Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email
£5 all-in flights, Manc. to London trains sub £10
Cheapest 3G broadband; Reclaim forgotten cash
And much, much more MoneySaving...
Interest Rate Drop Checklist. Last Thursday the Bank of England cut rates by 0.25% to 5.25%; so what should you do now? Savers. Maximise the interest! Yet not all accounts have dropped rates yet, so it's an uneven playing field. To help, I've reintroduced the ‘rate-drop leveller’ in the Best Savings and Top Cash ISA articles, to show the real winners. Mortgages. Discount or variable rate mortgages should get around £20/month cheaper per £100,000 of mortgage. Yet if your current deal expires soon, sort it out at speed due to the credit crunch; read the free New Mortgages or Remortgage guide for more info. Loans. Personal loan holders won’t see any change as rates are usually fixed; and the credit crunch means for new borrowers the Cheapest Loans probably won't get much cheaper. If you need to borrow more, new credit's getting harder to obtain; so go quick. Forget the economy, concentrate on yourself. Base rate changes and house price fluctuations are huge macro-economic issues that we can do little about. Yet you can protect your own pocket, use the Money Makeover & Budgeting articles. |
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Gas & Elec "Time To Switch!" Plus get £30 cashback/£40 crate of wine. Updated Article
E.ON’s hiked gas & elec prices (by 15% & 10%) making it the fifth of the big six providers to do so. As the sixth, Scottish & Southern Electricity has pledged to hold prices until 30 March, my best guess is there’s no point waiting so I’m shifting from “Don’t switch” to “Time to Switch”. WARNING! Scottish & Southern’s (and its sub-brands Atlantic, Swalec & Scottish Hydro) prices will probably rise in April, so it falsely wins any comparison, thus pick the next cheapest. Top Overall Comparison Service: Energyhelpline* pays £15 cashback per switch. Alternatives: Moneysupermarket* pays £30 cashback for dual fuel and uSwitch* gives a £40 crate of wine per switch. Full Info: Switch Energy, Get Cashback Related Articles: Boiler Cover, Grant Grabbing, Home Phones
Ryanair flights £5 e/w inc. most taxes & charges. Inc. Barcelona, Valencia, Stockholm etc. How to find them
Free Wireless Internet: Find free UK hotspots or 3G broadband from £10/mth. New Article
Want the web on your laptop when travelling? There are hidden wireless hotspots around the country allowing you to connect for free. Alternatively, 3G mobile broadband allows you to get a speedy connection for your laptop wherever there’s a mobile signal (also useful for those stuck on home dial-up due to no broadband access) though this you must pay for. This new article exposes how to find free wireless access & the cheapest 3G mobile broadband. New Article: Cheapest Internet On The Move Related Articles: Cheapest Broadband, Mobile Cost Cutting, Cheapest Home Phones
Sub £10 Manchester to London train tickets. Now booking up to 15 March. Print 'em yourself Related Article: Cheap Trains
£15 billion of lost cash in banks & investments. Get £1,000s back for free! New Article
It’s just got much easier to get back forgotten cash in bank accounts, building society accounts & National Savings. Whether it's your old account or deceased relative's, the system's been simplified. You can also trace pensions, life insurance, investments & more all without paying a penny. You may not think you’ve lost cash, but with £15bn out there it's more common than you think. Plus if it's sitting in an old account you’re undoubtedly earning a pittance on it. New Article: Reclaim Forgotten Cash Related Articles: Best Bank Accounts, Top Savings, Premium Bonds: Are They Worth It?, Reclaim Articles
STOP YOUR FRIENDS WASTING CASH! PLS SUGGEST THEY GET THIS EMAIL
Two quid for 2.5 litres of room paint (worth £11) Just buy a mag Money Matt-ers
Urgent! 50% off Tesco Home Insurance. Get a quote EVEN if you're not at renewal!
Until 5 March Tesco* is repeating its half price offer on home insurance (online or on the phone). Most importantly the quote holds for 90 days, so even if you're not at renewal, grab a quote now and if it's cheapest, buy later. Warning: This isn’t a specific recommendation, just a ‘grab the quote to see’. Always check its price against my usual system to speedily compare the market using all the screenscraping websites Confused*, Moneysupermarket*, Compare the Market* & GoCompare*. For the full system with more savings read the Updated Article: Cheap Home Insurance Related Articles: Cheap Car Insurance, Cheap Travel Insurance
Reminder: Cheapest Valentine's roses from £2.50. In store or delivery options. Romance comes cheap, but it's hard to find!
New Top Bank Account. 12 month 0% overdraft & 8.5% interest in-credit. Updated Article
There’s been another salvo in the current account war; Alliance & Leicester's* super-charged its new customer offering and now pays 8.5% until April ’09 on the first £2,500 in the account if you're in-credit. For anyone overdrawn, its new customer offer is unbeatable at 0% overdraft for a year. For more options and a full explanation read the Updated Article: Top Bank Accounts Related Articles: Recommend a Friend, Credit Card For New Borrowing, The Budget Planner
New Local Garage Repairs Comparison Site. Covers Scotland and some of England. Pls try it and feedback
Save now for Christmas ’08 and you earn 15%! Festive February Financial Fun.
