Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

Recession starts THIS Friday... it's official It may seem we've been in recession for an age, but technically the economy must've shrunk for two successive quarters (six months). We've had one, and on Fri. 23 Jan, when official growth figures are reported, we'll almost certainly have the second. The impact is varied: The Good. Let's try to be positive; prices are dropping as there's less demand. Petrol Prices have plummeted, and I suspect the first Gas & Elec price cuts'll be announced in the next ten days. Inflation (RPI), is now at 0.9%, the lowest for seven years, though worryingly there's talk of deflation, overall price decline. The Bad. We all need to think with a 'recession head' on and get financially defensive, tips from the Recession Proofing guide include: Beware income eaters. If your job's under threat, avoid signing up to monthly payments which lock you in for a set period, eg, gyms, digital TV, hire purchases. If you must, bag deals with shorter lock-ins. Brush up on benefits. If you've been in work, you mightn't claim any benefits. Yet if your family earns under £66,350, you could be eligible; do a five min Benefit Check-Up. Budget like the worst has happened. If there's a real risk of an income cut, act NOW as if it's already happened, saving what you can in case it actually does. Use the free Budget Planner to balance the books, then pare down ALL costs with the Money Makeover. The Ugly. Sadly, almost everyone will know someone who'll lose their job, if it's not happened already. This has a knock-on workplace effect; the 'last in first out' system means many will need to trade in job mobility for job stability, one of the reasons we've set up the new work & benefits forum section (more below).

Week of Tue 13 - Mon 19 Jan '09 1. Top Savings (1) 2. £1 Flights (New, but gone) 3. Freebies Freebies Freebies (4) 4. Best Cash ISAs (3) 5. Supermarket Shopping (New) 6. Premium Bonds Calc (2) 7. Package Holidays (New) 8. Best Balance Transfers (7) 9. Reclaim Bank Charges (10) 10. Cheap Car Insurance (5) Savings STILL dominates, but this week's big risers, the £1 Ryanair Flight Sale & Package Holidays guide, show people are looking past the gloom to summer weeks in the sun! Plus the 'Beyond Best-Before' online shop boosted the supermarket guide. The above excludes daily deals notes

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The Ones Not To Miss MSE

Free & Cheap Flights. Bag summer’s best deals or fly BA, BMI biz class etc for nowt.
With flights, unlike package holidays, early booking’s best. Cheapest flights anywhere: Start with screenscrapers to speedily check 100s of airlines & brokers for the cheapest; use the top three: Kayak*, Travelsupermarket* & Skyscanner. Then, for typical tourist destinations, eg, Orlando/Benidorm, check Flights Direct for charter deals. Free European flights loophole: Some credit cards give free return trips for signing up, including BA, BMI Biz class, Easyjet, Flybe & more (some charge taxes). Simply grab a card, spend once, pay off in full, get the flight & cancel the card. Full details in the fully rewritten & re-researched New Guide: Free & Cheap Flights Related Guides: Cheap Hotels, Cheap Car Hire, Travel Insurance, Overseas Currency

Get PAID £7 to see your credit report. Clever loophole for better-than-free credit check. Forum Note: £7 profit for credit report Related Guide: How Credit Scoring Works

Stop Press! Premium Bonds WON'T pass on rate cuts. Plus new £25 prize.
NS&I's just made two unprecendented announcements. Interest rate frozen at 1.8%: The Premium Bond interest rate, which determines the size of the prize fund, has been frozen for Feb and March. Recent UK base rate cuts meant it was expected to drop to less than 1%. This is the first time it's ever been higher than base rates. New £25 prizes: From April's draw, it says there may be new £25 prizes; the current lowest is £50. Thus while people will win less, they'll win less more often! A savvy political move as with interest rates so low there are far more premium bond losers than winners. Full News: Premium Bond Rate Freeze Test Your Odds: Premium Bond Calc Related Guides: Premium Bonds: Are they worth it?, Top Savings

