrea's Freebies
Freebies Gold

Shaving Gel, Kids Music Lessons

Andrex Puppy Calendar, IQ Test, Oxy Face Wipes, Kids Events in NI

		Odds and Ends	MSE

Board of the week: House-buying and selling
Lots of MoneySavers' useful hints and tips here. House-buying and Selling Board. Discussions include Online Solicitors, Sitting Tenants and £1000 of house price info

JEREMY VINE HEADS UP: I'm on Radio 2 this Friday (1-1.40pm) talking about "Is it worth it?"

This week's Martin's Musings: X-Factor, I don't know why but I love it!
'MoneySavers are an avaricious bunch' 'Make Me Rich 12: not at all what I was expecting' m'blogs (or RSS users access)

THE FINANCIAL (NOT WRONG) TROUSERS VOTE: Who wears the financial trousers in your house? Vote or Discuss. Also, see last week's Finders Keepers Poll results

That's it for this week. However before I go, you may think I'm kidding (ha ha groan - you'll see why), but when I saw this video of the genetic fainting goats I had to share it. Take a look at the poor little fellas

I hope you save some money

Martin

*Affiliated link: Click via this link and a contribution is made to MoneySavingExpert.com, which helps it stay ad-free, sponsorship-free and free to use. This in no way impacts any editorial decisions (what I write), costs you anything or changes the product. For an identical link which doesn't help the site go to www amazon.co.uk, www.energyhelpline.com/cashback, www.alliance-leicester.co.uk, www.lloydstsb.com, www.capital-one.co.uk, www.mbbank.co.uk, www.icicibank.co.uk. For more on how it works and the site's non-profit driven ethical and financial policy read this.

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______________________________________________________________

The following is the text of the Special Extra Martins Money Tips E-mail sent on the 27th October 2005:

This is a special extra Martin's Money Tips e-mail as I'm changing my 'Don't Switch' energy companies recommendation to 'Switch now'.

		IT'S THE PERFECT TIME TO SWITCH! Now's the time to do a gas and electricity comparison to cut bills by up to 20%	MSE

Save £100s per year switching to the cheapest. It only takes 5 minutes.

If you've time, first read my new ' Cheapest Gas And Electricity Plus Cashback ' article. If not, go straight for the winning comparison site Energyhelpline* which came top of my 'comparison site comparison'. It'll quickly tell you the cheapest, plus I've pushed it to give cashback to customers - so compare via this link (don't go direct) and it pays you £12.50 cashback on top (even more than before).

If you would prefer to talk it through on the phone, Energyhelpline's number is 0800 074 0745; though make sure you mention the MoneySavingExpert Cashback or you won't get it.

Why now?

For six weeks I've been saying 'Don't Switch' energy provider in my weekly e-mail; as British Gas increased its prices, and other companies usually follow. Thus a comparison done then would've been false as the playing field wasn't level - leaving you switching to the 'cheapest' only for it to raise its prices the next day.

Since many companies have raised their prices, now is the perfect time to ditch your current provider and switch to save.

Does this mean no more price rises?

No. It's possible a few more are yet to come, yet this is my best guess of the right time to switch. This is more of an art than a science, however I estimate switching now provides the most stable price environment, before the next round of hikes start!

		FEEL FREE TO PASS THIS ON TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY Put the cash in their pockets, not the big utility companies'	MSE

The normal Martin's Money Tip will come the middle of next week as normal.

Links
Cut The Cost Of Your Energy Provider And Get Cashback article
Energyhelpline cashback comparison*
UK's Cheapest Home Phone Provider article
Join the free Martin's Money Tips weekly email

I hope you save some money

Martin

*Affiliated link: Click via this link and a contribution is made to MoneySavingExpert.com, which helps it stay ad-free, sponsorship-free and free to use. This in no way impacts any editorial decisions (what I write), costs you anything or changes the product. For an identical link which doesn't help the site go to www.energyhelpline.com/cashback. For more on how it works and the site's non-profit driven ethical and financial policy read this.