The following is text of the weekly Martin's Money Tips E-mail sent 29 March 2006
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Hiya, it really is a cracking MoneySaving week this week, seem's there're freebies everywhere, so take your time on your scan through today. A quick note for newbies: Each week I ask you recommend or forward this to friends and family. The reason's simple. This site is free to use and doesn't take ads, so marketing resources are tiny. Please help out and recommend folks join the free distribution list and save them money. | LISTEN TO THIS TIP'S
MARTIN'S MONEY MUTTERINGS | | | | |
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Free right now… return flights to Russia, £15 Amazon & £20 Lastminute vouchers. New Article
A few credit cards offer freebies as sign-up incentives. To trigger the freebie all you need do is spend on the card, yet there's no minimum spend set, so buying 20p sweets on the card in the supermarket counts. Then pay it off, ditch the card and enjoy. View/Apply: (top current freebies) BMI card's* flights, Amazon* and Lastminute.com vouchers. Better still for more cards, plus pros and cons including the impact on your credit score read New article: Credit Card Freebies. (Mini-mutterings) Related Articles: Best Cashback Card, Revenge Free Cash From Credit Cards, Freebies Gold Buy a PAYG phone for £30 and get £30 of free calls!
A great chat forum spot, because it's free delivery, and there's no 'use-by' date on the call credit. A granny in the glovebox URGENT! Table-topping balance transfer 10 month 0% no fee. Updated Article
Barclaycard's new promotion (closes 26 April) allows new cardholders to shift debts to it at 0% for 10 months without a fee - making it market leader. Watch out though, you have to apply via the correct website to get it and any amount you transfer above £5000 will be charged at 6.9%. Remember, playing the 0% game is only for the financially active. Most people should go for 'stable relationship' cards; with these you can shift debts to a 4.9% rate currently lasting until those debts are repaid. For full details read Updated Article: Best Balance Transfers Related Articles: Best Card For Purchases If you pay for childcare, it's possible to save £1,000s. A must read for parents. Budget Updated Article
Childcare vouchers are a little known government scheme run via employers, savings parents possibly £1000s. From April 6, you'll now be able to sacrifice £55/week's salary (was £50) to get vouchers. It mightn't sound hot, but for every £55 earned, after basic tax and national insurance you only get £37 in your pay packet. So this scheme means you can pay £37 for £55 of childcare vouchers per week. As both parents can do it, overall it can mean annual £2,000 savings. Updated Article: Childcare Vouchers (Mini-mutterings) Related Articles: Nappy MoneySaving, Child Trust Funds Home Insurance Cost Cutting System. Extra £50 saving could end soon
Regular MoneySavers will be familiar with my four step cost cutting system. First cut the risk, then use Screenscraping websites Insuresupermarket* and Confused* to whizz round to grab the cheapest prices. After that double check the prices and finally haggle. Six weeks ago Barclays insurance* launched a new offer saying if it doesn't beat your renewal quote, it'll match it and give you £50. This adds a fifth step, as if you don't save more than £50, trip to Barclays. Updated Article: Home Insurance Cost Cutting Related Article: Car Insurance Cost Cutting SPREAD THE SAVINGS! Pls suggest friends/family/colleagues get this email too Cut your bills by £1000s... for a three-step money spring clean
Easter's on its way, it's the perfect time to do a personal money makeover. A full MoneySaving overhaul can gain you £1000s if you take a day and do it right. The three steps: I. Use the Budget Planner to assess your finances II. Read the Money Diet* to understand the fundamentals III. Go through the book's checklist and the site to save on everything. The average Make Me Rich family saved £5,100 without cutting back.... even if you only manage half that..... give it a go. Buy abroad or from a non-UK website, using a credit card, and you're now protected!!
Booyakasha to the Court of Appeal! It's decided 'section 75' protection does apply when you buy overseas as well as in the UK. This means buy something costing over £100 on a credit (not debit) card and you can claim against your card company if something goes wrong, rather than tracking down the foreign retailer. It's one reason I always spend on a cashback credit card, repaid in full, as I get money back and extra protection. Updated Article: Your Consumer Rights Discussion link: Section 75 (Mini-mutterings) Related Article: Internet Shopping Time & MoneySaving Techniques |
| FREE TAX HELP! Uncle Tony is back again! Tax year ends April 5!