2for1 vouchers. La Tasca, Ha Ha & Pitcher 'n' Piano join Pizza Express, Burger King & more. Just click 'n' print; see the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers

Jan Debt Special. Step by Step Debt Problem Help Guide. How to sort it out!
It's more than just a financial problem; debts hit relationships, family and even mental health. Minor Debt Problems? If your debts are a bit worrying, but handle-able, there's an easy-to-follow checklist on how to cut all debts' costs and prevent further problems. Debt Crisis? If you can't meet even the minimum monthly repayments or pay for basic needs, you're in debt crisis. The best course is to use free, non-profit, debt counselling agencies, there to help, not judge. Many tell me simply going meant they finally slept through the night. All the details in the Updated Guide: Problem Debts Guide Related Articles: Balance Transfers, Benefit Checkup, Budget Planner, Recession Guide

Free £10 Tesco eye test. Simply click 'n' print a free eye test voucher, then use it at 114 Tesco opticians across England & Wales. Forum Note: Free Eye Test

HELP YOUR FRIENDS GET RECESSION-PROOF. TELL THEM ABOUT THIS EMAIL

Warning! Tax deadline 10 days away. £100 fine if you miss it. Send in your self assessment form after 31 Jan and you'll be fined £100. Full details in the Related Forum Note: Free tax help

Slash car insurance costs. New Video Guide. The £26 A YEAR car insurance man To prove super-cheap car insurance can be possible, we've a new video guide, featuring the man who got his car insurance for £26 a year fully comp. The trick is to harness every web comparison service in the correct order, massively increasing the number of quotes, and then sneakily get cashback on top. The Right Comparisons: Use Moneysupermarket* AND GoCompare* to check 108 insurers and brokers in ten minutes; then if there's time do CompareTM*, Confused* and Uswitch* too. Grab Cashback: Go via hidden cashback website deals and get £100ish. Full details in the Updated Guide: Cheap Car Insurance Related Guides: Cheap Home Insurance, Cheap Fuel

Final Sales Discounts. Office 80% off, Boots 75% off Xmas stock, House of Fraser 70%. Choice is limited, but savings are huge if it suits; full details in the Daily Deals List: High St Sales Diary

New Mortgage Deals under 3%, but don't rule out your SVR!
While tracker and discount deal holders have seen rates plummet, there's been less impact for those looking for new (re)mortgage deals. Sub-3% Deal: HSBC's new much trumpeted 2.99% deal sounds good, but is only for high earners borrowing under 60% of their home's value, few others are under 3.5%. SVRs may be king: Lenders have been under political pressure to drop their usually overly expensive Standard Variable Rates (SVRs), e.g. Nationwide's 3.5%. This is the 'go-to' rate most pay when fix or discount deal ends, so don't rule it out; it's fees free and could be super-cheap. As always, use a whole-of-market broker to work it through. More in the Free Printed Guides: Mortgages, Remortgages or read Free Mortgage Advice

Bank Charges reclaiming HOLD ... will it end on 26 Jan? Officially the FSA's hold ends on 26 Jan. Yet when that happened six months ago it was simply extended & sadly the same's likely again. Full updates will go in the Updated Guide: Bank Charges News Related Guide: Reclaim Bank Charges

Does your gym have hot deals for new members? Cancel and rejoin. Quick tip.
Currently, many gyms have seriously hot new members’ deals, some up to half price. Are you out of contract? If you’re a current member OUT of your contract period, check whether the new deal is less than you pay. If so, ask it to cut your fees, and, if it refuses, moot cancelling the membership. Rejoin: If it doesn't work, consider cancelling & rejoining, though check your gym’s terms first; it may prohibit you getting the new price. Please Feedback & Discuss: Gym cancel & rejoin Related Guide: Cheap Gym Membership

Last Chance. Kids born between 1986 & 2003? Reclaim tax credits. The 2002/3 childrens tax credit was worth roughly £500 a year, and applied to many earning £6,000+. If you didn't get it, check urgently, as you must claim by 31 Jan. See the Forum Note: Children's Tax Credit Reclaim

