Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

Full 'how much can I earn before...?' breakdown Where do you fit on the salary tree? On Tues, the Tories said they won't abolish the 50% tax rate for anyone earning over £150,000/year, if elected. Most of us aren't lucky enough to earn this, but salary is one of life’s key numbers. We've compiled a list of the critical wage markers to help you speedily show what tax you'll pay, what you’re entitled to & more... (Note: there can be minor variances for individuals – see the Income Tax Checker). £4,940... Start to earn National Insurance (NI) credits (go toward your State Pension). £5,720... Start paying NI contributions from your earnings. £6,475... Personal allowance for under 65s (ie amount you can earn tax-free). £12,064... An over 22s year's earnings at minimum wage if you work 40 hours/week. £15,000... If you earn more, you must repay post-98 Student Loans £16,040... Max. family earnings that qualify for free school meals, bigger Child Trust Funds, & full Child Tax Credit £19,760... The maximum salary you'll get from statutory Redundancy Pay £25,800... (Approx) AVERAGE UK SALARY £25,936... If you earn more than this, you must repay pre-98 Student Loans £32,300... Max. family earnings where kids aged 16-19 can get £30/week Education Maintenance Allowance £40,000... Family incomes below this could be eligible for a decent Childcare Tax Credit payout £43,875... The higher rate tax threshold, you pay 40% tax on everything earned above this (under 65s). £58,000... Max. family earnings to still be eligible for benefits (for kids aged over 1). £66,350... Max. family earnings to still be eligible for benefits (if kids aged under 1) (See Benefits Check Up) £150,000... From April 2010, all earnings above this will be taxed at 50%. Please feel free to suggest more in the Forum Link: Key Salary Levels PS. I'm off on a break, so this week’s email is in the capable hands of the MSE Team

Week of Tue 29 Sept - Mon 5 Oct '09 (Last week's position) 1. Top Savings (1) 2. Freecycle (New) 3. Beauty Deals (New) 4. Freebies, Freebies (2) 5. Hotel Sales (New) The above excludes daily deals notes Tesco outlaws 'wrong item' vouch Icesave compensation deadline looms HBOS 'High Interest' customers to earn zero interest Tories plan early retirement age rise House prices up third month in a row This week's full MSE News list

[[tip_box_in_tip]]

Please suggest friends/family/colleagues get this free weekly e-mail from moneysavingexpert.com/tips

The Ones Not To Miss MSE

New Top 3.5% Fixed Cash ISA. Plus limit boosted to £5,100/year for over 50s.
On Tue, the amount of cash anyone aged 50 or over can save tax-free in an ISA jumped to £5,100/year, from £3,600. Plus there's a new top rate for everyone if you're happy to lock cash away. The Top Rates: If you're prepared to sacrifice access, Chelsea BS pays 3.5% AER fixed for a year (min £3,600) - great if you don't need to get at it. Highest easy access rate is First Direct at 3% AER (min £1) fixed until Nov 2010, when it drops to 0.2% (switch then!). Top clean payer is Standard Life at 2.65% AER (min £1). All these accept top-ups from anyone 50 or over by 5 April 2010. What's an ISA? Simply a savings account where you don't pay tax on interest earned. What if I'm younger? You'll get the full new £5,100 cash allowance from 6 April 2010, but sadly not before; the government's staggering the introduction of new limits. Full details of limits and top picks are in the Updated Guides: Top New Cash ISAs, ISA Transfers, Full ISA Guide MSE News: ISA limits increase

One year's AA cover £7 (normally £28) or RAC £8. Special, even bigger than normal cashback deals mean the price of breakdown cover's been hammered down. Deals Note: Cheap Breakdown Deals Related: Cheap Breakdown Cover

96p car insurance for a year - fully comp! The MoneySavingExpert record has been smashed! The record price for cheap car insurance by following the MSE system's been smashed. It was £14 a year but MoneySaver Barbara has now got a year's cover for an amazing 96p! MSE system: Combine as many comparison services as you've time for in the following order: MSMarket*, GoCompare*, Confused*, CompareTM*, then see if you can grab hidden cashback from special sites on top. Full Step By Step Guide: Cheap Car Insurance. The New Record: The initial quote was for £120.96 and then Barbara found cashback of £120 making it 96p, see the MSE News story: 96p Car Insurance Can you beat it? The record for home insurance is being PAID £67 to get it. We're still waiting for our first car insurance profit, report your price. Free Starbucks or M&S coffees worth up to £2.90 (with £1 paper). Voucher every Fri in the Guardian (£1) until the end of Oct for Starbucks, or grab The Times (90p) this Wed (7 Oct) or Fri (9 Oct) for an M&S voucher. Full info in the Deals Note: Free Coffee

