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Get the most €€€ and $$$ for your £££
The pound's crashed to recent lows! How to boost your rate
The pound's nosedived over the last week. At one point it bought fewer US Dollars than anytime for 10 mths ($1.49), and Euros for four mths (under €1.10). So, if you're tripping abroad or paying in foreign currency, purchases will cost more. To help...
- Carry a specialist overseas card. Most plastic adds a 3% cost to the great exchange rates banks themselves get, yet four credit cards don't add this 'load'. Use them to spend abroad for the best possible deal, though always repay IN FULL to avoid interest.
Overall winner Santander Zero is load-free worldwide & has no ATM fees. Alternatively, Nationwide's* load-free Europe only, but with the perk of a year's extra extended warranty & purchase protection on UK-bought electricals. Full info in Cheapest Travel Cards guide.
- Avoid the cards from hell. While specialist credit cards give good rates, most credit cards don't. Worse, some DEBIT cards give poor rates and add an up to £1.50 fee every time you spend! These include Lloyds TSB, Halifax, RBS, Intelligent Finance, Santander & NatWest. Check your card's charges in the Overseas Card Fees section.
- NEVER 'pay in pounds'. If a retailer overseas offers to let you pay in pounds, reject it. It's called dynamic currency exchange and means the shop does the conversion, usually at a worse rate than your own card.
- Find cheapest travel cash. To find the best rates for paper money, use the TravelMoneyMax Travel Cash Comparison. If you need airport pick up, always pre-order as the rate's much better. Plus watch out when you pay for forex from bureaux de change; all credit cards and some debit cards, inc. Barclays, Santander, Lloyds and, recently added, Natwest & RBS, charge a cash withdrawal fee. Use a different card if possible or withdraw pounds on debit cards and pay with that .
Buy now or wait? The pound's horrid rates could get even worse ... or much better. No one knows, so any prediction is speculation (gambling), and you could win or lose. One option's buy half now to hedge bets, but that's your call. My focus is on getting you the best rates whenever you buy. |
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Become a MoneySaving Missionary. No preaching needed, but please suggest friends, colleagues, family (& woman in hat
next to you on the train) get this free weekly email at moneysavingexpert.com/tips
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| The Ones Not To Miss |
Urgent! Top 0% for spending card plus year's 0% balance transfers too
Closes next week. A year's 0% on all purchases and debt shifted to the card (then with 2.98% fee)
Until next Thursday a special Virgin Promo* card is available exclusively via Moneysupermarket (the link takes you there). With 12 mths 0% on purchases and, for a 2.98% fee, balance transfers, it's new joint top 0% for spending and top all-rounder card (which protects credit scores as it's only one application). Always plan repayments: Only use it for new borrowing if you can afford to repay within a year. If not, the rate rockets to 18.9%/21.9% APR. To be safe, diarise the end date, check if clear, if not balance transfer. Any exclusions? As well as passing a credit score, as it's provided by MBNA, you won't be able to shift debt from another of its cards. Alternatives: For an All-Rounder: The AA* card's 0% for 10 mths on purchases and 12mths on balance transfers with a 3% fee (18.9% APR after), but it's also an MBNA card. Next is Sainsbury at 10 mths 0% on purchases & balance transfers with a 3% fee (15.9% APR after). For 0% Purchases: Tesco's 12mths 0% too, plus you get Clubcard points (16.9% APR after). 16 mths 0% on shifted debts: To just transfer existing debts, a different Virgin* card's 16 months 0% on balance transfers with a 2.98% fee (18.6% APR after). FULL info pros & cons in the New Guide: 0% all-rounder cards Updated Guide: Top 0% for spending Related: Balance Transfers, Debt Help, Boost Credit Score
Urgent! £1 Cineworld ticket any time, any film (worth up to £12)
Buy from special website, but tickets for any time up to 25 April. Valid for expensive 3D showings too