ITV1 Tonight: Want a savings makeover or did you fix above 7%? Find full details in the Forum Note: Tonight Savings

New Forum! Work & Benefits. Inc. redundancy planning, job tips & benefits support
The sad economic state means work, job hunting, and getting what you're entitled to is becoming ever more important. Therefore we've a new forum section. The Boards: In it are four boards: Employment & Jobseeking, Up Your Income, Benefits & Tax Credits and Redundancy & Planning for it. They're all full of hints, discussions, tips and support from other MoneySavers. Related Guides: Benefits Check-up, Money Makeover, Boost Your Income

January reminder. Shift debts to save. Longest 0%: Virgin* 0% for 16mths with a 2.98% fee. Fees free: Abbey Zero (branch only) 0% for 6 mth. Long Term: Barclaycard Plat 6.5% for life plus 2% fee. More options, full info in the Best Balance Transfers guide

Free Pizza for mums-to-be, students, sports teams and Italian car owners! Prove it and there's a completely free margherita pizza available at Revolution Bars. See the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers

Free MoneySaving iGoogle gadget. Add this nifty tool, showing each week's top MoneySaving deals, to your iGoogle homepage. Full info in the Forum Note: Google Gadget

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Top Bank Account: £100, 0% overdraft, free travel ins. A&L* or see Bank Accounts 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 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 Quick Cash for Old Mobiles: Love2Recycle*, 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 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

XL holiday collapse update: ATOL still struggling to process some claims. Unprecedented demand has left some XL holidaymakers waiting for compensation, 13 weeks after the tour operator went into administration. What to do: If you've an acknowledgement letter for your claim, sit tight; the vast majority of claims are paid within 12 weeks of receipt, but the Air Travel Organiser's Licence (ATOL) is struggling with the volume. If you're yet to receive an acknowledgement, email your name, postcode, and date of claim submission to claims@cpg.org.uk and you should get one directly. Full info and updates in the Forum Note: XL Holiday Collapse New mobile shopping comparison via text. New shopbot Sccope lets you check online prices of goods via SMS, for the cost of a normal text. Great if your phone can't access the mobile web comparisons. Full details in the Updated Guide: Cheap Online Shopping Great 'financial harmony in relationships' hunt. How to talk about money with your partner Money worries are one of the most common reasons for couples splitting up, so it’s vital to be honest and open about financial matters. I’d like to tap MoneySavers for their top tips on financial harmony in relationships. What are the best ways to operate a joint account? How can you reconcile different spending habits or salaries? Add your ideas/read other people's: Great 'financial harmony in relationships' Hunt Past Great Hunts: No-Contract Deals, Top Sales Tactics, Recycle For Cash What food & drink do you rate at Aldi, Lidl & Netto? Share your top buys (and your don't buys) with other MoneySavers in the Great Aldi, Lidl & Netto Hunt MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Would you sell a story about a mate for £20,000? An old pal, who you don’t see much anymore, is in the latest series of Big Brother. You find out the tabloids are looking to buy stories, and have some dirt on your mate which could be worth up to £20,000. Yet they told you the information in confidence, and it would seriously embarrass and somewhat hurt them if it went public. Would you sell the story? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Would you sell a story on a mate for £20,000? Previous MMDs: Should Roman Rockafella leave all his money to his kids? and Would you keep a mistaken double refund?

