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MARTIN'S QUICK BRIEFING
Card-by-card guide to packing YOUR plastic
Prevent cards being frozen when on hol & cheapest way to use 'em
How individual debit and credit cards work abroad can be as different as helicopters and sausages ...
- Should you tell them you're going away? Get it wrong and your account can be frozen! For more info see the blocked card nightmare news story.
The ones you should tell: A&L, Barclays (inc Barclaycard), Halifax/Bank
of Scot, HSBC, Lloyds, MBNA, Post Office, Santander, Virgin.
No need to bother: American Express, Capital One, Egg, Nationwide, Natwest, RBS.
- Cheaper to spend on the card or withdraw cash? This is all about fees (it makes no difference on a Nationwide debit card).
Cheaper to withdraw in lump sums from ATMs: DEBIT CARDS: Halifax, Lloyds, Natwest/RBS, Santander – these debit cards from hell add up to £1.50 each time you spend on them.
Cheaper to use in shops: DEBIT CARDS: A&L, Barclays, HSBC. CREDIT CARDS: All of them
Cut spending costs up to 10% by doing it the cheapest way
If you've a few weeks before you go, apply for a Halifax Clarity* credit card, which gives perfect exchange rates worldwide and is low fee, so that provided you repay in full each month to minimise interest (12.9% APR) it's the cheapest way to spend abroad full stop - full info in the Cheap Travel Money guide.
For foreign currency, use the TravelMoneyMax Cheap Travel Cash Comparison tool to find the best deal in seconds.
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| The Ones Not To Miss |
New! Shift card debts to 0% for 16 mths
Best long term 0% credit card balance transfer deal for 3 years! Cut costs by £100s
This new deal is perhaps a sign the credit crunch is easing. A balance transfer is where you get a new card to pay off your existing credit or store card debts so you owe it the money instead. New Longest Card: Sister banks Natwest* & RBS* now give accepted new cardholders 16 mths 0% on their Platinum card (min income £10,000) with a 2.9% fee. Next top: Barclaycard's* Platinum gives new cardholders 0% for 15 mths also with a 2.9% fee. Top with PERKS: Earn £25k+ and Nationwide's* Gold card offers 0% for 15 mths with a 3% fee, plus cheap spending overseas and a year's extra free warranty on UK bought electricals. Golden Rules: 1. Make at least the min. repayments or you could lose the 0% deal. 2. Never spend on these cards - you can't clear it until you've repaid the 0% debt (except for Nationwide). 3. Plan repayments to clear the card by the 0% deal's end. If not, shift it again to keep it cheap or with all these cards the rate rockets to 16.9% APR! FULL pros, cons & longer term alternatives in the Updated Guide: Top Balance Transfers Related: 0% for 12 Mths Spending, 7.7% APR Loans
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Urgent! TWO £39 pairs of prescription glasses for £13! Ends today (Wed) 11pm, sunglasses bargains available too, see the Deals Note: £13 prescription glasses
Rumoured poss. big M&S sale starts Thurs. We're taking a punt here, it's far from confirmed, but for more on the heads up & updates see the Daily Deals List: High St Sales
Luxury Hotels Loophole - beat comparison sites by 30%
Hidden trick on giant Priceline's 'name a price' system. Eg, £140 Paris 4* rooms £52
While comparison sites like Travelsupermarket*, Tripadvisor* and Hotelscomparison are the standard way to find cheap hotels cheaper, if you're staying in a big city e.g. London, New York, Paris or LA then Priceline's 'name your price' function can seriously undercut them. How it works: You pick a city area & star level, name your price and see if any hotels accept it. Of course the aim's to find the min. acceptable price, so start low, eg. £20, then keep raising your bid till it's accepted, but you can ONLY bid once-a-day. The Loophole: There are techniques to get more bids per day, either by bidding with a partner, or adding more areas of a city. We've fully re-researched and rewritten our guide to make it easier. How good? On Martin's own New York trip recently, he got a nice hotel for 63% of the comparison sites' cheapest price, though not as good as one MoneySaver who got the Times Square Sheraton for £55 a night rather than the listed £200. Ensure you fully understand the system, for step-by-step help see the New Guide: Priceline Hotel Bidding Related: Cheap Hotels, Cheap Flights, £14