One ticket per person, not per household, so couples can both sign up. Full info in the Daily Deals List: Shopping Vouchers
Buy 5x£6 Bourjois lip gloss £9! Free £10.50 Neal's Yard cream in £3.50 mag
New Beauty Deals! £3 James Brown conditioner with £2.50 Glamour Mag & free eye shadow with other mag
Lots of new deals where the price looks as good as you will. Full info in the updated Deals List: Cheap Beauty Deals
Slash NHS or private prescription costs & cheap over-counter meds
Prescription season tickets, cheaper private prescriptions & grab legit generics
They say don't skimp on your health, but it's possible to slash the cost without compromising quality. This totally re-researched and rewritten guide includes... Buy season tickets now: Anyone who regularly pays for NHS prescriptions should consider a pre-pay certificate, which covers all NHS fees for a set period and can save a fortune. Prices change in April and usually rise, so grabbing one now should save (in Scotland the reverse is true-see guide). Cheaper private prescriptions: For medicines that help but the NHS doesn't deem necessary. It may be cancer treatments, IVF, anti-malaria drugs for holidays, baldness or even famous 'get it up' meds (sorry, other descriptions would mean this email went to your spam box). With them, unlike NHS prescriptions, prices AREN'T fixed. We've new research that shows you can cut costs in half by going to the right place. Generic medicines: Branded medicine, eg, Nurofen, is often over 10x the cost of generic version, eg, Ibuprofen, that are medically identical. So we've a full guide to safely spot cheaper alternatives. FULL info on this & more in the New Guide: Cheap Prescriptions & Medications Related Guide: Healthcare Cashback
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Got an iPhone? Pay £15/mth for unlimited data, texts & 300mins
A new O2 tariff for out-of-contract iPhones gives a similar deal for a fraction of cost
Many iPhones are now out of contract, but cost £30+/mth. This is an easy way to slash bills and keep your number. See the Deals Note: Cheap iPhone
New! Pizza Hut 2for1 & GBK 2 burgers, drinks 'n' fries for £15
Restaurant vouchers! Plus Mother's Day deals: ASK & Ha ha special 2for1s for mums
Join Strada & Caffe Uno 2for1s, Sizzling Pubs 2 steaks 'n' drinks for £11, and more for this Sun. in the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers
Three more 'big 6' providers cut gas prices. Yet save £250+ MORE
E.ON, npower, Scottish & Southern have dropped prices, others are likely to follow
In the last few days Scottish & Southern said it'll cut gas prices 4-9%, E.On by an average 6% and nPower 7%, all taking effect at the end of March. This follows British Gas's 7% cut last month. Yet let's not over-celebrate. None have cut electricity prices and energy companies' own costs have dropped much further, according to the regulator Ofgem. Will the others follow suit? Energy companies are like sheep, when one bleats others follow, so it's likely the remaining two of the 'big 6' will soon cut too. Save £250 a year MORE: Even after these price cuts, most people are paying massively over the odds, as online (email billed) tariffs cost an average £900/year. This is compared with £1,150-1,200 for most standard tariffs, even with the price cuts. So a comparison should save large, though avoid tariffs with substantial lock-in fees, in case it's worth switching again later. Compare, switch & get up to £30 cashback: (Cashback only via these special links) Top Pick Comparison: Energyhelpline* pays £15 cashback per switch. Dual Fuel: Moneysupermarket* gives £30 cashback, Uswitch* free case of wine or SimplySwitch* £35 in Amazon vouchers. For FULL info see the Updated Guide: Switch Gas & Elec Related: Cheap Boiler Cover, Grant Grabbing
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£5(ish) European flights. Ends midnight Thurs 11 March
Lots of Ryanair Apr-May flights for £5 each way (inc. some charges), to over 40 European destinations
Speedily find them using the Updated Deals Note: £5 Flights and the Free Tool: FlightChecker. Then beat the scores of add on charges with the Budget Airline Fee Fighting guide. Related: Cheap Flights, Cheap Hotels
