Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

07 February 2007: Get £100 with top bank account, cheapest wireless kit, home insurance cost cutting, huge childcare tax saving, Valentine's special and much more MoneySaving...

This info may be out of date.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

Free £100 with top bank account,
Sub-£35 wireless internet kit,
Possibly half-price home insurance,
And much, much more MoneySaving...

Roses, perfume, love and MoneySaving! It's Valentine's next week, and while romance is priceless, many still feel forced to put a price tag on it. To give without spending, simply write IOU vouchers for favours; a massage, doing the dishes, or perhaps something spicier. Yet if you're splashing the cash, read Cheapest Valentine's Roses, Cheapest Way To Buy Perfume and last year's Great Valentine's Ideas Hunt. Those with charitable inclinations can see the lovely balloon offer below.

This site can't compete with TV ads, that's why it needs your help. The site's ethical financial stance means there's no big advertising budget like the fully commercial money sites. It needs you to spread the word. Please suggest friends/family add themselves to this e-mail's distribution list at moneysavingexpert.com/tips

MARTIN'S MONEY MUTTERINGS
A video/audio commentary on this e-mail

THIS WEEK INCLUDES: Take that Cheese & Onion lovers!
plus grab £100 with the top current account and claim back unreasonable mortgage exit fees

VIDEO
PSPCast / Podcast / Download (help)

AUDIO
Podcast / Stream: Hi/Lo / Download: Hi/Lo (help)

(Discuss this week's mutterings)

		The Ones Not To Miss	MSE

Possibly half-price home insurance & cashback too (even if you're not at renewal) New Article
Huge savings on buildings and/or contents insurance are possible within ten minutes. This is my fully re-researched and updated cost cutting system. Start, as always, by entering your details in both screenscraping websites Insuresupermarket* and Confused.com* which together grab quotes from 16 insurers and 20 brokers sites in minutes, then a new addition is Compare the market*, which quickly adds a further 10 insurers. For belt & braces, compare results to the current cashback deals. For these, more tips, and a guide to what to cover read the New Article: Cheapest Home Insurance (mini-muttering) Related Articles: Cheapest Car Insurance

Wireless Internet: the kits have dropped to under £35 No strings!

Free £100 with the new 6.2% paying top bank account. New Article
Halifax now pays 6.2% AER on its current account if you're in credit; better still, join before 23 March and get a £100; you must earn over £15,500 to qualify. If not, Alliance and Leicester pays 6.1% for those earning £6,500 and a £25 bribe is possible. WARNING (for the overdrawn): Halifax charges a hefty 16% overdraft rate, so avoid it, instead Alliance & Leicester offers an interest free overdraft for the first year, followed by 5.9% afterwards, still the market's cheapest Apply/View: Halifax, Alliance & Leicester*. For full info read the New Article: Best Bank Accounts (mini-muttering) Related Articles: Bank Charges: Reclaim 6 Years Worth

Get £1,000s of tax back on childcare/nursery costs. The Times reported childcare costs have risen 30% over six years, yet it's possible to save this in one stroke. Updated Article: Tax Free Childcare Vouchers (mini-muttering)

Print your own stamps. Free three month trial. And possible cashback too

STOP YOUR FRIENDS WASTING CASH! PLS SUGGEST THEY GET THIS EMAIL

Want to check your Council tax band? The Govt. website is up & running, read Council Tax Cashback

Phone up and instantly reclaim £100 if you've remortgaged in the last five years or so
Last week I explained the FSA said mortgage exit fees were too high, meaning anyone who's switched lender or paid off a mortgage in the last five years may be due a payout. Well it worked, many people have simply called up their lender and got the cash (especially old Halifax mortgage holders). Updated Article: Mortgage Exit Fee Reclaiming Related Articles: Cheapest Remortgage Guide, Cheapest Mortgage Guide

Balloons by post; Valentine's which help sick children. Not just hot air

Quick tip. Almost repaying Credit Cards in full is very costly. A trick to avoid it
Pay most credit cards off in full, and you won't pay interest that month. Yet pay less, even by just a few pence, and you'll be charged interest on the whole outstanding debt. E.g. owe £2,000 and pay off £1,950 and you'll still pay interest on the whole £2,000. As a solution if you're a little short, it's actually worth going into your authorised overdraft facility to repay the card in full, even if the interest rate is higher, as you'll then only be paying interest on the £50 rather than on the whole £2,000. Related Articles: Danger! Minimum Repayments, Best Balance Transfers, Best Lend For Spend

ITV1's Tonight: Want your kids to learn about cash or reclaiming bank charges? Get involved.

