Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

Free 50p to Comic Relief for each new recipient of this e-mail! Friday's Comic Relief falls in the midst of the worst recession for years, so as a way to give for free, MoneySavingExpert.com is again pledging 50p to Comic Relief per genuine new UK recipient of this free weekly e-mail until midnight Sat (on top of the usual charity fund donations). Please tell everyone† you know: they save, Comic Relief gains. Feel free to post it on other websites, facebook etc (but don't break their rules). † In case of doubt, this includes friends, family, lovers, partners, colleagues, people on the bus, dance teachers, pharmacists & the woman you pass in the street with the weird slippers called Hilda (strange name for slippers !) It's win-win-win This is based on TheHungersite's charity fundraising model, and helps Comic Relief, the site and newbies save money. The result will be in next week's e-mail: the 4,000 a day who join normally, giving it a decent head start. To avoid busting the bank, the donation's capped at £50,000 (100,000 recipients); 10x the highest ever daily join rate (a day the site was on almost every newspaper's front page). For where the cash is generated, see the how this site's funded guide. And if this week's email saves you money, why not give a bit of it at Comic Relief Donate & UK taxpayers don't forget to opt for Gift Aid, which means the charity gets an extra 28% on top. Let's try and beat last time's total of £7,700. More info at MoneySavingExpert.com/comicrelief.

Week of Tue 3 - Mon 9 Mar '09 (Last week's position) 1. Top Cash ISA (1) 2. Freebies, Freebies, Freebies (2) 3. Premium Bonds (8) 4. Top Savings Accounts (3) 5. Travelodge Deals (New) 6. Switch Gas & Elec (10) 7. Cheap Flights (5) 8. Bank Charges News (9) 9. Cheap Travel Money (New) 10. Car Buying (New) Travelodge's £19 sale last week (that continues now) made it the top new entry. Though with another interest rate cut last week, unsurprisingly savings still dominate. Plus, Nationwide's new charge for overseas spending saw disgruntled cardholders reading about the bad news in cheap travel money. The above excludes daily deals notes

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The Ones Not To Miss MSE

New Should I Ditch my mortgage Fix? Calculator & choosing Fix vs Discount
Last week base rates dived down to just 0.5%; understandably many on fixed rate mortgages are asking if they can save by switching, to help we've a new free tool. The 'ditch my fix?' calc. With this ready reckoner, you tell it your fixed rate & penalties and it calculates the interest rate needed on a new deal to make it worth it. Fixed v Discount. It's part of the fully rewritten, re-researched and expanded 'fixed v discount' mortgages guide, which runs through how to pick. New Guide & Calc: Fixed v Discount Related Guides: Free Printed Remortgage Guide, Cheap Mortgage Finding

Free Sky+ box (usually £99) & £50 M&S vouchers. There's a special link to get new Sky customers a free Sky+ box and £50 M&S vouchers when signing up to any of its year long deals. See the Forum Note: Free Sky+

Rent out your driveway. Make £1,000s a year from your parking space. New Article
Forget pork bellies or silver ingots, the new hot trade is driveways. Rent your drive out: Live in a big city, near a football ground or just an expensive place to park, and your parking bay could be a goldmine. Some make £200/month renting theirs out & you may make money even if it's only free daytimes. Find Cheaper Parking: Alternatively, if you regularly park for work, using private spaces can massively cut costs: in London's King's Cross a monthly car park season ticket is £330, yet a private space nearby was just £150 a month. Full details, whether you're renting or buying in the New Guide: Parking Rental Related Guides: Boost Your Income, Cheap Car Insurance

New 2for1s at Cafe Rouge and Slug & Lettuce. These join 2for1s at Pizza Express & Strada, £5 Indian 3 course meal deal at Sainsburys, and 50% off La Tasca in the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers

New Top 'Alternative' Balance Transfer Deal: Get 15 mths 0% with a 3% fee.
The 'alternative' doesn't mean left-wing & eco-friendly, it's the first new long 0% deal existing credit card holders can shift debts to in ages. The Top Player: Still top is Virgin* which for new cardholders is 0% for 15 mths with a fee of 2.98% of the balance shifted. Yet if, like many, you already have it or another in the MBNA family, it's somewhat scuppered. New Alternative: Abbey's just launched a card that's also 0% for 15mths, with an only slightly higher fee of 3%. While Abbey used to be part of the MBNA stable too, these days its completely separate. Full info, pros, cons & alternatives inc. the best long term lock-in for life deals read the Updated Guide: Best Balance Transfers Related Guides: Top Cashback Cards, Check your credit rating

