Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

This week's Goods and Bads. Hiya, lots of MoneySaving news, here's a quick run through of what you need to know. The Good News Base Rate DIDN'T Change. While savers want it up and mortgage holders down, at least a bit of stability has merit. It means savers comparing the best deals are less likely to plump for a good rate only to find it hadn't incorporated the last rate cut, and plummets. More info: Top Savings Time to fix your mortgage? Some big brokers say it's a good time to grab long-term fixes, as if interest rates shoot back up, locking in now at today's 5-10 year rates could be clever. More info: Long-term fixes news story, Remortgage Guide Smaller mortgage deposits. The credit crunch has meant you needed a 25% deposit to get a decent deal, yet now some lenders incl. HSBC, Natwest & the Post Office allow borrowing up to 90% of a home's value and, Abbey 95%. The rates aren’t all great, but they’re improving (don't overborrow though). More info: Mortgage Guide, Cheap Mortgage Finding The Bad News Setting Off's WORSE than we thought, esp. Lloyds. Last week, I warned that those struggling shouldn't bank where they've credit cards or loans, as 'setting off' rules allow banks to take your money to repay debts without permission & without telling you first. We asked for your experiences, and tales flooded in, disproportionately from Lloyds customers, though it may be coincidental. More Info: Setting Off Guide & Setting Off Feedback 1,000,000 bank charge cases on hold. The FSA's revealed that by Nov last year 972,000 Bank Charge Reclaims were on hold, so surely it's more than a million now. On top another 100,000 are claiming the hardship exemption (see below). Over 65s taxed more than it seemed. In last week's new tax year changes explanation, I listed the personal allowance rates (what you can earn before being taxed) as £6,475 for under 65s, £9,490 for 65-74s and £9,640 for over-74s. Some older MoneySavers questioned this as they don't get that much. That's because, earn over £22,900, and for every extra £2 earned, you lose £1 of personal allowance until it's equal to the under 65s rate. More info: Tax Changes

Week of Tue 7 April - Mon 13 April '09 1. Top Cash ISAs (1) 2. Top Savings Accounts (2) 3. Freebies, Freebies, Freebies (3) 4. Cash ISA Transfers (New) 5. Hotel Sales (New) 6. Benefits Check-up (New) 7. Free & Cheap Flights (10) 8. Cheap Gas & Elec (6) 9. Cheap Travel Money (New) 10. State Pension Boosting (7) With the start of the new financial year it's no surprise cash ISAs held the top spot with a last minute scramble to get the best rates. Yet the £10 off hotels.com code meant hotel sales soared up the list, and I suspect the cracking new deal this week means it's likely to stay there. The above excludes daily deals notes

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The Ones Not To Miss MSE

Bank Charges Hardship. Reclaim £1,000s NOW! Even for already suspended claims.
Bank charges reclaiming ISN'T on hold if you're suffering financial hardship; this applies even if your case is already suspended, providing you've since moved into hardship or didn't know to argue it before. Hardship defined: It's when income's insufficient to meet reasonable living costs; yet you can also qualify under specific criteria eg £500+ charges a year or needing to withdraw cash on credit cards. What's new? This is a bespoke bank charges guide just for those in hardship, including specially drafted letters and tools, the biggest hardship reclaim so far is £10,000. New Guide & free template letters: Bank Charges Hardship Related Guides: Bank Charges Reclaiming, Credit Card Reclaiming

New vouchers Gap 30% off, Habitat £5 off £25 spend, Oddbins 20% off, Shudoo 20% off. These are all click 'n' print, Gap's available now but can only be used from next Thur (23rd). Full details in the Deals Note: Shopping Vouchers

Going abroad? Free EU medical cover, cheap currency & airport parking code
Recession's kept flight & holiday costs down, but the pitiful pound means it's costly when you get there, unless you sort it now. Cheap Travel Money: Using the right credit card abroad beats all bureaux de change, provided you repay in full each month. Yet applications take time, so apply asap, the current top's the Post Office* card, see Cheap Travel Money. Airport Parking: Early booking secures the best prices, plus there's currently a 5% off code, see Airport Parking. EU Medical Cover: The free EHIC card entitles you to free/discounted treatment in state-run EU hospitals, see Cheap Travel Insurance. £10/day car hire: Poor summer demand so-far, means high availability & low prices, use comparison sites like Kayak* & Travelsupermarket*, see Holiday Car Hire. Related Guides: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels

Sneakily get a 30-50% staff discount off 4,000 major UK & world hotels. The owner of Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza & more, has let its staff give MoneySavers their huge friends & family discount. See the Deals Note: Hotel Sales Related Guide: Cheap Hotels

