Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email
|
||||||
URGENT! Do a Debt Audit BEFORE recession hits. Recession can mean redundancy and pay freezes; which will kill your credit rating. So everyone should act NOW to do a Debt Audit. 1. Repay debts with savings. If you’ve ANY spare cash, throw it at your borrowings, as debt usually costs much more than savings earn, see the Debt v Saving guide. 2. Balance transfer to cheap rates. Those with credit card debt should shift to cheaper rates. Virgin* offers new cardholders 0% for 16 mths with a 2.98% fee, Barclaycard 6.5% for life. Read the Balance Transfers guide. 3: Cut costs WITHOUT new credit. If you're rejected for new credit, many card companies have hidden existing customer offers. Ask “will you give me a cheap deal if I shift debts from other cards to you?” Many will. See the full Existing Customer Deals guide. 4. Overdrafts are debts too. Don't repay credit cards from even higher rate overdrafts. Check & if so only make minimum repayments on the credit card, allowing your income to clear the overdraft first & avoiding bank charges. Better still, switch to a 0% overdraft. 5. Repay highest rate debts first. Don't try and pay the biggest debt first. Throw every penny at the one with the highest interest rate, paying only the minimum on all others. When that's cleared, focus on the next costliest. This way you’re debt free more quickly. |
|
If your debts are a serious worry, read the Problem Debt Help guide and visit the Debt-free Wannabe forum board.
Please suggest friends/family/colleagues get this free weekly e-mail from moneysavingexpert.com/tips
|
High Street Haggling, save £100s! 20 top tactics, but for you I’ll do it in 19. New Guide
You can get £100s off by haggling at stores including John Lewis, Comet & New Look or call centres for broadband, digital TV, car insurance and more. This is a brand new, sector by sector haggling guide, including top techniques, likely stores, and stock phrases to grease the wheels and clinch the deals. New Guide: High Street Haggling Related Guides: Mobiles Haggling, Online Shopping, Cashback Credit Cards
New Travelodge Sale. £9 UK rooms for Feb - April. Starts Thurs (6 Nov) 9pm. Plus there's a new batch of £19 rooms (usually £29-£59) in Dec/Jan, perfect for holiday time visits. More in the Forum Note: Travelodge Sale Related: Cheap Hotels, Cheap Trains
Sneakily get BT’s £1.50/mth Mobile Call Saver for free. ALL mobile calls 7.5p/min
BT's £1.50/mth mobile call saver add-on slashes the cost of daytime calls to mobiles by 40%, from 12.5p/min to 7.5p/m (plus 7p connection for both). New Promo: Sign up before 31 Dec, to any of its calling plans and it's free indefinitely, provided you keep renewing the 12 mth contract. This includes BT's basic £10.50/mth line rental unlimited weekend plan. Got BT? Get it free: The sneaky bit is, even if you’re already contracted to BT, call up/go to your online account and ask to start a NEW 12 month contract and you get it. 6p Mobile Calls: BT is beatable though, open a 18185 account and dial its prefix number and it's 6p/min plus 5p connection fee. Full how-to in the Updated Guide: Calling Mobiles
Cheaply Related Articles: Home Phones, Cheap Mobile Phones, Voip: Free Calls Worldwide
Free £25 posh eyeshadow with £2.50 mag. A full-sized Elizabeth Arden eyeshadow palette voucher is in Prima magazine. Full info in the Forum Note: Free £25 Eyeshadow
Guarantee an 8.5% borrowing facility for 4 years. New Fixed Rate Credit Card
Capital One's* launched a rare breed of credit card, where the rate’s FIXED at 8.5% until 1 Aug 2012 for all spending. It's effectively an open borrowing facility at a rate little more than the cheapest loans. A good back up if you’ll need to borrow. How fixed? The rate’s firm, but credit limits are never fixed, though it's unlikely to play this trick. Easy to get? This card’s specifically for those with a good credit history. Don’t apply otherwise. Alternatives? Barclaycard Simplicity offers a 6.8% standard, but not fixed, rate and a raft of cards offer 0% for under a year's borrowing. More info, pros & cons in the Updated Guide: Cheap
