Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

Welcome to April... It's Price Change Month. It's no joke. In April, prices change across the board, partly due to the new tax year on 6 April; but also, annual price rises built into systems like NHS budgets, utility companies and local councils take effect. The Good News... Gas & Electricity DOWN by up to 10% (this week). Five of the big six energy providers finally actioned pre-announced price cuts (British Gas had already done so). Yet always do a comparison to see if you can save even more. See the Cheap Energy plus cashback guide. State Pension UP from £90.70 to £95.25 (Mon 6 April). Check you're not missing out on pension credit, too, in the State Pension Boosting guide. Cheapest ever Broadband (ongoing). Broadband costs have dropped hugely, down to £6 a month on an 18 month contract, plus possible £35 cashback on top. See the Cheap Broadband guide. And the bad... Council Tax Bills UP an avg 3% (today). Always check you're getting all poss. allowances (e.g. single person/student) then take ten minutes to Check 'n Challenge your band Prescriptions UP to £7.20 in England (today). Those who get regular prescriptions should use a prepay certificate. See the Cheap Prescriptions guide. Stamp Price UP 3p (Monday 6 April). Both 1st and 2nd class letter sizes. Water Bills UP an avg 4.1% (today). If there are more bedrooms in your house than people you could save £100s with a water meter. See the Cut Water Bills guide. BT & TalkTalk line rental UP 75p a month (today). See below.

Week of Tue 24 - Mon 30 Mar '09 (Last week's position) 1. Top Cash ISAs (1) 2. Freebies (3) 3. Top Savings Accounts (4) 4. High St Sales (New) 5. Cheap Gas & Elec (7) 6. Sell Old Mobiles (New) 7. Bank Charges News (9) 8. Cheap & Free Flights (5) 9. Breakdown Deals (New) 10. State Pension Boosting (2) No surprise cash ISAs is top, as the deadline nears. The New Old Mobile Selling Checker boosted that as the other new entry, with lots of people seeing who'd give them most for their old handsets. The above excludes daily deals notes

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The Ones Not To Miss MSE

Premium Bonds WORST bet ever. New £25 prize, but interest halved. Upgraded Calc
Today's (1 April) Premium Bond draw sees three massive changes. New Prize: The smallest was £50, now it's £25 as the first new prize level in 15 yrs is launched. It was done so there'd be more winners, but the benefit's swallowed up as the... Rate's Halved. The interest rate, which determines the amount paid out, is now a historic low of 1% (was 1.8%); yet top savings accounts still pay 3.5%. Only one £1m prize. It's also dropped one of the monthly million quid payouts. Predict your winnings: Use the unique upgraded Premium Bond Probability Calculator which has all the new odds, and now lets you compare current odds to past draws. Updated Guide: Premium Bonds: Are they worth it? Related Guide: Top Savings

Boots Cardholders. Possible FREE tenner! Boots has randomly allocated a bonus 1,000 points, worth £10 in-store, to 200,000 Advantage card holders. Pop your card in one of its store's ATM type machines to see if they appear. Full details in the Forum Note: Have you won?

Book NOW for Summer Hol Car Hire. £10/day'ss cheaper than an airport taxi.
Low demand means lots of dirt-cheap prices if you book now. E.g. June car hire from Spain’s Malaga airport starts at £10 A DAY, so for those staying in nearby Marbella, a week’s car hire's substantially cheaper than a taxi to and from the airport. Book Now? Prices typically balloon nearer the summer; though in today’s ever changing economy all predictions are difficult. Yet the safe option is if you need car hire, nab it now. How to do it: First use my top pick comparison sites Kayak*, Car Rentals* and Travelsupermarket* then to further slash prices there are tricks like using hidden cashback and specialist cheaper insurance. See the Updated Guide: Cheap Car Hire Related Guides: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels, Package Holidays

New Click 'n' Print Vouchers! Prezzo 2for1, La Tasca 50% off, Pizza Express £10 dinner & wine. These join two pizzas & wine for £20 at ASK (in-restaurant offer), Sainsbury's £5 Dine In for 2 and more. See the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers

Last Chance! Cash ISA year ENDS Sunday. Use it or lose it. Save at 3.61% tax free
Every tax year, each UK adult can save up to £3,600 in a cash ISA, which is simply a tax-free savings account. Yet the 08/09 tax year slams shut this Sun. 5 April. Get your money in before then, and it remains tax-free year after year; but if you don’t use it you lose it! Top Payer: The Barclays Golden ISA pays 3.61% AER, though 1% of this is a bonus that only lasts a year. Existing Barclays customers can apply online; everyone else must go via a branch. Online Alternatives: Natwest & RBS pay a clean (no bonus) 3.51% AER. Got Old ISAs: Transfer to a different Natwest* cash ISA and get 3.51% if you've £10k, or 3.25% if you've less. For FULL info, options, pros & cons read the Updated Guide: Cash ISAs Related Guides: Top Savings, Safe Savings

Urgent! £499 all-in rtn Australia & New Zealand flights. Book by 5 April for flights before 15 July 09, with Malaysia Airlines from London Heathrow. See the Forum Note: Australia Flights Related Guide: Cheap Flights

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Ends Thur 3pm! Free £100 with 0% overdraft. Until 3pm, Thur 2 April Alliance & Leicester's Premier account* is paying new customers a £100 bonus, plus giving a 0% overdraft & free travel ins. Full info, pros & cons in Best Bank Accounts

Beat today's phone line rental price hike. Video of the week. Secret codes to cut call costs.... BT, Talk Talk and others are increasing line rental today to £12.50/mth (£11.25 with online billing). Yet TalkTalk's promo offer gets you home phone, line rental, broadband, eve & weekend calls, some international calls for an avg £14/month all-in (usually c.£18) on an 18 month contract. It was due to end but's been extended until Thurs. Video of the week: On a related theme, this week's video is all about how dialling secret 'override' codes before making calls can slash the cost of calling mobiles and abroad. Full Updated Guide & Video: Home Phones Related Guides: Calling Mobiles Cheaply, Cheap International Calls £5 off any £6+ rail ticket & National Express £1 e/w coach deals. Buy a ticket for any train (not just its own) via First Great Western's promo website and get £5 off, yet it's closing imminently. Plus new National Express £1 Funfares are starting for routes to/from London. See the Deals List: Cheap Trains & Coaches

New! 40% off Threshers, 20% off New Look, Brantano & Uniqlo. Click 'n' print voucher on wine and champagne until Mon 13 Apr, or 20% off Uniqlo & New Look with mags. See the Daily Deals List: Shopping Vouchers

Fight Energy Direct Debit Overcharging Update. Scottish Power to start PAYING interest
Many gas & electricity customers' monthly direct debit payments are unfairly set much higher than the amount used; and suppliers WON’T lower them. Now the energy regulator Ofgem's just said they have to "manage customers' direct debit payments much better". Well done Scottish Power. It's announced from 1 June it'll pay interest on any credit balances between £100 and £500 at a reasonably generous pound for every £33 (over £100) households are in credit. The cash'll be returned on your annual direct debit reassessment date. Everyone else, fight back! Demand any overpayments back and push hard to get fair monthly repayments. See the Guide & Free Template letters: Overcharged Direct Debits Related Guides: Cheap Gas & Elec, Direct Debit Budgeting

Triple Velvet loo roll £3 (usually c. £8) for 16 at Asda. In-store, until stock runs out. More info and other "bum" offers in the Forum Note: It's not pants!

Reclaim Credit Card Late Fees. You could gets £100s. 3rd anniversary of OFT ruling.
Unlike bank charges reclaiming, there's NO hold on reclaiming credit card fees for late payments or going beyond your limit. In April 06, the Office of Fair Trading said credit card charges were "significantly higher than is legally fair" and effectively set a £12 cap. What to reclaim. If you were hit by £35 charges before that, these were unfair, so ask for the difference back between that and £12. Why's it urgent? Generally you can only easily claim back 6 yrs of charges. This ruling was three years ago so now only charges from April 03 to 06 are challengable. Lost old statements? You've a legal right to get this info from the card company. Full details in the Full Guide & free template letters: Credit Card Reclaiming Related Guides: Bank Charges News, Best Balance Transfer Cards, Credit Card Shuffle

Had difficulty paying your mortgage? Tell the FSA Consumer Panel. The official group that represents consumers to the regulator would like to hear how you've been treated on mortgage arrears. Feedback to FSA: Mortgage Arrears Related Guide: Mortgage Arrears Help

