Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email
Free Eye Test, Restaurant Voucher Bonanza
Cheapest Insurance & Free Diet Tools
And much, much more MoneySaving...
| It Pays to Watch, starts Wed, 7.30pm on five. This week my new series It Pays To Watch starts. This is the show I’ve always wanted; lots of up to date MoneySaving, just like this e-mail. So for this week, I'm replacing the mutterings with a little plug for the show. Plus it's my hope that next week I can bring you news about It Pays to Watch More: a web-exclusive show that’s filmed afterwards. I hope you like it. Out Now! The Bank Charges protest song, if you've paid, pls download it! If you’ve already ordered it please download it or it doesn't count for the charts. You should’ve got a text telling you to go to www.moneysavingexpert.com/song (on your computer not the phone) to download it. You can also watch the video there. If you want a copy just text BANKERS to 82822 (it costs 50p + text charge). Heard anyone talking money? Pls suggest they visit MoneySavingExpert.com to get the right info |
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MAJOR NEW ARTICLE. Best Balance Transfers with Q&A. Slash debt costs by £1,000s
If you’re paying interest on last year’s card debts, it's urgent you apply for a new card to shift the debts to before your January statement. This is my totally new guide to best balance transfers, including the impact of the credit crunch, a detailed Q&A and a special ‘choosing your strategy’ section. Top long-term deals: Citibank* 5.8% for life, HSBC* 2.9% for 2 yrs with a 2.5% fee. Top 0% deals: Barclaycard*
0% for 14 mths with a 2.5% fee. For full info: Read the new Best Balance Transfers article Related Articles: Credit Card Shuffle, Credit Card for Spending, Credit Card Beginners Guide
Free eye test. From Dolland & Aitchison until 3 Feb. Usually costs £27.50
New System. Cheapest Home Insurance & Car Insurance. How to save £100s
Following my new Cheapest Car Insurance system’s success (some have got it for under £50 a year). I’ve reworked Cheapest Home insurance along the same lines. Both involve combining web comparison services to establish the right order to maximize the number of quotes in the shortest time (it should take under 15 mins). Car Insurance Order: M'supermarket*, Confused*, CompareTM*, Tesco compare,
Uswitch* and GoCompare* Home Insurance Order: Confused*, M'supermarket*, CompareTM*, GoCompare*; Then cut the price even further by grabbing hidden cashback.
To maximise the saving: Read the Car Insurance or Home Insurance articles. Related Insurance MoneySaving:
Van, Bike, Travel, Medical, Breakdown,
Boiler
Restaurant voucher bonanza. 50% off Yo! Sushi, Slug & Lettuce BOGOF, 95p full English breakkie & many more. Click 'n' print
Massive npower gas & electricity price hike but...Don't switch! Updated Article
Npower has hiked energy prices by a massive 17.2% for gas and 12.7% for electricity. Yet all the other ‘big six’ energy providers are likely to follow suit very soon; so switching now’s a waste of time, as do a comparison and switch and the company you switch to may end up increasing its prices even more than npower. The only people who should switch: If you’ve never switched providers before you're likely to be paying so much over the odds it'll be worth switching; alternatively if you’d prefer a capped tariff then go for that now. Top Pick Comparison Service: Energyhelpline* For full information: Read the Gas & Elec
switching article Related Articles: Cheapest Boiler Cover, Cheapest Home Phone, Cut The Cost Of Water Bills
Free £100 if you switch your bank account. Best if you earn over £24,000 and are in credit. Read the Best Bank Accounts article
STOP YOUR FRIENDS WASTING CASH! PLS SUGGEST THEY GET THIS EMAIL
Shopped at Amazon for Xmas? If what you bought's been reduced in the sales get the difference back
Premium Bond Rate cut to 3.8%. Predict winnings with the Probability Calculator
NS&I has dropped the premium bond interest rate from 4% to 3.8% in the January draw. The chances of getting a good return were poor enough for most people before, now it's even worse. The unique, free Premium Bond Probability Calculator will show you your chances of winning and compare them to the top savings accounts. Use the Calculator: Premium Bond Probability Updated Article: Premium Bonds are they worth it?
Related Article: Top Savings Accounts
Free tools to help you diet. Diet tracker, Nutritional report & more Big Reductions
Booking your Summer holiday? Everything you need to minimise the cost
Apparently this is the year's busiest week for booking holidays. So a quick
note to ensure you do it cheapest. Travel MoneySaving Guides: Cheap
Flights, Cheap
Hotel Prices, Cheap
Car Hire, Package
Holiday Late Deals, Spending Overseas, Travel
Insurance
Get the Bank Charges protest song in the charts. Text Bankers to 82822 (costs 50p) or find out more
The Free Mortgage & Remortgage Guides Are Back...The weekend’s technical glitches are fixed. Get the free Remortgage or Mortgage guides
New Book Reminder. “The 3 Most Important Lessons You’ve Never Been Taught”
Special Launch Offers: £3.49 at Play* or Amazon* More Info: Three Lessons Other Books: Money Diet, Thrifty Ways Related Guide: Teen Cash Class
Ensure you don't miss out, get these tips e-mailed each week
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NEW YEAR SORT-IT CHECKLIST |
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New Year Quick Cash? Grab £100s of old Mortgage Fees in minutes. It Pays To Watch Challenge
Anyone who’s shifted to a new mortgage deal or paid off their mortgage in the last six years can get quick cash with ease. It’s very likely your old mortgage lender charged too much for its Mortgage Exit Fee when you left; now it's been told by the regulator it must give you back the amount it overcharged, usually around £100. This only takes a five minute call to do. Read full details in the article, plus watch the reclaiming challenge on this week’s It Pays To Watch: 7.30pm on five TV. Article:
Mortgage Fee Reclaiming also see Success Reports Other Reclaiming: PPI/loan insurance, Endowments,
Credit Card Charges, Bank Charges, Lost Assets
It’s a good time to smell good. Lots of online perfume stores have sales see Cheapest Perfumes article for links
Did you apply for the Airmiles card for the free flights last week? Important clarification!
