Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

Breakdown cover £5 - winter's coming. New Guide!
A year's RAC basic cover £4.77 or AutoAid full service for you & spouse £37
Winter's cold, dark nights are here, meaning breakdowns are tougher to handle. To help, we've re-researched and rewritten our cheapest roadside recovery guide. £5 RAC basic / AA £9: RAC's basic cover is £28 online, but this week you can get £23.23 cashback if you sign up the right way - so the total cost's under £5. A similar technique gets £9 AA basic cover. £37 full service cover: AutoAid has a policy with breakdown cover, home start & onward travel covering you & your spouse (or civil partner) in any car for £37 (AA equiv. is £100+). This company has good feedback and similar call out times to the big boys, yet it's a 'pay & reclaim' operator, so you pay the repair person, then send receipts to get the cash back. Loads more best buys & FULL pros, cons in the Updated Guide: Cheap Breakdown Cover Related: Cheap Car Insurance, Cheap MOTs, Cheap Petrol

Secret £1 train tickets map
Includes £1 London, Liverpool, Carlisle, Birmingham, Bath, Sheffield & more
A bit like a pound shop for train tickets, Megatrain* flogs thousands of spare capacity singles from £1 for routes on Virgin, South West & East Midlands trains (plus 50p booking fee). Why doesn't it have its own map? Megatrain's booking system works jointly with Megabus £1 coach tickets, so we suspect it doesn't split out train routes as they're the big draw to get people to check. The MSE map: We've got our mitts on a full list and route map of £1+ fares across England & Scotland, eg, Lon-Sheffield, Glasgow-Preston, Lon-Exeter (see the Megatrain tickets map). Xmas £1 tickets? Normal cheap rail tickets are launched 10-12 weeks in advance of travel, but Megatrain only releases its 45 days in advance. So Xmas tickets are just coming out, but they're as rare as gold dust. Keep checking over the next week; if you only get one-way, just return on a normal cheap single. FULL info in the Updated Guide: Cheap Train Tricks Related: Train & Coach Deals

New top 3.3% 1-year fixed savings
Fixed rates are on the up - a pantheon of new deals this week inc. 4% for 3yrs

If you're willing to lock cash away (no withdrawals) for a guaranteed rate, things are on the up... One year 3.3% fix: Skipton BS's new E-bond pays 3.3% AER (min £500), far more than the prior 3.05% best. 2 & 3 year fixes: The Post Office's 2 & 3 year Growth Bonds pay 3.65% & 4% AER (min £500). 5 years: The State Bank of India pays 4.5% AER and allows withdrawals each anniversary of opening, though you lose interest. 2.99% Easy Access: Nationwide's* MySave Online Plus (min £1k) pays 2.99% AER, though withdraw more than once a year and it drops to 0.1% for a month. For unlimited withdrawals, the Post Office's* online saver (min. £1) pays 2.9% AER. Both include first-year interest bonuses, so ditch & switch after that. The top clean (no bonus) account is Halifax's* 2.6% Web Saver Extra, though its rate's variable, so could still be cut. Safety: We've only included accounts with the full £50,000 UK savings safety guarantee. More options & FULL details in the Updated Guide: Top Savings Related: Savings Safety, 2.85% Cash ISAs

Everyone with costly existing credit card debts should shift them to cheap balance transfer deals to cut interest costs (need decent credit history). Then more of your repayment clears the actual debt... 0% for 16 months: Both MBNA Plat Plus* & Barclaycard Plat* let accepted new cardholders shift debts to them at 0% for 16 mths for a 2.9% fee. MBNA's just dropped the APR you pay after to 16.8%, undercutting Barclaycard's 16.9%. Yet always pay off the card or switch again before then anyway. 6.8% long-term: Need longer to repay or worry you won't be bothered to switch again (it happens, so accept it & change strategy)? Use a card with a low standard APR such as Barclaycard Simplicity's* 6.8% (though 1/3 accepted applicants get costlier deals). These rates aren't fixed, but the regulations let you refuse any rate rise, provided you don't borrow more after. Don't miss repayments: Always make at least the min. monthly repayments or you can lose promo rates and your rights. FULL info & more best-buys in the Updated Guide: Best Balance Transfers Related: 0% for 13mths on New Spending, Top Cashback Cards

Switch Energy NOW! And ensure you really save...
If you're switching to beat the hikes, don't confuse direct debits & cost

Last week we warned 'switch to keep winter costs down' (saving c. £300/home), as the first major energy price hike for 2 yrs hits in Dec. Yet it's not just about changing tariff ... Direct debit (DD) is cheaper: Paying by monthly direct debit cuts bills by 5-10% more. Don't confuse DDs & cost: Bizarrely, some switch to a cheaper supplier to find the amount they're asked to pay increases. This is because DDs are an ESTIMATE of your annual usage divided by 12. New suppliers don't have your usage history & can get it wrong, so you overpay and get it back later. Ensure your DD's fair: Suppliers' licence conditions say they must ensure customers' direct debit levels are reasonable. If you think yours isn't, call and tell 'em (more info in the Fight Unfair Energy Direct Debits guide). Compare, switch & get cashback: (Cashback only via these MSE links) Top Picks: Energyhelpline* pays £15 cashback per switch. Crate of wine: Uswitch* gives 12 bottles of wine. Dual Fuel: MoneySupermarket* £30 in cash. More info & cashback options in the FULL Guide: Cheap Energy + Cashback, Fight Energy DDs Related: Boiler Cover

New online debt-crisis tool to help
Debt worries end quicker if you deal with them - free advice and DIY tools
When severe money worries hit, panic can set in. Yet there's ALWAYS a solution. It mightn't be easy or quick but it's there. Better still, help to find it's available for free. What is debt crisis? It's when you can't meet even basic outgoings or min. repayments. If that's not you, but you've still serious debt worries, you've the advantage of more options - see the Debt Help guide. Free debt counselling: For those in debt crisis, some amazing non-profit organisations help face-to-face or by phone for free. These include Citizens Advice, CCCS, National Debtline and, if you've emotional issues too, CAP. DIY online tools: If you prefer to do it yourself, the Money Advice Trust's launched MyMoneySteps, joining the CCCS's Debt Remedy, Debt Advice Foundation's Debt Analyser and iMoneyManager. Ask anonymous questions: The CCCS has advisors answering debt crisis questions in our forum. Full step-by-step help with all types of debt worries in the Updated Guide: Debt Problems Related: Budget Planner