New 'Thrifty Ways For Modern Days' Book. Hiya, my new book launches in December, well I say mine, but actually I'm just the editor; it's written from this site's 'MoneySaving Old Style' board and has 250 pages of hints and tips on living life thriftily, ethically and healthily. A perfect Christmas present. All being well I'll be sending a special e-mail on Friday, so MoneySavers can get it cheapest and first. As the book's based on collective wisdom, I'm donating all my author proceeds to the MSE Charities
This fantastic book is due to the huge consumer resources generated by MoneySavers. Please keep spreading the word, the more of us, the more consumer power. Especially recommend friends, family and colleagues add themselves to this e-mail's distribution list at moneysavingexpert.com/tips
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Free anti-virus, office & other software. Protect your PC totally free. New article
It's possible to kit out and protect your computer with legal top quality software at no cost. Of course it's rarely discussed, as selling us software is a massive business. So my new article takes you through how to protect your PC, with high quality totally free anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware and spam blocker software. New Article: Protect Your PC for Free (mini-mutterings) Related Articles: Stop Spam Calls and Junk Mail, How to Avoid Phishing
£18 DVD player. And it's multi-region too, top bargain spot
It's back! (for a week) £400 off gym membership loophole: Ultra cheap Holmes Place/ Cannons
Normally Holmes Place/Cannons gym membership costs £70-ish a month, yet sign up to a PruHealth* private medical insurance policy for around £20 a month and its promotion means you get membership free for six months. So grab the insurance, even if it's just for the gym. This promotion was on earlier in the year, and has relaunched for just a week, until 30 Nov. Strong indications are it's the last time it'll do this, for this year at least, so go quick. Updated Article: Major Gym Saving (mini-mutterings) (spread the word to anyone looking for a gym)
Get your car washed for £1 at Total garages until 28 November Lather nice deal!
Boots Triple Points Weekend: Earn a 12% discount (especially good for PAYG mobiles)
This weekend Boots has an in store triple points promotion. Spend over £20 and you get 12 Boots Advantage points per £1 spent, effectively an extra 8% discount on everything. It's especially good for those with PAYG mobiles, as getting any discount on them is usually tough. Related Articles: Boots Treasure Trove, Loyalty Schemes
First Direct's New £10 Fee. New Article: How to avoid it or ditch it (mini-mutterings) Related Article: Best Current Account (earn 6.1% interest in credit, a 0% overdraft, plus £50 sign-up bribe)
New Best 0% No Fee Balance Transfer Card. Updated Article
The Smart Car branded credit card from the Halifax allows new customers to shift existing debts to it for six months at 0%, and importantly without any fee for doing so (don't worry, you needn't own the car to get it). This makes it joint top card of its ilk. For a full updated list of top cards with or without fees (14 months 0% with fee is available) read the Updated Article: Best Balance Transfers Related Articles: Best Lend For Spend, Best Cashback Cards STOP YOUR FRIENDS WASTING CASH! PLS SUGGEST THEY GET THIS EMAIL
Major Flight sale until Midnight Thurs: Grab a £10 flight inc taxes & charges
Budget airline Ryanair is offering flights to a raft of European destinations including Rome, Stockholm and Berlin from many British airports for as little as £10 each way. Unusually and importantly this price includes all taxes and charges. The special FlightChecker can speedily find these flights for you Full Details: £10 Flights Related Articles: Cheap Flight Finding, Cheapest Way To Spend Overseas
Do you have buildings insurance? Double check you're not over insured!
There's a common mistake made with buildings insurance; covering a home's 'market value', rather than the 'rebuild value' - literally the much smaller cost to rebuild the home from scratch. Some are paying three times too much - it's worth a check. Read the article: Home Insurance Cost Cutting Related Article: Car Insurance Cost Cutting
LAST CHANCE UK Hotel Rooms £15/night. Travelodge's room sale covering 17 Dec to 21 Jan ends this Sunday 26 Nov |
Reclaiming Unfair Bank Charges... When should you claim interest? Updated Article
My step-by-step reclaiming unlawful bank penalty charges guide last week sparked many questions about when to charge 'em interest on top. It's a difficult balance. All pre-court letters are a form of negotiation; ask for what you think you're owed and hope the bank pays. Yet, win in Court and you're entitled to statutory 8% interest. This gives legitimacy to ask for it earlier, hopefully forcing an early settlement from the bank for charges alone. However, some feel it's pushing too hard and prefer to play safe. So, I've expanded on this and added alternative template letters in the Updated Guide: Reclaim Bank Charges (mini-mutterings) Related Articles: Endowment Mis-selling Compensation, Top Current Account
Free December Wright Stuff Tickets (I'm On) and Breakfast.... in West London
Great 'Christmas Decorate Your House for Under £20' Hunt
If you're on a limited budget but want to glam up your house for Christmas, there are tons of ways to do it for cheap or free. I want to tap MoneySavers' knowledge to come up with ways to create that special Christmas magic for the whole house, without spending over £20. Add your ideas/read others Past Great Hunts: How Much to Tip Overseas, Cut The Cost of Moving Home and Free Info
MoneySavingExpert.com Job Opportunity: Junior Researcher Wanted
Need a student account? Halifax is still best buy – but watch out!
