Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email
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Icesave, Iceland and the new £50,000 limit, Safe Savings UPDATE It’s been a horrid week so far, with the dire news from Iceland dominating. Unsurprisingly yet again my mailbag’s jammed by scared savers' questions…
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Updated 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. Also see my Icesave blog.
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Protect anything you buy from companies going bust. New template letters.
This is a must read. The Problem: With economic demons everywhere, buy something, whether a kitchen, computer or flight and if the company goes bust before delivery, you lose your money, or after delivery you lose any redress for problems. The Solution: Buy single items costing over £100 on a credit card, and by law, it's jointly liable with the retailer, so you can get your money back, though do pay it off in full so there’s no interest. The Complications: What counts a single item? What if you can’t get a credit card? How do you make a claim? All answers and free template letters in this major New Guide: Is it Safe to Buy? Related Articles: Consumer Rights, Cheap Online Shopping, Cashback Credit Cards
New Pizza Express 2for1 and buy five plates get five free at Yo Sushi! These new Sun to Thurs click 'n print vouchers join Strada & more in the Daily Deals List: 2for1 Restaurant Vouchers
URGENT. New Cheapest Broadband. £9.99 / month plus free £50 wireless router.
Until 19 Oct, get a year’s contract with the current cheapest standalone broadband provider Plusnet via comparison site Uswitch* and you get the usual £9.99/month deal plus a free 4-port wireless router (worth c. £50). Plusnet regularly tops user feedback polls. There’s a 2GB download limit, which is fine for most e-mail & web users, but heavy downloaders or web TV watchers should be careful. Cheapest Unlimited: o2* offers an unlimited download package at £12.50/mth (£7.50 for its contract mobile customers). Full options, pros and cons in the Updated Article: Cheap Broadband Related Articles: Cheapest Home Phones, Free Wireless Internet
Free Eye Test & 100 Clubcard Points. Call any Tesco optician and simply book a free eye test, usually £10, plus it’ll give you 100 Clubcard points (worth £4 in deals) after you’ve had it. Forum Note: Free Eye Test
Are you in severe financial trouble? Government Crisis Loans may be able to help
Many people in desperate times lurch to whoever will lend them cash at any rate, which later can cause disaster. It’s worth bearing in mind that, at such times, the Govt’s Social Fund can give interest free loans of up to £1,500 for people in severe need (e.g. no food to feed kids or the roof caved in). These can be applied for from Job Centres. Updated Guide: Problem Debt Help Related Guides: Money Makeover, 5 min Benefits Check-up, Budget planner
Free Friday Starbucks coffee worth £3.30! Voucher every Fri in the Guardian (80p) for three weeks. Full info in the Forum Note: Beat the Coffee Crunch
STOP YOUR FRIENDS WASTING
CASH! PLS SUGGEST THEY GET THIS EMAIL
Cheapest Ugg boots £112 all-in (normally £140). Or get 'em for £98 when you buy with a mate; this and other deals in the Forum Note: Cheap Ugg Boots
Mammoth list of free stuff… Freebies, Freebies, Freebies. Updated Guide
The credit crunch horrors mean anything for free is great. Each week this e-mail includes a raft of them, and all the ones that aren’t short-lived are put in a massive compendium of what's available. Top freebies include herbal tea, pet food and condoms. See the categorised list in the Updated Article: Freebies, Freebies, Freebies Related Article: Tips, Tricks & Treats
Basic AA cover for £15 & RAC for £11. The AA’s giving a £20 M&S voucher with its £35 cover right now, or you can get cashback with the RAC, cutting it to just £11. New Deals Note: Roadside Recovery
Free Software: Office, Video editing & more. New programs & new Mac section.
Know where to look and you can grab top quality, legal, professional Office suites (word processors, spreadsheets), graphics, media players, speed boosting & photo editing programs all for free. This huge compendium of free software now includes even more fully checked-out programs such as Inkscape (graphic design) and Google Chrome, plus a dedicated section for Mac users. Updated Guide: Free Office Software Related Guides: Free Anti Virus Software, Free Wireless Internet
Premium Bonds: They're safe, but how much will you win? The new October draw odds are now in the Premium Bond Probability Calculator
Record low laptop prices. Mini-laptops from £150. Powerlaptops from £330.
A new breed of wireless mini-laptops known as Netbooks are available which shun hardcore computing power in favour of being small and light. They’re perfect for web surfing and the basics. If you're looking for desktop PC-rivalling power on your lap, there are a range of cheap full-spec laptops with speedy Core 2 Duo processors in the new and fully updated Deals List: Cheap Mini-laptops and Cheap Laptops
Reminder. Get 5% off all Xmas & Jan Sales Spending. The Amex Plat* credit card gives new cardholders a huge 5% cashback for three mths. Repay in full every month & there’s no interest. Updated Guide: Top Cashback Cards
Halifax lowers credit cards minimum repayments.. not good news.. you may pay more!
