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Hoorah! Compulsory Consumer Finance Education
It'll be an unavoidable part of the school curriculum from 2011
I've oft complained 'we're a nation that educates our young into debt when they go to University, but never educates them about debt', yet that's about to change, and it couldn't come too soon as our collective personal borrowing is £1,459,000,000,000.
This month the Gov. announced Personal, Health, Social & Economic (PHSE) education in English primary & secondary schools would be compulsory. While the media focused on sex ed., it also includes personal finance (see MSE News: Compulsory PF education).
What should we teach our kids?
I've been invited to meet Education Minister Ed Balls in January to discuss the changes needed. So I'd love your view on what should be taught. For me it must be more than just how bank accounts work & a look at wide consumer education...
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Primary. Why not take a 7 year old to a supermarket, and ask "do you know why they put sweeties by the till?" Then explain "it's because a supermarket's job is to make money, so it's trying to remind you to ask Mummy or Daddy to buy sweets so it can make more."
- Secondary (get free teen cash class guide). Two years ago I spent a day, for TV, in a school teaching twelve 15 year olds. They were fascinated by the malicious genius of credit card minimum repayments, designed to make it look like you pay less, while costing more. After the day they went home and saved their parents £6,000 between them.
It went so well I turned the lesson plan into the 40 page PDF Free Teen Cash Class that anyone can download to teach their child / class.
That's my view, but I'm not a parent, so I'd love to hear what you think I should tell the Minister. Please feedback in the Discussion: What to teach kids about money
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| The Ones Not To Miss |
New FREE Printed 40-page MSE Remortgage Booklet
Step-by-step guide to getting the cheapest possible mortgage in the credit crunch
The mortgage market's been turned on its head. Once lenders salivated at the thought of flogging massive debts to all, now they're tighter than an airplane's wing nuts. Yet as just 1% point cheaper saves £80/mth per £100,000 of mortgage, small change can mean big savings. New Credit Crunch guide: This is a completely updated version of the MSE remortgage guide, looking at cutting the cost of your existing mortgage deal, with the credit crunch challenges. Free Guide: Either instantly download a PDF version, or get a free printed copy posted (to pay for that, broker London & Country sponsors the guide, but it’s entirely editorially independent) Full info: Remortgage Guide Related: Find a Mortgage Broker, Mortgage Arrears Help
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THREE M&S bath gift sets £4.85 (usually £5 each)
New Beauty Deals! Plus FREE £15 mini manicure & £40 Liz Arden gift set reduced to £20
The gift sets are hugely rated by MoneySavers in the Forum. See the Deals List: Beauty Deals
1/2 price Champagne: Moet £14 and Bollinger £18
Supermarket price wars means these premium brand champagnes cost the same as cheap own brand
It's a max. 3 per customer, it's on for two weeks at Morrison's, but likely to run out of stock soon Deals Note: Champagne Deals
New Discount Code / Voucher Search Tool! Instantly find 100s
Last chance instant Gap 30% off plus Waitrose £10 off £60 & Lidl £5 off £30 (in papers) and more
We've a brand new tool to help you search to see if there's a voucher for a massive range of stores. What does it do? We've always researched the best vouchers, yet there are 100s of smaller discount vouchers and codes for specific things such as £25 off Tesco Appliances, 20% off Xmas decorations at Argos etc. So if you're buying there it's worth checking first. How good is it? The info isn't from MSE's research, but imported from a voucher website, and just includes standard deals, not many of the major discounts from newspapers and magazines or other site's exclusives we research and report. Yet it's deliberately placed after our main voucher list, so you can scan the big ones first then check it if none suit. Top Vouchers & Discount Search: Shopping Vouchers
4 x Disneyland Paris tickets & ferry return £70 (worth c. £190)
Special code for Dover-Calais ferry for up to 2 adults & 2 kids. Adult tickets alone usually £45 each
5 Jan - 31 Mar '10 inc. weekends. See the Deals List: Disney Day Trip Related: Florida Theme Tix, Days Out
2,000 free £70 tastelondon 1yr discount cards
It gets you 50% off at over 1,000 London restaurants. We've blagged these special cards for MoneySavers
If you don't get one, there's 1 mth free for all. See the Forum Note: tastelondon for free
Small Business MoneySaving. Sole traders & Ltd companies. New Guide!
The top biz savings, insurance, energy, broadband, phones, grants & more... for home offices or premises.
Times are tough for many small businesses, yet there are substantial savings to be had if you know where to look. Who it's for: The techniques can vary depending on whether you're a sole trader or limited company, home worker or have premises. This new guide zips you through the ways to save in each case. What's covered? It includes top picks to keep business bills down with best buys for business bank accounts, savings, utilities, phones, broadband, insurance and more. See the full New Guide: Small Business MoneySaving Related: Grant Grabbing, Cheap Van Insurance
2for1-ish! Pizza Express, La Tasca and ASK
New Vouchers! Pizza Express 2for1, La Tasca 50% off plus a free coffee & ASK 2for1 for £1.
Joins Prezzo £10 starter, main & drink and Zizzi 50% off in the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers
Bank Charges Test Case Result
Due 9.45 AM Wed morning at the Supreme Court.