This year's top pick is Halifax; it offers a whopping £2,750 interest free overdraft. Yet, after feedback from MoneySavers given nowhere near this, I sought some clarification from Halifax. The good news is that £2,750 is available, however it's increased slowly through students' first years; by the end most should be on the top whack. Updated Article: Student Accounts Related Articles: Graduate Accounts, Should I pay off my student loan?
Are you an NHS Nurse? George Michael's doing a free concert for you
MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Pet versus debt?
A family's pet dog is ill. They take it to the vet, who proclaims that there's a chance the dog will get better with a course of treatment costing £900, yet even after that the dog may need to be put down. The family already has severe debts and is struggling to stay afloat. Should they borrow more to have the treatment or is it time to say goodbye to the family pet? Money Moral Maze: Pet versus debt? Previous MMDs: Give Santa the sack?, Can kids buy anything they want?, Would you get them sacked? Quick Chat Tips Warning! Bargains listed here tend to sell out quickly | |
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Well done Ofcom on stopping junk food ads to kids - now how about hideous debts?
18 months ago I launched a petition which 43,000 people signed asking for secured loan ads to be banned from Children's TV. Nothing's happened, despite one in three parents having heard their child repeating slogans from debt adverts. Perhaps it's time to re-look at this. Sign the Petition Not in Front of the Children Related Petition: Carol Vorderman please stop doing secured loan adverts
Having problems with cheap override call providers?
There have been a few reports of problems using override call providers (where you dial to connect to a cheap call network) with over capacity message being heard. Just a quick reminder, that these are no-frills operators with almost non-existent customer service, so while call quality is usually good if you do experience connection problems the solution is simply try the next cheapest number on the CallChecker or dial without the prefix, and nothing's lost. Related Article: The UK's Cheapest Home Phones
The Great 'Festive Booze' Hunt. Results
Last week I asked MoneySavers to track down special offers on Christmas tipples. Suggestions included using a nifty website to hunt down local special offers, cheap champagne and buying shop own brands instead
Farepak update: did you pay on an Abbey, A&L or Co-op debit card? If so there's good news
Lloyds TSB and HBOS have already said they'll refund customers who paid Farepak via debit or credit cards. Now reports are that Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and the Co-op Bank have joined them. Read the Updated Note: Farepak: what to do now
Board of the week: I Wanna Buy It or Do It
The I Wanna Buy It Or Do It Board's like having a full-time phone-a-friend. No matter how weird or wonderful your question, chances are there's a MoneySaver out there with a solution. Current requests include: I wanna photo calendar, Pressie for the best wife in the world, and Pink Xmas tree
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On the box this week: Jeremy Vine Fri 24 Nov, Radio 2, 1pm talking about how to have a cheap Christmas, plus catch my regular slots on LK Today (Wed between 8.45am and 9.15am) and Classic Gold (10.15am Thursdays) Keep updated on appearances This week's Martin's Musings: My worst ever on air slip….
'Dear X-Factor Contestants, you cannot give more than 100% effort!', and 'Now the MSG is setting up in competition!' plus 'The most wasteful press release ever!' Read m'blogs (or RSS users access) Have you/will you reclaim past bank charges? Vote and Discuss. Last week's vote result: A billion pounds or your dream? More than half of you would prefer a billion pounds rather than to achieve a dream… although 15 of you would prefer to win Miss World! See poll results
Finally… MoneySaving men are officially sexy... hoorah! That's all for now but before I go, it's been a long held belief of mine, ahem, and now I have proof! A new survey's found that women are more likely to fancy fellas who're savvy with their cash. Blokes take note!
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, sonycard.co.uk, flybmi.com, pruhealth.co.uk. Read more about this site and how it's financed. 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. |
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