Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

Don’t worry! Scottish notes are perfectly acceptable in the UK… Last week's Nerdy Note (see this week's on the right) that "Scottish notes aren’t legal tender… not even in Scotland" stirred up a bit of a storm. Some Scottish MoneySavers were worried people'd only read the headline and it'd become even more difficult to get English shopkeepers to accept them. They're not legal tender, but are legal currency. To clarify, Scottish notes are a legal currency and perfectly acceptable for transactions across the whole UK. Legal tender just means if you owe someone a court-enforced debt, and offer to pay by legal tender, they must accept it. Though technically a shop has the right to refuse to take any note, English or Scottish, and just not sell you the goods. Discuss this note's note. Do you have a nerdy note? This summer we’re running nerdy money notes every week, please do suggest more if you have a good one (bottle of champagne for the first person to send a suggestion that's used). PS… I'm taking a break this week, so having written my articles, this e-mail's in the capable hands of the MSE Team

HSBC earns more than Cameroon! Last year HSBC bank worldwide made $24bn (approx £12.2bn) profit which is more than the $18bn (approx £9.1bn) total national income of the country of Cameroon, which has a population of over 18 million people (more than Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland added together). Discuss This / Suggest A Note

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The Ones Not To Miss MSE

Petrol nearing £1.20/litre. Yet you can cut costs by a third, saving £100s. New Guide
Fuel prices are skyrocketing, to help I’ve honed a new four-step system. 1. Simple declutter tricks improve your car’s efficiency by up to 10%. 2. Remember "the harder I press the pedal the more I spend" and you can cut fuel use by 20% without significant journey time increases. 3. By using the web to find the cheapest forecourt you can save a further 5%. 4. Pay the right way to make yet another 5% on your fuel. All details in this fully re-written and re-researched New Guide: Cheapest Petrol & Diesel Related Articles: Cheap Car Insurance, MOT Cost Cutting, Cheapest Breakdown, Best Cashback Cards

URGENT! 10,000 Free Elle, Top Gear, & 100 more mags now online. Download one free full magazine from WHSmith, then print or read. Mag-nificent Freebie

Slice the cost of Mobile Insurance by £50/year, if you need it! New Article
Many people have mobile phone insurance but don't need it, while others who do are paying well over the odds. This brand new guide uncovers policies for £25/year, rather than the £80 some networks charge when flogging their own. Plus a step-by-step look at whether you need it, checking if your home insurance already covers mobiles, and backing up your phone for free. New Guide: Cheap Mobile Insurance Related Articles: Cheapest Mobiles, Cheap Car Insurance, Cheap Home Insurance

£19 Travelodge Summer rooms. Starts this Thursday 5 June, UK wide, usually £29-59. Book before 29 June Related Articles: Cheap Hotels, Cheap Flights

New Top 0% Card for Borrowing. 15 months' interest free. Updated Article
If you need to borrow in the short term, there's a new cheapest deal. Capital One* has upped its 0% offer on new purchases until 1 Sep. 2009 (nearly 15 months), making it the longest. You'll need a top credit rating to get it, otherwise go for Halifax's* 10 mth deal. Warning 0% debt is still debt! Always plan and budget to minimise the borrowing and check it's affordable, and remember to make at least the minimum repayments. If you've existing credit card debts and want to make them cheaper, you need a cheap balance transfer deal instead. Article: Top Card for New Borrowing Related Articles: Balance Transfers, Cashback Cards, Danger! Minimum Repayments

99p Personalised Photo Father's Day Card Delivered to your Dad Greet deal!

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

10ft Trampolines for £80 (similar cost around £180). Plus other top trampoline deals. Stock's low so Go Quick!

New. BIG boost for credit card charges & loan insurance reclaiming. Get £1,000s back
New figures from the Financial Ombudsman, the free adjudicator of financial disputes, make positive reading for reclaimers. Remember, only the cases that banks haven’t already settled reach there. Credit card cases are up around 5 times, with four in five (79%) cases going in consumers' favour. PPI (loan insurance) reclaiming is up 6 times, half (45%) ending in success. Ombudsman complaints are a no-risk system (barring the cost of a stamp), so if you’ve had card charges or been missold PPI, go for it. Full Reclaim Guides incl. template letters: PPI, Credit Card Charges. Related Reclaim Guides: Mortgage Exit Fees, Bank Charges

Sub £10 Manchester to London train tickets. Cheap deals up to 30 June. Print 'em yourself Related Article: Cheap Trains