Urgent! Instant £5 off train tickets over £20. We've blagged it so click this special link to thetrainline* & you'll automatically get the discount (it'll show on the final page). You must book before Mon 16 Mar. Full info in the Daily Deals List: Cheap Trains & Coaches

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New Shopping Vouchers. 20% off New Look, Uniqlo, Wallis, D. Perkins & Peacocks in magazines this week. These join click 'n' print free facial scrub in the Daily Deals List: Shopping Vouchers

Urgent! New Top Cash ISA 3.61%. Tax-free Instant Access. Use it or lose it!
Cash ISAs are just savings accounts you can put up to £3,600 per tax year in, where the interest isn't taxed as long as it stays there. The tax year ends 5 April & if you don't use it, you lose it. New Top: The new instant access Barclays Golden ISA pays 3.61% AER interest, though 1% point is a bonus lasting only the first year. Existing Barclays customers can open it online, newbies via a branch. Warning! It's launched similar deals the last two years, and the customer service has been amongst the worst ever seen. Yet it says it can now cope with the numbers, and promises whatever happens you'll earn interest from the date of application. Full alternatives inc. the top online accounts in the Updated Guide & Best Buys: Top Cash ISAs Related Articles: Top Savings, Transfer Cash ISAs, Pay Off Debts With Savings

10,000 free copies of Moneywise mag, worth £4.25. Blagged for MoneySavers. Want one?

The Hidden Camera DOUBLE Downshift Challenge. Halve food costs. Fri. ITV1 8pm
In the MoneySaving IQ test over 80% of people underestimated downshifting savings; someone spending £100 a week on groceries would save £1,700 a year. The Downshift Challenge: This means dropping down ONE of the four brand levels per product (premium > manufacturer > own brand > basics) then seeing if you can tell the difference. Secret DOUBLE Downshift: In a unique experiment in this Friday's ITV1 Tonight, we've taken a family of high brand buyers and with the mum's help DOUBLE downshifted (two brands lower, nearly halving their usual cost), hiding the new food in the old packaging. The result wasn't what I expected (you'll have to watch to see). To try it youself read the Full Downshift Guide: Supermarket Savings Related Guide: Supermarket Coupons

Free (usually £70) tastelondon annual discount cards, 2,000 available. Special card that gets 2for1 at over 500 London restaurants blagged for MoneySavers. See the Forum Note: tastelondon

Grab grants to do up your home. Video Of the Week. Dance round the rules to get £1,000s Grants aren't just for students; there's money to do up your home, become more environmental or start a business. Unfortunately lots of grants available in the UK go unclaimed but there’s a lot of free cash out there if you know where to look. Video Of The Week: To show you how easy it is, just watch this film of a man who zippily grabbed over a thousand free pounds to get his home insulated. Watch & read more in the Updated Guide: Grab a Grant Reminder. Switch energy & get cashback. Top Pick Comparison: Energyhelpline* which, via these special links, pays £15 cashback per switch. Dual Fuel: Moneysupermarket* gives £30 cashback, Uswitch* a £40 case of wine, SimplySwitch* (£35 Amazon vouchers). FULL info in the Updated Guide: Cheap Gas & Elec

Warning! Do you use Childcare Vouchers? Check you're really saving money. Updated Guide
I'm a big fan of childcare vouchers, which some parents gain £1,000s a year from as they allow you to pay for childcare from PRE-tax income. The Problem: A recent e-mail from the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group alerted me to put in a further note of caution, especially for basic rate taxpayers. You may be worse off with childcare vouchers as it limits childcare tax credit eligibility (which can be in the £1,000s); the easiest way to check is the Govt Calculator (though it could do with improving). The less you earn the less likely it is you're benefiting, those with family income under £16,000 are almost always not better off. Updated Guides: Childcare Vouchers, Childcare Costs

Free (£15) travel hair straighteners with newspaper coupons. Collect two tokens from two weeks' News of the World (2x£1) then take to Asda & swap for your straighteners. See the Deals Note: Shopping Vouchers

