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Summer holiday URGENT MoneySaving prep... Checklist to keep it cheap overseas. Keeping holiday costs down's about tooling up with the right kit. Yet these things can't just be grabbed as you pack, most need doing in advance. Five minutes running through this checklist should save you cash & time. What to do... Get/renew a free EHIC for Europe trips. A govt scheme entitles you to free or discounted medical cover in state hospitals anywhere in the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, providing you’re holstering a valid EHIC card. Yet nearly 3m people sadly have out-of-date cards. Get one or renew at Ehic.org.uk. Check if your hotel/hostel's got free or cheap wireless. Then take your laptop (or wireless enabled mobile) and you can call back home via Skype*, Sipphone or Voipcheap for peanuts, see the Voip: Internet Telephony guide. Use a specialist overseas spending card. Spend on one of FIVE specialist credit or debit cards which smash even the best bureau de change rates. However, they can take weeks to get; apply now so it’s in your purse or wallet on time. With the weak pound, as this can cut costs by 6%, it's crucial. Full info in the Cheap Travel Money guide. Pre-plan airport parking. Public transport's usually cheapest, but if you drive to the airport, the sooner you book parking spaces the cheaper; comparison site Holiday Extras* hunts for you. See the full Cheap Airport Parking guide for more tips. Annual Travel Insurance from £15. It's possible to cover a year's trips for just £15 a person, providing you sort it early online, see Cheap Travel Insurance guide for full info. What not to do... Don't use Lloyds, Halifax, RBS, Abbey or NatWest DEBIT cards abroad. Five major debit (not credit) cards are the real summer nasties. Like most plastic they add 3% to the cost of your exchange rate & charge for cash withdrawals, yet these also charge up to £1.50 each time you spend. So buy something for £5 worth of Euros and you pay £6.65 for it. Don't leave car hire until you get there. At Malaga airport's car hire pick up queue, I recently met someone paying £60/day for a smaller car than the one I was getting for £9/day. The main difference? He'd booked there and then, I'd done it in advance via specialist comparison sites e.g. Kayak* & Travelsupermarket*. To really scythe down costs see the full Cheap Car Hire guide. Don't buy currency from the airport. You're charged more as your custom's captive, even booking it in advance and picking it up from the same airport bureaux's cheaper. Better still use the Travel Money Max comparison tool. If you're still planning to book a trip, then use the Cheap & Free Flights, Cheap Hotels and Package Holiday Haggling guides to ensure you get the very best deal.

Week of Tue 9 June- Mon 15 June '09 (Last week's position) 1. £1 Ryanair flights (New) (closed) 2. Top Savings Accounts (2) 3. Freebies, Freebies, Freebies (4) 4. Cheap & Free Flights (6) 5. Top Cash ISAs (3) 6. Comping For Cash (New) 7. Cheap Travel Money (5) 8. Cheap Hotel Sales (New) 9. Council Tax Rebanding (9) 10. Beauty Freebies (1) Our new fully researched guide showing how to max your chances of winning competitions entered at a respectable no. six. Already reports have been in of people starting up the form filling machine and entering 100s a week. Good luck to all! However clearly people's minds were on booking and going on holiday as travel articles dominated. Ryanair's £1 flight sale hit the top of the charts as there was a mad dash to bag the £1 flights (now over). The above excludes daily deals notes

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The Ones Not To Miss MSE

Urgent! New cheapest broadband. Unlimited-download packages £5/month.
Two scorching promos launched this week. Both allow unlimited downloads (within fair usage), great for web TV watchers, musos and gamers. Cheapest Standard Deal: O2's basic package is already best-buy at £12.23/mth (£7.34 for O2 mobile customers) yet comparison site Broadband Choices* gives you the first 4 mths free until 30 June. Over the year's contract that's an avg. £8.15/mth (£4.89 for mobile customers). Cheapest via cashback sites: Further but fiddlier cost cuts are possible, via a cashback website. Be Broadband's, equiv. package is £13.50/mth but sign up (newbies must register) via cashback site Quidco* and until this Fri 19 June you get £80 cashback. Over a year's contract that's effectively £6.83/mth, though this cashback's never 100% guaranteed (see Cashback Sites guide). Plus, quote 24offer on the Be site and you'll get a £24 Amazon gift voucher too (making it £4.83/mth). FULL info & alternatives in the Updated Guide: Cheap Broadband Related: Cheap Home Phones

New! 50% off Domino's (Fri-Sun) & Pizza Hut Delivery; Strada & Cafe Rouge 2for1s. These click 'n' prints join 2for1+garlic bread at Pizza Express, 50% off Slug and Lettuce and more . See the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers

New Cheapest Loan Rate. Borrow from 7.9% APR if you need £5k+. Updated Guide
While base rates plummeted, the crunch saw loan costs sky rocket; yet the top rates are now finally creeping down. Standard Loans: (uninsured typical APRs). For £7.5k - £15k Alliance &Leicester's* just lowered its rate to 7.9%, while Nectar cardholders (apply with the loan if not) can still get a Sainsbury's deal at 7.9% from £5k to £15k. You can possibly beat this; Tesco* offers a typical 8% APR, yet for certain combinations it's as low as 7.8% (see all top rates). Loan Marketplace: For good credit scorers borrowing small amounts, person to person loan marketplace Zopa* drops as low as 7.8% APR. Warning! You can't know the exact rate without applying, but, sadly, applications add a search to your credit file, so check their online calculators first. Full pros & cons in the Updated Guide: Cheap Loans Related: Short Term Loans, Best Balance Transfers, Credit Rating

Urgent! Travelodge £9 winter room sale (includes Xmas) starts Thurs 6am. The budget chain has 50,000 UK rooms at £9 (usually £29-£59) for stays 1 Nov '09 - 31 Jan '10 but they sell out quick. See the Deals Note: Travelodge Sale Related: Cheap Hotels

Bank Charges Test Case In Lords Next Week. Not offered full amount? You don't lose right to reclaim more later. Updated Guide
The hold on bank charges reclaiming doesn't apply if you're in financial hardship. We've had lots of reports of banks only offering to give back part of the claim, causing reclaimers a dilemma. The rules: Accepting doesn't mean you forgo rights to the rest. The FSA rules say IF the test case result shows you're entitled to more, banks must then make up the difference. So fight on if you can, but don't be afraid to take cash if urgently needed. Full Guide inc. free template letters: Bank Charges Hardship Test Case latest: Next Tue (23 June) having twice lost, the banks appeal to the House of Lords starts, all updates in the Bank Charges News guide Related: PPI Reclaiming, Setting Off Rules

Urgent! £300-£400 Heathrow return flights to Oz, New Zealand, Bali & more. This is a Singapore Airlines sale until 30 June for flights 1 Sept to 9 Dec & 16 Jan to 31 March 2010. See the Forum Note: Australia Flights Related: Cheap & Free Flights

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Ikea Summer Sale Starts Thur, Debenhams Wed (up to 50%). Sales Diary. Plus up to 50% off BHS Homeware & House of Fraser Homeware & Clothing. See the Daily Deals List: Sales Diary

New Top 2.85% CLEAN Instant Access Savings. Best 'no-tricks' accounts. Updated Guide
While the base rate's been stuck at 0.5% since March, the interest's rising on 'clean' savings - where what you see's what you get (all have the usual £50k per person UK safety guarantee). Top Rates: On Sat Intelligent Finance's iSaver hiked its rate to 2.85% AER from £1; it's no-notice and allows unlimited free withdrawals. Next best are Scarborough BS at 2.76% (phone only), and Sainsbury's at 2.6%, though here after 3 withdrawals a year there are penalties. Got £25,000+? Investec* cleverly matches the top 5 accounts' avg rate & currently pays 3.06%, yet it needs 3mths' notice to withdraw. Top with bonus. If you've got £10k, Ulster Bank's eSaving Plus pays 3.46% inc a six month 0.5% bonus, yet withdraw during that time and the rate drops. FULL pros, cons & more best buys in the Updated Guide: Top Savings Related: Savings Safety, Fixed Savings

School Uniform complete kit £3.75. A fierce price war between supermarkets means a shirt, skirt/trousers & sweatshirt is available for £3.75. See the Deals Note: Cheap School Uniforms

Privacy Alert! Opt your MOBILE out of new Directory Enquiries service. A new service's launched, charging a shocking £1 per search for mobile numbers. Yet you've a right to opt your number out, see the Forum Note: Mobile Directory Opt Out

Call overseas for pennies. Video of the Week. Phone India for 1p/min, Oz for 0.5p, USA 0.5p & more It's possible to call friends, family or lovers overseas for fractions of a penny just by dialling a prefix number on your phone. Yet dial the phone normally and it can cost a fortune (e.g. call Oz during the day via BT and its 27.5p/min via Virgin 32p/min but you can do it for 0.5p/min) Video of the week: Watch this video of a MoneySaver who saved £3,000 calling family in India via using the free Callchecker, which finds the cheapest number for each country. Full Guide & Video: Cheap International Calls Tool: CallChecker Related: Cheap Home Phones

Hidden £70 savings on new iPhone & existing iPhoners free software upgrade. Full info in the Deals Note: Cheapest iPhone

Warning! Is your capped energy bill ending soon? Beware doing comparisons...
This time last year many people were capping energy tariffs, and as we’re entering a period where they’ll start to end, some comparison sites are touting for business. Yet there are big traps here. What's it comparing? The savings given are compared to the cap rate, not the rate it'll jump to when it ends, which is what you really need. When will it switch you? If you’re only a month or two from the cap ending, and there’s a £30-£75 switching penalty during that time, be careful the transfer doesn't happen before then. What to do? We're monitoring the main cap end dates, and will bring info in this email when the times right to switch. Full switching info: Cheap Gas & Elec plus cashback Related: Fight Energy Direct Debits

Ends NOON Wed! Book Alton Towers for ANY SUMMER DAY half price. Get £18 adult tickets and £13.50 kids tickets when you book online through Buy a Gift. See this & more in the Daily Deals List: Cheap Days Out

Last chance! Extra £50 cashback on already top home phone, line rental & broadband deal. Get an automatic £50 cashback until Sun on TalkTalk's Essential's package signing up via comparison site SimplifyDigital*. Over the 18 mth contract, it avgs £16.63/mth inc.line rental, broadband & free local calls anytime, normally £19.41/mth. See the Guide: Cheap Home Phones

Got a 3G mobile? You can now make totally FREE web (Skype) calls through it
There's now a way for most 3G mobile users to access Skype for free through the mobile internet (ie not just using a phone's wifi). What is Skype? It's a web calls system which lets you talk free to other internet users anywhere worldwide or call phones for just a few pence. How it works: The mobile network 3 allows all its customers to access Skype through its network totally for free (no data charge either). Better still it's just changed the rules so even users of its free Pay-As-You-Go Sim card do this, so anyone can get one of these just to use Skype on, even without having to top it up. Full explanation and instructions in the Forum Note: Totally Free Skype Calls

Last Chance! Suggest 50 word money laws to MPs. We're compiling a consumer manifesto of your 50 word suggestions which MPs have agreed to review, it closes this Fri (19 June). Add yours/Read others : 50 word money rules

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More MoneySaving MSE

BA/Virgin price fixing compensation payments started. After months of delay MoneySavers' are now receiving compensation for 2004-6 fuel surcharges. Read the MSE News Story: Price Fixing Compensation Great 'Cheap Legal Music Downloads' Hunt revisited: Tips, hints & the best places to buy cheap downloads Downloading is quickly overtaking in the popularity stakes over hard copies of CDs. So we thought we'd tap MoneySavers' knowledge for their best tip and hints on finding cheap legal downloads. Add your ideas/read other peoples': Great Cheap Legal Music Downloads Hunt Past Great Hunts: Breakfast MoneySaving, View all 5% off first-class postage stamps at Superdrug. Bulk-buy stamps (they're inflation proof) see the Forum Note: Stamp Down Costs Student Accounts 2009/10: Natwest launches 09/10 deal but hold fire The first new student bank account package has just been launched. It's Natwest's and gives up to £1,250 interest-free overdraft in the first year, plus a free five year 16-25's railcard. Hold fire: The 0% overdraft is the key and even if you open the account now, it won't start until September, as past years' have seen other banks with even bigger deals, there's little point in jumping too soon. Our full 2009/10 student account guide will be updated once they're all out (and included in this email). 2008/9 Guide: Top Student Accounts Related Guides: Student Loans, Student Money Saving Fee-free overseas spending for ALL Abbey customers. If you've an existing Abbey credit card, you won't get charged the normal 3%-ish fee when spending abroad, for June & July. See the MSE News Story: Abbey summer boost MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Margaret let dad Nick remortgage to back her new firm? Margaret is a 25-year-old entrepreneur who desperately wants to set up her own nightclub business. Yet she can’t find the £60,000 backing needed to set up the company. Her dad, Nick, offers to remortgage so he can invest in the firm. While Margaret’s confident the nightclub will take off, Nick’s home will be in peril if it fails. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Margaret let Nick remortgage? Previous MMDs: View All Energy pre-pay meter customers overcharged by £464 million. The regulator, Ofgem, is accused of allowing massive overpaying. Read the full MSE News Story: Customers overcharged by £464 million West Brom Building Soc. secures deal to protect savers. Worries over the society subside as FSA brokers stability deal. Read the MSE News Story: West Brom Savings Safety

Q. Does all Travel Insurance cover holidays if flights are booked via low cost airlines and separate hotel? Both booked over Internet and paid for by Credit Card. Steve & Martha A. Ostensibly travel insurance policies cover all types of holidays, yet when you book DIY rather than package deals there are often more holes than Swiss cheese. First of all, travel in the UK normally requires two consecutive nights in pre-booked accomodation to count; most policies don't stipulate this for overseas, so flying to stay with a friend is usually fine. Yet the biggest DIY issue is a lack of cover for knock-on consequences. If you take a policy with cover for Scheduled Airline Failure, for example, and the airline goes under, you'll be able to claim for the flights, but if you can’t reach your destination you'd not be covered for the money paid for that. The only way round this is to find a policy which specifically covers 'indirect loss'. For maximum cover, look for special 'independent traveller' policies - designed specifically to cover DIY holidaymakers. They are increasingly available though cost a bit more than regular policies (we'll be adding the cheapest to our Travel Insurance guide asap). Do remember though package holidays innately have the extra ATOL and ABTA protection (though recent problems mean they haven't all paid out), and at least you got yourself Section 75 protection by paying on a credit card (provided things cost over £100). Discuss: Does travel insurance cover DIY hols? 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! Free £22 Elemis moisturiser. Swap any old moisturiser in some John Lewis Half price itunes card. When you spend £25 at B&Q. Online or in store Rothschild Claret £3 a bottle. When you buy six. Ends 30 June. (Norm. £7) At Tesco £5 Micro CD HI-FI. In store at Morrisons. Can you find one? £13 James Martin cook book for £5-ish Just buy pastry & postage Recipe for success Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: Help! Addicted To Spending Competitions thread of the week: Win up to £1,000,000 with a Magnum Pleasurecard Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: MoneySaver Kwaichi's top Chinese recipes

CHEAP FLIGHTS SALES ALERT Airline: Ryanair. Price: sub. £20 e/w. Ends: Midnight Thurs 18 June.
Our top pick budget airline sale this week is Ryanair's, with flights to a host of European destinations, from a range of UK airports, for £20 each way (including some taxes and charges). Tickets are at this price until midnight Thurs 18 June, on selected flights travelling between Weds 1 July and Sat 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 £20. 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

Board of the Week: Food Shopping & Groceries: Top food bargains & tips to slash grocery costs
The Food Shopping & Groceries board is home to all the questions, answers, bargains, and discussions about your weekly supermarket (or local grocer!) shop. Launched a few months ago, it's really taken off, with top discussions inc. Should I switch to Waitrose?, What's a realistic food budget for one? and Cereal brand substitutes Related: Supermarket Shopping guide

Great 'Extreme MoneySaving' Hunt Result
In these credit-crunched times, every penny can count; so we asked MoneySavers how far they go to save cash. There were some great suggestions including Used the same Xmas card since 1987, Re-use & Recycle, Raiding Bins and Bin Divers Beware

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Andrea's Freebies Freebies, Freebies, Freebies

England Rocks Map, Thai Online Cook Book, Banksy Exhibition (Bristol) Purina One Cat Food, Horror Film Cinema Tickets, Fathers' Day Present Downloads

Odds and Ends MSE

Martin's Appearances...Weds 17 - Tues 23 June
These are scheduled appearances, though other ad hocs may happen. See the appearances list for updates.

• Thurs, GMTV, sometime between 8:30 & 9:30am on ITV1. Deals of the Week.
• Tues, GMTV, sometime between 7:20 & 9:30am on ITV1. The topic's news reactive.

This week's Martin's Blog: The best worst shop slogan… can you beat TK Maxx?
"How do you buy British in banking?" and "Is ICICI an Indian Bank… do xenophobic overtones hurt its custom ". Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

What’s the ultimate luxury possession? This week's poll. Vote and Luxuries discussion.

MoneySavers call for less UK-EU integration. 11,514 voted last week. 38% of you believe the UK should be less integrated with the EU, keeping open trade but that's all, and a further 30% think we should withdraw from the EU entirely. Of the remaining 32%, 12% think the status quo is about right, 14% believe in more integration, and 6% want to see a fully integrated 'United States of Europe'. See EU poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! Use all your cunning to Escape the Bathroom

Too much time on your hands? That's it for this week, take a look at this. What do with 1,500 hard drives

We hope you save some money

Martin & the MSE team

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: alliance-leicester.co.uk, americanexpress.co.uk, skype.com, kayak.co.uk, travelsupermarket.com, moneysupermarket.com, investec.co.uk, tesco.com, broadbandchoices.co.uk, uk.virginmoney.com, gocompare.com, energyhelpline.com, holidayextras.co.uk, zopa.com. 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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