Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

Top Xmas Bargain Research. Blu-Rays, TomToms, CDs, Cams Inc. £12 Mp3 player, £80 Blu-Ray player, £25 DAB radio, £140 Xbox, £90 TomTom It's the year's biggest online shopping week, so to help speed things up we've compiled a mammoth list of all the cheapest popular deals available online. What's included? We've researched all the best online pressie bargains, including the most popular CDs (eg Susan Boyle album £6.99), games consoles (Wii £135, Xbox 360 £140), Mp3 players (2GB deal for £12), sat navs (£90 TomTom), digital cameras (Samsung 10MP £55), digital photo frames (7" £23), DAB radios (£25), charity gifts and much, much more and all are now in the New Deals Note: Christmas Bargains Related: Megashopbot.com, Festive Fivers

X Factor Takeaways: £10 off Domino's, 50% off Pizza Hut, 20% off Hungry House
All codes valid THIS weekend (hungry house's a multi-takeaway website)
To make it worthwhile you need be spending over £15 at Domino's or Pizza Hut. See the Daily Deals List: Takeaway Bargains

Body Shop free £5 gift card & 25% off voucher
Click and print for the voucher, or buy a £1.90 paper to get the £5 card.
No min. spend means the card's perfect for sub-£5 gifts eg. Mango Scrub, Lip Balm. See the Deals Note: Shopping Vouchers

Free Wallet-Sized Consumer Rights Mini-Guide Print this nifty fold-out crib sheet & pop it in your wallet to be permanently armed If a shop ever tries to fob you off, you should stand your ground firm in the knowledge of your legal rights. Credit card sized guide: To help, we've created a free mini-guide, designed to be printed and folded, to fit in the credit card section of purses or wallets. Then simply pull it out in stores when you need it, to turn yourself into an instant expert. It condenses the correct laws and rules, enabling you to quote and even show it to the shop, to prove you're in the right. Free Guide: Consumer Rights Wallet Weapon. Read the full guide: Section 75 Related: Consumer Rights, Administration Help

Champagne £7.80/bottle at Tesco online (must buy 6)
Also promos at Asda for £10 and M&S instore for £13 as well as other major wine & champagne sales.
The Tesco champagne is well rated and available when using a code to discount its sale. See the Deals Note: Cheap Champagne

New iTunes offer! Get 2 x £15 gift cards for £20. In store at Morrisons until Sun 20 Dec. This & more in the Forum Note: Cheap iTunes Related: TuneChecker.com

New cheapest Gas & Elec tariff
The average bill is £1,200, British Gas's new Websaver 5 cuts it to £890 in some areas
British Gas has launched a new version of its online billing Websaver tariff, this is now the cheapest for some in six of the 14 regions. It's guaranteed but locks you in: The price will be at least 6% lower than its standard tariff until Feb 2011, though of course others may undercut it - to get this guarantee you're locked in with a £60 exit fee if you leave before June 2010. To find out how it works out for you... Compare, switch & get cashback: (via these special links) Top Pick Comparison: Energyhelpline* pays £15 cashback per switch. Dual Fuel: Moneysupermarket* gives £30 cashback & Uswitch* free case of wine. Full switching info in the Updated Guide: Switch Gas & Elec Related: Cheap Boiler Cover, Grant Grabbing

Tesco loophole. Pay £45 for PAYG mobile get £84 Tesco Rewards
Special code gives you massive Clubcard boost - effectively leaving you £40 in profit.
Providing you'd have paid for the rewards anyway it's a massive saving. See the Deals Note: Tesco Points Boost

M&S online 10% off, Dotty P's 20%, Shudoo (Uggs) 20%
New Shopping Codes: Plus 10% off Karen Millen, ASOS £10 off £75+, M&M Direct 10% off £50+
These and more in a massive list of current codes - though some end Wed. FULL info in the Deals Note: Shopping Vouchers

New Bank Charges Template Letters Update. We're almost there, we're meeting our QC later this week and hope the letters will be on the site early next week. Full Info: Bank Charges latest Q&A

