Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

Self-Defence against financial turmoil. Protect savings, flights & purchases. The bankruptcy of US bank Lehmans, collapse of travel firm XL, and rescue of Wall Street bastion Merrill Lynch doesn't paint the prettiest financial picture. While there’s no need to panic, it's worth turning one eye to self-protection… New Series Starts Wednesday Inflation Busting Special It’s an inflation-busting special, running through how to beat the huge food, gas & elec and mortgage price rises. Plus of course the MoneySaving News (no celeb in the special, that starts next week) Watch again: After transmission it's now online at five.tv/itpaystowatch Join us live each week: Email: audience@itpaystowatch.co.uk (incl. phone no.) Starts 17 Sept, Weds 7.30pm on five Are your savings safe? In the unlikely event your bank went bust, the govt guarantees £35,000 per person, per financial institution. Those with more should consider spreading cash around. If this applies to you pls read the Are Your Savings Safe? guide & to spread cash see Top Savings Accounts. Are your investments safe? By definition, no. An investment’s somewhere you put cash risking losing money in the hope it’ll grow quickly. Protection applies if the investment company itself goes bust (see Savings Safety) but not if the underlying assets drop in value. A volatile market means some win, some lose. There's no way to know which you'll be. Pre-ordered goods e.g. sofas, kitchens & tickets. If you've ordered something & the company goes kaput before you get it, you lose the cash. To protect against this, buy anything over £100 on a CREDIT card (not debit cards, cash or cheques) as then Section 75 laws mean the card issuer’s jointly liable, so if things go wrong, get money back from it. To avoid interest though, always repay the card in full. Better still earn money too on a cashback credit card. Protecting Flights & Holidays. Book a package holiday from a tour operator & provided it has ATOL protection, if it goes bust, you’ll either get a refund or a flight home if you’re already there. Yet there’s no protection for scheduled airline flights. Then, provided the ticket’s over £100, again book it on a credit card for added protection (see above).

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Free Texts loophole. Mobile texts for nearly nothing, or totally free from the web.
Texting is a bit of a con. While to transfer e-mails, videos or music through modern phones' mobile internet costs fractions of a penny; to send just 160 characters via old fashioned texting can cost 10p. Yet a few canny companies now allow you to send texts via your mobile’s internet service for a fraction of the cost, and it feels almost identical to normal texting. This is a completely re-researched and rewritten guide and also includes how to text for free to most countries worldwide via the web. New Article: Free Texts Related Articles: Cheapest Mobiles, Free Anti-Virus Software, Home Phones

Loophole! Free £5 M&S gift voucher just for getting an insurance quote. Just get a Direct Line home ins quote, no need to get the insurance. Full how to in the Forum Note: £5 M&S Gift Voucher

Gas & Elec News: Switch & now get £35 Amazon voucher. £1,000s of grants. First ever prepay cap
The PM’s energy saving proposals last week are like a wheelless Ferrari - look great but don’t get us anywhere. Luckily there’s been other news. £35 voucher for switching: Go through special links to compare and switch energy providers and you can get added cashback; the previous top rate was £30 cash, but a new player’s offering a £35 Amazon voucher, links in the Cheap Gas & Elec guide. Prepayment Meters: British Gas’s launched the first capped tariff for key-meter customers, which fixes the rate until Sept 2011. It’s more expensive than Ebico and will probably remain so after Ebico’s likely price rise. Yet if, as predicted, there’s yet another round of price hikes in January, by capping you won’t be impacted. Get £1,000s Grants: There's still £1,000s of free money around if you qualify, read the Grant Grabbing guide to see what you can get.