Free Guide to teach your kids crucial money lessons. Teen Cash Class PDF Download
Summer’s nearly here, so it’s the perfect time to teach your kids good money habits. Last year, for ITV, I taught a class of 15-year-olds about MoneySaving. They then went home and saved their parents £5,000! On the back we designed the free 40 page Teen Cash Class, a PDF guide based on the lesson plans. It’s either for older teens to read alone, or younger ones to work through with a parent or teacher. Free Guide: Teen Cash Class Related Articles: Parents' Guide to Student Finance, Student MoneySaving

Premium Bonds: how much will you win? June's draw odds are now in the Premium Bond Probability Calculator

Savings war hots up. Minimum deposit to get 6.5% drops to £100. Updated Article
The widespread financial gloom can't halt the red-hot savings war. The top no-notice account, Kaupthing* pays 6.5% AER, and from this Wed, (4 June) has dropped the amount you can open an account with to £100; it used to be £1,000. Plus it guarantees to beat UK base rates by at least 0.3% until 2012, assuring it'll be a good payer until then. With Kaupthing, you can get at the cash whenever you want; for anyone prepared to lock savings away for six or twelve months the top fixed rate account's jumped to 7.1% AER. Updated Article: Top Savings Related Articles: Cash ISAs, Are Your Savings Safe?

Huge High Street Shoe Discounts! Up to 75% off at Dolcis, 15% off at Office & Faith, and more. Boot-iful!

The Big & Easy Ways to Save Checklist

Time to cap energy bills To insure against predicted big rises Cheap Gas & Elec. Assess Your finances: Free Budget Planner to see if you spend more than you earn Give Yourself a Money Makeover: Special guide to overhauling your finances Best Balance Transfers: Short Term 0%: Virgin* 15 mths, 2.98% fee, Barclaycard 14 mths, 2.9% fee*. Long Term Low Rate: Barclaycard 6.5% for life* or read Balance Transfers New Borrowing: Best Card For Spending or Cheapest Loans New Bank Account: 0% overdraft at A&L* or read Best Bank Accounts Mortgage Makeover: Read the free Remortgage Guide The MSE Charity: Grants for courses & charities. Info/Apply/Donate: MSE Charity Fund Motor Insurance: Read the Car, Van or Motorbike articles Home Phone & Broadband: TalkTalk* or better still read the Home Phones article Cashback Credit Card: Amex Plat* or read Best Cashback Cards Get Quick Cash for Old Mobiles: Envirofone*, Cex, Mopay*. Recycle Mobiles article Save £100s/yr at Virgin Active/Cannons/LA Fitness: Cheap Gym Membership Article Switch Gas & Elec and Get up to £30 Cashback! Energyhelpline* or Gas & Elec Article Cut Car & Home Insurance! Car Insurance/ Home Insurance Cost Cutting MoneySaving Books: The Money Diet, Thrifty Ways, Three Lessons Free MoneySavingExpert Car Sticker MoneySavingExpert.com/carsticker

More MoneySaving MSE

Did you cap energy bills last week? Cheapest tariff did disappear
Last week’s email warned of rumours that the cheapest price-capped energy deal was ending, so I said cap yours quick. Well it proved to be true; E.ON's Price Protection Oct 2009 tariff disappeared and was replaced with one of the same name, but with higher prices so any switchers timed it right. If you didn’t there are still some cheap deals around (just not quite as good) so if you want price surety, cap now. Find the best deal: Cheapest Gas & Elec. Related Articles: Home Phones, Water Bills, Boiler Cover

Have you saved money and want to tell the world? If you've a top MoneySaving story pls read this

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Would you contribute to the cost of repair?
You're holidaying with a group of three friends and decide to hire a car between you to explore the island. Only one of your friends drives and has agreed to hire the car in their name and do all the driving whilst away. Unfortunately, whilst trying to park in a particularly busy spot your friend backs into a lampost and causes £500 worth of damage to the car. As it's under the insurance's high excess level this is charged straight to his credit card. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Would you contribute to the cost of repair? Previous MMDs: Would you report him to the police? and Should they repay their daughter’s debts?

