Four MoneySaving tips for Newsround's nine-year-olds. Hiya, on Friday the BBC's children's Newsround programme asked me for MoneySaving tips for nine-year-olds, as it was covering personal finance in schools. As I soon realised, it's not an easy question! In the end my tips and notes included the golden lesson, "supermarkets put sweeties right by the till so you don't forget to ask your parents for some; that's because supermarkets, like all companies, make more money if you spend more money." The full list is in my blog, MoneySaving Tips for nine-year-olds Once you've read it please submit your tips and thoughts too.
MoneySaving tips for grown-ups. Many adults out there still believe a bank's job is to help and look after them, rather than sell them stuff. The best antidote is the site (well I would say that), and especially this e-mail; please tell friends and family about it and suggest they get it themselves at moneysavingexpert.com/tips
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NEW LOOPHOLE! A free £50 for the January sales. Updated Article
Fantastic news: there's a top addition to last week's 'Credit Card Freebie' article. As well as the free Sony Walkman MP3 player and Caribbean trip, available by signing up for a new credit card then ditching it, now get the right Citibank Platinum card before 1 Dec and you get a £50 voucher, useable in HMV, John Lewis and Waterstones amongst others. And don't worry, it's not, 'spend £100 get £50 off'; it's a proper £50 cash equivalent voucher. To get it, sign up for the card, spend £500 on it before Christmas (just use it for your normal spending) and the voucher is yours. However, ensure it's paid off in full to avoid interest or it's all pointless. Updated Article: Credit Card Freebies (mini-mutterings) Related Articles: Best Balance Transfers, Top Cashback Cards, Best Lend for Spend
Shop at Amazon? Fab new trick! Delivery's only free at Amazon if you spend over £15, yet often buy something a little cheaper, e.g. £13.99 and delivery can be up to £6. A new site solves that, it finds 'filler' items of the right price (e.g. here it'd be £1.01) Filler-Up! (mini-mutterings)
Everything you've ever wanted to know about getting financial advice. New Article
I'm often asked "how do I get decent financial advice?" Actually the first step is understanding when you need an adviser. If you want to save money, it's a DIY job (and this site's here to help). Yet for help with hardcore finance, like protection products, annuities and financial planning, you're in the realm of financial advisers. This new article covers when to get advice, who to get it from, how to pay and how to choose an adviser. New Article: Everything You Wanted to Know About Financial Advice (mini-mutterings) Related Articles: Mortgage Payment Protection, Sneakily Get Mortgage Advice For Free FREE MoneySavingExpert.com "Legally rob a bank!" car sticker. Just send an SAE Major Farepack Victory. New hope for your money back! Tell all Farepak customers!
Many disastrously lost their Christmas savings when hamper scheme Farepak went bust. A fortnight ago, I suggested anyone who paid on a Visa debit card try to claim refunds from Farepak's bank (not Farepak itself as it has no money) through the little known 'chargeback' system. Wonderfully, the first two success reports have come in, with one person being told £1,100 will be in her account in December. It's not guaranteed, but give it a go. Plus Sainsbury's has said it will pay 25% of the value that people saved for its vouchers. Full details: Farepak: what to do now (mini-mutterings) Related Articles: 12 Saves of Christmas, Festive Fivers, Consumer Rights
Free Odeon ticket if you buy £2.30 worth of Tabasco Saucy movies! STOP YOUR FRIENDS WASTING CASH! PLS SUGGEST THEY GET THIS EMAIL Calling all women drivers! Free Foxy Lady Driving Club memberships giveaway
Foxy Lady's a new scheme for female motorists, promising motoring advice and special offers for £30 a year. This is a new, and as yet unproven scheme, but I've negotiated a substantial number of memberships for free for MoneySavers. If you get one, please feedback on how it works. Foxy freebie! Is your broadband as speedy as promised? How to quickly check Earn 5.3% tax-free on your savings for a lot, lot longer! ISAs now extended
All a cash ISA really is, is a savings account where your interest isn't taxed. You can put up to £3,000 in there each tax year (April to April) and withdraw the cash whenever you want. This means it's the first place you should dunk any savings; the top account currently pays 5.3%. Better still, the Government has just announced that ISAs are to be a permanent fixture on the savings landscape, as originally they were only guaranteed until 2010. So find out your best provider and beat the taxman. Article: Mini Cash ISAs Related Articles: Earn 5.38% on Your Savings, Cash ISA Transfers, Where to Start With Savings Are you a journalist? Want this site's press releases? Read more |
MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Can kids buy whatever they want?
