Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

Savings safety update: B&B, joint accounts and Nationwide merger news. What a week: turmoil in the US and Bradford & Bingley nationalised. Understandably, my mailbag’s again jammed by scared savers asking questions. Yet remember B&B is proof the Govt's determined to bail out banks in trouble. The £35,000 protection golden rule. For all bank & building society deposit accounts, eg savings, cash ISAs, fixed savings, in the unlikely event a bank goes bust, £35,000 per person, per institution (either an individual bank or a banking group) is guaranteed. While the PM plans to raise it to £50,000, that ISN’T law yet. So if you’ve over £35,000, spreading savings helps mitigate any risk. Bradford & Bingley savings accounts. B&B’s savings wing is now part of the Abbey, which, along with Alliance & Leicester, is owned by Spanish Bank Santander. If you’ve money in B&B and Abbey, you’re only protected up to a total of £35,000. A&L has a separate licence, meaning it has a separate £35,000 protection. Joint accounts count as half each. Money in a joint account, eg £50,000, counts as if each individual had half, ie £25,000, saved, for savings safety rules. So imagine Irma Prudent had a £60,000 joint account with husband Pete, as well as £10,000 of her own in Riskybank. In the unlikely event Riskybank went bust, it counts as her having £40,000 there (£30,000 + £10,000), so she’d lose £5,000. The couple would've been better off with all the money in the joint account or £35,000 each in two separate accounts. Nationwide, Derbyshire and Cheshire Building Society mergers. Nationwide will take over the other two societies by December. At that point, it says it's likely all three will be moved to the same FSA licence, thus they’ll count as one institution, so savers will be covered up to £35,000 in total.

Credit crunch credit card cost cutting It’s an alliterative dream show this week, all about how to cut the cost of credit cards during the credit crunch with solutions, whether you can get new credit or not. Plus special guest Kyran Bracken takes my MoneySaving masterbrain challenge Join us live each week: Email: audience@itpaystowatch.co.uk (incl. phone no.) Watch It: Wed, 7.30pm on five Watch last week's Maximise Your Savings

Bank-by-bank guide: Read the full Are Your Savings Safe? guide or if you’re looking to spread money, see the Top Savings Accounts guide.

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PS. Happy Eid to Muslim MoneySavers & Shana Tova to Jewish Ones!
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The Ones Not To Miss MSE

Cheap MoTs. Save £100s on repair costs using council test centres. New Article
For cars with faults, repair costs usually dwarf the MoT test fee. While a cheap "MoTs just £20" promotion sounds good, it's ruined if it means shelling out £100s to fix problems. The key, as thousands of MoneySavers will testify, is using hidden local council MoT centres, which don't do repairs, so they've no vested interest to fail you. This completely re-written and re-researched step-by-step MoT guide includes a full list of council testing centres. New Guide: Cheap MoTs Related Articles: Cheap Car Insurance, Cheap Petrol, Cheapest Breakdown Cover

New Strada 2for1voucher & last chance 50% off Pizza Hut. Plus Giraffe 2for1 ends soon too; these and many more in the Daily Deals List: Eating Out Vouchers

New Top Savings. 7.21% fixed for a year or 6.6% easy access. Updated Article
The credit crunch has pushed savings rates sky-high, as banks are desperate to suck cash in. Top fixed rate: The AA's new 7.21% AER one-year deal's great, though you have to lock the cash away for that time, without access. Top easy access: Alliance & Leicester's* launched the new highest rate account at 6.6% AER, yet watch out, make a withdrawal at anytime (except July 09), even just a quid, and you lose interest on ALL savings for that month. So it's only worth it for people intending to store cash and not really touch it. Otherwise, stick with Kaupthing's* no tricks account at 6.55%, which guarantees a good rate until 2012. Full info and alternatives in the Updated Article: Top Savings Related Articles: Cash ISAs, Are Your Savings Safe?

New 20% off Habitat voucher & 15% off Warehouse. These join £15 off Waitrose online, 20% off H&M and more vouchers in the the Daily Deals List: Shopping Vouchers

British Gas hikes Click Energy 5 gas price by 45%. Compare & switch energy now
British Gas, like all energy suppliers, upped its prices eight weeks ago, but its online Click Energy 5 tariff wasn’t increased. Now, as predicted, the millions on it face gas rises up to 45% and elec 20%. Also smaller supplier Ebico’s upped gas by 32% and elec 24%. Compare and switch/cap: Anyone who hasn’t yet should now do a comparison, to check whether you’re paying way over the odds. My top pick comparison site is Energyhelpline* which via this link pays £15 cashback per fuel. For dual fuel switches Moneysupermarket* gives £30 cashback, Uswitch* a free case of wine & SimplySwitch* £35 in Amazon vouchers. Full info in the Updated Article: Switch Gas & Elec Related Articles: Grant Grabbing, Cheapest Boiler Cover