Cards for Spending Related Guides: Check your Credit Rating, Top Balance Transfers
Tootsies/Dexters 2for1 & La Tasca 50% off. Click n print a Tootsies Burger voucher; or get 50% off for up to 8 people at La Tasca via the Telegraph (90p) every day till Friday. These & more in the updated Daily Deals List: Eating Out Vouchers
STOP YOUR FRIENDS WASTING
CASH! PLS SUGGEST THEY GET THIS EMAIL
New Cheapest Gas & Electricity Tariff. Compare, ditch, switch & grab cashback. Updated Article
There’s a new cheapest online tariff for most people, as nPower’s Sign 14 online is a smidgeon cheaper than British Gas Click 6. Warning: Don’t simply shift to it, it doesn’t automatically win for everyone, do a comparison (and get cashback). Top Comparison Service: My top pick is Energyhelpline*, which pays £15 cashback if it can switch you, alternatively for dual fuel MnSup’mrket* gives £30 cashback, Uswitch* a crate of wine and SimplySwitch* £35 in Amazon vouchers. Yet you ONLY get cashback via these links not going to the sites direct. Full info in the Updated Guide: Switch Gas &
Electricity Related Articles: Home Phones, Boiler Cover, Water Bills
Broadband 60% speed-boost for £14? If your broadband's slower than advertised, then the new £14 I-Plate gadget manufactured by BT may help speed it up. More in the Forum Note: I-Plate
New Guide. Recession proof your finances. How to take urgent preventative action
If you’re under 35, it's likely you’ve never worked in a recession-hit economy, even those older may’ve only vague recollections. What recession means: Many of the sureties often taken for granted change, companies go bust, even affluent people lose jobs, pay is frozen, overtime is cut. What to do: Always have one eye on financial protection in everything you do. Lower your debts, protect your purchases, put money aside for tax and more. Full info in the New Guide: Recession Proofing Related Articles: Money Makeover, Budget Planner, Top Savings
Debenhams, Matalan & Body Shop £5 off £25 vouchers. Get the Debenhams one Wed/Thur in the Express (40p); Matalan on Fri in the Sun (30p); and Body Shop online on its own website. These & more in the Daily Deals List: Shopping Vouchers
Festive Fivers Contest ‘08! The best made or bought sub-£5 Xmas gift ideas win £200
It’s going to be a tough Christmas for many. So if you’ve a clever, romantic, thoughtful or practical present idea, for adults or kids, that can be made or bought for under a fiver, please enter. Winning Ideas: The best idea will get £200 and there are runners up prizes too. We’ll publish all top ideas: Even if you don’t win, it'll help others have a cheaper and less consumerist Christmas, Chanukah or Eid. Full Contest Info: Festive Fivers Comp See Past Winners: This is the third contest, so for inspiration see past winners (though you can't re-enter them): Festive Fivers
URGENT. Ends Weds: Nintendo Wii £159.99. Also Xbox 360 Arcade with 2 top games £149.99, and 80GB PS3 for £279.99. Full Xmas rundown in the Deals Note: Cheap Games Consoles
Icesave Update: Compensation starts this week. Beware scam emails. Updated Guide
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme is sending out the first batch of emails to Icesavers this week detailing the payout process. Following this, a second email will guide you through how to get your money.IMPORTANT! These emails are the only communication the FSCS will send, any other emails or phone calls are scams. It'll never ask you to email bank account details. If I don't get an email? If you've heard nothing by the end of Fri 7 Nov, call 0845 7300 131. When will it be paid? The first transfers will start next week, and hit accounts within five days. It says the 'vast majority' of Icesavers should have their cash by the end of Nov. More in the Updated Guide: Are your Savings Safe?
Knickers coming down! OK, I admit it, the 70% off online Knickerbox sale is only here as I love this pun.
The Big & Easy Ways to Save Checklist |
|
|
CHEAP FLIGHTS SALES ALERT Airline: Ryanair. Price: £10 e/w. Ends: Midnight Sunday 9 Nov.