New Forum Board! Low Spend Freebies: ie, free with a paper or making a call etc
The new Freebies Low Spend board should allow loads more free stuff on the site. On the standard Freebies board, things must be no cost at all. However lots of deals require you to make a call, buy a paper or post a letter. This new board caters for those. Deals there already include: Organic hand & body lotion, £3.99 Fig tree and Five Seed packets for £1.99 Related Guide: Freebies, Freebies, Freebies

Reminder! Boost your state pension. Prices jump 50% next Monday. For the full benefit you need to have paid enough National Insurance. If you're short, you can buy extra but the price’s about to rise. Full info in the Guide with Calc: Boost your State Pension Related Guide: 5 min Benefits Check Up

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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 Motor Insurance: Top two Comparison Sites (use both) MoneySupermarket*, GoCompare* then grab cashback, see full Car, Van or Motorbike guides New Borrowing: Best Card For Spending or Cheapest Loans Cashback Credit Card: Amex Plat* or read Best Cashback Cards Shift Existing Debts: Virgin* 15 mths 0%, 2.98% fee or read Balance Transfers Give Yourself a Money Makeover: Special guide to overhauling your finances Mortgage Makeover: Read the free Remortgage Guide Reclaim £1,000s: on Mortgage Fees, Council Tax, Endowments, Bank Charges, PPI 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 Cut Car & Home Insurance! Car Insurance/ Home Insurance Cost Cutting MoneySaving Books: The Money Diet, Thrifty Ways, Three Lessons

More MoneySaving MSE

New cheapest CAPPED energy tariff. It beats even the cheapest normal deal. E.On's new 'FixOnline' tariff is now overall cheapest for typical homes. That's surprising as it's a cap, meaning the price is set until Jun 2010, and you'll pay £30 to leave early. Should I cap? One reason it's so cheap is further small price cuts this year are predicted, so capping now may be a bad move. Yet energy markets are volatile, anything could happen, and this saves you cash now and gives rate certainty for those who can't afford price rises. It's a fine balance. To see how it stacks, always Compare, switch & get cashback (via these special links). Top Pick Comparison: Energyhelpline* pays £15 cashback per switch. Dual Fuel: Moneysupermarket* gives £30 cashback, Uswitch* a free case of wine & SimplySwitch* £35 in Amazon vouchers. Updated Guide: Switch Gas & Elec Nationwide buys Dunfermline BS. Impact on Savings Safety. Existing savers will still get £50,000 protection per person, per institution; but new savers share the £50k worth of protection between it and Dunfermline. Full info in the Updated Guide: Savings Safety. Also see the News Article: Dunfermline bought by Nationwide New Top Fixed Saving. 4.3% AER for 2 years, must apply in the next 8 days Close Brothers has just launched a two year 4.3% fixed account for those with £10,000+ to save, yet you must apply & get the funds to it by Wed 8 Apr. What is a fixed rate? It means the rate is guaranteed, but your cash is LOCKED away for the two year term. Is it a good idea? Compared to current rates, 4.3% is very high, yet a lot can happen over two years. If interest rates jumped, it may no longer be competitive, but your cash'd be locked in. On the other hand the rate's guaranteed so that security's useful. It's a balance. What is Close Bros? It's a niche private bank, yet has the same £50,000 per person, per financial institution savings safety protection as any other. For alternatives, including the top one year fixed, see the Updated Guide: Top Savings Account Related Guides: Safe Savings, Best Cash ISAs Fuel tax UP 2p/litre today (1 April). Yet many can easily cut fuel bills by 20-30%; see the Updated Guide: Cheap Petrol/Diesel MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Rod let little Jane go to Freddie's unaffordable party? Rod's eight-year-old daughter, Jane, has been invited to classmate Freddie's restaurant and cinema birthday party. While Jane isn't great friends with the birthday boy, she doesn't want to miss out. However, you know that, since the invites went out, Freddie's dad's business has gone under, and they'll struggle to pay. Freddie's dad's far too proud to accept cash. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Rod let Jane go to Freddie's party? Previous MMDs: View All ALERT! MoneySavingExpert.com Forums closed for upgrade this weekend. We will be closing from 10pm Fri to upgrade the software. It's unlikely to be finished before Sunday; yet will be up earlier if possible.