New Top Non-Amex Cashback Card. 1% cashback on food & fuel and 0.5% on 'owt else.
Cashback cards pay you every time you spend on them, so repay in full each month to avoid interest then use one for all normal spending & you can make £100-£500 profit a year. Top Pick: The American Express Platinum* pays a mammoth 5% (£5 per £100 spent) for the first three months on up to £2,000 of spending, then up to 1.5% after that. Yet minimum salary's £20k and some places don't take Amex. New 1% payer: The first new cashback deal for ages is Halifax's Cashback card, which pays 1% on groceries & petrol and 0.5% on everything else up to a max £150/year. It's great if you can't get Amex or as a back-up card to it. Full info in the Updated Guide: Top Cashback Cards Related Guide: Credit Card Freebies

New 50% off food AND drink at Tootsies & Dexters (Mon - Weds) Joins La Tasca 50% off (all day, every day) and new Zizzi buy one main get another for 99p. See the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers

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Free Cosmo, Esquire, Zest, Men's Health & other mags to download. Plus four free paper issues of The Lady mag. Forum Note: Mag-nificent!

Give yourself a Money Makeover. Video Of The Week. The couple who saved £12,500 in a day Huge savings are possible if you take the time to sit down and systematically work through your finances. To help there's a full guide, which includes a detailed checklist, info on what you can save on, and what to prioritise. Video of the week: To prove it works this video is a 'three years later' film of a family I made over during my ITV series 'Make Me Rich'. Video & Full Guide: Money Makeover Related Guides: Free Budget Planner, Cheap Gas & Electricity Appeal Unfair Council Parking Fines... I won, so can you! First they said I had no case, then they admitted they were wrong, read my Blog: Parking Victory Related Guide: Parking Ticket Appeals

MoneySaving News. Warning on Irish Banks & Post Office savings safety. See the News Story: Irish Problems Related Guide: Safe Savings

23,000 sign Savers' Rights petition. And Vince Cable MP launches Parliamentary motion
Many savings accounts are hiding their interest rates & not including them on statements, leaving people thinking they're earning much more than they are. To fight back, three weeks ago we launched a petition on no.10's website to ask the PM to force providers to include rates in both online & printed statements. Petition the PM: We're asking for a savers' summary box detailing rates, withdrawal charges & savings safety. So far, 23,000 have signed it, but more are needed, please sign the petition. Lib Dem motion: The Lib Dems have been in touch to say Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable’s just set up an Early Day Motion in support, please urge your MP of any party to sign it. More in the News Story: Lib Dems Support Savers' Rights Discussion: Savings Summary Box Related Guides: Top Savings, Top Cash ISAs

Free £5,000 accidental death cover. Insurance provider BHSF is offering this for those aged 17 to 70. See the Forum Note: Free Accidental Death Cover Related Guide: Life Insurance

Warning! Nasty benefit payments shake-up could leave you a week without income!
Lack of joined-up thinking by politicians means worrying changes for benefits recipients. Between now and two years' time, many paid weekly in advance will be switched to fortnightly in arrears. This could mean being left without income for up to three weeks. Who's affected: It mainly hits those on Job Seekers' Allowance, Incapacity benefits, Income support and a few others. Don't get caught out: You'll get a warning letter four weeks before the change happens & offered an interest-free loan if you think you'll experience trouble. Full details in the Forum Note: Benefit payments changes Related Guides: Five-Minute Benefit Check-Up, Grant Grabbing

Free Ben and Jerry's ice cream next Tue. Go into its shop next Tue 21 April between 1pm and 5pm and you'll be given one. Check your nearest in the Forum Note: Lick Lick!

Galaxy chocolate million book giveaway - no purchase necessary. The ten to choose from incl. Grisham's The Broker, Phillipa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl & Sophie Kinsella's The Undomestic Goddess.See the Forum Note: Galaxy Book Giveaway

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The Big & Easy Ways to Save Checklist

Quick links or click the titles for full pros, cons, alternatives & more savings

0% Balance Transfers: Top pick: Virgin* 15 mths 0%, 2.98% fee Car Insurance: Use both MoneySupermarket* & GoCompare* Also see: Van, Motorbike Cheap Gas & Elec + Cashback! Top comparison site: Energyhelpline* Top Bank Account: Top pick. Overdraft A&L* (1yr 0%). In-Credit: Earn £23k+ First Direct (£100 bonus), if not Halifax* Cut Home Bills: Read full guides on Cheap Home Ins, Cheap Boiler Cover, Grant Grabbing Reclaim £1,000s: Full Mortgage Fees, C'cil Tax, Endowments, Bank Charges, PPI guides Cheap Broadband: Plusnet* £6/mth up to 10 Gb download. Teen Cash Guide: Free 40 page PDF guide to teach your kids about money MoneySaving Books: The Money Diet, Thrifty Ways, Three Lessons

More MoneySaving MSE

Great 'Easy Lucrative Garden Crops' Hunt. What costly foods can you grow with ease? This week the BBC Dig it campaign is giving away free seeds. To celebrate we thought we’d hunt for info on the most lucrative things to grow at home or in small gardens. So green-fingered MoneySavers, if you’ve limited space what would you grow with ease, that’d cost serious amounts in supermarkets or farmers' markets? Add your ideas/read other people's: Great 'Easy Lucrative Garden Crops' Hunt Past Great Hunts: Rural MoneySaving, View all £600 Top Microsoft Office package for £40, if you're a student. The 'ultimate steal' has returned! Full details and free alternatives in the Guide: Free Office Software Had problems getting legal aid help? Tell Citizens Advice. If you've used legal aid within the last year, please help CAB's research and complete a short, anonymous survey on any problems you may've encountered to help improve the service. Citizens Advice Survey: Legal Aid Related Guide: Five-Mins Benefits Check-Up Time Out's '1,000 things to do in London for under £10' giveaway. 50 copies blagged for MoneySavers. Want one? MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Would you give a stranger £3? A well-dressed, smart woman approaches you on your way home, apologetically asking you for £3 for a train ticket. She says she has lost her wallet. You don’t usually give to people who ask for money on the street, preferring to donate to charity. Would you give her £3? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Would you give a stranger £3? Previous MMDs: View All New Board! Digital TV: Discuss everything from Virgin Media to Freeview boxes & more The new Digital TV board is the place specifically to discuss pros & cons of Sky, cable, freeview & more, plus the cheapest way to set it up once you've decided. Current discussions there already include How do I get Freesat?, Rubbish reception on some channels? and Lost all the BBC channels after switchover

Q. I've missed a couple of payments for my mobile phone, will this effect my credit rating in the future? A. Most contract mobile phones ARE based on a credit agreement, and this means it can count as a late payment or default on your credit file, and that's never good. How big an impact that has depends on the new lender's priorities. Each lender scores differently based on its own wish-list of what makes a profitable customer. Some may decline a new agreement just for one late payment, others may look for a pattern in your history. Eg a new mobile phone provider may look less favourably on a missed mobile payment than another type of lender. During current climes, when it's harder to be accepted for credit anyway, the more careful you are with any credit agreements the better. More details on credit reports, including how to check yours for free in the Credit Rating guide. Discuss: Credit ratings & missed mobile payments Suggest: A question of the week (big general issues not personal q's pls)

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

Top Deal! Guitar hero 2nd guitar for Xbox 360 £9.99 Wired for sound Sony 16GB music/video walkman £69.99 eBay deal of the week Leapfrog My 1st Computer £9.78 all-in. Normally £40. Ribbit! Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer sale. Half the usual points (+ taxes). To the USA & more Sainsbury's half-price in-store sale. £1.64 pizzas, £1.50 Gu puds & many more Harry Potter 1-5 DVD boxset. £9.99 HMV online. Usually around £25 Free £5 at Wickes. If you're going to spend a £500+ there. Points for nothing! Competition of the week: The £6,000 trip of a lifetime Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: 100 day challenge Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: Bread baking books

CHEAP FLIGHTS SALES ALERT Airline: BMI Baby. Price: sub. £35 e/w. Ends: When seats sell out.
Our top pick budget airline sale this week is BMI Baby's sale, with flights to a host of European destinations from a range of UK airports for under £35 each way (including most taxes and charges). Tickets are at this price until they sell out, on selected flights travelling to various European destinations such as Paris, Malaga and Faro. 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

MSE Virtual Easter Egg Spotting Champagne Contest winner! Congratulations to Ladywhisper who found all seven eggs. See where the eggs were hidden in the Forum Note: Easter Egg Hunt

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Andrea's Freebies Freebies, Freebies, Freebies

Jaguar Skills' History Of Hip Hop Download, Stress Guide Book, Online Home Karaoke, Knitting Patterns, Always Envive

Odds and Ends MSE

Martin's Appearances...Weds 15 - Tues 21 April
These are scheduled appearances, though other ad hocs may happen. See the appearances list for updates.

• Thurs, GMTV, sometime between 7:20 & 9:30am on ITV1. Deals of the Week.
• Fri, Jeremy Vine, Radio 2, between 1 & 2pm. The subject's undecided.
• Tues, GMTV, sometime between 7:20 & 9:30am on ITV1. The topic's news reactive.

This week's Martin's Blog: "It’s Official! Stripy Shirts Are Fashionable"
Plus "Parking Fines. You can reclaim them…" Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

How many hours do you work? This week's poll. Vote and Max Working Hours discussion.

House Price Outlook Turns From Black to Grey! Last Week’s Vote. Six months ago, just 7% expected house prices to increase while 81% expected a decrease. The average view was down 10.7% over a year. In fact, house prices have actually fallen 9% in six months. Now a few more think falls are over, 27% expect an increase and 48% expect more falls, the average view is down just 3.7%. See detailed House Prices poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! Live out your boy racer dreams in this racing game. Day Drive

You Neanderthal! That's it for this week, but if you ever feel the modern world is a little too much, why not use a pic to see what you'd look like if you reversed the evolutionary scale?.. Devolve Yourself

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: postoffice.co.uk, kayak.com, travelsupermarket.com, amex.co.uk, virgin-money.co.uk, moneysupermarket.com, gocompare.com, energyhelpline.com, alliance-leicester.co.uk, halifax.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.

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