Borrow for Christmas and the money plus interest comes out of your salary each month. Save, and the money comes out of your salary each month and they pay you interest. Better still save right now and I’ve a loophole that can allow you to earn double interest on any Christmas savings. So it maybe February but ten minutes spent now will pay serious dividends. New Article: Sort Out Xmas 08 Related Articles: Budget Planner, Best Balance Transfers, Where To Start With Problem Debts
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The Big & Easy Ways To Save Checklist |
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Bank Charges Test Case Now Finished. What happens next? Update
The test case between the Banks and the Office of Fair Trading over bank charges has ended. The pronouncement on the case is expected sometime in April/May. Sadly there’s been no guidance given on the ‘hold’ on reclaiming in the courts, as the discussion focused around banks' current terms and conditions, rather than any previous contracts. An additional hearing on this may be needed in the next couple of months. More info: Bank Charges News article. How to reclaim: Bank Charges Guide Remember: This doesn’t impact credit card charges reclaiming
New 'free tap' water campaign coming soon: Help before it starts
Great 'Working for Yourself' Hunt: Give us your self-employment tips
Working for yourself gives you flexibility and independence, yet giving up a salaried job can be a serious financial jump. I’d like self-employed MoneySavers to share their advice on saving money while being your own boss. What issues have you found and what advice would you give others who want to ditch the day job? From setting up your own website to sorting your taxes, I want to compile a list of all your top self-employment tips. Add your ideas/read other peoples': Great 'Working for Yourself' Hunt Past Great Hunts: What Kids Should Know About Money, Audience Tickets and Cheap Ways To Make Your House Safer
MoneySaving Books. "Three Most Important Lessons" Price Drop
My latest book, the beginner's MoneySaving book, has dropped slightly in price to £3.44 at Amazon* (though you'll pay delivery unless you’re buying other stuff worth over £15). As a standalone it's still cheaper at Play* at £3.49 including delivery. Info: Three Lessons Other MoneySaving Books: The Money Diet, Thrifty Ways Related article: Free Teen Cash Guide
Paid off your debts? Hurrah! Then join the Debt Free Roll of Honour
If you're determined to pay them off yet lack motivation, then the Debt Free Roll of Honour, where those that've succeeded have let others know, is hugely inspiring. There're some great "how I did it" stories; one MoneySaver even says "Despite an Economics degree from Oxford, it took this site to sort out my own finances." Hurrah!! Read the Debt Free Roll of Honour Related Articles: Problem Debt Help, Budget Planner, Demotivator Tool
Quick Forum Tips
Warning! Bargains listed here tend to
sell out quickly
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Valentine's, Mother's Day, occasions galore. Board of the week: Special Occasions
There's a raft of occasions coming up that you may need to buy for and the Special Occasions board offers a wealth of information and innovative ideas. Discussions include Valentine's fivers,
Easter baskets and Gift for a mum with terminal cancer
MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Jamie take Gordon to an expensive restaurant?
It’s Jamie’s 30th birthday, and he’s always dreamed of spending it at La Trescher, an exclusive swanky restaurant. Most of his friends earn well, yet his best buddy Gordon has just lost his job and is piling into debt. He knows Gordon is very proud and wouldn’t complain, even though he can’t afford it; plus he’s far too proud to let Jamie pay for him. Should Jamie still organise dinner; meaning Gordon either misses out or hurts his finances? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Jamie take Gordon to an expensive restaurant? Previous MMDs: Should Karl pay for Susan's cat? and Should Ken ‘save’ Deidre’s kids from being taken into care?
Great 'Valentine's' Hunt Result
Grand gestures needn't cost the earth so last week I tapped MoneySavers' collective knowledge on finding the best ways to treat your loved-one for less, or, even better, show you care for nowt. There were some great suggestions including Give a baby a kiss,
Book of love and Champagne Marmite
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Sports Shake Drink, Dolce Gusto Capsules, Doctor Who E-books, |
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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 (between 8:45 & 9:30am), ITV1 Wednesday. Discussing how to beat BT's price hikes and slash the cost of Home Phones
- Jeremy Vine at 1pm, Radio 2 Friday. Analysing 'what's in your wallet'.
- GMTV (between 7:30 & 8am), ITV1 Tuesday. The subject for this is news reactive but it's likely I'll be discussing now's the time to switch Gas & Electricity provider.
Watch/listen back from last week: Watch Martin on GMTV last week. Watch it here
Keep updated on appearances: Changes and updates go in the Updated appearances list
This week's Martin's Blog: Learning to Blag: What is “fiduciary responsibility”?
"Joining the ‘Governors’ of the London School of Economics" and "The most romantic job in MoneySaving Towers…" Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)
What's a fair divorce settlement? This week's poll. Vote and What's a fair divorce settlement? discussion.
MoneySavers come clean! Last Week’s Vote. Most MoneySavers appear to wear their trousers three times before washing them. A disgusting, but luckily minority 3%, only wash them a month after wearing them! See How often do you wash? poll results.
Archna's Free
Game of the Week! An oldie but a goodie Sonic The Hedgehog
Incredible paper art. That's it for this week, however it's amazing what you can do with One Sheet Of Paper
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: energyhelpline.com, moneysupermarket.com, confused.com, energyhelpline.co.uk, uswitch.com, comparethemarket.com, gocompare.com, alliance-leicester.co.uk, talktalk.co.uk, virgin.com, citibank.co.uk, barclaycard.co.uk, mopay.co.uk, envirofone.com. Read more about this in how this site is financed.
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