Do you have an overseas wallet? After blogging on mine, many share the technique. Read my overseas wallet blog

The Great 'Crucial Phone Numbers' Hunt: Vital numbers for when things go wrong.
Preparation is crucial. When things go wrong, it's always more difficult to get the important numbers you need. So I wanted to tap MoneySavers' collective knowledge and find the numbers everyone should have, from the local police station, to locksmiths, car glazers, roadside recovery policy numbers and more. Add your ideas/read other peoples': Great 'Crucial Phone Numbers' Hunt Past Great Hunts: Best No-Contract Deals, Top Sales Tactics, Recycle For Cash

Quick Forum Tips Warning! Bargains listed here tend to sell out quickly Daily Bargains Update Tips, Tricks & Treats

Top Deal! £1 Greggs Baguette Just print a voucher Baguetter and better £7 PAYG Motorola phone Possible Granny in the glove box! Check your future car tax Using a nifty little tool Nosey Parker! Threadless t-shirt sale Funky T-shirts under £5 tee-party! Free baby clothes & equipment If you've a low income Check for a centre near you Free Rtn Train Ticket From Exeter to one of 11 places Rail-away Make your own photo album. £6.50 inc. delivery. Usually £20 Got Cypriot Pounds? Change back to Sterling before they expire on 30 June Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: Spending Money for a 5-year-old Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: June Grocery Challenge Post of the Month Winner May A Month of Free Stuff with Glamour, See all Nominations Nominate Post Of The Month for June

CHEAP FLIGHTS SALES ALERT Airline: EasyJet. Price: sub.£30 e/w. Ends: When tickets sell out.
My top pick budget airline sale this week is EasyJet’s sub-£30 Summer flights, inc.most taxes & charges, to a handful of European destinations from a range of UK airports. Tickets are at this price until they’re sold out but are only available on selected flights. 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 £30. 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

Board of the week: Green & Ethical MoneySaving
The Credit Crunch means some MoneySavers may be re-considering their ethical principals yet it's still possible to do both. The Green and Ethical board offers a wealth of information and innovative ideas. Discussions include Zero Waste Challenge, Recycling Bicycle Inner Tubes and Brita Filter Cartridges

Great 'Cheap Dating' Hunt Result
Last week I asked MoneySavers to offer their tip tips on finding your soul-mate without having to spend a fortune. There were some great suggestions including Get some culture, Go swimming and Join a Facebook group

Andrea's Freebies Freebies, Freebies, Freebies

Kleenex for Schools, Nick Jr Show (Milton Keynes Bowl), Glucosamine Sulphate Horrid Henry Audiobooks, West End Live Festival (London), Baby Freebies

Odds and Ends MSE

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.

• GMTV, ITV1, Tuesday between 7:30 & 8am. The topic is news reactive so you'll have to wait and see!

Watch/listen back to past appearances: Including Radio 1's Jo Whiley, Radio 2's Vine, Radio 4's MoneyBox and GMTV. Listen/watch 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 Blog: Cystic Fibrosis… moving stats
"Free breakfast for being a celeb!" and "An overseas wallet… do you have one?". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

Have you ever been upgraded on a flight? This week's poll. Vote and flight upgrades discussion.

How much does a MoneySaver earn? £35,220! Last Week’s Vote. The average MoneySaver’s salary is £35,220 (much higher than the UK average of £28,000). The most common earnings bracket though is £15-20k, which 15% of voters were part of. Any big stats fans may like to know the ‘median’ average is £27,500. See How much do you earn? poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! A clever twist on the classic game Quad Tetris

Happy Landings. That's it for this week, although Martin's on his holidays he hasn't gone to his namesake island in the Caribbean! A bit close for comfort

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: alliance-leicester.co.uk, americanexpress.co.uk, envirofone.com, energyhelpline.com, mopay.co.uk, uk.virginmoney.com, barclaycard.co.uk, halifax.co.uk, talktalk.co.uk, kaupthingedge.co.uk, capitalone.co.uk. Read more about this in how this site is financed.

MoneySavingExpert.com is the free to use Consumer Revenge website focused on how to save you cash. It’s owned, and run by ultra-specialised journalist and bestselling author Martin Lewis. On TV amongst other things Martin has his own show It Pays To Watch on Five, is GMTV’s Money SavingExpert, presents money programmes for ITV1 Tonight. On Radio Martin has regular slots on Radio 2 Vine and Radio 1 Whiley. He’s also a columnist for the News of The World, Moneywise and the Sunday Post. Find out more: About the site and its funding.

Disclaimer: This e-mail is based on journalistic research. It does not constitute financial advice. Any information should be considered in regard to your own specific circumstances. All tips are followed at your own risk and should be followed up with your own research Full Terms & Conditions.

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