As this will be fast moving, to find the latest, simply click the
Bank Charges Result News Service
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Travelodge £9 UK 50,000 Easter Room sale. Starts 6am Thur
Available for March - June stays; usual cost c. £29-£59. 50,000 rooms at £9, plus 100,000 more at £19
The key to bagging them is to get in quick. See the Deals Note: Travelodge Sale Related: Cheap Hotels, Hotel Sales
Halve the price of Christmas perfume / aftershave. Updated Guide
Buy NOW to save.. eg. Burberry Brit £24 (RRP £59) or Calvin Klein £29 (usually £46)
It's said more perfume's sold on 24 Dec than in all of August. So if it's likely to be your last ditch gift, don't wait, order now from a specialist web-seller for a fraction of the price. Web Prices: Supermarkets tend to undercut high streets, but the cheapest of the web usually beats them too. To start use comparison sites FragrancesCompared* and CheapPerfumeExpert though they miss many, plus more discounts are available, e.g. use code hppxm10 for 10% off Halfpriceperfumes. For FULL info, and how to cut even more off with unboxed fragrances, see the Updated Guide: Cheap Perfume Related Guide: Cheapest Online Shopping
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Got friends who'd like to save? Please tell them about this email
Last Chance! Lock-in 1/3 off Direct Line home insurance by 30 Nov
It's on joint buildings & contents, but the quote's valid 90 days, so lock that in now in case it's cheap
The DirectLine* discount quote's valid 90 days, so check in-case it's cheapest (& there's no new promo), then compare to the best from GoCompare*, MoneySupermarket* & Confused* then try for cashback. See the Guide: Cheap Home Insurance
Home phone, line rental, broadband £15/mth code
That's only £3.75/mth more than BT's basic line rental. Includes wireless router & installation
The TalkTalk Essentials combine line rental, unlimited eve & wknd calls & broadband deal at £19.41/mth all-in is usually a best buy. Yet there's a way to get it even cheaper. The deal: Currently sign up for an 18 mth contract and get a £30 M&S voucher, yet enter the code 112AEFREE at TalkTalk and you get 12 mths free - which makes the deal £15/month including installation. Alternatives: Next cheapest is Tiscali* at £15.80/month including calls, broadband, router & installation. FULL info in the Guide: Cheap Home Phones Related: Free BT Installation
Free Hello, Computer Shopper & Wallpaper digital magazines
Get a full copy of these magazines on your computer or get paid £5 for 4 free delivered issues of Time.
Full details in the New Deals List: Free magazines
Last Chance. Free wills ends 30 Nov.
Will-Aid month means you get a solicitor-drafted will for free (requested charity donation) ends asap
Over 1,100 solicitors UK-wide are taking part in this special scheme, see the Full Guide: Free or Cheap Wills
Slash Christmas Costs. Video of the Week. The 12 Saves of Xmas
Inc. free letter to Santa, Martin's Money Mantras, the £2,500 gift & more
There's no need to have a cash crisis this Christmas. Lots of little tricks can enable you to cut the cost and still have a great day: from free letters from Santa, to quadrupling your Tesco points worth, or getting a 5% discount on everything and this guide takes you through it. Video Of The Week: To accompany the guide, there's a new video Martin filmed for BBC1 Watchdog's website which will take you through each of the tips step by step. Full Guide & Video: The 12 Saves Of Xmas
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Reminder. Code for free £6.50 album download
Plus a free month's music streaming.
Still available see Forum Note: Free Album
Mortgage Margin Timebomb...Being overcharged? Read the MSE News Special: Mortgage Timebomb
Rileys pool clubs £13.50 for 2 night out (worth c.£30)
Get 2 hours of pool or snooker, 2 drinks & a year's membership with a £10 voucher
Then the person you're playing only needs to pay £3.50 to join you. This & more in the Deals List: Cheap Days Out
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| Big & Easy Ways To Save |
| Quick links or click the titles for full pros, cons, alternatives & more savings |
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| More MoneySaving |
Tax credit overpayment payback can be cancelled!
A little bit of hope for any MoneySavers fighting unfair demands that they must pay back tax credit overpayments. We got an email from MoneySaver Steve to say he'd followed the guide and disputed his Tax Credit overpayment and received £4,500 back! Find out what to try in the Full Guide: Tax Credit Overpayments
Great 'What NOT to buy in pound-shops' Hunt
Pound shops are often huge bargains (just bought box of After Eights there - yum ML) but the business model is designed by selling some things worth more than a quid and some less so it evens out. We want to tap into MoneySavers' collective knowledge to find out what bargains to avoid. What shouldn't you grab? Add your ideas/read other peoples': Great 'What not to buy in £1 shops' Hunt Past Great Hunts: View all
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MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Should Ricky kick off about pocketed cash?
This one's based on a true tale... Ricky's in his local Sainsbury's at the self service check out, which was empty when he arrived. After buying his goods, he realises there's a tenner change not picked up by the previous customer. He hands the money in, but as he's leaving sees the shop worker put the cash in his pocket. Should he go back and complain? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Ricky complain? Previous MMDs: View All
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Q. I'm a housewife earning £2,000 from a part time job, but have a husband pays income tax. Can we open up savings in my name to receive interest without tax being deducted? Terry by email
Martin's A: Yes, yes and yes. It's a great way for a couple, where one earns less to gain. Under 65s can earn up to £6,475 from work and savings interest combined. So unless your savings interest is massive (over £4,500 - meaning hundreds of thousands saved) there will be no tax on it.
The same trick works if one of you is at a basic taxpayer rate and the other at a higher one. It's always financially worth saving in the lower taxpayers name, though of course it does raise issues of trust.
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Discuss
Suggest: A question of the week
(big general issues not personal q's pls) |
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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 we 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 we believe transparency is important, we're including the
following 'un-affiliated' web-addresses for the same things: gocompare.com, moneysupermarket.com, confused.com, comparethemarket.com, directline.com, talktalk.co.uk, tiscali.co.uk, alliance-leicester.co.uk, tescofinance.com, citybank.co.uk, virginmoney.com, energyhelpline.com, americanexpress.com, plus.net, fragrancescompared.co.uk, askBM.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 amongst others the News of The World, The Telegraph 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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