New 30% off Gap click n print voucher & more. Other new vouchers/codes incl. 20% off Dorothy Perkins online, 10% off Debenhams online and 15% off Asos accessories. Details in the Daily Deals List: Shopping Vouchers

100 days until Christmas! Act now, to slash festive costs. New Article
Wait to sort Christmas (or Eid, Hannukah, Diwali etc) and prices, hassle and worry go up. Yet act now and there’s time to prepare your pocket, save money and take the stress away. To help this is a brand new guide to all the things to do in advance, collecting together the tops tips on how to avoid debts, get supermarkets to give you extra goods, increase Tesco vouchers, bag bargains and plan your spending. New Guide: Christmas MoneySaving Related Guides: Festive Fivers, Budget Planner

XL collapse: how to get your money back. Whether you've ATOL protection, paid on a credit or debit card, this is a step-by-step help Forum Help Guide: XL collapse help

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

Last Chance! Gourmet Burger Kitchen 2for1. The upmarket Burger Chain’s click 'n print voucher ends Thur 25 Sept, so go quick. For this, Pizza Hut, Yo Sushi & more see the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers

Check your Council Tax band: £100,000 repaid as a whole street reclaims
A report in the Scotsman shows a whole street have had their council tax bands lowered with over 50 people getting backdated paybacks averaging £2,000. One of the residents started it by following this site's council tax rebanding system (although the article bizarrely says I ‘told them’ they were in the wrong band). If you haven’t checked yours yet, it's well worth 10 minutes. Updated Guide: Council Tax Rebanding

New Cheapest Sat Nav. £55 Or get a Sony for £70, this & other deals in the Deals Note: Cheap Sat Navs

Don't listen to bank ads promising financial reviews. They're done to sell not advise
Be careful listening to the spiel of the new range of bank adverts offering financial reviews. Go in and you’ll effectively be met by a sales person, likely to be incentivised to flog you products, possibly using fear based sales techniques. Banks also only offer their own, usually uncompetitive products so treat any review with a truckload of salt (discuss financial reviews). Give yourself a review: Everything can be done better and cheaper yourself, use the free budget planner, get debt-help, give yourself a money makeover, or for protection, pension and investment help if you can’t do it yourself use an independent financial adviser

Free posh Dior mini mascara. Fill in a form and take it to your nearest Dior counter. Details in the Forum Note: Lash out

Inflation increases to 4.7%. Beat this with It Pays To Watch five TV Wed. 7.30pm
The official (CPI) rate of inflation has jumped to 4.7% from 4.4%, though the more relevant RPI rate dropped a smidgeon to 4.8%. With price rises smacking the nation, the first of my new TV series is dedicated to fighting back. I’m going to run through what to do with mortgages, gas & electricity, food bills and petrol so you don’t feel the pinch. TV prog details: It Pays To Watch, five TV, every Wed 7.30pm for the next eight weeks. Related MoneySaving Guides: Mortgages, Gas & Electricity, Food and Petrol Take part in the prog: Either join the audience or let me try to save you money

Don't dial 3 for ring back after using 1471 on BT! BT’s increased the prices of using its ring back service on 1471 from 7.5p to 10p. Find out how to beat this & other charges in the Forum Note: Cheaper BT tricks Related Guide: Cheap Home Phones

News Flash! Setanta bows to public pressure & vastly improves cancellation policy
A month ago I wrote about the nightmare of cancelling Setanta, then last week Radio 5 covered the same story, a programme I’m delighted to have been part of. In both, scores of customers berated its dire procedures. Thankfully it's wilted, so only 30 days' notice is now needed to end the service (it was 60) and you can cancel via email, not just snail mail. Full details in the Updated Forum Note: Setanta cancelling help

£600 Microsoft Office package for £40, if you're a student. Its 'ultimate steal' package has returned! Full details & free alternatives in the: Updated Article: Free Office Software.

Does your under-18 have a mobile in your name? Be careful with the insurance
Many under-18s have mobile contracts taken out in their parent's name, if that’s the case, check the insurance policy. Some wriggle out of paying claims saying "at the time of the incident the handset was in the possession of an unauthorised user”. So before signing up for insurance, first check whether it asks you to name the under-18 as the policy holder. To find the cheapest insurers and whether you should bother, read the Full Guide: Cheap Mobile Insurance Related Articles: Cheapest Mobiles, Cheap Car Insurance, Cheap Home Insurance

Nominate your favourite forum tip! Seen a fantastic deal, bargain or just down-right useful tip in the forum that’s saved you cash? Nominate them for the post of the month £50 prize

Got an Abbey Zero credit card? Don't worry about its new 'dormancy fee' t&c.
This month Abbey changed the T&Cs on its Zero credit card, which is the top card for spending overseas (see Cheap Travel Money). In there it mentions a 'dormancy fee' for cardholders who don't use their account for prolonged periods. Yet we’ve spoken to Abbey, it says it's just there to give it the option to introduce the fee at a later stage. It’s not intending anyone to be charged now, and even if it does decide to, you’ll be told beforehand so you can avoid it (just use the card once or twice paid off in full) or cancel. Discuss Abbey Zero

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Fannie contribute to Mae's council tax?
Best friends Fannie and Mae rent a flat together. Fannie's a student, so there’s no legal obligation for her to pay any council tax, but Mae, who works full-time for minimum wage, does have to pay 75% of the bill (as she's the only paying resident it's reduced: see the Council Tax guide). Yet if Mae lived with another non-student she'd split it, so only shoulder 50%, and if Fannie lived with another student the whole house would be council tax free. Mae thinks Fannie should help her out a bit. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Fannie contribute? Previous MMDs: Would you ask for the tenner back? and Would you leave a small shop in the lurch?

Great 'Top Comping Tips' Hunt. How to enter & win competitions…
Serious ‘compers’ spend hours doing contests and some, but not all, get lucky winning big. The Forum Competitions Board is an amazing resource full of contests costing nothing to enter. I want to tap compers for top tips to find out the best contests to enter, how to keep track of entries and come up with winning tie-breakers. Add your ideas/read other peoples': Great 'Top Comping Tips' Hunt Past Great Hunts: No-Contract Deals, Top Sales Tactics, Recycle For Cash

CHEAP FLIGHTS SALES ALERT Airline: BMI Baby. Price: c.£25 e/w. Ends: When tickets sell out.
My top pick budget airline sale this week is BMI Baby's 'pay taxes & charges only' promotion, to various European destinations from a handful of UK airports. Tickets are only advertised at this price until midnight 16 Sept, but we expect the sale to be extended. 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 £25. 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: Pets & Petcare
The Pets MoneySaving gives pet owners a place to swap tips and suggestions on how to care for the furry members of their family for less. Discussions include Dog's annual booster cost?, Bunny getting the snip and Pet Passport and vaccinations. Plus there's the Great Feed and House your Pets for Less Hunt

Great 'Price Matching/Beating Deals' Hunt Result
Last week I asked MoneySavers for their top tips on shops that price match. Suggestions included Richer Sounds, John Lewis and Halfords

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.

• New Series! It Pays To Watch, Five, Wednesday 17, 7:30PM. The cost of everyday items is soaring, yet keep extra pounds in your pocket by following my inflation-busting techniques.

• The Vine Show, BBC Radio 2, Friday 19 September, 1-2PM. This week I'll be answering questions on anything and everything MoneySaving, in an open phone-in session with Jeremy Vine.
  
  
• GMTV/LK Today, ITV, Tuesday 23 September, 7:30-9:15AM. The next GMTV/LK Today cash clinic will be on reclaiming. Whether it's Bank Charges, Credit Card Charges, Missold PPI or Council Tax that ails you, I'll try to show you how to get your cash back.

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

This week's Martin's Blog: Does the Prime Minister understand Direct Debit?
"Political reporters are you out of touch?", "Don't cha wish your picture was hot like mine?" and "The Credit Card Science Experiment". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

What'd you do in a burning building? This week's poll. Vote and Game Theory discussion.

Should tax & benefits prioritise families? Depends if you have one! Last Week’s Vote. Of the 46% of voters with kids at home, 38% think families should be prioritised, compared to just 8% that don't. Yet the tables turn when the kids leave, with just 4% voting for family priority, and 8% voting against it. Interestingly, of the 42% without children, only 10% think families should get priority. See Family First poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! How good are your Ninja fingers?! Ninja Glove

Be in your own Seaside Postcards & Magazine Covers. That's it for this week, though remember those cardboard cut-outs you stick your head through at the seaside for photos? Now do it free online!

I hope you save some money

Martin

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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,virginmoney.com, alliance-leicester.co.uk, kaupthingedge.co.uk, tiscali.co.uk, amex.co.uk, envirofone.com, mopay.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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