Q. I'm looking for a new mortgage but wondered why they all have two different interest rates: the headline rate and the APR. What's the difference? A. Mortgages are often advertised with two rates. The higher of the two, that lenders are obliged to include, is usually the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) which describes the equivalent interest cost over the FULL TERM of the loan including all fees. Sadly, APRs can sometimes do more to confuse than educate when it comes to mortgages; as many people don't keep deals for the full 25 years. And even if you do, the rate is variable anyway. So when choosing a mortgage, focus on the short term rate and fees. Then just peek at the APR to see how competitive the deal would be if you were unable to shift to a mortgage deal when the fixed or discount rate ends. More info: Fixed v Discounts Calc, Free Remortgage Guide Discuss: Mortgage APR Suggest: A question of the week (big general issues not personal qs pls)

Travelling to/from the Channel Islands? The law's changing, so get travel insurance
As of April 1, UK travellers will no longer be entitled to limited free medical treatments when visiting the Channel Islands. The same goes for Channel Islanders coming to the mainland, so if you're travelling either way, make sure you're covered. For the current best buys, see the Updated Guide: Travel Insurance Related Insurance Guides: Car, Motorbike, Home

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

Urgent! Free hair wash & blow-dry when you buy £2 shampoo. Well blow me down! 1p per game tenpin bowling This Easter if you're an early riser Cheap Entertainment Epson printer, scanner and photocopier £30. In-store at Argos. Ink-redible! Body Worlds London Tickets £3.50 each Now can use with Tesco Deals. Normally £12 Buy 3 cereals get 1 free Collect codes from Kelloggs packs Where's the cheapest? £3 M&S vase with a £3.60 mag Just cut out the coupon in Homes & Gardens Travelling on Eurostar from a local station? Book your ticket to London International The lost & found Teddy... Not MoneySaving, just sweet Competition of the week: £10k and other prizes Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: April Make £10 a day challenge Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: Lunchbox Boredom!

Great 'Slash the Cost of Dry Cleaning' Hunt Revisited
This older Great Hunt’s full of people’s top tips to cut the cost of dry cleaning, without losing quality. Tesco clubcard users, for example, can exchange points for a dry-cleaning voucher worth four times its point-value, using the clubcard deals scheme. There are so many great suggestions, I thought I’d revisit it. Add your ideas/read other people's: Great Slash the Cost of Dry Cleaning Hunt. Past Great Hunts: Start a Veg Patch, Learning to Drive, Camping

CHEAP FLIGHTS SALES ALERT Airline: Easy Jet. Price: sub. £25 e/w. Ends: When seats sell 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 £20.99 and £24.99 each way (including most taxes and charges). Tickets are at this price until they sell out, on selected flights travelling from 22 April '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 £35. 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 'Car Clubs' Hunt Result
Last week, we asked MoneySavers for opinions and example savings in the Car Clubs Hunt. Verdicts and suggestions included Think ahead, Living in the suburbs and Find your nearest car club

Andrea's Freebies Freebies, Freebies, Freebies

Wine Tasting Kit Download, Nivea Body Lotion, Carrefour Gym 3-day Pass, David Lloyd Family Fun Day, Academic Lectures

Odds and Ends MSE

Martin's Appearances...Weds 1 - Weds 8 April
These are scheduled appearances, though other ad hocs may happen. See the appearances list for updates.

• Thurs, GMTV with Lorraine, sometime between 8:30 & 9:30am on ITV1. Car hire, Boots Advantage Points & bank accounts.
• Fri, GMTV, sometime between 7:20 & 9:30am on ITV1. Urgent MoneySaving.
• Tues, GMTV, sometime between 7:20 & 9:30am on ITV1. The topic's news reactive.

This week's Martin's Blog: Will Student loan interest go negative?
"Is the State Pension a Ponzi Scheme?" and "Fancy a smile or a tear?". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

Should assisted suicide be allowed? Vote and assisted suicide discussion

Most would not push the limit of an MP's expense. Last Week’s Vote. 42% of voters said, if they were an MP, they'd use discretion and only spend when they needed to, yet the remaining voters were almost equally split between supplementing their salary and minimising claims for the public good. See MP's Expenses poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! You'll need great hand-eye co-ordination for The Line Game

Let the goo times roll! Take 30 sticks of hot glue, 280 pins, tons of empty bog roll tubes and what do you get? An ingenious Heath Robinson-type machine destroys Creme Eggs in the silliest way imaginable. Creme that egg!

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.com, carrentals.co.uk, alliance-leicester.co.uk, uk.virginmoney.com, moneysupermarket.com, gocompare.com, 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. Its 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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