Annual Travel Insurance
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New codes! 10% off ASOS (inc. sales), 15% off Habitat, 20% off Bodyshop.co.uk
Plus £10 off £50 spend at Sainsbury's & Javari, £3 off £15 Build-a-Bear, free del. at Asda & 20% off H&M
Then there's 25% off Cloggs and more in huge voucher blitz. See the Deals List: Discount Vouchers
New Comet 'white goods' auctions 80%+ off possible
Revamped Comet outlet site can lead to occasional mega-discounts on fridges, freezers, washing machines
Worth a punt at the Comet outlet plus Amazon white goods 50% off* & Argos eBay outlet*. Related: Online Outlet Shopping
BT hikes prices AGAIN! Get £8.99 line rental instead
In Oct line rental's up £6/year, connection up 1p, daytime call costs rise by 0.5p/min
BT upped prices in April, and in October it'll do it again. Its cheapest monthly line rental jumps to £12.04 (from £11.54) and call rates rise too, yet you can easily slash costs. £8.99/mth line rental: Switch to Primus' Home Saver via Homephonechoices* and you get it for £8.99/mth inc. weekend and evening calls. 5p/CALL daytimes: Then make even bigger savings on top using no-frills provider 18185 - sign up then dial its prefix access number (unsurprisingly 18185) from your home phone to cut daytime calls to 5p no matter how long you speak (BT will be 6.4p per MIN) and it's also roughly half the cost for mobiles too. Add broadband for £6.50: Use Primus and add Plusnet* for broadband at £6.49/mth plus £25 connection and it undercuts any bundle (currently 3mths free too). Want to stick with BT? To offset the rises, its new Line rental saver* deal lets you pay £114 for a year upfront, equivalent to £9.49 a mth including weekend calls. FULL pros, cons, & possible cashback details in the Guide: Cheap Home Phones Related: Cheap Broadband, Cheap Gas & Electricity
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Got friends who'd like to save? Please tell them about this email
FREE £20 energy saving plug (for some). Those on mainstream benefits and over 70s can get this (not N. Ireland). These and more in the Updated Guide: Energy Grants
New! 4% fixed 'easy access' savings on up to £2,400
Plus new top 4.3% lock-in fixed rate deals and 2.8% easy access on larger amounts
One reason regular savings accounts pay higher rates is they usually demand you lock money away every month. Yet Saffron BS's new one pays 4% AER fixed, letting you put £10 to £200 in per month for a year - but there are no penalties if you miss months or need to withdraw cash (post or branch). Top Normal Savings: It's between AA which pays 2.8% AER easy access, incl. 2.3% bonus for a year - so be prepared to ditch then or the rate drops - and the clean (no-bonus) Halifax* web saver extra at 2.6% AER. Up to 4.3% fixed rates: Another Indian Bank has decided to launch hot rates in the UK (like all these accounts, you get the FULL UK £50,000 per person guarantee). If you're prepared to lock money away to get a guaranteed rate, Bank of Baroda* is the new top online deal (via Moneysupermarket, this link takes you there) at 3.15% AER on a one year fix, 3.8% for 2 years, and 4.3% for 3 years. The Punjab National Bank postal account beats it for shorter fixes at 3.25% for 1 year and 4% for 2. FULL details and more best-buys in the Updated Guides: Top Savings, 4% Regular Savers Related: Safe Savings, Free £100 & 5% Interest Bank Accounts
Act now! Reclaim unfair iPhone overseas web charges
Check you're not charged £100s for mobile web even when you've switched the internet off
Most who complain get a full refund. See the News story: iPhone glitch Related: Cheap iPhones, Mobile Roaming
Zoo 2for1s and masses of cheap summer days out
New Zoo deals & lots more cheap ideas: theme parks, sports sessions, museums...