Credit card debts MAY be cancellable. Court wipes debt after missold PPI insurance
The ads are everywhere, shouting "we can wipe your card & loan debts" yet these often false promises leave some paying hefty fees for nowt. Court Case: Last week, it emerged a judge had ruled for the first time that, partly down to missold Payment Protection Insurance with her credit card, a woman's entire £8,000 debt was unenforceable. The wider impact? This was in a lower court so doesn’t set a precedent & MBNA could still appeal. Yet it shows those who’ve been missold insurance with cards or loans (which itself can mean getting £1,000s back; see PPI Reclaiming) do have a chance of having debts wiped. See MSE News: £8,000 debt write-off and Quick Briefing: Challenging Credit Agreements

New Pizza Express £10 meal & wine, 2for1s at Strada & Cafe Rouge, Giraffe 50% off. Join two meals for £10 at Prezzo, Browns £29 meal & wine for two and M&S £10 Dine In for two in the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers

[[tip_box_in_tip]]

Nintendo Wii £140 (usually £179), or £180 with 3 games. Plus other top console deals in time for Xmas in the updated Deals Note: Cheap Games Consoles

Earn up to 5% interest in a day! Supermarket Savings Loophole. Boost Xmas budget at Tesco, Asda, Morrisons & more
Act quick and you can boost Christmas food budgets by up to 5% with little-known supermarket savings schemes. How does it work? You’re supposed to save supermarket stamps up all year, then they add a bonus in Nov or Dec. Instead, by timing it right you can put a wad of cash in, and get up to 5% extra straight away. When to do it: This is a full guide to which stores have schemes, how much you can get and when you need to stash the cash. They don't have any savings protection, but as your cash is only in for a couple of days the risk's reduced. Full info and dates in the New Guide: Savings Stamps Loophole Related: Supermarket Shopping, Top Savings

New beauty deals! Free L'Occitane £7 hand cream & £10.50 CID eye liner (with c. £3 mags). Plus Sanctuary gift set for 17.50 (worth £35). These join free £20-35 haircut, 50% off Stila make-up, £10 filled Lush bags and more in the Deals List: Beauty Deals

New cheapest energy tariff. Price war rages. Saving of £250 over average price now possible
Last Friday E.On was the latest provider to drop online tariff prices. Scottish Power and First:Utility quickly retaliated in a bid to hold onto the top spot. Size of the Savings: While the average household pays £1,200 a year, the cheapest deal could slash that to £950. Compare & Get Cashback: There's no one cheapest provider for everyone, so always do a comparison, all these sites include the new tariffs (cashback only via these special links) Top Pick: Energyhelpline* pays £15 cashback per switch. Dual Fuel Picks: MSMarket* £30 cashback, Uswitch* a case of wine. FULL info inc. possible cashback boost in the Updated Guide: Cheapest Gas & Elec MSE News: New energy provider Related: Grant Grabbing, Boiler Cover

New Autumn sales! M&S up to 50% off inc £2 ties, £9 heels & more. In store and online. This joins Matalan up to 75% off, Envy up to 50% off, Adams 20% off online and loads more in the in the Daily Deals List: High St Sales Diary

Urgent! £4.99 for Sat's England footy if you buy Weds, wait & the price'll jump to £9.99+. If you want to legally view the pay per view, online-only World Cup qualifier, order by end of Weds (7 Oct) to get it for £4.99. From Thurs the price'll be £9.99, or £11.99 on Saturday. Full info in MSE News: England Vs Ukraine

Make a pact not to give unnecessary presents. Tool of the Week. Free Pre-NUPP saves you & friends cash Every Christmas, we needlessly spend millions on gifts shoved unused into cupboards, when a card or big hug may be just as welcome. NUPP: To help, last year we launched the No Unnecessary Present Pact, and now it's back. Send a pre-Xmas “NUPP” e-mail, to take the stigma out of NOT giving just for the sake of it. NUPP lite: Alternatively, just agree to limit gifts to £5/£10 and some thought. Why a special tool? It can be embarrassing to broach this yourself; being a part of something bigger may make it easier. Tool of the Week: Pre-NUPP Related: Stop Spending Reminder. X Factor voting starts this Saturday - vote for free? Updated. If you've inclusive calls to landlines with your home phone package, there's a way to vote for Danyl, 'John & Edward' et al, for free, rather than pay 35p/min, provided it can cope with demand. You just have to listen to a 15 second ad. See new info in the Updated Deals Note: Free X Factor Votes?

