Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

New Minimum Repayments Calculator. Beat the trap that'll keep you in debt for 40 years
DANGER! If you only make the minimum monthly repayments on a credit card you’re a victim of one of the nastiest & most expensive tricks around. It’s designed to keep you in debt permanently. To fight back, this week I’m launching a minimum repayment calculator, that’ll tell you how many years you'll be repaying for. Don’t worry though, there’s an easy solution to beat this trap, even if you can’t afford to pay more. Updated Article inc new Calc: Minimum Repayments Related Articles: Best Balance Transfers, Pay Off Debts With Savings

4GB iPod nano £69. Over £40 cheaper than usual so it's likely to sell out quickly. iPod Nano

Is your fixed rate coming to an end this year? If so start remortgaging NOW!
Over 250,000 fixed rate mortgages will end in the last quarter of this year. If yours is one, beware! It's likely your repayments will sky-rocket by £100s a month, as when you fixed, interest rates were about 1.5% cheaper. As remortgaging (switching to a new cheaper deal) takes around 3 months, you need to start urgently. Free Remortgage Guide: Instantly download a PDF, 30 page printed version. Related Info: New Mortgage Guide, Free House Prices Info, Mortgages & Home MoneySaving

Download a voucher for 2for1 days out. Paintballing, bowling, diving & more Over 700 vouchers

Cook for less, eat for less, 1,000s of cheap Thrifty Recipes
Having included lots of fast food vouchers in last week's email, to healthily balance it out, I want to point out the Old Style Recipe thread, where hundreds of thrifty MoneySavers have wonderfully contributed their top recipes for feeding big families on little budgets. Add yours/read others: 1,000s of thrifty recipes Related Article: Supermarket Shopping Secrets

Insurance price rises predicted due to insurers' flood costs. Renew ASAP, it's possible even if you're not at renewal. Cheapest Car Insurance, Cheapest Home Insurance

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

£5 Champagne at Woolies. Sadly it's in the big out of town stores, but if you're near one Bottoms Up!

Get a year's interest in a day to boost your Christmas budget. New Article
Many supermarkets have ‘Christmas saving stamps schemes' to squirrel away a bit each month over the year and then they'll add a bonus on top. Yet, provided you have the money in on a set date you still get the bonus. So put cash in a few days before, and get up to 5% instantly added to it. The reason this note's so early is some supermarket's deadline dates are due, so check to see when yours is. New Article: Supermarket Savings Stamps Related Articles: Boost Your Loyalty Points, Instant Access Savings, Cheap Online Shopping

Sky TV customer? Free Sky Sports this weekend. Inc. premiership matches Lasts 15 & 16 Sept

TalkTalk customers. Is it good or bad? Are you happy you went with it?
There was a furore when TalkTalk launched its ultra cheap phone & broadband combined package; it was massively cheaper than anything ever seen before. Sadly huge demand and other problems meant customer service was massively worse too. The original contracts lasted 18 months and are now coming to an end, so what's it like for current users now? Please feedback, bad or good. Please Feedback: TalkTalk Vote Related Articles: Cheapest Home Phone, Cheapest Broadband, Cheapest Gas & Elec

£10 off at Bar HAHA, nationwide. £10 off your £20+ food bill. Just click & print voucher

Another PPI provider has been fined by the regulator. Reclaim from it now
Hadenglen Home Finance Plc, a mortgage broker from Leicestershire, has been added to the list of companies fined by the FSA for Payment Protection Insurance problems. It has been fined £182k for selling mortgages and PPI that were not in its customers' best interests. If you are, or have been, a customer of this company, particuarly between Jan 05 and Nov 06, read my PPI reclaiming article to see if you can get a refund. Updated Article: PPI Reclaiming Related Articles: Bank Charges, Council Tax, Mortgage Exit Fees

Premium Bond Calculator. It's now updated with this month's new odds. Premium Bond Calculator

Power of Attorney costs rising. Act now if this is an issue
If you lose mental capacity at some stage of your life you’ll need someone else to manage your finances. Currently, the document to do it is an Enduring Power of Attorney, which costs nothing to make but £120 to enforce. From 1 Oct 2007 this changes to a Lasting Power of Attorney which also includes health and welfare decisions, but can cost around £900. If there's even a possibility a financial only power of attorney will be necessary over the next few years, get the documents signed now (no need to pay) to avoid the big hike. Detailed Notes: Power of Attorney Related Article: Inheritance Tax Planning

500 'Bushcraft & Survival' Magazines Up For Grabs. Just send a quick email

If you get paid the minimum wage, ensure you get this year's increase
On 1 Oct the minimum wage will increase to £5.52 (or £3.40 if you're 16-17 and £4.60 for 18 to 21s) ensure you're given the pay rise. Also if you're only earning the minimum do ensure you checked you're getting all relevant benefits and tax credits. Related Article: 5 Min. Benefit Check-up

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Jordan pay Peter to go away?
Jordan is a successful business woman with her own scaffolding company, and a great MoneySaver to boot. She's very close to her grandfather Peter, who knowing she uses this site a lot, constantly asks for her help with Gas & Electricity switching, phone bills and other MoneySaving. The problem is, in the time it takes Jordan to save him £100, she could've earned £500. Should she simply give him some cash instead? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Jordan pay Peter to go away? Previous MMDs: Should Darth take money from his kids' accounts? and Grant's been overpaid, should he keep it?

100 Days To Christmas this Sat! Board of the week: Christmas & Special Occasions
I can't quite believe I'm saying it but Christmas is approaching again! It can put a massive strain on the purse strings but the name of the game is forward planning. So to help with the preparation, the Christmas & Special Occasions board is full of top tips on cutting the cost of Christmas and other special occasions. Recent discussions include Children's Birthday Parties, Christmas Is Coming! and Something Special For Friend's 40th

Great 'Secure your home on the cheap' Hunt revisited
It's easy for companies to prey on our security fears to sell us expensive hi-tech anti-burglary equipment, yet there are lots of cheap, common sense ways to protect your house and family. So I thought I'd tap MoneySavers' expansive knowledge to search out the top tips on how to secure your house for less. Add your ideas/read other people's: Great Secure Your Home On The Cheap hunt Past Great Hunts: Spruce Up Your Garden For Less, Recycle It For Cash and Ways To Cut Booking Fees

FLIGHTCHECKER SALES WATCH Aberdeen, Jersey & Cork £20 incl. all taxes and charges
Budget airline BMIBaby currently has a range of destinations for £20 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.

Great 'Staying behind the Joneses' Hunt Result
If you avoid the upgrade hype, you can buy electrical goods that were state-of-the-art a couple of years ago for a tiny fraction of their original cost. Last week I asked MoneySavers for their top electrical bargains. There were some great suggestions including Freecycle it!, HDTV hype and Why follow fashion?

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.

• LK Today, ITV1 Wednesday between 8.45-9.15 am. This week, I'll be talking about how to save cash in the run up to Christmas!

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 Blog: My Night At Hell's Kitchen
"I'm going to Hell's Kitchen" and "Mental Health & Debt: New Guide To Come". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

Should we ditch & switch the royals? This week's poll. Vote and the Royals discussion

More MoneySavers say cut tax than increase it! Last Week’s Vote. 50% of those that voted said taxes should be cut, while only 37% of you would increase them (to help possible spends). 13% of MoneySavers are happy as things are. See Tax vs Spend poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! Throw Paper

The Big Knit! That's it for this week, however if you're a knitting fan have a look at this. Innocent (as in the smoothies) is offering a 50p donation per hat knitted for its bottles! Help raise money for Age Concern

I hope you save some money

Martin

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