Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

Debt Free? Earn £200/year simply by changing your plastic. New Best Cashback Cards Article
If you spend in cash, on a debit or credit card repaid in full, you can make £100s. Cashback credit cards pay cash each time you spend. Set up a Direct Debit to repay in full each month and there's no cost to you. So do all normal spending on it instead of cash or debit cards and you're majorly quids in. New top cards: Likely annual spend £9k+ Amex Platinum*, spend £5k-£9k Egg Money, spend under £5k Morgan Stanley*. Better still read New Article: Top Cashback Credit Cards (Special mini-mutterings) Related Articles: Best Card For New Borrowing, Internet Shopping Time and Money Saving Techniques

Posh haircut for buying a £2.30 magazine! A top chat forum spot. Grab a bargain barnet

RAC Roadside Recovery from £14. A quarter the normal cost
You can buy an RAC Roadside recovery policy using Tesco Clubcard vouchers worth a quarter of the price; Tesco has just re-added these to its Clubcard Deals brochure. Full details of what's available and alternative best buys in Updated Article: Cheapest Roadside Recovery Related Articles: Car Insurance Cost Cutting, Drive Down The Cost of MOTs, Petrol/Diesel Cost Cutting System

Free printed or PDF 28 page MoneySaving Guide to Remortgaging available again!
After some annoying technical glitches all's now tickety boo with the remortgage guide so either instantly Download a PDF or order a free printed version. Or read more about the guide

What's hot and what's not at Aldi, Lidl & Netto. New article
Supercheap supermarkets Lidl, Aldi and Netto smack the bottoms of their big name competitors when it comes to prices. The problem is their products can be hit and miss. So I asked MoneySavers to rate the good from the bad. New Article: What's hot and what's not at Aldi, Lidl & Netto Related Articles: Internet Shopping: Cutting Edge Time & MoneySaving Techniques

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

22% British Gas price rise means others follow suit. To switch or not to switch?
So British Gas finally announced its rise, a whopping 22%. Other companies will soon follow, so should you switch? Switch if you've never switched before: you'll definitely save (or at least forestall an increase) as you're paying so much over the odds anyway. Wait if you have switched before: All other providers are likely to change prices so any comparisons are irrelevant - unless, that is, you want a 'capped tariff' in which case go quick before prices there rise too. To switch/find the right capped tariff, comparison service Energyhelpline pays £12.50 cashback via special links, like this one* when you switch. Read full Energy Switching article.

Hot new mobile tariffs just launched: compare yours to the new best
T-Mobile and Three have launched hot new tariffs. Many will save oodles, but don't get your slide rule out to compare yourself. My cost cutting article includes comparison services that do it for you in seconds. Updated Article: Mobile Cost Cutting Plan Related Articles: Batter Down Your Annual Mobile Contract, Using Your Mobile Abroad

Dirt cheap Cannons/Holmes Place gym membership loophole
Sign up to medical insurance from Pruhealth and it gives you six months' free gym membership. Yet for younger people and non-smokers the cost of the medical insurance (eg £20/month) is much less than the gym membership would be (eg £65/month), so sign up for the medical insurance then cancel after the six months. This was a quick chat tip last week, but it's so good I've decided to promote it. More Info

Great Back Up Your Mobile Data Hunt
It's the scourge of modern living, you lose your mobile and there goes everyone's phone number. Well there are solutions both technical and systematic to easily and cheaply solve this problem, so I'm throwing it open to MoneySavers to find the cheapest solution.  Add your ideas/read others Past Great Hunts: Pricebeaters Plus, Free Info and Airport Parking

Cono Sur Chilean Pinot Noir £3.85 a bottle
Last week I asked MoneySavers to let us know about wine offers. Deals you've spotted include Laithwaites £40 mixed case, Asda 10% off and Cono Sur Pinot Noir £3.85 a bottle

Why haven't I written a guide to the best equity release mortgage?
One of the commonest questions I'm asked is “I'm retired I need cash, what's the best equity release scheme to get it out of my house?” The reason I've never written anything is I've never yet seen a scheme I would be comfortable recommending. The best solution, unpalatable as it is, is to downsize if you can. If you are desperate the FSA has a guide here, though for the moment I won't be writing anything I'm afraid. Discuss this. (Special mini-mutterings) Related Articles: House Selling Hints and Tips

Unique safety system for online spending, prevents fraud
The most common fraud on credit cards isn't ID fraud, but someone simply keeping your details and using them. I thought I'd remind you web-bank Cahoot has a unique safety system for online spending. It generates a new card number each time and if you pay off in full it costs nothing. View/apply: Cahoot* or better still read Updated Article: Cahoot Webcard Related Article: Free ID Fraud Protection

Don't go in the red when you get wed
Popped the big question on Valentine's Day? If you're planning a wedding this year or next there's no reason why it has to cost an arm and a gartered leg. Read How To Have A MoneySaving Wedding to get top tips on cutting the cost of your big day Related Article: Barter For A Bargain Beach Trip

FLIGHTCHECKER SALES WATCH  Lyon, Amsterdam & Paris c. £45 return
Budget airline Thomsonfly currently has free flights to Lyon and Amsterdam plus Paris for 1p. When you add in its taxes and charges this becomes roughly £45 in total. Use my special free FlightChecker to find the seats in seconds

Want 10% on your savings? Go with A&L not Barclays
A range of big banks have recently offered astonishing rates on regular savings – where you tuck money away each and every month for a fixed period. Alliance & Leicester and Barclays both boast 10% paying accounts, yet you need to switch to their respective current accounts to use them. It's a no-brainer - Barclays' current account is pants, while A&L's is market-leading – so if you want to grab this, grab it with them. Updated Article: Top Regular Savings Account Related Article: Best Current Account

APPEARANCES NOTE:  I'll be talking about gas and elec on Watchdog, next Tuesday 28th

Now it's official: LOL means laugh out loud
There's been confusion all over the web but after last week's MoneySavers valentines vote LOL officially means laugh out loud, not lots of love. See last week's vote and discussion

Board of the week: England
England has its own section for discussing MoneySaving specific to particular towns and cities. Discussions include Cheap treats for a London Bride, Subway Liverpool opening promotion and Milton Keynes MoneySavers Thread

This week's Martin's Musings: Having a go at George Galloway to his face!
'Can politicians admit they've changed their mind?' and 'My grandma and George Galloway' Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

WILL HOUSE PRICES CRASH?: This is the regular test of MoneySavers' attitude to house prices Vote or Discuss

That's it for this week. Champagne Caption Contest. My face is on the cover of March's Moneywise magazine. Having seen advance copies of the pic I thought to forestall any jokes by running a caption contest. A bottle of champagne goes to the winner. Give it a go

I hope you save some money

Martin

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