URGENT! Bag £1(ish) European Oct-Dec flights (ends midnight Thurs 9 Oct). Beat check-in fee hikes. Ryanair's got £1 each way flights (inc some charges) from 12 UK airports to around 50 European destinations until Thurs midnight. Updated Guide: £1 Flights then beat the heap of add-on charges (which increased this week) with the Budget Airline Fee Fighting guide.

25% off '3' mobile tariffs with a special code. 300 mins/texts plus a phone for £11/month
Currently you can bag 25% off the cost of mobile network 3 's Mix & Match tariffs when you sign up via comparison site Simplify Digital* and enter the code ezp21 at the checkout. What do you get? The discount's usable on most Mix & Match tariffs, ranging from 300 up to 1,100 of inclusive minutes or texts, plus you get a free handset. Is it a good deal? 3 tariffs tend to be pretty competitive so with a 25% discount this is good. However always plug your usage into a web comparison to check there's nothing cheaper for your needs. Full details in the Forum Note: 25% off '3' tariffs Related Guides: Cheap Mobiles, Mobile Haggling, Sell Old Mobiles, Free Texts

Reminder. Have you been given a higher loan / card rate than you applied for? Let the Treasury Committee know your experiences, suggestions and comments. Credit Rating Inquiry

[[tip_box_in_tip]]

The Big & Easy Ways to Save Checklist

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

Top Savings: Easy Access: Citibank* 3.3% inc 2.25% bonus Clean: IF 2.49% (both min £1) 0% Balance Transfers: Top pick: Virgin* 16 mths 0%, 2.98% fee (APR 18.6% for BTs) Top Uninsured Loans: £7.5k-15k:Sainsburys 7.9%, Tesco* 8% (can be 7.8%) Top Bank Account: Top Pick: £100, 0% overdraft & free travel insurance with A&L* Free Budget Planner: Use the free planner or do a complete Money Makeover Sell Old Mobiles: Top picks: Love2Recycle*, Envirofone*, Mopay*. Top Cashback Credit Card: Top pick: Amex Plat* 5% for 3 mths. (APR 19.9%) 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. Home Phone & Broadband: TalkTalk* £19.41/mth or Tiscali* £17.49

More MoneySaving MSE

Childcare voucher tax breaks may be axed. The Government's proposed to end this boon (which can save parents up to £2,400 a year) in 2015 to pay for free childcare for two-year-olds from low and middle income families. See the MSE News story: Childcare voucher threat Related: Childcare vouchers 'ENVI' energy monitor giveaway. 40 devices blagged for MoneySavers. Want one? Great 'Hair MoneySaving' Hunt: Salon vs supermarket brands, home colour tips & more Cuts, colours, shampoo, styling products: looking after those locks can really add up. So we want to tap MoneySavers for their top tips on keeping their tresses lovely for less. Do you really need a chop every six weeks, which cheap shampoos beat salon brands, and how can you recreate posh colours at home? We’d love to hear insider tips from any hairdresser MoneySavers too. Add your ideas/read other peoples': Great Hair MoneySaving Hunt Past Great Hunts: View all Want to be Mortgage Free in 3 years? Get tips, tricks and help from other MoneySavers doing it in the Mortgage Free In Three Years discussion. Northumberland Credit Union doubles in size to cover the whole county Credit Unions are non-profit financial organisations that offer savings and borrowing to their local communities, great for those who struggle to get a bank account. Live/work in Northumberland? Anyone living or working in Northumberland can now join Northumberland Credit Union as its joining criteria's extended to the whole county. Everyone else: Check if there's a union in your area. For how they work, how to join and the best way to use one, read the Full Guide: Credit Unions MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Would you hand in a camera you found on a beach? You find a £100 camera on the beach during your foreign holiday. There’s no one around, and you sunbathe for two hours, waiting for the owner to return. At home you always hand valuable items to the police, but here you don't speak the lingo, know where the station is or even how these things work. Would you still make the effort to hand it in? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Would you hand in a camera you found on a beach? Previous MMDs: View All