Q. Why do savings account pay more if you get interest annually rather than monthly? A. It doesn’t pay more; it is just listed as a higher rate, for example, a 5% AER (annual rate) will be a 4.89% monthly. In fact, the amount you get will be identical. The difference is all due to how compound interest is calculated. It’s important to remember both rates are the amount of interest earned per year. When you are paid interest monthly, the rate given is calculated as if you withdrew the money straight away, so there’s no interest earned on the interest. Yet when you earn interest annually, the rate you get includes the effect of interest on the interest as it’s accrued over the year, so it’s higher. Either way, if you don't withdraw cash, you will have the same amount in the account at the end of the year, so it makes no difference which option you choose. See Top Saving and How interest Works guides. Discuss: Savings interest rates Suggest: A question of the week

CHEAP FLIGHTS SALES ALERT Airline: Easy Jet. Price: sub. £40 e/w. Ends: When seats sell out.
My top pick budget airline sale this week is EasyJet's, with flights to a host of European destinations from a range of UK airports for between £20.99 and £39.99 each way (inc. most taxes and charges). Tickets are at this price until they sell out, on selected flights travelling between now and 24 Oct '09. 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 £40. Non-Budget Airline Tools: These are listed in the Cheap Flights guide. Related Travel MoneySaving: Cheap Hotels, Spending Abroad, Cheap Currency, Travel Insurance, Mobile Roaming

MoneySavingExpert.com Job Opportunities. London based Junior IT technician (temp) and a highly numerate Editorial Assistant

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

Top Deal! Six Cadbury's Creme Eggs £1.22 at Co-op. Egg-cellent! Free £50 Virgin Voucher, for writing 100 reviews. Valid in posh restaurants & more Inflatable kids' beds £16 (or less) Inc Dora, & Peppa Pig Ready, Steady.. sleep! £5 Chinese eat in for two. From Morrisons. Inc Tiger beer Free shirt, tie & shoes worth £46. With a £99 formal wool suit. In store & online at M&S Cute kids' craft sets £2.50 inc. mirrors & photo frames. Get crafty! Free travel on London transport for veterans Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: Beating the green-eyed monster Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: Rubber Chicken

Struggling to get a current account? More Credit Unions have launched them.
If you're in Tower Hamlets, Shropshire, South Tyneside, Llandudno, Lewisham, Hartlepool or Newry, your local credit union has recently started providing current accounts. These are similar to basic bank accounts, but with the addition of a debit card, so are great for those struggling to get a bank account. The Credit Union guide explains how they work, how to find one near you and how to join. Updated Q&A Guide: Credit Unions Related Guide: Bank Accounts

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Andrea's Freebies Freebies, Freebies, Freebies

Bupa Online Healthcheck, Nicorette Inhalator, Smoothie Recipe Book Dry Skin Cream, Potty Training Charts & Stickers

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.

• LK Today, ITV1, Thursday 22 January, between 8:30 & 9:30am. Earn £££s by Recycling Old Mobiles, grab a return ferry trip between Dover & Calais for £19, including a car and up to nine passengers PLUS six free bottles of wine, and nab a free eye test.
• GMTV & LK Today, ITV1, Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 January, between 7:30 & 9:30am. It's a ditch the debt special, with a live Cash Clinic phone-in too.
• Sara Cox, Radio 1, Tuesday 27 January between 12 & 1pm. The MoneySaving subject's yet to be decided.
• Past appearances: Listen/watch back, plus keep updated on future appearances.
  

This week's Martin's Blog: We’ve hit the big 3,000,000!
"Free Champagne for EVERYONE ... no, maybe not" and "Cleopatra – comin’ atcha!". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

Should we nationalise the banks? This week's poll. Vote and Banks discussion.

Less than half knew the EU countries. Last Week’s Vote. Last week, I asked you to spot the odd one out in a list of EU countries. The most-picked answer, Norway, was correct, with 48% of votes. But over half plumped for a real EU country, with the Slovak Republic (19%, joined in 2004), and Romania (8%, joined in 2007), dominating. See European Oddity poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! A teaser to get you going. Maintain a constant gravity if you can! Spin the black circle

Play with spider! That's it for this week, but if you suffer from arachnophobia, definitely do not click this; it’s not for scaredy cats!

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: kayak.co.uk, moneysupermarket.com, gocomapre.com, comparethemarket.com, confused.com, uswitch.com, virginmoney.co.uk, tiscali.co.uk, love2recycle.com, envirofone.co.uk, mopay.co.uk, energyhelpline.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 is GMTV’s Money SavingExpert and 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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