Avoid Nectar's new 'points for old mobiles' deal. You can get more, just as easily in cash

The Don't Forgets

14 month 0% balance transfer with HSBC*, or long term 3.9% with M&S. Read Article
£400 off Gym Membership Loophole, 3 weeks left. Read article
MoneySaving Books: The Money Diet and Thrifty Ways, Read More
Free Mortgage Guide: Download PDF, Order Printed Guide, More info Remortgage Guide: PDF, Printed, More Info
Cut Car & Home Insurance! Car Insurance/ Home Insurance Cost Cutting
Cheaper Gas & Elec plus cashback! Compare plus get cashback via Energyhelpline* or better read the Gas & Elec Switching Article
Free MoneySavingExpert car sticker Grab one
Free CDs + DVDs, flights or £15 Read Article

		More MoneySaving	MSE

100 free Nectar points. Just fill in its survey

Bank Charges Reclaimed: £3,649 back just by sending a letter. I Love it.
Read this great bank charges reclaiming success result from the forum, "Halifax, Claimed: £3,649, They paid: £3,649. My brother heard Martin on the Jeremy Vine show so we got online and followed the steps exactly. It worked perfectly. The bank paid up within 2 weeks of the claim letter." Article: Bank Charges Reclaiming Related Articles: Endowment Mis-selling

Overdrawn and scared to reclaim bank charges in case your account's shut? New article coming on this next week.

A fiddly way to get paid £2/year for free evening & weekend calls Ring up a saving

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Scott take Charlene's ad?
Scott is the owner of a successful newsagents in town. His best friend Charlene has recently found work marketing photographic portraits after months of unemployment. Her employer offers a 'free' makeover for every customer, but then charges up to £300 for a set of photographs. Scott doesn't think this is very ethical, so when she asks to put up a poster in his shop window (for free) he's in two minds. Should he compromise his friendship or his reputation? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Scott take Charlene's ad? Previous MMDs: Would you take the job?, Should Jack claim cashback? and Should Lisa exchange her ring?

Quick Chat Tips

Warning! Bargains listed here tend to sell out quickly

Daily Bargains Update

Chat Tips Gold

Free month's trial of diet website usually £7.99 Slim pickings!
'£35' No7 Beauty Package on a £15 spend Beautiful
2 for 1 on Southwest Trains Fare deal
Free Valentine's card for those with babies Go gaga
Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: Is it possible to be too tight?
Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: Homemade Soap
January Post of the Month Winner £50 goes to Prudent , See all nominations
Nominate post of the month for February

FLIGHTCHECKER SALES WATCH Geneva, Bordeaux & Cork £25 e/w all in
Budget airline BMI Baby currently has a range of destinations at 24.99 each way, including all 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

Great 'Team Up With Friends and Save' Hunt Results
Last week I asked MoneySavers for hints on the best ways to team up and save cash. Suggestions included buying train tickets, joining sports clubs and bulk buying

Board of the week: England MoneySaving
This sub-section was set up along with Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland for locals to discuss MoneySaving in their area. Recent discussions here include Holiday in Cornwall, Cambridge Secrets and Hotels in London

Andrea's Freebies
Freebies Gold

Free Brunch Guide , Cafe Switch Coffee

Dance Class In London, Book & More In Edinburgh, Felix Cat Food

		Odds and Ends	MSE

On the box this week: I'm not on LK Today for a fortnight due to half term, but you can catch me on Classic Gold (Thurs 10:15 am). Keep updated on appearances

This week's Martin's Musings: How big is MoneySavingExpert.com?
''Can you save me money on drugs?'' and "Council tax is bigger than Paris Hilton" Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

This week's poll : Salt & Vinegar v Cheese & Onion! Whilst it's not MoneySaving, I'm a major crisp fan primarily of Salt & Vinegar; so to settle a serious discourse between myself and a philistine Cheese & Onion fan, I need your view. If you were marooned on a desert island with only one crate of crisps, which of these (non-poncy) flavours would you hope for? Vote and Discuss (mini-muttering)

Last week's poll result: Are you a secret spender? Overall, the majority of you said you were honest with your partners about spending. Yet split into groups, 54% of women either bent or avoided the financial truth compared with just 45% of men. See poll results

Great gadget for MoneySavers and Environmentalists alike. Ok this one really isn't cheap or a good deal, so I thought I'd save it for the fun italics bit at the end. It's a little battery you charge using the USB socket on your computer, not sure why, but I just think that's cool. USB Rechargeable Batteries

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: insuresupermarket.com, confused.com, comparethemarket.com, energyhelpline.com, alliance-leicester.co.uk, hsbc.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.