School holidays are nearly here, so we've been hastily hunting out bargain and free summer family days out. Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo... At up to £18 a ticket, the price may make you go ape, yet 2for1s are possible for London Zoo & Bristol Zoos provided you have a train ticket (so get one for a couple of quid even if you won't use it), plus kids go free vouchers for Edinburgh, Chester Zoo and more. Full info on All Zoo Deals: Cheap Zoos. Free museums: From the biggies like the London Natural History or Manchester Imperial War museum, to smaller ones like the Savings Banks Museum and more see our list of 150 UK free museums. Theme Park 2for1s: Never pay full price there are easy 2for1s at Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Chessington and more see all Theme Park vouchers . Free sports lesson: It's also possible to get free football & tennis coaching plus swimming, gymnastics & dance sessions. See massive collection of all deals in the Daily Deals List: Cheap Days Out Related: UK's Free Museums, 2for1 Theme Parks
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Restaurant Vouchers Eat Treats Round Up
Instant 2for1ish at Pizza Express, GBK, Cafe Rouge, Strada, Bella Italia and more
Plus deals at Prezzo, Chiquitos and O'Neill's. See the Daily Deals List: Restaurant Vouchers
Free £7 printed book of your photos (£2.50 P&P). Enter a code at the Bonusprint online checkout to get your freebie. See the Daily Deals List: Digital Photo Deals
Driving to Europe? Insurance & breakdown warning
You're not automatically covered if you take your car to the continent this summer
Just because it covers you here doesn't mean you're fully covered outside the UK. Here's the key: Driving to Europe Checklist: 1. Car Insurance. Some comprehensive policies become third party outside the UK (ie, they'll pay if you damage another car but not your own) and you may need to notify it of your trip, so check your policy or call to confirm (see Cheap Car Insurance). 2. Breakdown: Go outside the UK and often your breakdown cover isn't valid, do a check and if not you can either upgrade to a Euro policy or buy special one-off cover (see Cheap Breakdown Cover). 3. Do a maintenance check: Do all maintenance before you go, ensure you've got manuals and the numbers to call if you break down. 4. Driving Rules: Check out country by country overseas driving regulations Related: Cheap Car Hire, Travel Insurance, Cheap MOTs
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Urgent! 350 x 1p London hotel rooms (usually £30). The final 350 rooms in Tune Hotels’ mega-popular summer room sale will be released at midnight next Tues, but you must be quick. Full details in the Deals Note: Hotel Sales |
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| Big & Easy Ways To Save |
| Quick links or click the titles for full pros, cons, alternatives & more savings |
- Top Bank Accounts: Santander* £100 free cash & 5% interest, Halifax* £50 bonus then £5/mth
- Cheap Gas & Elec + Cashback: Top comparison site: Energyhelpline*
- Cheap Travel Money: Best way to spend abroad, Halifax Clarity* credit card (paid off in full or it's 12.9% APR)
- Car Insurance: Use both MoneySupermarket* & GoCompare* then get cashback. Also see: Van, Motorbike
- Cheap Travel Insurance: Annual cover: Individuals from £14, Familes from £28, Over 65s £29 & more
- Home Insurance: Use as many as poss of GoCompare*, CompareTM*, MoneySup* & Confused* + get cashback
- Cheap Personal Loans: £5k-£7.5k: A&L* 8.8%. £7.5k-15k: A&L* 7.8%.. £15k+: Tesco* or A&L* 8.7%.
- TravelMoneyMax.com: Find best online holiday cash deal for Euros, US Dollars, Yen & all others
- 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
- Free Printed 30 page+ MSE Guides: Annuities, Remortgaging, Mortgages
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| More MoneySaving |
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Q. If a credit card debt doesn't show on your credit report do you still have to pay it off? From Hilary by email.
Martin's A: The credit reference agencies aren't an official list of all debts, they're primarily a service to provide information to help lenders decide who to lend to.
Plus there are three of them, so just because it isn't listed on one, doesn't mean it's not on the others (see credit rating for how to check them all).
The fact it isn't listed doesn't stop the need for you to repay it, nor does it mean the company can't take you to court.
Yet if it isn't listed on any of the agencies' files, the outstanding debt is unlikely to impact your ability to get other credit, but if you didn't pay and got a County Court Judgement against you, that would almost certainly be on your file and kibosh your score.
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Discuss: Credit Reports
Suggest: A question of the week
(big general issues not personal q's pls) |
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This week's blogs (See All)
Join Martin on facebook!
"I love my Energy Smart Meter, a definite MoneySaver. Do you have one?"
"I lost my rag in a Lloyds TSB branch"
"We already have a graduate tax, just a better version"
Appearances
Weds 21 - Tues 27 July
Weds
Money Watch, BBC2, 8pm
Growing It
BBC London Radio, 6:30-7:30pm
General MoneySaving phone-in
Thurs
GMTV, ITV1, 8:50am
Deals of the Week
BBC Radio 5, Live, 12-1pm
Subject tbc
Fri
BBC Radio 2, Jeremy Vine, 1-2pm
Last minute holiday prep
Tues
GMTV, ITV1, 6:50am
Subject tbc
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Martin's Appearances
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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, Charecroft Way, 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, amazon.co.uk, bankofbaroda.com, barclays.co.uk, bt.co.uk, comparethemarket.com, confused.com, energyhelpline.com, gocompare.com, halifax.co.uk, homephonechoices.co.uk, moneysupermarket.com, natwest.com, nationwide.co.uk, plus.net, rbs.co.uk, santander.co.uk, stores.ebay.co.uk, tripadvisor.co.uk, travelsupermarket.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.
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