A few weeks ago I invited MoneySavers to put their basic tax queries to Tax Accountant (and my uncle) Tony Tesciuba as the tax year end looms near. Tony's Tax Answers I refuse to apologise for nagging about this......... I'm not even a bit sorry!
This is one of 16 similar-ish e-mails I've received since putting a reminder lower down this e-mail a fortnight ago. "Thank you, read your article, printed off a letter and complained that I'd been missold my endowment. I'm now waiting for my cheque for £2033.75 to arrive. Were it not for your nagging, I'd never have complained - and all it cost was the price of a stamp." Remember the clock's ticking, read and act on Endowment Misselling: How To Grab Your Compensation Great 'Cut The Cost Of Learning To Drive' Hunt
Learning to drive can put a tremendous burden on the cost of getting on the road for young people. I'd like to tap MoneySavers' wealth of knowledge to cut the cost. My own tip is use Tesco vouchers to exchange for its Deals tokens, worth almost 4 times as much. Add your ideas/read others Past Great Hunts: Airport Parking, Cultural Trip Out and Job-based Discounts Cracking Egg prices
Last week I asked MoneySavers to let us know about good but cheap Easter Eggs. Spots you found included Thorntons 4 for a tenner, Make your own choccy eggs and Hop to Asda |
Quick Chat Tips Warning! Bargains listed here tend to sell out quickly | | |
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FLIGHTCHECKER SALES WATCH Faro, Malaga & Nice c. £25 each way
Budget airline BMIBaby currently has a range of destinations at £25 each way including taxes and charges. For a full briefing read the How To Find a Cheap Flight article or go straight to the special free FlightChecker to find the seats in seconds Self-employed/small businesses act quick to save a tax perk
The Chancellor in the budget announced the Home Computer Initiative (HIC) which effectively gives a tax break for people buying computers to work on at home is to go. There's a fortnight left to take advantage. For details of the tax break, and a petition against its sudden demise read this Been tempted by Norwich Union's investment adverts....? be careful, its financial advice isn't independent Imperfectly Natural Woman book comp results See if you've won here |
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| Make Me Rich Outtakes... I've been forced to show you
As the re-run of Make Me Rich is now on. The MSE and MMR teams have bullied me into letting you see this. Actually they're not quite highlights, more a wee rude compilation of clips cleverly edited for the series (not for the easily offended). Make Me Rich Outtakes Board of the week: Travel & Transport
There's a whole section dedicated to travel MoneySaving, including an area for motoring and public transport. Well worth a look. Discussions include Is all-inclusive worth it?, London parking and Kids' hols during term time JEREMY VINE NOTE: If you joined the email list after last week's car special, here are all the articles mentioned: Car Insurance, Fuel Cost Cutting, MOTs, Roadside Recovery This week's Martin's Musings: A word of warning, Norwich Union's missing word is worrying!
'Whether to wonder about the weather wonder!' and 'Worries about insider dealing amongst the MSE team' and Read m'blogs (or RSS users access) COUNCIL WORKERS STRIKE POLL: Do you support it? Vote or Discuss. Also, see last week's Fantasy Chancellor Poll results
That's it for this week, but before I go, ever wanted to be a cartoon character? Someone's spotted a rather nifty little programme to help you do just that.
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.alliance-leicester.co.uk, www.lloydstsb.com, www.barclays.co.uk, www.confused.com, www.insuresupermarket.co.uk, www.lombarddirect.com. For more on how it works and the site's non-profit driven ethical and financial policy read this. Referring people to insurers or insurance intermediaries can in some circumstances require FSA authorisation. For this reason, Martin Lewis of Shepherd's Studios, Rockley Road, Shepherd's Bush, London W14 0DA is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. |
MoneySavingExpert.com is journalist Martin Lewis' website focused on the very best ways to save money on everything. Martin is the presenter of 'Make Me Rich' on ITV1 and is also the regular Money Saving Expert on ITV1's Tonight with Trevor McDonald and Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show, amongst others. He also has a weekly column in the Guardian. More about the site and its funding.
Disclaimer: This e-mail is based on journalistic research. It does not constitute financial advice. Any information should be considered in regard to your own specific circumstances. All tips are followed at your own risk and should be followed up with your own research Full Terms & Conditions.
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