A 13-year-old wants a laptop to have internet access directly in their room. (S)he's saved up for it with pocket money and by doing odd jobs. Their parents are concerned about unfettered web access (and the kid's smart enough to crack any child protection). However, they've worked hard, diligently saved and argue it's their cash; should they be free to? Enter the money moral maze Previous MMDs: Would you get them sacked?
Great Cheap 'Games Console Package' Hunt
Games consoles are high on many youngsters' Christmas lists, yet the price tags on these pieces of kit are enough to bring you out in a cold sweat. So I'd like to tap MoneySavers' wealth of research power to find the cheapest console packages; whether it's Xbox 360, PS2 or Nintendo Wii. Add your ideas/read others Past Great Hunts: Cosmetics Cost Cutting, Airport Parking and Pricebeaters Plus Free Budget Planner Software and new free budget organiser buddy
The only slight problem with doing a budget is... they don't work! Spending doesn't fall into rigid patterns, it's usually a mix of weekly, monthly and annual transactions. In m'book, The Money Diet, I designed a new type of budget which I think cures this. Wonderfully, after using it, MoneySaver Tony developed a fully automated, freely downloadable version. Now MoneySaver EagerLearner has devised an additional tool to help with piggybanking afterwards (using multiple accounts for money management). Full Article: Budget The MoneySaving Way (includes Budget Planner) then after use the piggybank tool |
Quick Chat Tips Warning! Bargains listed here tend to sell out quickly | | |
A Mortgage at 1.8% interest? It ain't as good as it seems!
Newcastle Building Society's offering a stunning headline rate of 1.8%; yet within 26 months you'll pay a huge 7% and be locked in for four years. If you are getting a new home loan always check the fine print. For more info read my free guide to Mortgages: PDF, free printed version, more info or Remortgaging: PDF, free printed version, more info
FLIGHTCHECKER SALES WATCH Rome, Barcelona, & Paris c. £15 each way
Ryanair currently has a range of destinations at 1p each way. When you add in its taxes and charges this becomes roughly £15 in total. 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 Bank Charges Update! Just a quick heads up that next week I'll be publishing my fully rewritten, updated and easier to use Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges article (see current version) The Great 'Free Online Courses' Hunt. Results
Last week I asked MoneySavers to let me know about courses and other resources available for free on the web. Suggestions included typing courses, phonic help for spelling and writing and language tuition Board of the week: Techie Board
Whether you're a computer nerd or don't know your ASP from your emulator, the Techie Board's a mine of information on IT subjects. Discussions include Best value MP3 players, Make good looking websites for less and What age did you become a techie?
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On the box this week: Catch my regular slot on LK Today (Wed between 8.45am and 9.15am) Keep updated on appearances This week's Martin's Musings: Been sent a newspaper cutting in the post? Beware of the spam
''MoneySaving tips for Newsround's nine-year-olds'' and ''Cheap easy medical advice not from the doctor". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access) Is it nicer in an ISA? POLL: Vote and Discuss. Last week's vote result: What would you pay to turn the world green? It seems most of you are willing to pay up to save the planet, with 38% voting for an extra 4p on every pound of income tax to fight global warming. See poll results
What not to buy this Christmas. That's it for this week, but before I go, some MoneySavers have started discussing the worst presents they've ever received, such as a rubber snake, toilet roll and a half eaten packet of Fruit Pastels. Read and add yours
I hope you save some money
Martin
*links: Any links with a * by them are affiliated. That means go via this link and a contribution may be made to MoneySavingExpert.com, which helps it stay ad-free and free to use. You shouldn't notice any difference, the links don't impact the product at all and the editorial line (the things I write) is NEVER impacted by it. If it isn't possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, nothing changes, it's still included in exactly the same way. As I believe transparency is important, I'm including the following 'un-affiliated' web-addresses for the same things: energyhelpline.com, uswitch.com, american-express.co.uk, morganstanley.com, alliance-leicester.co.uk, mbloan.co.uk, icicibank.co.uk, amazon.co.uk. Read more about this site and how it's financed. |
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