If you’ve got a Halifax or Bank of Scotland All In One, Plus or Cashback credit card beware, it’s lowered the ‘minimum monthly repayment’. The Change: It was the higher of 2% of your balance or £5, it's now the higher of '1%' or 'the interest plus £5'. The impact: Roughly speaking anyone with a card charging under 25% interest, making just the minimum repayments will pay less per month, meaning it’ll take longer and cost more to clear the debt. An example: A £5,000 balance, under the old system would have been repaid in 38 years, costing £12,600, yet the new system jumps to 83 years and nearly £31,000 in interest! More info in the Updated Guide Minimum Repayments inc free calculator Related Articles: 0% for Purchases, Best Balance Transfers
The Big & Easy Ways to Save Checklist |
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Great 'Cutting the Cost of Driving' Hunt: Liftshares, carclubs and more.
With fuel costs sky high, as well as cheap petrol there’s a growing number of ways to share the burden. I’d like to tap MoneySavers' knowledge and experience on the wider areas of car cost cutting. What ideas do you have, what’ve you tried and how good are they..? Add your ideas/read other peoples': Great 'Cutting the Cost of Driving' Hunt Past Great Hunts: Aldi, Lidl & Netto, Recession Survival Tips, Top Comping Tips
Free US online magazines inc Readers' Digest & PC Mag. Just register to use the special software to get a 12 mths' subscription. Forum Note: E-magazine
MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Would you shop your teenager?
Whilst withdrawing cash from an ATM you notice £750 is missing from the account. A quick check online reveals the money was spent a few days ago at djdecksdirect.com, your fourteen year-old son's favourite website. He admits using your debit card to make the transaction online and has already received and used the goods. You have bills to pay and simply can't afford to write off that much cash but the only chance of getting it back is to admit what happened to the bank and give it a crime number, which means reporting your son to the police. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Would you shop your teenager? Previous MMDs: Should you risk spreading the lurgy to colleagues?, Should you continue to send birthday presents?
New Doorstep Lending Comparison Service Launched.... Avoid these loans at all costs though.
The OFT has forced doorstep lenders to put their details on a govt. backed independent comparison service Lenderscompared, so those looking to use these hideous often 1,000% APR, loans can at least compare them. Of course you’d be far better going to see one of the debt counselling agencies (see Debt Help guide), yet at least if people are going to take the plunge this is a help.
Download lots of Music & Films? Check your home insurance covers them!
Buy physical CDs/DVDs and they'll likely be covered by any home contents insurance policy, yet buy and download media from the web and it's usually NOT included. So check if your policy covers digital media, and if not, whether there's a bolt-on available to extend the cover. More importantly, make regular back-ups of everything you buy, because even the most comprehensive policy won't cover you if your computer goes kaput. Article: Cheap Home Insurance
Quick Forum Tips
Warning! Bargains listed here tend to
sell out quickly
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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 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
Board of the week: Special Occasions & Celebrations
Christmas is fast approaching! It can put a massive strain on the purse strings but the name of the game is forward planning. So to help with the preparation, the Special Occasions board is full of top tips on cutting the cost of Christmas and other special occasions. Recent discussions include Christmas Baking,
Budget Present Ideas and Christmas Wrapping Paper
Great 'Aldi, Lidl & Netto' Hunt Result
Last week I called upon MoneySavers to give their top recommendations (or not) on items from discount supermarkets Aldi, Lidl and Netto. There were some great suggestions including Aldi Pimms Equivalent,
Lidl Castello Shortbread and Netto Cheap Loo Roll
Olay 7in1 Moisturiser, The France Show, BBC Nuclear Bomb Script, |
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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.
- GMTV & LK Today, ITV1, Wednesday 8 October, between 7:45 & 8:45am. Full news on the latest bank developments across Europe. Are Your Savings Safe?
- It Pays To Watch, Five, Wednesday 8 October, 7:30pm. Emergency financial self defence! Learn how to Protect Your Purchases, Find A Cheap Mortgage and Safeguard Your Savings
- Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show, 100% Absolute Radio, Monday 13 October, 8am. Find out if you can claw back £100s in Mortgage Exit Fee Reclaiming
- GMTV & LK Today, ITV1, Tuesday 14 October between 7:30 & 9am. The subject for these shows 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
This week's Martin's Blog: The UK’s only Bradford & Bingley Branch... Kensington High Street
"You can't escape... MoneySaving is contagious", "Hai-Ya... Breaking a tile with my fist", "Thank you to the nice lady" and "X-factor who pays for the calls?". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)
What class are you? This week's poll. Vote and Class discussion.
Who do you trust to run the economy? The Tories... just. Last Week’s Vote. A close-run vote this week, but in the end Conservatives David Cameron & George Osborne found the most favour, taking 46% of the total vote. Shortly behind were current Labour duo Gordon Brown & Alistair Darling with 42%, leaving Lib Dems Nick Clegg & Vince Cable with the last 12%. See Who do you trust? poll results.
Archna's Free Game of the Week! Help Colin catch his colourful feast Creepy Crawlies
The Credit Crunch Song... I even get a mention. How can I fail to give a wee bit of publicity to the Credit Crunch Song, after all, this email gets a mention. Watch the Credit Crunch Song video.
I hope you save some money
Martin
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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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