New Top Rewards card with £30 intro bonus
Pays 1.5% and is especially good for those who already have Amex Platinum...
The new Amex Rewards cards gives points for store vouchers (inc. M&S, Boots, Amazon & iTunes) making it a cash-like reward, if you'd spend in one of these. What it pays: You earn equiv. 1.5% cashback in supermarkets, 1% in department stores & 0.5% elsewhere, plus £30 of points if you spend £500 in first 3 mths How it compares: Sister card Amex Platinum* pays an unbeatable 5% cashback but only for 3 mths; then it's tiered up to 1.25% for higher spenders. Grab that first, but afterwards Amex Rewards usually beats it (you can have both). Alternatively the GM card gives 3% in points off new Vauxhalls and BA Amex* up to 1.4% in BA miles. WARNING! Only use rewards cards if you repay in full EVERY month otherwise the interest cost massively dwarfs cashback gain e.g. Amex Rewards is 0% for 6 mths, but a hefty 17.9% APR after. Who's it for? You need to pass a credit score & have household income over £30k. FULL info & alternatives in the Updated Guides: Credit Card Rewards, Cashback Cards

Pizza Express, Strada and Prezzo 2for1s
Instant register and print for Pizza Exp. & Prezzo, get Strada voucher in £1 paper
Join Yates 2for1 Xmas dinner, Cafe Rouge 2 mains for £12.50 & Bella Italia £10 meal in the Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers

Urgent! Loft Insulation £1 per roll (usually £5ish) 10,000 £1 rolls available via nPower online or instore at Build Centers. You don't need to be an nPower customer. Likely to go quick, see the Forum Note: Blag lag

Apply now to cut debt costs in time for Jan.
Applications take weeks, so sort it now. Get 0% for 16mths on cards and overdraft debt. Cheapest loan 7.9%
Many debt providers leach on people wanting quick fixes by offering 'instant money'. A better strategy is apply now to get the cheapest rates in time. Top 0% Balance Transfers: The longest new-customer 0% deal for shifting existing debts is Virgin's* 0% for 16 mths with a one-off 2.98% fee, though after it ROCKETS to 18.6% APR. Lock-in at 6.8%: If you need longer to repay, you can shift debts at 6.8% APR until it's repaid with Barclaycard Simplicity*. Shift overdraft to 0%: The Virgin* 0% for 16mth deal also lets you shift overdrafts to it, yet the fee's a higher 4%, alternatively grab a 0% overdraft & £100 bonus with Alliance & Leicester's* Premier current account. Cheapest Loans: Asda offers 7.9% APR for loans over £7,500, or if you're borrowing £5k. Sainsbury's is top at 8.8% APR. All of these products rely on a credit score, FULL info & many alternatives in the Updated Guides: Balance Transfers, Cheap Loans, Best Bank Accounts, Credit Scoring

New Westlife & Take That MP3 Albums £3.97
Our new Tunechecker.com music download comparison's now updated with this week's latest releases
Westlife £3.97, TakeThat £3.97, Coldstream Guards £6.57, SuBo £3.97, Peter Kay (single) 49p Search all: Tunechecker.com

Can you save £100s with a water meter? If there are more bedrooms in your house than people, check it out. A new report for the Govt is pushing for 80% of households to have water meters by 2020, yet many should switch now as you'd save a huge whack. Can you save? Whether a water meter is worthwhile depends on the water company and your usage. As a rough rule of thumb, if there are more bedrooms in your house than people, you should check out getting a meter. If it's the other way round you're likely to be better off on normal bills. How to find out: The most accurate way is to discuss it with your water company, though there are also a couple of quick comparison calculators. Full info in the Guide: Cheap Water Bills Related News: Calls for water meters

New Harry Potter DVD £6.71. Ends Wed (RRP £25)
Get Harry Potter & the Half Blood Price for under £7 at Amazon and Asda
Full info on the cheapest deals for this big Xmas release in the Forum Note: Harry Potter

Last Chance! Free £100, travel insurance & year's 0% overdraft The on-off Alliance & Leicester* Premier account £100 switchers' bonus is off again from Sun 13 Dec. FULL info & alternatives in the Guide: Top Bank Accounts