Free TV show tickets. X Factor, Family Fortunes, Mock the Week & more. Some shows do it by lottery, others give tickets instantly; you may even get free transport and nosh. Full info added to the Daily Deals List: Cheap Days Out

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

£14 fully comprehensive car insurance. The new record cheapest. Updated Article
A record result by following the cheap car insurance system by MoneySaver Emmonk, for her mum. First Step: £134 quote. Use a combination of comparison services Moneysupermarket*, GoCompare*, Confused* & Only*. Second Step: £120 cashback. She then checked cashback sites and found this mammoth rebate. Total cost: £14. While not everyone can get such a cracking result, she's one of a growing number insuring for under £50. Updated Guide: Cheap Car Insurance Can you beat this? Report your result Related Articles: Home Insurance, Boiler Insurance, Mortgage Life Insurance

This season's England footie shirt £9 in-store. Sports Direct is selling England shirts for £8.99 in-store or £13.49 delivered online, a fraction of the usual up to £50 price. Forum Note: England Shirts

New cheap train fare tools. Find when to go to get the cheapest price. Updated Article
Commercial train booking company TheTrainline* has launched a nifty new tool (a bit like the Flightchecker) for those with travel flexibility. Tell it where you want to go plus a range of dates and it tells you the cheapest day and time. There’s also a new ticket alert system, which emails the moment cheap advance tickets come on sale. Warning: While it's great for info, you can book more cheaply going direct to the train company. Full info and much more in the Updated Article: Cheap Train Fares Related Guides: Cheap Hotels, Days Out, Cheap Flights

5p/litre off fuel. Sainsbury's has a new fuel promotion: 5p off per litre when you spend £50. More in the Updated Guide: Cheap Petrol & Diesel

Great 'What's Hot at Aldi, Lidl & Netto' Hunt. Reveal the products you rate
Super-cheap supermarkets Lidl, Aldi and Netto smack the bottoms of their big name opposition on price. Three years ago, I asked MoneySavers to rate the good products from the bad and the results formed the What's Hot and What's Not at Aldi, Lidl & Netto guide. Now it's time for a new guide, so your comments and feedback is important. Add your ideas/read others: The Great 'What's Hot at Aldi Lidl & Netto' Hunt. Also see the Daily Deals Lists: Grocery Coupons, Shopping Vouchers Related Guide: Supermarket Shopping

Prepare for winter the Old Style way. I was stunned by the wealth of information in this forum discussion from MoneySaving Old Stylers (thrift fans) on preparing for winter, including thicker curtains, snuggly duvets and sweep your chimney. Forum Note: Batten down the hatches!

Student warning. Don’t spend more than you ... ? The truth about student budgeting
Across the UK, students are starting courses, with parents and grandparents earnestly warning them to budget. While for working people the rule’s simple: 'don’t spend more than you earn' ... what shouldn’t students spend more than? Rule of thumb: Here’s my quick student budgeting solution. Add up 1. Money from the official student loan. 2. Any money from grants. 3. Any income from working. 4. Any contribution from parents or relatives. The total’s your income and you shouldn’t spend more than it; note 0% overdrafts aren’t part of this. Use the Free Budget Planner to help. Related Guides: Parents' Guide to Student Finance, Student MoneySaving, Should I Repay My Student Loan?

What's going to happen to gas & electricity prices? Read predictions in m'blog

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The Big & Easy Ways to Save Checklist

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 New Customer Balance Transfers: Short Term 0%: Barclaycard 14 mths, 2.5% fee, Virgin* 15 mths, 2.98% fee. Long Term: Barclaycard 6.3% for life* or read Balance Transfers New Borrowing: Best Card For Spending or Cheapest Loans Mortgage Makeover: Read the free Remortgage Guide Reclaim £1,000s: on Mortgage Fees, Council Tax, Endowments, Bank Charges, PPI Home Phone & Broadband: Tiscali* 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*, Mopay*. Recycle Mobiles article Teen Cash Guide: Free 40 page PDF guide to teach your kids about money Switch Gas & Elec and Get up to £30 Cashback! Energyhelpline* or Gas & Elec Article Free MoneySavingExpert Car Sticker MoneySavingExpert.com/carsticker

More MoneySaving MSE

Reminder. Paper tax returns deadline a month away. Get free help if on a low income
If you’re going to file a paper return for the year ending 5 April 2008, the deadline’s now 31 Oct (it used to be 31 Jan) or you’re fined. Miss it and you can still file an online return before 31 Jan instead, to avoid the fine, but if not, go quick. If you’re on a low income, under £15k, free help is available to help you fill in the form. Forum Note: Free Tax Help Past Tax Q&As: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six

Minimum wage increases to £5.73 for over 22s on 1 Oct. It also increases to £3.53 for 16-17s; and £4.77 for 18- 21s. Related Guide: 5 Min Benefit Check-Up

FSA slams lenders AGAIN, for poor PPI practices. Check your loan & reclaim £1,000s
The FSA has been investigating Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), commonly added on loans, credit cards and mortgages, for years. After warning lenders three times, it’s just released another report saying the way it's sold still isn’t good enough. A full report is expected in early 2009, including how it'll deal with poor sales practices, and, importantly, ways to resolve mis-selling complaints. Reclaim £1,000s. Anyone with a loan should check NOW if they’ve been mis-sold loan insurance; we’ve already have thousands of successes, with people getting serious cash back. Full details in the PPI Reclaiming Guide Related Articles: Bank Charges News, Credit Card Reclaiming, Council Tax Rebanding

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

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should you risk spreading the lurgy to colleagues?
You’re battling a nasty flu, but are freelance, in debt, and only earn if you’re paid. You can get through the day, with hankies and cold 'n' flu tablets, but as you already gave it to your partner, you do risk infecting colleagues with the lurgy. Yet you’re in debt and need the money. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should you risk spreading the lurgy to colleagues? Previous MMDs: Should you continue to send birthday presents? and Should Fannie contribute to Mae's council tax?

Credit crunch credit card cost cutting. Slash interest costs. It Pays To Watch challenge
This week's programme is dedicated to slicing credit card costs, whether you can get new credit or not, using all the techniques possible. TV prog details: It Pays To Watch, five TV, every Wed 7.30pm, for the next seven weeks. Related MoneySaving Guides: Best Balance Transfers, Best Card For Purchases, Cheap Debt Without New Credit Take part in the prog: Either join the audience or let me try to save you money

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

Top Deal! £6 Indian meal & beer for two, at Morrisons. Tikkas all the boxes Buy one magazine, get one half-price at Borders 'til 5 Oct. Mag-nificent! £16 Cath Kidston duvet covers. In TK Maxx, usually £65. Can you find one? Calling all pregnant commuters! Train companies may offer a free first-class upgrade Make toasties without a toaster. Bags of savings Tommy Tippee nappy wrapper £10. Normally £30. Smell-buster! Ski & Board Show Ticket give-away results. Did you get a pair? Free tickets for It Pays To Watch. 15 Oct & every Wed Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: Job satisfaction vs more money Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: Feeding a family of four on £20/mth Post of the Month winner Sept: Free iPod Shuffle, See all nominations Nominate Post Of The Month for October

Board of the week: Marriage, Families & Relationships
If you're after help and guidance on money matters in the home, the Marriage, Families & Relationships Board is teeming with useful info and experience. Discussions include suggestions and quandaries, such as Saving child benefit cash?, Getting a loan for my girlfriend? and Charging adult kids living at home?

Great 'Recession Survival Tips' Hunt Result
Although we're technically not there yet, it pays to be prepared, so last week I asked MoneySavers who went through the last few recessions for advice on how to cope. There were some great suggestions, including Not too late to save , Live within your means and Get everything free

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Andrea's Freebies Freebies, Freebies, Freebies

Twinings Tea, Online Karaoke (Like SingStar), Halloween Pumpkin Stencils Printable Pirate Treasure Map, Gluten-free White Mix

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.

• Jeremy Vine, Radio 2, Friday 3 October, 1pm. Old Style MoneySaving: challenging older listeners to come up with the best thrift tips.
  
• GMTV & LK Today, ITV1, Tuesday 7 October between 7:30 & 9am. The subject for these shows is news-reactive, so you'll have to wait and see!
  
• It Pays To Watch, five, Wednesday 1 October, 7:30pm. Credit cards cost cutting.
  

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: It's a typical day ... agghhhh!
"This site saved me £50 " and "What's going to happen to gas & elec prices?" Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

Who do you trust to run the economy? This week's poll. Vote and Economic Party discussion.

Are you a knock-off Nigel or Nigella? Last Week’s Vote. Asked whether you'd buy a dodgy-looking DVD off the street, 44% said they wouldn't because it's illegal, but 16% were willing to break the law this way and another 11% said they unlawfully download instead! See Dodgy DVDs poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! Pit your guitar skills against your PC. Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe!

Get some dodgy togs . A new site morphs your face into a high school yearbook snap, featuring cheesy looks from the last 50 years. Yearbook yourself!

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: alliance-leicester.co.uk, kaupthing.com, moneysupermarket.com, gocompare.com, confused.com, onlyinsurance.com, thetrainline.com, barclaycard.co.uk, virginmoney.com, tiscali.co.uk, americanexpress.co.uk, envirofone.com, mopay.co.uk, energyhelpline.com. 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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