My top pick budget airline sale this week is Ryanair's £10 (inc. most taxes & charges) flights to a host of European destinations from a range of UK airports. Tickets are at this price on selected flights between Nov & Jan until midnight Sunday 9 Nov. 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
Did you buy from Argos on Fri 24 Oct? You may have been double-charged. Forum Note: Argos Double-Charging
URGENT! Atlantic Gas & Elec customer? You can stop its backdated price rise
Energy supplier Atlantic's told customers it's raising prices and outrageously backdating this to last August. Sadly it’s within its rights, as it's within 65 days of the change. How to beat it: Write, rejecting the price change and giving notice and it can't do the backdated rise. Technically this must be within 10 days of receiving the letter, but you can always try beyond that. Then switch: Of course you must at the same point switch to a new supplier (see the Cheapest Gas & Elec guide), not a problem as Atlantic’s not cheap anymore. More info & discuss in the Forum Note: Say No To Atlantic's Price Rises Find the cheapest supplier plus get cashback on top in the article Cheapest Gas & Elec Related Articles: Boiler Cover, Water Bills
Great ‘Cheap Sports Tickets' Hunt
The cost of watching your favourite team play can be huge: a family trip to the footie can run into £100s. So I want to tap MoneySaving sports fans for ways to show expensive tickets the red card, whether it’s footie, rugby or other sports. Add your ideas/read other people's: Great 'Cheap Sports Tickets' Hunt Past Great Hunts: Best No Contract Deals, Working For Yourself, Cheap Dates
MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should you come clean about the extra refund?
You've bagged a bargain with a 20% off voucher but decide you don’t like it and take it back to the shop. When the shop assistant gives you a refund she reimburses you the full amount rather than the price you paid. Do you fess up or keep schtum? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Do you come clean about the extra refund? Previous MMDs: Should you give cash to a homeless man? and Should Rebecca come clean about David's baguette?
20 Pairs Norwich Chocolate Show Tickets for MoneySavers. 28-30 Nov in Norwich. Try for a pair. Say Yummy Yummy!
Quick Forum Tips
Warning! Bargains listed here tend to
sell out quickly
|
||
|
Great 'What to Buy in Pound Shops' Hunt Result
Last week I called upon MoneySavers to give top tips on what and what not to buy from Pound shops. There were some great suggestions including 3 pregnancy test kits, haircare products and padded envelopes.
Board of the week: Greenfingered MoneySaving
As fruit and veg costs have jumped over the past year many are turning to gardening to cut costs and stay healthy at the same time. Whether your gardening efforts are just a tray of herbs on the window sill or cloches in the garden over winter there's a wealth of tips and help on the Greenfingered MoneySaving board. Discussions include Yield per unit area,
Cheap veg seeds and Anybody used a potato barrel?
London Motorsport Show Tickets. Did you try for a pair last week? See if you got some
Muesli, £2 of Scottish Family Tree Info, Gift from Santa (Bluewater), |
|
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, Tuesday 11 November between 7:30 & 9:30am. The subject for these shows is news reactive so you'll have to wait and see!
- Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show, Absolute Radio, Monday 10 November, 8am. Listen to Martin's tip of the week!
- Past appearances: Listen/watch back, plus keep updated on future appearances.
This week's Martin's Blog: Beverley Knight: Star sings Singstar
"Atlantic Energy: Ofgem too slow to fight the backdated price rise". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)
How close to the brink are you? This week's poll. Vote and Recession impact discussion.
Would you take a pay cut? Last Week’s Vote. Last week I asked if you'd take a 10% pay cut to save 20 colleagues from redundancy. The vote proved very tight, with voters split almost exactly down the middle for the entire week. In the end though, those that said they would take the cut just edged it with 52% of the total, leaving those that wouldn't with 48%. See Pay cut poll results.
Archna's Free Game of the Week! Do you have never ending patience? Never Ending Level Game
The Simpsons... priceless ad. There are some things money can’t buy, these two adverts included. Priceless Ads
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: virginmoney.com, energyhelpline.com, moneysupermarket.com, uswitch.com, simplyswitch.com, capitalone.co.uk, tiscali.co.uk, americanexpress.com, 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.
To change your E-mail or stop receiving Tips: Go to: www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips
Latest weekly email
Clever ways to calculate your finances