Free personalised photo Mother's Day card (50p postage) ends this Sun. Just upload your own photo & text and pay the 50p postage. Mother's Day is on 22 March Forum Note: Mum's the word

Great 'Best Travelodge Holidays' Hunt: Which travelodges offer the perfect get away
Budget hotel chain Travelodge's often runs super cheap £9 or £19 room deals (see Travelodge Sales deals note). So I wanted to tap MoneySavers knowledge to find the best locations for a quick break, whether town or country. Have you found a particularly ideal lodge? Add your ideas/read other peoples': Great 'Travelodge Holidays' Hunt Past Great Hunts: What to sell where, Best value restaurants, Cheapest ways to go Fairtrade

New Grocery Coupons. E.g. 50p off Weetos, £1.50 off Pedigree, 50p off Ryvita, £4 off Morrisons fruit. These & masses more coupons to cut food costs, sometimes even without buying those products! See the Deals Note: Supermarket Coupons

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The Big & Easy Ways to Save Checklist

Motor Insurance: Top two Comparison Sites (use both) MoneySupermarket*, GoCompare* then grab cashback see full Car, Van or Motorbike guides Top Bank Account: £100, 0% overdraft, free travel ins, A&L* or see Bank Accounts Reclaim £1,000s: on Mortgage Fees, Council Tax, Endowments, Bank Charges, PPI Cashback Credit Card: Amex Plat* or read Best Cashback Cards 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 Quick Cash for Old Mobiles: Love2Recycle*, Envirofone*, Mopay*. Recycle Mobiles guide 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 guide MoneySaving Books: The Money Diet, Thrifty Ways, Three Lessons

More MoneySaving MSE

No need to get your kit off to get a free flight. Apparently a well known airline's giving 999 people two free European flights if they strip down... literally flash mobbing. We don't know how true it is, but free flights are much easier to come by, for more people, without showing your bits. Free Flights: Currently six credit cards give free return flights (inc biz class) on airlines like BA, BMI, Easyjet and Flybe. All you need do is sign up to the card, do your normal spending up to a trigger amount e.g. just £10, get the freebie and cancel the card. Full details in the Updated Guide: Cheap & Flights Forum Changes Consultation. We’re launching and changing a host of boards. Find out more and have your say. Urgent! Waiting for an MFI refund? Apply asap for Visa Chargeback. When MFI went into administration, it originally said it'd try and refund those that'd paid by debit card itself, while credit card customers could make Section 75 claims. Yet now it's mooting there isn't enough cash. The back-up route for those who paid on Visa debit to try its 'chargeback procedure' yet the rule is you MUST do that within 120 days of realising there's a problem. And as MFI went into admin 106 days ago, that means if you want to try it go quick. Updated Guide: MFI Administration MoneySaving Ways To Stop Smoking. Wed 11 March is No Smoking Day Smoking costs a fortune, and its not just the price of the cigarettes. A typical smoker with a range of products like life assurance or private medical insurance could pay £20,000 more than a non-smoker over a lifetime. Yet these days there are a raft of subsidised or even free ways to help you quit. Updated Guide: No-Buts Stop Smoking. Related Guides: The Demotivator, Life Assurance Share this email with friends on Digg, Facebook & Twitter. Take a look at the top of the email from now on there are bookmarks for Digg, Facebook & Twitter which will always take you to the latest version. New Board! Food Shopping & Groceries: Check out top food bargains & ways to cut grocery costs This week we're launching the new Food Shopping & Groceries board as a home to all the questions, bargains, and discussion about the weekly shop. It's already started with a bang, discussions include Nice, cheaper alternative to teabags?, Check your supermarket receipts and This week's good food buys Related Guide: Supermarket Shopping

Q. My son's just passed his test, and the car insurance for his car costs a fortune unless I put myself as main driver and him second. Is that ok? A. No. It's known as 'fronting' and can be classed as fraud. At the very least the insurance is likely to be invalid should you ever make a claim, but could also lead your son into further trouble as with invalid insurance he is technically driving without insurance, attracting a fine and penalty points on his licence. So unless you actually are the main driver of the car don't do it. However there is nothing wrong with having him as the main driver and adding you as a second driver, even if you'll hardly ever use the vehicle. Often, but not always that can smooth out the average risk and reduce the premium. This can vary company by company. If it doesn't work with you, it's worth trying with another relative with a good driving history. Of course the most important way is to ensure you're also with the cheapest car insurance. This shouldn't take you more than twenty minutes, use the Cheap Car Insurance guide. Discuss: Insure son's car Suggest: A question of the week (big general issues not personal q's pls)