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New top prepaid card for booking Ryanair flights
Ryanair's rule change means you need a 'Prepaid Mastercard' to book free: a new cheaper one's launched.
The new free FairFX* card only charges 1.5% on spending, just pipping last week's top pick. See the Guide: Beat Airline Fees

Warning! Gift cards aren't as safe as cash
If retailers go bust they become virtually worthless e.g. Borders
While vouchers may feel friendlier than cash, they're only as safe as the retailer. We've seen big names like Woolworths and MFI go kaput rendering vouchers virtually useless. Even if companies go into admin yet still operate vouchers they can then be refused e.g. Border's administrators only accept voucher payments if you're also using the same amount of cash. Pay on a Credit Card: If you're buying a gift card worth over £100 then pay on a credit card as it's likely the usual 'section 75' rules making the card company jointly liable apply. Related: Section 75, Administration Help

Great 'Best Christmas Recipes' Hunt
It's always the same, we want to dish up a fab Christmas meal but end up having the same menu as the previous year for lack of ideas. So we're asking MoneySavers what your best Christmas recipes are to make a dinner your family won't forget. Add your ideas/read other peoples': Great 'Best Christmas Recipes' Hunt Past Great Hunts: View all

CHEAP FLIGHT SALES ALERT:
Airline: Ryanair Price: £5 e/w Ends: 10 Dec
Ryanair has a million flights for £5 each way (inc. some charges) from various UK airports to over 60 destinations. Speedily find them using the Updated Guide: £5 Flights then beat the scores of add-on charges with the Budget Airline Fee Fighting guide. Related: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels, Spending Abroad, Cheap Currency, Travel Insurance

Government U-turn saves childcare vouchers
All parents to get full tax relief if they sign-up to scheme before April 2011
Gordon Brown has backed down from initial proposals to scrap the tax breaks that can add up to £2,400 of savings for some families who pay for childcare, following a backbench revolt. Though the gain for higher rate taxpayers will be cut for those signing up after 2011. See MSE News: Childcare U-turn Related Guide: Childcare Vouchers

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Should Tom recycle his ex's Xmas presents?
Like a good MoneySaver Tom did his Christmas shopping in the January sales last year and bought his then lady Nicole, a  ‘best girlfriend in the world' mug plus a few pairs of Levis. They've since  broken up and now he's in a new relationship, with Penelope, who wears exactly the same size clothes. Should Tom give Penelope his ex's presents for Christmas? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should Tom recycle his ex's Xmas presents? Previous MMDs: View All

Free book giveaway RESULT. 'Multiple Job Offers In 10 Days'
25 copies of this chunky job hunt book were up for grabs. Find out if you got one

Great 'Best Value Artificial Christmas Trees' Hunt Result
There's a shortage of Christmas trees this year, so, last week, we asked MoneySavers for the best value artificial trees. There were some fab suggestions, including Poundland FibreOptic, £1 Asda tree and Costco bargain

BOARD OF THE WEEK: Overseas Hols & Travel planning
Winter breaks around the corner!
With the stress of Christmas preparations, it's nice to think ahead to the New Year, or to your winter break! Whether you've already booked your holiday or want to find a last minute bargain, the Overseas Holiday & Travel planning board is full of good tips to travel for less. Recent discussions include Things to do in Prague, Egypt all inclusive and World Cup 2010.

Do you pay to download music? This week's poll. Vote and MPFree? discussion.

12,032 of 14,085 polled can do percentages on the fly (we'll let you calculate what % that is!)
48% of voters have no problem working out percentages in their head when they think about it, and another 38% can do most shop maths in seconds. Just 11% said they can only do the easy ones, leaving 3% who struggle even with a calculator. See the Sum People poll results.

Archna's Free Game of the Week!
Help Santa steer clear of the obstacles. Santa's Snowboard

Who do you want to be today?Share a kiss with R-Patz, replace Si-Co on the X Factor judging panel or save the world as Wonder Woman. Just upload your pic to Face in Hole!

We hope you save some money,

Martin & the MSE team