Q. I’m in the middle of my degree and worked over the summer. Should I have paid tax? A. It’s extremely rare for anyone to pay tax if they earn less than £6,475 a year (the tax-free personal allowance). Students just working over the summer (and returning to uni in Sept) should have filled out a P38(S) form with their employer to declare themselves a student. If you didn’t, it’s likely you paid ‘emergency tax’, which you should be able to claim back. To check if you’re due a rebate call your local tax office (find it) or complete form P50. If you’re due a refund it’ll be sent back to you by cheque. If you earned over £6,475, use the Income Tax Checker to get a guide to the tax you should’ve paid. If in any doubt speak to the tax office. Discuss: Should I have paid tax? 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 Tips, Tricks & Treats

Top deal! Free £8 Photo Mug with Cadbury's biccies. 99p postage. Snap it up! Creature Comforts Complete Series 2 DVD £2.49. RRP £19. Clay it again! Free cinema tickets You just won't know which film till the last minute Mystery Movies Up to 50% off Vax vacuums. V125 £175. Usually £350. Inc 6 year warranty Struggle to find your size clothes? Join the Plus sized discussion £9.99 British film 10 DVD box set. Inc. 4 Weddings & Fish Called Wanda. Free P&P Debt Free Wannabe chat of the week: Christmas Crisis Competitions thread of the week: Company's Daily Big Beauty Giveaway Old Style (Thrift) Board thread of the week: Kids' lunchbox ideas

Board of the week: Employment, Job Seeking & Training: Help, tips & support
The state of the economy means work, job hunting, and getting what you're entitled to is becoming ever more important. Yet the Employment & Jobseeking board is full of hints, discussions, tips and support from other MoneySavers. Discussions include Job interview advice, Uploading CVs - Pdf or Doc file? & Are recruitment agencies worth it? Related: Benefits Check-up, Money Makeover, Boost Your Income

Great 'Take Care of your Wardrobe' Hunt Result
Last week I asked MoneySavers for tips on keeping your clothes in good nick, whether it’s cleaning, fixing or dyeing in the Take Care of your Wardrobe Hunt. There were some great suggestions including Polish your boots with potato peelings, Keep costume jewellery on a pinboard and Iron on patch for trousers' knees

[[tip_box_in_tip]]

Andrea's Freebies Freebies, Freebies, Freebies

Dove Intensive Lotion, Basil Seeds, Nerina Pallot Download, Mercedes Benz World Formula 1 Event

Odds and Ends MSE

Martin's Appearances...Weds 7 - Tues 13 Oct
These are scheduled appearances, though other ad hocs may happen. See the appearances list for updates.

• Weds-Fri, Countdown, Channel 4, 3:25 - 4:10pm. In the Dictionary Corner.
• Tues, GMTV, ITV1, sometime between 7:20 & 9:30am. The topic's news reactive.

This week's Martin's Blog: Learning a new way to campaign…
Read m'blogs (or RSS users access)

Would you save in a non UK-protected account? This week's poll. Vote and Safe Savings discussion.

Should we join the euro? Nope. 5,946 voted last week. Very little has changed since we last ran this poll back in January. 30% of you think it's time to join the euro (31% in Jan), 65% think we should keep the pound (62%), and 5% don't know (7%). See the euro poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week! Use your explosives wisely to demolish these buildings in Demolition City

"If we only had a brain!" That's it for this week but before we go, see how you'd look as a dancing scarecrow without a brain Oz Yourself

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: comparethemarket.com, confused.com, gocompare.com, moneysupermarket.com, energyhelpline.com, uswitch.com, threestore.three.co.uk, citibank.co.uk, uk.virginmoney.com, tescofinance.com, alliance-leicester.co.uk, love2recycle.com, envirofone.com, mopay.co.uk, americanexpress.co.uk, plus.net, talktalk.co.uk, tiscali.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-focused 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.

To change your E-mail or stop receiving Tips (unsubscribe): Go to: www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips

Was this free e-mail forwarded to you? To receive it directly go to www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips