Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email
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Government! Keep your promise and SHRINK student loans! Everyone with a student loan should see it reduced from September, as inflation’s now negative, yet the govt won’t confirm it. Here's a quick Q&A. Q. What's the current rate? A. It depends when you started uni.
Q. What's the government said? A. On 17 March, writing about pre-98 loans Higher Education Minister David Lammy said “The interest rate for the 2009/10 year will reflect the RPI…over the lifetime of the loan, the borrower will repay in real terms no more than was borrowed.” (see full text) STOP PRESS 1.23pm Wed 22/4! Cash ISA limit increased to £5,100 in budget. It comes into effect from 6 Oct for over 50s and the next tax year (6 April 2010) for everyone else. Full info, how to do it & best buys in next week’s email and in Best Cash ISA guide (by Thur). The overall ISA limit including shares, is up to £10,200. |
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Free £30 to spend on the high street (M&S, Boots etc). New Credit Card Freebie.
The relaunched Goldfish card's offering successful applicants who spend £100+ on it for the first 3 months £30 worth of vouchers to spend as cash in 25 stores (incl. Argos, HMV, Piz. Exp). The trick: Use for day-to-day spending to hit the £100 monthly trigger, pay it off in full each month, to avoid interest, then in month 4 you get the vouchers. Worth keeping after? The 9.9% APR is one of the market's lowest, so as a long term card it's not bad. Alternatively, it gives ok reward points worth about 0.6% of spending (though repay in full so there's no interest). Other Top Freebies: These include free BA & BMI business class Europe returns. For more info plus the impact on your credit score see the Updated Article: Credit Card Freebies Related Articles: Credit Ratings, Top Cashback Card, Top Card For Purchases
New 2for1s! Strada, Cafe Rouge, ASK, Prezzo & La Tasca. Plus a new £9.75 meal inc. burger, chips & drink at GBK in the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers
Redundancy Help. Protect yourself if redundancy looms or you're already there.
Almost anyone can be hit and with many under threat or already affected by redundancy, this new step-by-step guide's a must read. Redundancy looming? It's all about an action plan to stabilise your finances, and take advantage of having a better credit score now than if your job goes. Already affected? You've strong redundancy rights, ensure you're treated fairly and use the checklist to ensure everything's right. Everyone else: Even if redundancy doesn't look possible now, put a contingency plan in place, in case you're affected down the line. New Guide: Redundancy Help Related Guides: Recession Proof Your Finances, Mortgage Arrears Help
New Travelodge £9 autumn room sale starts Thurs. The budget chain has 50,000 UK rooms at £9 (usually £29-£59) for stays 27 Aug - 30 Nov. Sale starts Thurs 23 April 6am. See the Deals Note: Travelodge Sale Related Guide: Cheap Hotels
Time to sort savings. 3.46% easy access or 4.2% fixed. No base rate cut = fair comparisons.
It's six weeks since base rates were cut, so comparisons are easier as there's now less of a 'has it incorporated the cut?' issue. Top Easy Access from £1: ING Direct* pays 2.75% inc. a year-long 2.22% point bonus. Alternatively ICICI* is 2.45% and clean. Top from £10,000: Ulster Bank pays 3.46% though 0.5% point is a 6mth bonus & withdraw during that and the interest drops. For £25k+ Investec tracks the avg of the top 5 best buys and is currently 3.17%, though 3mths' notice's needed to withdraw. Top Fix: Those are variable rate, if you're willing to lock cash away ICICI* pays 3.9% fixed for a year or 4.2% for two. Saving Safety: The full UK guarantee protecting up to £50,000 per person applies to all these accounts except ING Direct, then it's €100,000 but you're reliant on the Dutch govt. FULL pros, cons, options & safety info in the Updated Guide: Top Savings Related Guides: Top Cash ISA, ISA Transfers, Safe Savings
URGENT! £1(ish) European flights. Ends midnight Wed 22 April. Ryanair has a million £1 (incl. some taxes & charges) flights from 17 UK airports for 4 May - 30 June travel. See the Updated Guide: £1 Ryanair Flights Related Guides: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels
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Free BT line installation (usually £123) if you're moving, reconnecting & for 2nd lines
BT seems to have responded to recent criticism over its hefty £122.50 line installation fee; sign-up before 30 June and you can get it free. This applies to new lines, reconnections or even having second lines fitted. Free BT line deal: You need to sign up for an 18-mth contract and make 10 chargeable or inclusive calls per month, but don't worry, it's still possible to slash call costs. Full info in the Deals Note: Free BT Line Rental Related Guide: Cheapest Home Phones
100,000 free shower devices that save £40/year. The showersmart device aims to reduce water use, saving £20/year in energy costs & water meter users an extra £20/year too. See the Forum Note: Be Shower Smart! Related Guide: Cut Water Bills
Improved Top Balance Transfer. 0% for 16 mths or 6.8% for life. Updated Article
The top debt shifting credit card deal just improved. Top 0% Deal: New Virgin* customers now get 0% for 16 mths (was 15) with a fee of 2.98% of the amount transferred. Yet either clear the debt or shift it again before the 0% ends or it'll jump to the 18.6% APR. Already got Virgin/MBNA? Abbey is 15 mths 0% with a 3% fee (then 15.9% APR), Tesco is 14 mths 0% but only 2.9% fee (15.9% APR). Lock in a low rate? Barclaycard's Simplicity* offers new customers 6.8% life of balance, ie lasting until all the debt shifted is repaid; or Leeds BS is 5.9% life of balance with a 2% fee & works out better for repaying over 5yr plus . FULL info, pros, cons & more options in the Updated Guide: Best Balance Transfers Related Guides: Free Credit Check, Problem Debt Help, Top Cashback Cards
16 GB Memory Cards £18 or 8GB £10. A full rundown of the cheapest memory for cameras, phones, netbooks, including SD, CompactFlash, XD & more. Deals Note: Cheapest Memory
Less than half price luxury hotels. Video Of The Week. 5* New York £30/night not £170 50% off Alton Towers (save £18) & other theme parks with a £3 Burger King Meal. The voucher lasts until Nov '09. See the Daily Deals List: Cheap Days Out!
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Warning! BBC iPlayer update could kill your broadband costs. Updated Guide
The Beeb's iPlayer now offers image quality to rival freeview, but watching an hour programme now means using 600MB of your download allowance, not the prior 300MB. It's automatic: Open 'the large video window' and it'll use this quality if possible, though you can switch to 'use lower bandwidth version' for the old quality. HD Content: High def is now also available if selected, but then an hour uses over twice as much again; 1.5GB and requires a fast PC & connection. Check if your broadband's limited. Many impose monthly download limits eg 2GB, and after that charge per GB, so regular web viewers should consider an unlimited download deal - see the Cheap Broadband guide. Plus, install a bandwidth monitor like Rokario to check your actual usage.
Reminder. 30% off Gap click 'n' print voucher starts Thur. Use it in-store between Thurs 23 April & Monday 4 May. This and free Asda food delivery in the Deals Note: Shopping Vouchers
New Govt mortgage support finally launches.... though few lenders take part.
Last Dec. the govt promised a scheme to allow struggling mortgage holders to defer interest. Yet lenders weren't keen, so it took until this Tue for it finally to stutter and start. Will I get help? Those with mortgages under £400,000 with Lloyds, Halifax, RBS, Natwest, Northern Rock, B&B and a couple of smaller lenders, who are eligble, may be able to switch to interest-only and defer up to 70% of the interest for up to 2 yrs with the govt. guaranteeing the banks don't lose out. My lender's missing? Notably Barclays, A&L, HSBC, Abbey & Nationwide are absent, yet these can use similar methods to ease repayments, but aren't restricted by the govt's criteria. See the News Story: Mortgage Support Launched, or read the full Full Guide: Mortgage Arrears Help
MoneySaving News. Bank charges appeal date set for 22 June. The Court of Appeal said bank charges ARE governed by fairness rules, now the banks will try again to overturn it. See the News Story: Banks' appeal Related Guides: Bank Charges, Bank Charges Hardship
Free £10 Bourjois lip gloss. Using a special code, get a free swanky lip gloss when you pay £1.99 P&P. Pucker deal!
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The Big & Easy Ways to Save Checklist
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Quick links or click the titles for full pros, cons, alternatives & more savings
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Free wireless starting at Starbucks, but only for iPhone & BT broadband customers MoneySaving News. Are building societies still safe? See the News Story: BS safety Related Guide: Safe Savings Great 'Cheap Ferry Tickets' Hunt. Comparison Sites & Booking Tips Northern Irish Student? Win £250. Help to promote the Financial Ombudsman to your peers, ends 30 Apr Student Challenge Competitions Board RECORD win... £20,000! Scores of MoneySavers report free contests, share info, and help each other enter free contests every day in the Competition Time forum board. Record win: One of the regulars has just won a huge prize, MoneySaver Toejumper's fantastic win came by simply voting for their favourite Walkers flavour from its new range in a daily entry, online competition. See the Forum Note: I've won £20,000! Time Out '1,000 things to do in London for under £10' book giveaway. Find out if you won in the Forum Note: Time Out Book Giveaway |
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MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Lofty take the supermarket job?
Lofty went to university as a mature student. He graduated last July, and has worked on and off, yet has still to secure a graduate-level job. The local supermarket has shelf stacking work, but after all that time and study, Lofty wants to hold out for work that uses his degree skills. Should he go on benefits while he waits for his dream job? (This was inspired by a Radio 5 phone-in). Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Lofty take the supermarket job? Previous MMDs: View All
Quick Forum Tips
Warning! Bargains listed here tend to
sell out quickly
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Board of the week: Techie Stuff
The ever-popular Techie Stuff board is full of useful technical advice on how to use your bargains buys or ask for help if you're stuck. Recent discussions include Firefox takes ages to start, Your screen resolution of choice, Cleaning LCD screen
Great 'Easy Lucrative Garden Crops' Hunt Result
Last week we asked green fingered MoneySavers to share their tips on Easy Lucrative Garden Crops ie growing fruit and veg that costs the earth in supermarkets or farmer markets. There were some great suggestions including Tomato Growing Tips,
Sprout Your Own Salad and Small garden? Space Saving Tactics
Music & Fashion Magazine, BMI Check, L'Oreal Age Perfect |
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Martin's Appearances...Weds 22 - Tues 28 April
These are scheduled appearances, though other ad hocs may happen. See the appearances list for updates.
- Thurs, GMTV, ITV1, sometime between 8:30 & 9:30am. Deals of the Week.
- Fri, Jeremy Vine, Radio 2, between 1 & 2pm. The subject's undecided.
- Tues, GMTV, ITV1, sometime between 7:20 & 9:30am. The topic's news reactive.
This week's Martin's Blog: Sir Alan you’re 110% right!
"ThinkJessica Campaign: Fighting Scam mail " and "I almost missed my award.". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)
Are you richer than your parents? This week's poll. Vote and Family Money discussion.
Self-employed work the longest. Last Week’s Vote. Asked how many hours you regularly work, 30% of working people do 36-40 hours, yet a high 25% work 46 hours plus a week, meaning they'll be affected by the possible changes to the max. working week in 2011 (over 48 hours banned). Unsurprisingly it's the self-employed who work longest with 54% of them working more than 46 hours/week, of which 27% work more than 60 hours. See Working Week poll results.
Archna's Free Game of the Week! Escape the office & try and get to the pub to meet your mates. Office Sneakout
Live long and prosper. That's it for this week, but this is seriously cool (well for nerds like me) you can see how you'd look as one of the characters of Star Trek, animation and all Vulcanise 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 0EH 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: Barclaycard.co.uk (goldfish and simplicity), uk.virginmoney.com, ingdirect.co.uk, icicibank.co.uk, energyhelpline.com, alliance-leicester.co.uk, halifax.co.uk, americanexpress.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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