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FREE coffee every Wed morning before 10.30am! No voucher, just pop into Giraffe for a latte, tea or more, any Wed until 16 June. See the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers
"Ta. I got my free £528 laptop and internet grant"
Over 50,000 govt free laptops grants for low income families have already gone
We're inundated with emails from people who've successfully got the Govt's new 'Home Access Grant' for a free laptop & web access. While it was only launched in January, already the Govt's given out 55,000 grants and is processing 10,000s more. It works! Feedback includes: "Got my home access grant today for the full £528 value. It took about 3 weeks in total, easy application form", "Thanks Martin, I just got a grant for a laptop and free internet for a year" and "Sister ordered her laptop on Friday, received it today (Tue)". Who qualifies: It targets people on a lower income without internet access who have children in school years 3 to 9 (age 7 to 14). There are a few tests for this, but as a rule of thumb, if you qualify for free school meals, you're likely to count for this too. FULL details including top tips on how to successfully apply in the New Guide: Free Laptop Grants Related: Grant Grabbing, Child Care Costs, Tax Credits
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Free £4.25 Moneywise mag (10,000 available). This and other mags in the Deals Note: Free mags
Bag six summer Alton Towers, Thorpe Pk, Chessington 2for1 vouchers
When you buy anything at WHSmith, eg, 20p paper. Vouchers valid from now till October
Plus Blackpool Pleasure Beach half price wristbands. Full info in the Daily Deals List: Cheap Theme Parks
New top 100%-safe easy access savings on up to £2m!
Get 2% in perfect safety or spread savings to earn over 3% - good if you've big money, eg from house sale
All fully UK-registered savings accounts are protected up to £50,000 per person per institution if they go bust. Only govt-backed NS&I protects more now Northern Rock's ditched the guarantee for new savers. New top 100% safe rate: Launched yesterday (Tues), NS&I's online Direct Saver pays an okay 2% AER (min £1) with easy access, allowing up to £2 milllion savings to be fully backed by HM Government. Earn over 3% spreading it around: Far higher easy access rates are available, but with only £50k protection. Yet, if you've £200,000, simply spread it over four accounts, and it's all protected, eg, AA is 3%, West Brom BS is 2.92% and Tesco & A&L* are 2.75% (full pros & cons of these & more in Top Savings). Fix at over 4%: If you don't need access, lock it away to earn more: Julian Hodge pays 3.25% fixed for a year and ICICI* 4.1% for two years & 4.6% for three years. Not all accounts are UK protected: A few UK accounts are run by EU banks and have that govt's protection, not ours (all above are fully UK). This includes 'Post Office Savings', as it's run by Bank of Ireland, meaning you'd be reliant on the Irish govt if things went wrong. Beware linked accounts: Depending on their licence, two banks from one group may be linked, eg, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, so you only get £50k protection between them. See the safe savings guide for who's linked to who. MORE best-buy details and choices in the Updated Guide: Easy Access Savings Related: Safe Savings, Cash ISAs
Mr & Mrs Smith 2for1 boutique hotels
2for1 (or 4for2) nights at swish hotels in UK, Europe, US and Morocco for stays until 14 May
Just enter a code before 31 March to grab hotels from £70 for two nights/£140 for four. Full info in the Deals List: Hotel Sales
Banks admit PPI misselling will continue. Be vigilant - and reclaim!
They say they're likely to missell another £1.2 bn debt insurance on loans and more over the next five years
If you've got or are getting a loan, watch out for this insurance. If you're missold, you can reclaim £1,000s. See the MSE News: PPI admission Related: PPI Reclaiming, Cheap Loans
Free £10 energy saving plug with £1 paper. This Sunday's News of the World has a PC PowerDown plug voucher (turns off all peripherals when PC's off), just redeem on the day to get it. See the Deals List: Shopping Vouchers
Ensure your restaurant 'tip' goes to the staff
MSE supports 'Where's the Tip?' govt campaign for better restaurant info. What to ask & who's paying fair?