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Tina lend to close mate Stina?
Stina has £3,000 on a credit card, it was at 18%, but the card company's hiked it to 29.9% due to the credit crunch. Having always been able to repay, now she's worried, and sadly her score isn't good enough to do a balance transfer. She tells close friend Tina, who had been complaining that her savings were now earning just 3%. Stina suggests Tina lend her the cash instead to clear the card and she'll pay her 6% interest, a win-win all round? However is lending to a friend ever that easy? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Tina lend to Stina? Previous MMDs: View Them All

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

Reduced Freeview+/Freesat boxes. Humax manager's specials from £89. Box Clever £1 European resort hotels, with EasyJet. Easy peasy How to cancel the Yellow Pages if you don't need it nowadays. Green Rages London only: Free pint of Guinness for Evening Standard EROS cardholders Massive 1TB (1000GB) Hard Drive £69.99. Back up your data. Hard Bargain Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: March Make £10/day challenge Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: Cheaper sandwich meat

Tiscali shares suspended from Italian Stock Exchange. The Italian parent company of the broadband and phone provider is in trouble, and its shares have been suspended on the Italian stock exchange (see Google News latest). Rumours are it's negotiating to sell its UK business to Sky. While existing customers are currently unaffected, its worth being wary about signing up for it. We will monitor this for existing customers and any updates will be here.

CHEAP FLIGHTS SALES ALERT Airline: Easy Jet. Price: sub. £30 e/w. Ends: Until sold out.
Our top pick budget airline sale this week is EasyJets's sale, with flights to a host of European destinations from a range of UK airports for between £24.99 and £29.99 each way (including most taxes and charges). Tickets are at this price until they sell out, on selected flights travelling between now and 31 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 £30. 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

Great 'What to sell where' Hunt Result
Huge it may be, but eBay's not necessarily the best place to flog unwanted stuff; some items command more cash elsewhere. So, last week I asked MoneySavers for alternative places and means of getting rid of clutter, and there were some top ideas. Suggestions included A small scale seller's guide, Check completed listings and List Locally

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Andrea's Freebies Freebies, Freebies, Freebies

Redbush Tea, Scouting For Girls EP, Big Tidy Up Pack Easter Craft Downloads, Always Envive Sample

Odds and Ends MSE

Martin's Appearances...Wed 11 - Tues 17 March
These are scheduled appearances, though other ad hocs may happen. See the appearances list for updates.

• Fri, Tonight, at 8pm on ITV1. Brand vs Budget.
• Tues, GMTV, sometime between 7:30 & 9:30am on ITV1. It's news reactive.
• Tues, Jo Whiley Show, sometime between 12 & 1pm on Radio 1. The topic's undecided.

This week's Martin's Blog: FSA Consumer Panel… Bank Charges, PPI, and Setting off…
"New bigger MSE Towers" and "La Tasca YUM! 50% off ALL FOOD...". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

What's the APR of a ‘pint to say thanks for the cash’? This week's poll. Vote and Cheers! discussion.

Are you a cashback connoisseur? Overall NO! Last Week’s Vote. While some swear by them, and earn £100s a year, actually even amongst MoneySavers only a third (33%) always or usually use these sites to get added cashback shopping online. Equally a further third (32%) either don't understand them, or just can't be bothered to use them. See Cashback poll results, or for more info on these sites, read the Top Cashback Sites guide.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! Pit your wits against the PC in this puzzle game. Puzzle Freak 2

Strange or inspirational? That’s it for this week, but before I go, If you're wondering how many metaphors for life there can be, this might get you thinking. Cowboy comedy

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: uk.virginmoney.com, thetrainline.com, energyhelpline.com, moneysupermarket.com, uswitch.com, simplyswitch.com, alliance-leicester.co.uk, gocompare.com, americanexpress.com, moneysupermarket.love2recycle.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 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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