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"Should I pay off my mortgage with savings?" New Article. Includes special calculator.
With interest rates hiked again, mortgages are getting more costly. As such, I’m oft asked by those with spare cash whether they should put it towards their mortgage. So this new article takes you through it step-by-step; comparing it to savings accounts, investing & cash ISAs, looking at how penalties impact it, how to time overpayments, and a special new calculator to help you decide. New Article: "Should I Pay Off My Mortgage With Savings?" Related Articles: "Should I Pay Off Debts?", "Should I Pay Off Student Loans?", Top Savings Accounts, Remortgage Guide
Five pairs of knickers for £5 at La Senza Pants down!
Hayfever Remedies: Get tablets/nasal sprays for less (e.g. £1.79 for 30 tablets).
The sunshine may be flickering like a strobe, but it’s still summer and hayfever and allergies are rife. Six weeks ago I included a note about the cheapest hayfever drugs. It was so popular I've turned it into a full article, which as well as listing the cheapest, explains how to choose, preventative measures, free high pollen count alerts and more. It’s a must read for MoneySaving hayfever or dust allergy sufferers. New Article: Cheapest Hayfever Remedies Related Articles: Half Price Gym Loophole, Childcare Vouchers, Cheapest Prescriptions and Medication
New £79 all-in Sky TV A one-off payment for 200+ channels No commitment Sky TV
Worried about ID Fraud? A free trick to get some protection....
Both Capital One's* and Barclaycard's* card range offer a free ID fraud protection service and helpline if you have one of their cards. Most importantly this applies whether the fraud's on their card or anything else, including other cards. Better still, you never actually need to use the card to get the protection. So simply get one of these cards, even if you won't use it. For a more detailed explanation, list of available cards ,and pros and cons, read an Updated Article: Free ID Fraud Help Related Articles: Best Balance Transfers, Web Protection Card
STOP YOUR FRIENDS WASTING CASH! PLS SUGGEST THEY GET THIS EMAIL
New Best Buy Cash ISA 6.3%. Get the top tax free savings. Updated Article
A cash ISA is effectively a tax-free savings account you can put up to £3,000 a tax-year in (the tax year is April-April), and you can take the cash out whenever you want, no problems. After last week's interest rate rise, the new top account is NS&I's Direct ISA which now pays 6.3% if you've over £1,000 to put in. If not Kent Reliance at 6.21% is the top buy. Anyone who has savings should consider shifting them to a cash ISA so your interest isn't taxed. The best thing to do is read the Updated Article: Top Cash ISAs Related articles: Cash ISA Transfers, Full ISA Guide, Top Savings Accounts, Where to Start Saving
It's back! Get a year's RAC cover for £8.99. This loophole closed very quickly after it was so popular a few weeks ago, but now it's back Go quick
New 'Beat My Holiday Quote' System. Cut the cost of package holidays
Regulars will be familiar with my strategy to get cheap package holiday deals by finding the holiday you want, then haggling it down at different travel agents. To help, I'm trialing a new free system in the Forums; once you've got your quote, go to the special thread and post your deal, to challenge the travel agents who frequent the boards to see if they can beat it. Start Points: Package Holiday Late Deals or Cheap Flights articles Then Use: Beat My Holiday Quote. PS TO TRAVEL AGENTS. Pls join in & quote, it’s free for you too (scroll for the rules)
Reminder 500 free Tesco points (worth £20 in Tesco Deals) Just make a call Lots of successes
Major bank charges victory in Hull. If you haven't reclaimed yet, do it now!
The bank charges fighting fund was in action for the first time last week (it's jointly funded by this site and the Consumer Action Group), for a case where 44 people faced a 'strike out' order, which means the judge thought there wasn't a case to answer. Yet after our intervention, it was a major triumph; 37 of the reclaimers received full settlements from the banks, and the other seven now have scheduled court dates, with the judge ordering the banks to disclose how they arrive at their penalty charges costs. Updated Article: Bank Charges Reclaiming More Info: Hull Victory Related Articles: Mortgage Fee Reclaiming, Council Tax Reclaiming
P.S. Listen to the new Bank Charges Anthem: "I fought the Lloyds and the Lloyds lost!" |
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Do you use prepayment gas & elec? You can still switch and save £100s
Many people wrongly assume that all prepayment meters charge the same rate. This isn't true, and there are substantial savings to be made by switching. The route's the same as for everyone else; my top pick comparison service is Energyhelpline*, which pays £15 cashback if it can switch you, although often this isn't possible with prepayment, but it will tell you who's cheapest. Full details in the Updated Article: Cheapest Gas & Elec Related Articles: Cut Water Bills, Switch Car Insurance
Struggling to recover from the floods? Visit the national flood forum
Great "Best Own Brand/Generic Products" Hunt
Generic products are much cheaper than expensive brand names, so I want to tap MoneySavers’ knowledge to find which own-brand goods are the best. Which cola tastes as good as Coke, which bog roll is softer than Andrex, is Tesco's ketchup better than Sainsburys', and which biscuits are yummier than Jaffa cakes? Please share your recommendations for the best own brand/value products that are much cheaper than the real thing. Add your ideas/read others Past Great Hunts: Great Disguised Own Brand, Job Based Discounts and Free Audience Tickets
Donate to charity by searching the web. A search engine that pays out to charity
MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Jeremy and Kirsty come clean?
Newlyweds Jeremy and Kirsty have sold their house to another couple for £240,000. It’s all gone really well: the survey was fine, they’ve moved into their new pad and they’re three days away from completion. Yet after the heavy rain, a large crack appears across the living room ceiling. Jeremy reckons he can plaster it up so it’s not visible and it will hold for a few weeks – after that it'll become the new couple’s problem. But Kirsty gets along well with the buyers and feels bad. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Kirsty and Jeremy come clean? Previous MMDs: Should Grant & Tiffany charge for their wedding? and Should Paris split her winnings with Nicole?
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MoneySavingExpert on the box/wireless
If you like to watch as well as read about MoneySaving, I’ll be appearing on the following programmes over the next week or so.
- Classic Gold, Thursdays, 10am
- Teen Cash Class, has been rescheduled, not now on this Friday
Watch Back from last week: View last week’s LK-Today MoneySaving & Radio 1 Watch/Listen to it here
Keep updated on appearances: Changes and updates go in the Updated appearances list
Feedback on appearances: Discuss or add your thoughts on MoneySaving in the Media
This week's Martin's Musings: "Student loan five year payment holiday!"
"12 floors down, 13 up" and "Forget Live Aid, what about Live Personal Debt Aid?" Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)
This week's poll. Do you check you credit files? Vote and Discuss.
Last week's vote: What should be the most heavily taxed? A massive 67% of you voted that cigarettes should be the most heavily taxed, followed by alcohol at 16% and income tax at 6%. See poll results
Are you Martin Lewis? Ever wondered how many people have the same name as you? Well, there’s a nifty little website that lets you know how many namesakes you have in the UK; apparently there are 577 Martin Lewises - scary thought! Yournotme.
I hope you save some money
Martin
Explanation of * Links
How this site is financed. 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, 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: barclaycard.co.uk, capitalone.co.uk, natwest.co.uk, energyhelpline.com, rbs.co.uk, alliance-leicester.co.uk. Read more about this in how this site is financed.
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