As it was in our 50 word Consumer Manifesto, great for a campaign to improve things. Forum Note: Who gets the cash?
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| Big & Easy Ways To Save |
| Quick links or click the titles for full pros, cons, alternatives & more savings |
- Car Insurance: Use both MoneySupermarket* & GoCompare* then get cashback. Also see: Van, Motorbike
- Cheap Personal Loans: £5k-£7.5k: A&L* 8.9%, S'burys 8.8% w/ Nectar £7.5k-15k: A&L* 7.9%. £15k+: Tesco 8.4%
- Cheapest Line Rental: Primus* £9.15/mth
- Home Insurance: Use as many as you can of GoCompare*, MSP* & Confused*, then get cashback
- Compare Mobile Recycling Sites: Check if you get up to £150 for old mobiles via MSE's mobilevaluer.com
- Reclaim £1,000s: Full Mortgage Fees, C'cil Tax, Endowments, Bank Charges, PPI guides
- Boost your income: Over 50 ways to bring in extra cash
- Free Printed 30 page+ MSE Guides: Annuities, Remortgaging, Mortgages
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| More MoneySaving |
Last Chance! 5% off stamps AND prices rise in April
Superdrug's selling 1st-class at 37p (normally 39p) until 15 March
Prices rise to 41p in April, but, provided the stamps say '1st' and not the price, they're valid after that. So stock up now if you'll need them. Full info in the Deals Note: 5% off Stamps
Give pocket money as pay or you're trust fund teaching. Read Martin's pocket money blog and then give your pocket money tips
Going to the dogs? 2x £6 tix & greyhound racecard £1
Avail. at 22 tracks across England until 31 March. Just register 'n' print
Joins free Cineworld tickets to BAFTA films Weds & Thurs and more in the Daily Deals List: Cheap Days Out
Stop Smoking! Wed 10 March is No Smoking Day
Smoking's as bad for your wealth as it is for your health. No-butts guide
Smoking costs a fortune, and it's not just the cigarette price. A typical smoker with a range of products such as life assurance or private medical insurance could
pay £20,000 more than a non-smoker over a lifetime. Plus if you're now smoke-free, it includes how to ensure you benefit from cheaper deals. Free help available: These days there are a raft of subsidised or even free ways to help you quit, especially from the NHS, eg, a free Quit Kit and free support from local Stop Smoking Services and the NHS's Together Programme. Updated Guide: No-Butts Stop Smoking Related: The Demotivator, Life Assurance
What should I ask George Osborne on Thursday? Martin's interviewing the shadow chancellor, so suggest questions
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Great 'how to find decent tradesmen' hunt
Everyone has heard horror stories about rogue brickies and dodgy plumbers. So we want to tap MoneySavers for their top tips on finding decent traders. What's the best way to get quotes, haggle and avoid paying for work you don't need? Are there any calamities you've learned from? Add your ideas/read other people's: Great 'how to find decent tradesmen' Hunt Past Great Hunts: View all
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Q. I am confused about new Cash ISA's. I realise I can only open one per year, but if I have an existing ISA, can I transfer that as well? I'm attracted to the Santander 3.5% (new money only). Rob by email.
A: The rule about opening ISAs is actually that you can only pay in to one ISA each year. Yet ISA transfers are totally separate. You can do them at any time, more than once a year if you wish, though only to ISAs that accept transfers.
As you mentioned, the new Santander 3.5% ISA doesn't allow transfers, as it's for ‘new' money, so you can open one for this year but not put past years' cash in. For the best transfers, see the ISA Transfers guide.
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Discuss: New cash ISAs
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: alliance-leicester.co.uk, confused.com, energyhelpline.com, gocompare.com, icicibank.co.uk, moneysupermarket.com, nationwide.co.uk, primussaver.co.uk, simplyswitch.com, theaa.com, uswitch.com, virginmoney.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-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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