Apply for a credit card via the Airmiles website spend a tenner on it and you get 1,500 free airmiles, enough for a return flight to Europe. In last week's note I realised I hadn’t made it clear enough that to get the free flights you need to book at least one hotel night with airmiles. This is a great deal; as the free flight massively makes up for it. I changed the text for most people’s emails but if you were one of the first to get it, it wasn’t crystal clear. Sorry about that. Full Details:
Credit Card Freebies Related Articles: Cheap Flights, Cashback Credit Cards, Loyalty Schemes
CHEAP FLIGHTS SALES ALERT Airline: Ryanair. Price: £10 e/w. Ends: Midnight Thurs 14 Jan
Ryanair's selling 4 million seats from a range of UK airports to over 90 European destinations for £10 inc. taxes & charges. Tickets are at this price on selected flights travelling between 16 Jan and 12 March '08 until midnight Thursday. How to
quickly find the sales flights: Don’t go direct, instead use
the Budget Airline
FlightChecker and ask it to find all flights under £11. Non-Budget Airline Tools: These are listed
in the Cheap
Flights article. Related Travel
MoneySaving: Cheap
Hotels, Spending
Abroad, Cheap Currency, Travel
Insurance, Mobile Roaming
MONEY
MORAL DILEMMA. Should Ken ‘save’ Deidre’s kids from being taken into care?
Arriving at the local cash machine, Ken gets stopped by a panicky young woman who’s leaving the ATM in tears. She says her name’s Deidre, and asks Ken to help her out with £10; she’s run out of electricity, the bank won’t let her take any money out, and social services are about to come and inspect her house. She says they’ll take her kids away if they see it how it is; that’s all Ken knows. Should Ken give Deidre the cash? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Ken ‘save’ Deidre’s kids from being taken into care? Previous MMDs: What should Baby do about Johnny's stalk?, Should Gordon pay to have Tony’s eggs?
Quick
Forum Tips
Warning! Bargains listed here tend to
sell out quickly
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Great ‘Recycle and Re-use’ Christmas Things Hunt
This week the Woodland Trust launched the Recycle Now campaign to collect enough Christmas cards to raise the money to plant 24,000 trees. Alongside this what are your tips for recycling and/or re-using Christmas goods? Add your ideas/read other peoples': Great 'Recycle and Reuse’ Hunt Past Great Hunts: Recycle It For Cash, Energy and MoneySaving and Ways to Save Money and Turn Green
Unwanted Xmas goods? Start selling Now! Board of the Week: Ebay & Online Auctions
If you’re planning to flog your Christmas goods then there's a section of the
site's forum where MoneySavers help give tips on selling your stuff. The eBay,
online auctions, car boot & jumble sales board offers a wealth of information
and ideas. Discussions include eBay and Auctions' Useful Links, Car boot sale advice and eBayed our way to Disney!
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Mums-to-be DVD, Quorn Cottage Pie, |
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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.
- LK Today, ITV1 Wednesday between 8.45-9.15 am. This week my regular slot is on how to budget successfully for a financially fit New Year.
- It Pays To Watch, five, Wednesday, 7.30pm. The first in my new series.
- The Wright Stuff, five, Thursday, 9-10.30am.
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: The AA Savings Account: Pure Hypocrisy
"A Capital Question of Grammar", "That wasn't the trail I rehearsed" and "Thank you from the MSF and I for all the thanks". Read m'blogs (or RSS users
access)
Do you spend more than you earn? This week's poll. Vote and Spend more than you earn discussion.
What is cooking? Last Week’s Vote. A full 50% of you were resolutely Old Style in your attitude, maintaining that you're not properly 'cooking' if you use ANY pre-prepared ingredients. 37% took a slightly less hard line approach, considering use of ready-made sauces/flavourings acceptable within the realms of the term, as long as the rest of the food was prepared by hand. See What's cooking? poll results.
Archna's Free
Game of the Week! How good a MoneySaver are you? Help Martin bag the good deals The MoneySaving Game
Poor Mr Clarkson: That's it for this week, but before I go it seems Jezza's been caught out on ID fraud. It'd never happen to the Stig
I hope you save some money
Martin
Explanation of * Links
FSA NOTE: 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.
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: citibank.co.uk, hsbc.co.uk, barclaycard.co.uk, moneysupermarket.com, confused.com, comparethemarket.com, uswitch.com, gocompare.com, energyhelpline.com, play.com. amazon.co.uk, alliance-leicester.co.uk, icicibank.co.uk. talktalk.co.uk, americanexpress.co.uk, capitalone.co.uk, envirofone.com, mopay.co.uk, . Read more about this in how this site is financed.
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